On Thursday 27th September 2018, the Exarchate celebrated the Feast of the Universal Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Celebration was held at the Chapel of St Eletherius of Ilyria in Doreen.
This Feast commemorates the finding of the True Cross in the time of St Helena, Mother of the Emperor Constantine The Great.
Towards the end of her life, St Helena spent her time in Jerusalem inquiring amongst Christians and Jews as to where the Holy Cross might be located. Finally, she was directed to a certain elderly Jewish man by the name of Jude who said that the Cross was buried where the Romans had built a temple to Venus. Not long afterwards, the Empress had a dream that the Cross would be found under a basil bush. The Empress instructed that section of the temple to be dug up - soon after which they found three crosses and the plank which had been nailed to the top of our Lord's cross. In order to determine which was the True Cross, Patriarch Makarios had each of the three crosses made to touch a corpse. When the True Cross touched the corpse, the dead person was raised to life. As well as this great miracle, many great healings were accomplished by the sick being exposed to the wood of the True Cross.
Please enjoy some photographs from our celebration:
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