Sunday Sept. 14 /27 ns 2026 † ELEVATION OF THE LIFE-GIVING CROSS OF OUR LORD ~ Wine and olive oil are permitted ~ QUOTE from THE LENTEN TRIODION; ON THE ADORATION OF THE CROSS + Saint Romanos the Melodist; “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TAKE UP YOUR CROSS"? + Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

† 

THE ELEVATION OF THE PRECIOUS

AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS

OF OUR LORD

Sunday

September 14 / 27 new style

2026

For the preaching of the cross is to them

that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved; it is the power of God.

Two events in connection with the Honorable Cross of Christ are commemorated on this day: first, the finding of the Honorable Cross on Golgotha and second, the return of the Honorable Cross from Persia to Jerusalem.

Visiting the Holy Land, the holy Empress Helena sought to find the Honorable Cross of Christ. An old Jewish man named Judah was the only one who knew where the Cross was located, and, constrained by the empress, he revealed that the Cross was buried under the temple of Venus that Emperor Hadrian had built on Golgotha. The empress ordered that this idolatrous temple be razed and, having dug deep below it, found three crosses. While the empress pondered on how to recognize which of these was the Cross of Christ, a funeral procession passed by. Patriarch Macarius told them to place the crosses, one by one, on the dead man. When they placed the first and second cross on the dead man, the dead man lay unchanged. When they placed the third cross on him, the dead man came back to life. By this they knew that this was the Precious and Life-giving Cross of Christ. They then placed the Cross on a sick woman, and she became well. The patriarch elevated the Cross for all the people to see, and the people sang with tears: ''Lord, have mercy!'' Empress Helena had a silver case made and set the Honorable Cross in it. Later, the Persian Emperor Chosroes conquered Jerusalem, enslaved many people, and took the Lord's Cross to Persia. The Cross remained in Persia for fourteen years.

In the year 628 the Greek Emperor Heraclius defeated Chosroes and, with much ceremony, returned the Cross to Jerusalem. As he entered the city Emperor Heraclius carried the Cross on his back, but suddenly was unable to take another step. Patriarch Zacharias saw an angel preventing the emperor from bearing the Cross on the same path that the Lord had walked barefoot and humiliated. The patriarch communicated this vision to the emperor. The emperor removed his raiment and, in ragged attire and barefoot, took up the Cross, carried it to Golgotha, and placed it in the Church of the Resurrection, to the joy and consolation of the whole Christian world.

Saint John 12:28-36 KJV

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

1 Corinthians 1:18-24 KJV

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Saint John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30 KJV

6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;

9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.

20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the Spirit.

Lenten Triodion

Let us venerate the Cross of the Lord, offering our tender affection as the cypress, the sweet fragrance of our faith as the cedar, and our sincere love as the pine.; and let us glorify our Deliverer who was nailed upon it. Let us venerate the Cross of the Lord, offering our tender affection as the cypress, the sweet fragrance of our faith as the cedar, and our sincere love as the pine; and let us glorify our Deliverer who was nailed upon it.*

* A reference to the three kinds of wood from which the Cross was made; Isa. 60:13

 On the Adoration at the Cross

+ Saint Romanos the Melodist

“The Most High planted in the middle of Paradise The thrice blessed wood, the gift of life for us, In order that, in approaching it, Adam might find eternal and immortal life, But he did not strive earnestly to know this life, And he failed to attain it, and revealed death. However, the robber, seeing how the plant in Eden Had been beautifully transplanted in Golgotha, Recognized the life in it and said to himself: `This is what my father lost formerly In Paradise.'”

“What does it mean to take up your cross? 

+ Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

It means the willing acceptance, at the hand of Providence, of every means of healing, bitter though it may be, that is offered. Do great catastrophes fall on you? Be obedient to God’s will, as Noah was. Is sacrifice demanded of you? Give yourself into God’s hands with the same faith as Abram had when he went to sacrifice his son. Is your property ruined? Do your children die suddenly? Suffer it all with patience, cleaving to God in your heart, as Job did. Do your friends forsake you, and you find yourself surrounded by enemies? Bear it all without grumbling, and with faith that God’s help is at hand, as the apostles did.”

OF POSSIBLE INTEREST

DOME OF THE ROCK under reconstruction - Jerusalem 

Photo taken in 1962

In Islam: It marks the site where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven during his Night Journey.
In Judaism: The underlying rock is traditionally believed to be Mount Moriah, the site where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, and the location of the ancient Jewish temples.

DOME OF THE ROCK TODAY

Saturday Sept. 13 / 2ns / 2026 • Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection, Holy Martyr Cornelius the Centurion, St. Aristeides the Philosopher of Athens ~SEEING GOD Quote from Pope Saint Leo the Great

Unable to prevail is every hymn that striveth to

comprehend the multitude of Thy many tender mercies; for if we were to offer unto Thee, O Holy King, odes equal in number to the sands, we will have done nothing worthy of that which Thou hast given unto us, who cry to Thee: Alleluia

Saturday

September 13 / 26 new style

2026

T O D A Y

We celebrate

The Consecration of the Church

of the Resurrection 
{Of the Holy Sepulcher}

in

Jerusalem

and we venerate

The Holy Martyr Cornelius the Centurion

St. Aristeides

the Philosopher of Athens

When the holy Empress Helena found the Cross of our Lord in Jerusalem, she stayed awhile in the Holy City, and built churches in Gethsemane and Bethlehem, and on the Mount of Olives, as well as other places prominent in the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Golgotha, where she found the Honorable Cross, she began the building of an enormous church. The church was designed to encompass the Place of the Skull, where the Lord was crucified, as well as the place where He was buried. The saintly empress wanted to include the place of His suffering and the place of His glory under the same roof. However, Helena reposed in the Lord before this majestic Church was completed. By the time it was completed, Constantine was celebrating the thirtieth year of his reign. Thus, the consecration of the Church and the emperor's jubilee were celebrated on the same day, September 13, 335. A local council of bishops was being held in Tyre at that time. These bishops, and many others, came to Jerusalem for the solemn consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. It was then established that this day-a day of victory and triumph for the Church of Christ-be solemnly commemorated every year.

Hebrews 3:1-4 King James Version

3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.

4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Saint Matthew 10:37-11:1 King James Version

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

11 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

Seeing God

Quote from Pope Saint Leo the Great

( Reposed 461 AD)

"... how great the blessedness of seeing God, what mind can conceive, what tongue declare? And yet this shall ensue when man's nature is transformed, so that no longer 'in a mirror,' nor 'in a riddle,' but 'face to face' (I Cor. 13:12) it sees God 'as He is' (I St. Jn. 3:2), which no man could see; and through unspeakable joy of eternal contemplation obtains that 'which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man' (Is. 44:4; I Cor. 2:9).

Rightly is this blessedness promised to purity of heart (cf. St. Mt. 5:8). For the brightness of the true light will not be able to be seen by the unclean sight: and that which will be happiness to minds that are bright and clean, will be a punishment to those that are stained. Therefore, let the mists of earth's vanities be shunned and your inward eyes purged from all the filth of wickedness, that the sight may be free to feed on this great manifestation of God."

P A R A G O N. Friday Sept. 12 /25 ns 2026 • Apodosis of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos • Holy Hieromartyr Autónomos • Fast day Day • On How The Soul Must Feed On Christ In Order To Live by St. Nikolai

Friday

September 12 / 25 new style

2026

• Fast Day •

Christ our God

was crucified on Friday

is the

Apodosis of the Nativity

of the Most Holy Theotokos

&

the commemoration of

• The Holy Hieromartyr Autónomos

During Diocletian's persecution, Autónomos left Italy for Asian Bithynia, for a place called Soreoi. There, he converted many to Christianity, and built a church for them dedicated to the holy Archangel Michael. Autónomos lived in the home of a devout Christian, Cornelius, whom he first ordained as a presbyter, and then consecrated to the episcopacy. Not far from Soreoi there was a place called Limnae, inhabited entirely by pagans. St. Autónomos went to this place and soon enlightened many with the Gospel of Christ. This embittered the pagans, and one day they rushed into the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in Soreoi during the divine service and slew Autónomos in the sanctuary, and killed many other Christians in the church. During the reign of the Emperor Constantine, Severian, a royal nobleman, built a church over the tomb of St. Autónomos. Two hundred years after his death, St. Autónomos appeared to a soldier named John. John exhumed the relics of the saint and found them to be completely incorrupt, and many who were sick received healing from Autónomos's relics. Thus, God glorifies the one who glorified Him while living in the flesh.

Ephesians 4:17-25

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But ye have not so learned Christ;

21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

Saint John 11:47-54 KJV

47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

On How The Soul Must Feed On Christ

In Order To Live

by St. Nikolai

“He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me” (St. John 6:57).

Thus speaks Christ the Lord, the Life and Source of life. A tree feeds on the earth, air and light. If a tree does not feed on the earth, the air and the light, will it be able to grow and live? What does an infant at its mother’s breast feed on, except its mother? If it does not feed on its mother, will it grow and live? So it is that our soul will not grow or live, if it does not feed on Christ, the Living and Immortal One. 

The words here are not about life in general, by which nature lives, nor about the stunted life by which pagans live, but rather about the special, divine and eternal life—a life full and joyful. Only Christ gives this life to men, and it comes only to those who feed on Christ. Each man is as great as the food he feeds on, and each man is as alive as the food he feeds on. The words here are not about bodily food, for only man’s body—not man’s soul—is fed by bodily food. Men differ both in physical growth and physical life, but these differences are totally insignificant. However, the difference in spiritual growth and life among men is enormous. While some men, by the growth of their souls, barely raise themselves above the earth, others raise themselves to the heavens. The difference between Herod and John the Baptist is no less than the difference between a king and an angel. While the former drags his body and soul through the earth and wickedly defends his throne on earth, the latter stands his body on a rock in the wilderness, and is raised in soul to the heavens among the angels.

O my brethren, let us lift up our souls to the heavens, where Christ the Lord sits on the throne of eternal glory, and let us feed and nourish our soul and heart with Him, the pure and almighty Life. Only then will we be made worthy to be His fellow heirs in the Kingdom of Heaven.

O Lord Jesus, our true God, our sweet food and our man-loving Nourisher; cast us not away from Thy divine bosom, for we are weak and helpless. Nourish us with Thyself, O our merciful Nourisher.

To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

If you've exposed your consciousness to the writings of the saints, you have heard many descriptions of God.  In doing so you have also learned that all of us are made in the image and likeness of God Himself.  Reflect deeply now and tell us in all of your activities, which of them confirm that you are made in the likeness and image of God?