Web Site Home - Theology Home - Hierarchy Home - Locations Home - Education Home - Stewardship Home - Links Home - Vendors Home - Alphabetical Index Home - Thesaurus Home - Sitemap Home - Arabic fonts Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information CenterThe Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Lifegiving Holy Cross Vespers with Bonfire and Procession
13 September evening - The lifesize (the outdoor) Holy Cross, adorned with basil sprigs, is where the ikon of the feast normally is. At the end of the Vespers, there is a procession. A priest carries the Holy Cross in procession through the church. During this time, special litanies are prayed. Also, the priest and the people bow and sing the same hymn as the people did when Emperor Heraclius carried the Holy Cross to Golgotha when the Holy Cross was recovered from the Persians and returned to Jerusalem. The priest carries a lifesize (the outdoor) Holy Cross from inside the church to the bonfire outside the church. The priest blesses the bonfire. Then, the priest carries the Holy Cross to the four stations around the bonfire: North, East, South, and West. These stations represent the four corners of the world. At each station, the priest blesses the four corners of the world with the Holy Cross. The people repeat many times: "Lord have mercy" or "Kyrie eleison" or "Ya Rabb-urham". Then, the people venerate the Holy Cross and the priest gives each person a peice of basil. BasilAccording to tradition, a sweet smelling herb was growing where the Holy Cross was found. So, the herb was named "king" in Greek (basil). The Holy Cross is decorated with basil."Lord have mercy" or "Kyrie eleison" or "Ya Rabb-urham"According to tradition, when the Holy Cross was found and when the Holy Cross was recovered from the Persians and returned to Jerusalem, all the people could do to express their awe was to chant repeatively "Kyrie eleison". So, the people of today repeat many times: "Lord have mercy" or "Kyrie eleison" or "Ya Rabb-urham". BonfireThe bonfire is a reenactment of the relay system of bonfires from Jerusalem to Constantinople to tell the Emperor Constantine that his mother, St. Helena, had found the Holy Cross. More InformationLiturgical CycleFrom the Monday after the Great Feast of Pentecost to Great and Holy Saturday, Sunday is the last day of the Liturgical week.
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dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in
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