dear brothers and sisters, the great feast of the exaltation of the holy, life-giving cross of the lord, which we celebrate today, an orthodox christian remembers the events associated with the cross on which the savior was crucified. it happened near the mountain of heads and the place where the savior was crucified. also on this day, one more event is remembered. the return of the creative cross from persia, where he was in captivity. 7th century

returned to jerusalem by the greek emperor heraclius, both events are united by the fact that the found cross was erected, that is, raised before the people present. at the same time, they turned him to all parts of the world in turn, so that people could bow to him and share with each other the joy of finding a shrine. the exaltation of the life-giving cross of the lord refers to the 12 great twelfth feasts, which is based on the gospel events of the earthly life of the lord jesus christ or dedicated to the mother of god. that is why the twelfth holidays are of particular importance spiritual life of every christian on the eve of the day of the exaltation cross, a solemn festive service is performed all-night service

in deeds. and in fact, the feast of the feast of the divine liturgy is an important distinguishing feature of the service of the exaltation of the cross is the rite of bearing the cross. the senior priest or bishop brings the cross to the center of the temple and, like an ancient event, erects a cross in front of the worshipers, all those praying in the temple worship the shrine at this time, a hymn is sung to your cross, we worship vladyka and your holy sunday of course, on this great feast, he worships the creative christ of the lord, we also remember that the cross is not only an instrument of our salvation, on which christ was crucified, but also an integral part of our own spiritual life. in the holy gospel, we meet such words lord jesus christ who does not take

up his cross follows me, he is not worthy of me with the teachings of the orthodox church. we know that a person's bearing of his christ is an image of a christian's spiritual life. but what does it mean to carry your cross, of course, looking at the cross of christ we remember his suffering, the crucifixion of death. however, already in the holy scriptures of the old testament, we find many images that indicate that the cross of christ is sacrificial, so the holy church with the earlier from the cross with the paradise tree of life, the cross is also similar to the tree laid by moses in the middle of the hill. here are measures to make them suitable for quenching the thirst of the israeli people during their wanderings in the wilderness

. the church strengthens us because of the crucifixion on the cross followed the resurrection of christ and joy for all his disciples. so every christian is worthy, bearing the cross of his spiritual life, receive from god and the joy of easter, therefore, the offering of the cross in the orthodox spiritual tradition is understood as overcoming with complacency and hope in the lord all those difficulties of sorrows that are encountered on our life path. moreover , carrying one's cross does not mean only enduring the sorrows and sorrows of the saints, there is a concept of free sorrows in literature. these are the good works that a christian voluntarily undertakes for the sake of christ this and help for loved ones and care for those who are sick and work with sins. many others

diligently, fulfilling christian virtues , a person also worthily bears his cross, the orthodox tradition, we find many references to what is worthy of bearing one's cross involves the meek overcoming of the sorrows of unpleasant moments encountered in life. but there are also joys in our life. do we carry our cross at a joyful pleasant moment and earthly life, of course, yes? and how do you do it joy is more difficult than sorrow. let's remember the famous phrase to go through fire, water and copper pipes. many manage to go through fire and water. that is, to overcome some life obstacles of personal sorrow, but few people withstand the temptation with copper pipes, that is, the test of prosperity, good health,

recognition and glory in society. if we honestly look at our lives and ask those who stand in the temple, why are they here, then we will hear that many began to seek god after some kind of sorrow happened in your life, the death of loved ones, health problems. troubles at work or in personal life, and thank god that such people came to the temple and turned to the lord and not to someone else, but for some reason there are so few of those who came to the temple in joy to thank god for the healing of the creation of a family, obtaining a good position or successfully with a given exam. unfortunately, an imperfect person tends to quickly forget the good and take it for granted and not worthy of special attention on the

pages of the gospel, we find a story about how the lord jesus christ healed 10 people, ill with severe leprosy. and how many of the fully recovered ones guessed to come back and thank jesus, only one in ten. it must be said that after 2,000 years, the situation has not changed, only a few of us realize the need to glorify god in joy and prosperity, and at the same time there is an opinion that sometimes through sorrow. god is trying to reach out to a person who does not hear him in joy. indeed, it is very important to be able to thank god, for everything that he gives us in our life, thanksgiving is important, the virtue of a christian. after all, even the main christian sacrament is called the eucharist, which in greek

means thanksgiving. and the easiest way is to thank god for the joy of acquisition and achievement that occurs in our lives. an important quality of a spiritually perfect person is the ability to thank god not only for the joys, but because of the sorrows of which our life also happens, and quite a lot. what is the meaning of thanksgiving for difficulties and sorrows, because an ordinary person, on the contrary, strives with all his might to avoid or eliminate any, difficulties that come with it. the fact is that believers in sorrows see a slightly different meaning of sorrow, it can be not only something that depresses us, but also something that helps us to rise and grow, often the mournful circumstances of our lives, move us to action to solve the problem.

christians give experience in this way and treat sorrows as a lesson in spiritual life and an opportunity to overcome them to become better, purer and closer to god . under depressing circumstances, we can benefit for our spiritual life, and then the bearing of our christ will not be something intolerable for us, but grace-filled and joyful in a spiritual sense. dear brothers and sisters, may today's feast of the exaltation of the honorable and life-giving cross of the lord encourage and inspire us, but diligent spiritual life. after all, when we carry our cross. then we definitely remember that the lord was the first to carry his cross, jesus christ, he is always with us and helps us with the holiday.

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