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Orthodox
Commemoration of the Precious Cross that appeared in
the sky over Jerusalem in 351 A.D.
Send an Iconogram May 7
Apolytikion: First Tone The image of Thy
Cross at this time shone brighter than the sun, when Thou didst spread it out
from the holy Mount of Olives to Calvary; and in making plain Thy might which is
therein, O saviour Thou didst also thereby strenghten the faithful. Keep us
always in peace, by the intercessions of the Theotokos, O Christ our God, and
save us. Kontakion: Fourth Tone Making its rays to shine above in the heavens,
the spotless Cross dawned on the earth, bright with splendour; for it had opened
Heaven, which was shut of old. Granted the effulgence of its divine operation,
we are surely guided to the unwaning resplendence. In battles we possess it as a
true weapon of peace and a trophy invincible. Reading: On this day in the year
351, not long after Cyril had succeeded Maximus as Archbishop of Jerusalem,
during the reign of Constantius, the son of Saint Constantine the Great, on the
day of Pentecost, the sign of the Cross appeared over Jerusalem. Saint Cyril, in
his letter to the Emperor Constantius, says, At about the third hour of the day,
an enormous Cross, formed of light, appeared in the heaven above holy Golgotha
and reaching to the holy Mount of Olives. being seen not by one or two only, but
manifest with perfect clarity to the whole multitude of the city; not, as one
might suppose, rushing swiftly past in fancy, but seen openly above the earth
many hours in plain sight, and overcoming the beams of the sun with its dazzling
rays" (PG 33:1 16q).
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