Antiochian orthodox red prayer book series#

We read in this feast’s prayer: “Today the death that came to man through the eating of the tree (that is, the tree of knowledge of good and evil) is abolished through the Cross.”Ĭhrist foretold his disciples that He would be raised up on the Cross and will suffer on the Cross voluntarily. Essentially, Adam was tempted to fall and eat of the tree, but we are saved by the life-giving tree (The Holy Cross). In the Old Testament, eating from the old wood (that is, the tree of knowledge of good and evil) caused Adam and Eve to become aware of their nakedness and transgressions, causing them to be expelled from paradise, but the life-giving wooden Holy Cross of the New Testament opened for us the doors of paradise.

In this Feast’s Scriptural readings, a comparison between the wood in the Old Testament and the new wood (the wooden Cross) is made. And when he came out of the belly of the creature on the third day, he indicated the supernal Resurrection of Christ. Let us also look to Jonah who, when in the belly of the sea monster, stretched forth his hands in the form of a cross, and prefigured the saving Passion. Now when we raise our sight to Christ lifted on the Cross, we are healed from the deadly poison of sin. He also lifted up a snake on a stick horizontally to form a cross, and anyone who had been bitten could look at this snake wound in the shape of a cross and recover from its deadly poison. Moses was also a reflector of the holy symbol he inscribed the sign of the cross with an upright stroke of his rod, dividing the Red Sea for the Hebrews, and leading them across the dry seabed to escape from the slavery of the Pharaoh to the promised land.

We see that Joshua, the son of Nun, in ancient times foreshadowed the Cross mystically as he stretched forth his arms in the form of a cross, and the sun stood still until he destroyed the enemies opposed to God. The Old Testament is a keeper of many prefigures and symbols related to the Cross. The significance of this holy day is further highlighted through the Typicon if the feast falls on Sunday, the usual Resurrection chants are omitted, and instead, all are reserved for the Holy Cross! The Cross has central significance in the spiritual and liturgical life of Christians and because of the importance of this Feast, the Orthodox Church allocated the Sunday which falls before the Feast day and the Sunday after (September 14) to the Memory of the Holy Cross. Patriarch Macarius went on to Elevate the Holy Cross and bless the people with it.

Antiochian orthodox red prayer book series#

On 14 September, the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the Elevation (Exaltation) of the Life-giving Holy Cross a feast related to a series of historical events linked to the search for The Holy Cross, eventually found in Jerusalem in the fourth century by two equals to the Apostles Sts.