The origin (wear and tear) of the honorable trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord , the Honey Savior and the beginning of the Dormition Fast - these are the Orthodox events celebrated on August 14 . On the same date, the “celebration of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos” is celebrated in memory of the victory won by Andrei Bogolyubsky over the Volga Bulgars in 1164. The noble prince took on his campaign the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God and the Honorable Cross of Christ. Before the battle, he fervently prayed to them, asking for protection and patronage. Therefore, the holiday was established in honor of this historical episode.
history of the holiday
On this day, Christians around the world honor three great shrines:
- Life-giving Cross of the Lord;
- the image of the Savior who atoned for the sins of mankind;
- Vladimir face of the Mother of God.
In addition, this is also the day of remembrance of the 7 martyrs from the Old Testament, the Maccabees, who suffered for the faith in 166 BC. e.
The history of establishing the celebration of the Origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross in Constantinople is connected with the climate characteristics of this region and the lack of developed medicine in those years.
Every year in August, epidemics of infections broke out, which were difficult to fight. They claimed thousands of lives, so the priests decided to bring out the Venerable Tree of the Cross for general worship, consecration of places and healing of the sick.
This practice has survived to this day, but was transformed into a general religious procession, which began to be performed to educate people and sanctify water.
The history of the veneration of the “All-Merciful Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary” is connected with events of great importance for the history of Russia. During the years of the Bulgar invasion, Prince Vyshgorod went to war along with the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God and the Honorable Cross of Christ. The prince spent a lot of time in prayer, asking the heavenly Intercessor to help and protect Rus' from foreigners. His prayer was answered.
There is an opinion that the holiday could have been established by the Roman emperor Manuel, who, thanks to God’s help, also won a victory over the Saracens.
For a long time, Ukrainians, Belarusians, residents of western Russia, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Macedonians more revered the memory of the murdered Maccabean martyrs on the day of the Origin of the honorable trees of the Life-Giving Cross.
As often happens, lexical associations subsequently arose, and the holiday acquired a new meaning and became consonant with the poppy. There are many traditions, rituals, proverbs and sayings associated with this plant.
The life-giving tree of the Holy Cross is a divine weapon against enemies
Thanks to this shrine, two incredible events happened in the 12th century. One event was celebrated in Rus', and the second in the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople.
- Emperor of Byzantium M. Komnenos gathered soldiers on a campaign against the Tatar raiders. The great king did not calculate the strength of his army and found himself in a situation where the enemy forces were many times greater than the Byzantine army.
- The Vladimir prince A. Bogolyubsky, who had not lost a single battle before, opposed the Volga Bulgars and also found himself in the same situation as the Byzantine emperor.
In both cases, the campaign was supposed to turn into failure, but the believing commanders turned to the Lord in sincere prayer for victory. And the Savior heard their prayers. Christian rulers won victories.
If you believe the legend, the warriors were blessed with victory. They saw the Lord and the Mother of God, who illuminated the entire army of peasants with rays like fiery ones. The signs of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God were wonderful. They even said that after the victory the Divine Cross was visible in the sky.
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From that time on, the Volga completely became a Russian river, and the campaign conquered several very rich cities. Our ancestors considered this event to be God's mercy. And as a sign of respect for the powers of the Life-Giving Cross, a celebration was established on August 14.
The meaning and date of the holiday
The date of the celebration of the Origin of the honorable trees of the Life-giving Cross always coincides with the first day of the last summer fast, ending with the Dormition - August 1 according to the Julian calendar, and August 14 according to the new style.
The significance of this celebration for the Russian and all Slavic people is difficult to overestimate. Everyone loves honey spas. The word “saved” itself means to be saved by fasting, eating foods of plant origin and, of course, honey.
By this point, the honeycombs in the hives were filled to capacity, and the beekeepers began collecting. It was believed that “the neighbors of a beekeeper who does not break the honeycomb will steal all the honey.”
Prayer to the Honest Life-Giving Cross
“May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. As smoke disappears, let them disappear; just as wax melts in the face of fire, so let demons perish from the face of those who love God and signify themselves with the sign of the cross, and who say in joy: Rejoice, Most Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, drive away the demons by force on you of our Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into hell and straightened the power the devil, and who gave us His Honest Cross to drive away every adversary. O Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen."
May the Lord protect you!
Features of worship
The service for the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross is reminiscent of the service of the Resurrection of the Cross, which takes place during the third week of Lent.
The night before, the priest serves Vespers and Matins. The cross is transferred from the altar to the throne. Matins is performed in full vestments. The priest walks around the throne three times with a censer, wears the Cross and places it on the lectern with chants.
Everyone present in the church worships him three times, and during the singing of special stichera, the priest anoints the parishioners with oil. Without fail, on the day of the Origin of the venerable trees of the Life-Giving Cross, water is consecrated, and along with it honey.
Origin of the Life-Giving Cross in Godenkovo
Where is the Life-Giving Cross located? How to get to it? On the Day of the Exaltation, a lot of people not only from all over our country, but from abroad come to the small, semi-abandoned village of Godenkovo in the Yaroslavl region. Here stands a small ancient temple of St. John Chrysostom, in which this miraculous image of Christ is kept.
This shrine miraculously appeared here in the middle of the 15th century. According to the Yaroslavl diocese, he was found in the Sokhot swamp.
Everyone who comes to the liturgy to pray will receive help from God in any business or undertaking, healing or assistance. In the Temple of Chrysostom, daily records of all the performed and unusual miracles that this divine shrine creates. On the Feast of the Exaltation, a large number of people come to this small village. This year the festival was attended by more than 100 pilgrims.
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Godenkovo - Life-Giving Cross - how to get there from Moscow
The small village of Godenkovo is located 15 km from the settlement of Petrovsk, Rostov district, Yaroslavl Region. Petrovsk lies on the Yaroslavl - Moscow highway. The Cathedral of St. John Chrysostom is located on a small hill, a hill.
This is an old stone building. The temple is in the possession of the Zalessky convent. For six centuries, this building has housed a valuable, holy artifact - the Cross of the Lord. This building also houses an icon of St. Nicholas the Pleasant.
It is very difficult to reach the village by public transport. The route looks something like this:
- You need to take a bus in the direction of the city of Yaroslavl;
- We disembark in the village of Petrovsk;
- We are looking for a local bus that goes to Godenkovo (you need to be careful, as these buses only go 2-3 times a day)
And besides, it happens that flights are completely cancelled.
But those who were still able to get to this holy place are immersed in divine grace and feel the presence of the Almighty.
Customs and traditions of the holiday
The most important tradition of the Origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross is associated with the consecration of a new honey harvest. Until this moment, it was forbidden to eat the freshly harvested product. A special ritual was created for beekeepers:
- First, all the hives had to be baptized.
- Then you should find the one containing the most honey.
- Break out the honeycombs from it.
- Leave a piece and take part of it to church services.
After the service, some went to the “share of the priest”; a certain amount was immediately distributed to the poor, who praised and congratulated those who treated them to the Savior of Honey. Afterwards, the celebration smoothly flowed to the apiary, where the beekeepers treated the children.
On the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross, honey was eaten both in its pure form and gingerbread cookies, pies, and cheesecakes were baked. The poppy that was ripening by this time was also actively used for culinary purposes, making “milk of the poppy” from it and mixing it with honey. Pancakes were dipped into it.
With poppy seeds, on the Origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross, the Macanians and machniks baked crumpets, rolled buns, and pies. On Makovei, young people took to the streets and danced in circles. The girls flirted with the guys, showered them with poppy seeds, tickled them, fooled around, singing special songs.
After the liturgy, the priest went to an open reservoir to bless the water. The people followed him in a procession of the cross, where after the rite of consecration people collected water into jugs and carried them home. Then they swam in a river or lake, bathed livestock, believing that this would help get rid of diseases, the evil eye, and damage.
On the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross, the Serbs had a tradition of digging and cleaning wells and consecrating the water in them. After the festival, it was not customary to swim. Summer was already coming to an end, the water in the rivers and lakes was filled with duckweed, and the birds were preparing to go south. Field work and mowing began. In many areas, winter rye was sown, threshing floors were prepared, and premises for grain were built.
Folk signs for Wearing
In Serbia, on the occasion of the Origin of the venerable trees of the Life-Giving Cross, it was not customary to swim. Work too, because people thought that this could cause a person to develop illnesses.
In Macedonia they believed that the weather on August 1 could predict the weather for the entire next year. Macedonian women were not allowed to bathe children or wash clothes on this holiday. Sometimes other types of work were also banned.
In Bulgaria, sons-in-law were supposed to come to visit their mother-in-law with gifts and be sure to kiss her hand. This day had a corresponding name - “Zetovden”.
Several more customs are associated with the Origin of the honest trees of the Life-Giving Cross:
- Perform the rite of blessing of water in wells, consecrate wreaths of wheat ears.
- Bathing horses in ponds.
- Plowing fields for winter crops.
- Carry out the first sowings.
Life-giving Cross in Godenkovo - miracles of healing
The power of this shrine is so attractive that it is very difficult to tear yourself away from it. Each parishioner physically feels the waves of God's grace into which he is immersed. Many people can feel a specific fragrance.
It even happens that parishioners ask: “Do you wipe it with a special perfume?” The nuns are sad to hear this. Ikotniki to this day collect and record all the miraculous events that the image of the crucified Christ created. Check out some:
IN AND. Sorokin
An electrician from the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky began to have very bad teeth pain. He was just in Godenkovo for work. The man could not find peace either day or night. And he could not work and fulfill the obligations for which he came. This man had little faith and the healing image of Jesus did not interest him in any way.
The clergy suggested that he rinse his mouth with oil from the holy lamp of the temple and read a prayer to the miraculous image. The electrician carried out the advice by believing in the Lord. And miraculously, the pain completely disappeared the next morning. After the healing, this worker was seen more than once on his knees before the holy image.
Father Oleg
One day the priest Oleg arrived at this place for a service. But he could not do anything, because very severe pain arose in the spine, which prevented Father from moving. In the temple, he read an akathist, then knelt down on his own, although he could not do this before. The pain completely disappeared and never appeared again.
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Ivan from the city of Stavropol
In the spring of 2001, his wife gave birth to their sixth child by Caesarean section. After this operation, the woman became very painful and weak, and began to have constant digestive problems. From relatives they heard about the miraculous Cross. After prayer at the Godenovsky Church, the family stayed overnight with relatives.
The whole family sat down to dinner, but there was nothing dietary on the table. The husband reminded his wife about the medications. But the woman felt completely healthy and had a healthy appetite. She started eating and no longer felt any illness. She was completely healed.
Roman from the Moscow region
This young man suffered from severe alcoholic binges for several years. During this time, he completely lost all hope for a happy, normal human life. I had to endure a lot of troubles from drunkenness. After praying to the Life-Giving Image, he found the strength to fight. Over the next few months, he would break down and drink a little, but he never went on a binge again.
