The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Orthodox Church
Gerald Largent
The Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross — September 14
On September 14, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, one of the great feasts of the Church year. On this day the Cross is brought solemnly before the faithful, elevated for all to see, and venerated with reverence. What the world once regarded as an instrument of shame is proclaimed by the Church as the sign of Christ’s victory.
The feast’s roots in Jerusalem
The historical origins of the feast take us to Jerusalem in the fourth century. According to the tradition preserved by the Church, Saint Helen, the mother of Saint Constantine the Great, traveled to the Holy Land and sought the places associated with the Lord’s Crucifixion and Resurrection. The Cross of Christ was discovered near Golgotha, where earlier Roman construction had obscured the sacred sites.
The newly revealed holy places became the setting for magnificent churches built under Saint Constantine. The Church of the Resurrection was consecrated in Jerusalem in the year 335, and the Precious Cross was solemnly raised before the assembled faithful for their veneration. The commemoration of these events became associated with the feast we celebrate each September.
Yet the Church does not exalt the Cross primarily as an archaeological object or historical relic. We exalt the Cross because of the One Who was crucified upon it.
Why the Church fasts on this feast
Without Christ, the cross was an instrument of execution. Through Christ, it becomes the Tree of Life. Upon it the Lord voluntarily stretches out His hands for the salvation of the world. Through His death He enters into the deepest consequence of mankind’s fall, and through His Resurrection He destroys the dominion of death from within.
This is why Saint Paul can proclaim that the message of the Cross, foolishness to the world, is the power of God to those who are being saved. The logic of the Cross overturns the logic of fallen humanity. The world tells us that greatness is found in domination; Christ reveals greatness through self-emptying love. The world prizes self-preservation; Christ gives Himself for the life of others. The world sees defeat on Golgotha; the Church beholds the beginning of victory.
Living the mystery of the Cross
For this reason, the feast is also a strict fast. Celebration and asceticism meet together. We rejoice in Christ’s triumph, yet we remember the terrible price of sin and the sacrificial love revealed at Calvary. We bow before the Cross not sentimentally, but penitentially.
The Cross must therefore become personal. Each time we trace its sign upon ourselves, we confess that we belong to the crucified and risen Lord. When we endure suffering faithfully, forgive an enemy, restrain a sinful desire, sacrifice for another person, or choose obedience to Christ over self-will, the mystery of the Cross begins to shape our own life.
The Feast of the Exaltation asks a simple but searching question: What do we glory in? Saint Paul answers for every Christian: our boast is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not wealth, reputation, achievement, or power, but the love of God revealed upon the Cross.
As we bow before the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, may we ask Christ to make its victory real within us. May the Cross protect us, humble us, strengthen us in suffering, call us continually to repentance, and remind us that the path through Golgotha leads ultimately to the empty Tomb.
“O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance.”
Originally published in the September 13, 2026 St. Panteleimon Orthodox Christian Outreach devotional.