“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”.  (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Our Coptic church celebrates the feast of the cross twice a year:

  • Baramhat 10 / March 19: Feast of the day when St. Helen found the Holy Cross.
  • Tut 17 / September 27: Feast of the consecration of the Resurrection Church in Jerusalem

The Feast of the Consecration of the Church of the Honorable Cross

On this day the church celebrates the appearance of the Honorable Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was revealed by the lover of God, Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, from under the pile of Golgotha, after she ordered its removal. As to the reason for how this great pile of dirt came into being, it was thus: the Jewish leaders when they saw all the signs and wonders which were made manifest from the sepulcher of the Savior, such as raising the dead and healing the sick, became angry, and they sent forth throughout Judea and Jerusalem ordering all the people to cast the sweepings of their houses and the dirt over the sepulcher of Jesus of Nazareth. They continued to do so for more than 200 years until it became a very great heap.

When St. Helena came to Jerusalem and asked the Jews about the whereabouts of the Cross, they did not inform her. Finally, some of them told her about an old Jew called Judas who knew the place. She called him, and he denied it at first, but when she urged him, he told her about that pile. She ordered its removal and the Holy Cross was found. She built a church for it, consecrated it, and celebrated for the Honorable Cross on the seventeenth day of the month of Tute. Christians make pilgrimages to that place every year as they do on the feast of the Resurrection.

A certain Samaritan called Isaac, as he was traveling with his family among the people going to Jerusalem, reproved the people for taking such trouble in going to Jerusalem to worship a piece of wood. Among the people was a priest whose name was Okhidus. While traveling along the road, they became thirsty. They found no water and they came to a well where the water was foul and bitter. The people became dismayed. Isaac the Samaritan started mocking them, saying, “If I witness a power by the name of the Cross, I will become a believer of Christ.” The priest Okhidus was moved with divine zeal and prayed over that foul water and made the sign of the Cross on it, and it became sweet. All the people and their animals drank, but when Isaac drank, the water was bitter and wormy. He regretted and cried and came to the saint, Father Okhidus, bowed down at his feet, and believed in the Lord Christ. Then he drank from the water, and he found it sweet. The water of that well possessed the power of becoming sweet for the believers and bitter for the others. A cross of light appeared in the well and a church was built there. When Isaac the Samaritan arrived in Jerusalem, he went to its bishop who baptized him and his family.

Because the feast of the appearance of the Honorable Cross, which is on the tenth of Baramhat, always comes during fasting, it was substituted by the fathers for the Seventeenth of Tute which is the day of consecration of its church.

تذكار الاحتفال بالصليب المجيد بكنيسة القيامة سنة 43 ش في عهد الملك قسطنطين (17 توت)

نعيد في هذا اليوم بتذكار ظهور الصليب المجيد الذي لمخلصنا يسوع المسيح. هذا الذي أظهرته الملكة المحبة للمسيح القديسة هيلانة أم قسطنطين من تحت كوم الجلجثة الذي أمرت بإزالته، أما سبب وجود هذا الكوم فهو أنه لما رأى رؤساء اليهود كثرة العجائب التي تظهر من قبر المخلص من إقامة الموتى وإبراء المقعدين، غضبوا ونادوا في جميع اليهودية وأورشليم ” كل من كنس داره أو كان عنده تراب، فلا يلقيه إلا على مقبرة يسوع الناصري“، واستمر الحال على ذلك أكثر من مائتي سنة حتى صار كوما عظيما. ولما حضرت القديسة هيلانة وسألت اليهود عن موضع الصليب لم يفيدوها. وأخيرا أرشدها بعضهم عن رجل يهودي مسن يسمى يهوذا يعرف مكانه، فاستدعته فأنكر أولا، ولما شددت عليه اعلمها مكان الكرم. فأزالته وأخرجت منه الصليب المقدس وبنت كنيسة وكرست عيد له في السابع عشر من شهر توت. وصارت الشعوب المسيحية تحج إليها مثل عيد القيامة.

واتفق أن كان إنسان مسافرا هو وجماعته مع الشعب إلى أورشليم يدعى اسحق السامري، هذا كان يبكت الناس على تكبدهم المتاعب في الذهاب إلى أورشليم ليسجدوا لخشبه. وكان مع الشعب قسا يسمى أوخيدس، وفيما هم سائرون في الطريق عطشوا، ولم يجدوا ماء فأتوا إلى بئر فوجدوا ماءها نتنا مرا، فضاق صدر الشعب جدا. وابتدأ اسحق السامري يهزأ بهم ويقول ان أنا شاهدت قوة باسم الصليب! آمنت بالمسيح. فغار القس أوخيدس غيرة إلهية وصلى على الماء النتن ورشمه بعلامة الصليب فصار حلوا. وشرب منه كل الشعب ودوابهم. أما اسحق فانه لما تناول وعاءه ليشرب وجده نتنا مدودا. فندم وبكى وأتى إلى القديس القس أوخيدس وخر عند قدميه أمن بالسيد المسيح. وشرب من الماء فوجده حلوا. وصار في ماء هذه البئر قوة ان يكون حلوا للمؤمنين، ومرا لغيرهم. كما ظهر فيه صليب من نور. وبنوا هناك كنيسة.

ولما وصل اسحق السامري إلى مدينة القدس ذهب إلى أسقفها واعتمد منه هو وأهل بيته

أما ظهور الصليب المجيد على يد الملكة هيلانة فكان في اليوم العاشر من برمهات. ولأنه دائما يكون في الصوم فقد استبدله الآباء بيوم 17 توت الذي هو تكريس كنيسته. والمجد والسجود لربنا يسوع المسيح إلى أبد الآبدين امين

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