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Week of the Cross. Worship of the Cross - third Sunday of Lent

About the third Sunday of Great Lent in the Lenten Triodion (the book containing the order and texts of the service) it is written: “We celebrate the Adoration of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross.” During fasting, says the Triodion, we are crucified, like Christ, while “we feel bitterness, despondent and exhausted.” That is why the Cross of Christ appears before believers, “reminding us of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ and comforting us.” The consolation is that now the flaming sword no longer guards the gates of heaven, and death and its sting have been banished.

At the evening service on Saturday, at the end of the service after the singing of the Great Doxology (“Glory to God in the highest...”), when the choir sings the Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”), the priest holding the Cross on chapter, leaves the northern (left) doors of the altar and stands in front of the Royal Doors. Here he proclaims: “Wisdom, forgive,” after which the choir (and the entire church, as a rule) sings the troparion to the cross: “Save, Lord, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, victories Orthodox Christian bestowing on the resistance and preserving Your residence through Your Cross.” During the singing of the troparion, the priest carries the cross to the middle of the temple and places it on the central lectern. After this, the lectern is censed on four sides and the veneration of the Cross begins. The troparion is sung three times: “We bow to Your Cross, O Master, and glorify Your Holy Resurrection.”

There is a tradition: after each performance of the troparion, the worshipers lay prostrations. The actual veneration of the Cross occurs at the end of the singing of the troparion. The choir sings chants (stichera) beginning with the words: “Come faithful, let us worship the life-giving Tree, on which Christ the King of Glory willingly stretched out his hand...” The worshipers take turns approaching the central lectern with the Cross lying on it, make two prostrations, then kiss the Cross and make another prostration.

In the same way, the veneration of the Cross is performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the next seven days after the Sunday of the Cross. On Monday and Wednesday mornings, during the reading of the first hour, the following is also sung: “We bow to Your Cross, O Master...”, the stichera are sung and the worshipers, bowing to the ground, venerate the Cross. And on Friday, when the reading of the hours ends, the priest takes the Cross to the altar.

Gospel of the Week of the Cross

Take up your cross. The first thought that comes to our minds when we hear these words is the thought of the “cross,” that is, of the sorrowful path of life. At the same time, we think less often about self-sacrifice in the name of the Lord, but more often about those difficulties, great and small, that befall us. We cannot understand why our sorrows are saving for us? Why can't you move through life without a cross? Yes, because life in this evil world is, in principle, a life filled with sorrow. Life, with its shaky ground of dangers, temptations and vices, resembles a swamp that constantly threatens to swallow a person and drag him into its quagmire. Usually people either jump thoughtlessly from bump to bump, or look for a drier, more comfortable place; but for both of them this “road” leads to a quagmire from which there is no way out.

Others are trying to find a way on our own. They are blacksmiths own life and happiness - they confidently step into the swamp and say: “We ourselves will pave the way to a wonderful future! No one will give us deliverance!” Some are so self-confident that they not only walk through the swamp along the path they have imagined, but also drag others along with them. They end up falling into the same quagmire along with their human herd.

Weak and limited person He will never find his true path in life. His independent path will always be only the path to death. There is only one thing left: to take up your cross and follow your guide, the Lord. True, the path along which the Lord leads a person through life is difficult and dangerous. But even when it seems unbearable, we should not let go of the hand of the Lord, leading and supporting us.

Every person has a cross. But everyone is given a cross exactly according to his measurements. It is only our impatience and rebellion that makes it too difficult. The meaning of the events that happen to us is usually hidden from us. Only by looking into our past can we discover the benefit of everything that happened to us if we lived with the Lord. When a person tries to live according to his own will, it brings him a lot of disappointments. When we try to choose for ourselves life path, we are always dissatisfied, it always seems to us that we made a bad choice. And only when we rely on the will of God, revealed to us in Christ, do we understand that our cross, our place and occupation that has befallen us is the best for us.

Icon of the Cross of Christ

The cross is a sacred symbol of Christianity, a sign not only of shameful execution and death, but a sign of Christ’s victory over death.
Christ on ancient icons is represented with his arms outstretched on the sides of the cross, as if He embraces everyone with His love. The image of death was symbolized by a black cave under the cross, where a skull and bones were depicted. According to Tradition, Golgotha is the grave of Adam, the first man who sinned against the creator and doomed humanity to death. But Christ, the “New Adam,” defeats death on the cross and frees people from the kingdom of death. “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive,” writes the Apostle Paul.

IN carved icons, in applied art we can often see a cross without an image of the Lord. In this case, the cross is necessarily accompanied by the writing of the name of the Savior: (Jesus Christ the Son of God). The names are also written: King of Glory and NIKA, which means “victory,” for the highest glory of Christ is His death, and the Resurrection is His victory over death.

The image of Golgotha is signed with the letters MLRB, which means: Place of Execution, Paradise Byst. At the bottom are the letters GG (Mount Golgotha), GA (Head of Adam). Images of the instruments of Christ's passion: a cane with a sponge and a spear are also signed with the letters T and K.

More often than others in the Orthodox (Eastern Christian) tradition, the shape of an eight-pointed cross is used. From the writings of the evangelists, one can understand that two more crossbars were nailed to the cross of Christ (apparently, originally four-pointed): a foot and a tablet with the inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It is this inscription that we see in the form of the letters INCI both on Crucifixions and on symbolic images of the cross. Traditionally on eight-pointed crosses the lower crossbar is turned diagonally: its left end is raised up, the right is lowered to commemorate the fact that one of the thieves crucified with Christ repented and went to heaven (“Today you will be with Me in Paradise,” the Savior told him), and the other blasphemed the Lord and doomed himself to hell.

Crosses with a crescent are often placed above churches. The symbolism of these crosses has nothing to do with Islam; this ancient form dates back to the early Christian image of the anchor as a symbol of hope. In one of his letters, the Apostle Paul writes that Christians must “take hold of the hope that is set before us, that is, the Cross, which for the soul is like a safe and strong anchor.” Widespread in Orthodox art various options flourishing cross, emphasizing the symbolism of the cross as the Tree of Life.

The third Week* of Great Lent is called the Worship of the Cross: in the service of this Week the Church glorifies the Holy Cross and the fruits death on the cross Savior.

A special feature of this Week's service is the carrying of the Cross into the middle of the church for veneration. The removal of the Cross takes place at Matins, at the end of the Great Doxology. At the liturgy, instead of “Holy God,” we sing “We bow to Thy Cross.” Master, we glorify Your holy Resurrection».

The cross remains in the middle of the temple until Friday of the 4th week of Lent.

The removal and veneration of the Cross on the Sunday of the Cross is performed with the purpose that the sight of the Cross and the reminder of the suffering of the Savior strengthen believers in passing through the difficult field of fasting.

*Week is the Old Russian name for resurrection.

Hymns of the Week of the Worship of the Cross

Troparion of the Cross, tone 1: Lord, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance, granting victories against resistance, and preserving Your life through Your Cross.

Translation: Save, O Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting victories over your enemies and preserving Your people by Your Cross.*

Kontakion, tone 7: No one guards the gates of Eden with a flaming weapon; You will find the glorious tree of the cross, the sting of death, and the victory of hell will be driven away. You appeared, my Savior, crying out to those in hell: come again into paradise.

Translation: The flaming sword no longer guards the gates of Eden: it is miraculously extinguished by the Tree of the Cross; the sting of death and hellish victory are no more; for You, my Savior, appeared with a cry to those in hell: “Go again to heaven!” *

I cried out the verses to the Lord, voice 5: Rise up Holy Cross, radiant lightning of your grace, into the hearts of those who honor you, and with God-pleasing love, who receive peace, who have needed tearful lamentation, and we have delivered ourselves from mortal snares, and come to everlasting joy. Show your beauty your splendor, reward your servant with abstinence, who faithfully ask for your rich intercession, and great mercy.

Rejoice, life-giving Cross, red Church of Paradise, tree of incorruption, the pleasure of eternal glory that vegetates for us: the troops who drive away demons are driven away, and the ranks of angels rejoice, and the copulations of the faithful are celebrated. An invincible weapon, an indestructible affirmation, victory for the faithful, praise for the priests, grant us now the passion of Christ to achieve, and great mercy.

Rejoice, life-giving Cross, invincible victory of piety, door of heaven, true statement, The Church is protected: by which the aphid was ruined and abolished, and the mortal power was trampled, and we ascended from the earth to the heavenly: invincible weapons, resisting demons, the glory of the martyrs, the saints, as truly fertilizer, a refuge of salvation, granting great mercy to the world.

Stichera for the veneration of the Cross, tone 2: Come, faithfully, let us bow to the life-giving Tree, on which Christ the King of Glory willingly stretched out his hand, lifting us up to the first bliss, which the enemy had previously stolen with sweetness, created expelled from God. Come faithfully, let us bow to the Tree, to which we have been vouchsafed by invisible enemies to crush their heads. Come, all the tongues of the fatherland, let us honor the Cross of the Lord with hymns: Rejoice in the Cross, perfect deliverance for fallen Adam! They boast about you faithfully, as through your power the Ismailite people are sovereignly punishing. Christians now kiss you with fear: we glorify God who is nailed to you, saying: Lord, who was nailed to us, have mercy on us, for He is Good and Lover of Mankind.

Voice 8: Today the Lord of creation, and the Lord of glory, is nailed to the Cross and pierced in the ribs, tastes the bile and sap, the sweetness of the church: he is crowned with thorns: he covers the sky with clouds, he is clothed with a robe of reproach: and he is strangled with the mortal hand, with the hand that created man. When splashing happens, clothes the sky with clouds. He accepts spitting and wounds, reproaches and strangulations: and he endures everything for the sake of the condemned, my Savior and God, may he save the world from delusion, for he is compassionate.

Glory, voice 8: Today, an inviolable being, touches me, and suffers passions, free me from passions. Give light to the blind, from lawless lips they spit on you, and give lashes to the wounds of those who are captured. Seeing this Pure Virgin and Mother on the Cross is painfully prophetic: alas for me, My Child, why have you done this? A man red with kindness above all others, lifeless, sightless, appearing without appearance, below kindness. Alas for Me, My Light! I cannot see You while you sleep, I am wounded in the womb, and My heart is pierced by a fierce weapon. I sing of Your passion, I bow to Your compassion, long-suffering glory to You.

And now, the same voice: Today the prophetic word has been fulfilled: behold, we worship in the place where Thy nose stood, Lord: and having tasted the Tree of Salvation, sinful passions freedom through the prayers of the Mother of God, the only lover of mankind.

* Prayers with translation into Russian, explanations and notes by N. Nakhimov, 1912.

Gospel at Liturgy

And calling the people with His disciples, He said to them: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Me and the Gospel will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels. And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

Saint Theophan the Recluse

“If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). You cannot follow the Lord the Crusader without a cross; and all those who follow Him will certainly come with a cross. What is this cross? All sorts of inconveniences, hardships and sorrows that arise both from outside and from within, on the path of conscientious fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord in life in accordance with the spirit of His instructions and requirements. Such a cross is so intertwined with a Christian that where there is a Christian, there is this cross, and where this cross is not, there is no Christian. All-round benefits and a life of pleasure do not suit a true Christian. His task is to cleanse and correct himself. He is like a patient who needs to do cauterizations and cuttings, but how can this be done without pain? He wants to escape from the captivity of a strong enemy - but how can this happen without struggle and wounds? He must go against all the orders around him, and this is how to endure without inconvenience and embarrassment. Rejoice, feeling the cross on yourself, for this is a sign that you are following the Lord, the path of salvation, to paradise. Be patient a little. This is the end and crowns!

Dictionary

The services of Great Lent, as well as the preparatory weeks for it (starting with the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee and ending with Great Saturday), i.e. period, amounting to a total of 70 days, are placed in the liturgical book called Lenten Triode.

“Triod” (in Greek - “Triodion”, i.e. three-song - from the words “trio” - three and “odi” - song) received its name from the fact that it contains the most tripongs (canons) , consisting of only three songs).

The Triodion owes its spread and use to St. Cosmas of Maium (8th century), a contemporary of St. John of Damascus. Many three songs belong to earlier songwriters, for example, St. Andrew of Crete, who owns the three songs at Compline for the week of Vai, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week, as well as the great canon read on the first and fifth weeks of Great Lent.

In the 9th century, the Monks Josiah and Theodore the Studites collected everything that had been written before them, put it in proper order, added many of their stichera and canons, and thus the Triodion was formed, containing about 160 services - large and small.

In the 14th century, the Lenten Triodion was supplemented by synaxariums compiled by Nicephorus Callistus.

Calendar for the next week:

Thursday, March 22 - Polyeleos Feast - 40 martyrs who suffered in Lake Sebaste.
Saturday, March 24 - commemoration of the departed.
Sunday, March 25 - St. John Climacus.

Week of the Cross Lent 2018 falls in the middle of Lent. Each week of Lent has a special name, reminiscent of one or another event associated with the holy great martyrs, metropolitans, miracle workers, Jesus Christ themselves, the Mother of God and the Holy Trinity. In 2018, the Week of the Cross falls on March 11th.

The names convey special differences in church services ah, in the one to whom prayer and worship should be offered. This is also connected with special spiritual instructions, perceiving which Christians must unite in a single impulse, supporting each other in deed and word, let it be reflected only in prayer.

Fourth week of Lent Veneration of the Cross: bow after reading the prayer

The name “cross veneration” comes from the fact that in the named week, services in the church are accompanied by bows to the sacred cross on which the Son of God was allegedly crucified (“allegedly” means that Jesus was not crucified on each of the crosses in all churches).

This action - bowing after reading a prayer, occurs four times, starting on Sunday, which is called the Worship of the Cross, and then on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Bowing means tribute to the feat of Christ, the desire to follow him, as well as the acceptance of one’s own burden, one’s destiny, which manifests itself every day in everyday life, such seemingly small deprivations in the form of a reduced portion of food and complete refusal from worldly entertainments.

Fourth week of Lent Veneration of the Cross: the meaning of the Week of the Veneration of the Cross

The meaning of the Week of the Cross lies on the surface. The people have an expression “carry your cross”; it is directly related to the explanation. During Lent, every Christian tries to bear the burden that lay on the shoulders of Jesus during the days of forty days of abstinence. Everyone experiences their own temptation based on their “weak” point. This means that in the middle of Lent, the Christian already knew “his cross” and fully felt all the temptations that accompany abstinence, against which he raised his spirit. This is a kind of act of recognizing one’s burden as voluntary, desired.

Also, the cross is a symbol of a reminder of the death of Christ and the result of the entire fast, after which comes the sacred resurrection. Thus, on the Week of the Cross, everyone can feel inspired to continue their fast, realizing for what purpose and what result they are holding their will in their fist.

The fourth week of Lent, the Worship of the Cross: there is a little confusion with the name of the week of the Worship of the Cross

Lent in 2018 it began on February 19 and will last until April 7. There is a slight confusion with the name of the week of the Worship of the Cross due to differences in data in several sources, which requires clarification.

Many of these sources call the 4th week of Lent the Worship of the Cross, which seems quite logical and memorable, given the clue that it falls exactly in the middle of Lent. However, in fact, the name of the Worship of the Cross moves on for a week from the Sunday of the same name, which ends the 3rd week of Lent. Consequently, the week of the Worship of the Cross is the third, despite the fact that larger number Services with veneration of the cross take place in the 4th week.

The fourth week of Lent is the Veneration of the Cross: in 2018, the Week of the Veneration of the Cross falls on March 11

The veneration week of Lent in 2018 falls on March 11. On this day, the traditional removal of the cross to the middle of the temple hall will take place, so that everyone praying can bow to the ground before it and be inspired by the feat done by Jesus to continue the fast.

During the liturgy these days, prayer Holy Trinity, which traditionally accompanies the service every day, is replaced by prayer song“We worship Your Cross, Master, and holyly we glorify Your Resurrection,” after which we must bow.

If possible, you should visit all 4 services. The single voice of dozens, turned into prayer, can create a miracle, especially if our will has weakened under the pressure of routine.

The veneration week of Lent 2018 falls in its middle. Each week of Lent has a special name, reminiscent of one or another event associated with the holy great martyrs, metropolitans, miracle workers, Jesus Christ themselves, the Mother of God and the Holy Trinity.

The names convey special differences in church services and in who should offer prayer and worship. This is also connected with special spiritual instructions, perceiving which Christians must unite in a single impulse, supporting each other in deed and word, let it be reflected only in prayer. The Third Week of Great Lent is dedicated to the veneration of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross. The editors of the website Useful Sovetie.ru found out when the week of veneration of the cross will take place and in which week of Lent in 2018. What traditions exist, traditions and rituals, as well as the history of this wonderful holiday. And let's share the most the best recipes Lenten Cross cookies, which are traditionally baked at home during the week of the Cross.

What is the Week of the Cross?
Story
When and how does the week of veneration of the cross take place?
- Church service
Tradition - baking cookies in the shape of crosses during the week of veneration of the cross
- Recipe for almond cookies "Cross"
- Honey cross cookies
- Lemon crosses
- Cookies Crosses with cucumber pickle
- Lenten cookie dough Crosses with poppy seeds

This action - bowing after reading a prayer, occurs four times, starting on Sunday, which is called the Worship of the Cross, and then on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Bowing means tribute to the feat of Christ, the desire to follow him, as well as the acceptance of one’s own burden, one’s destiny, which manifests itself every day in everyday life, such seemingly small deprivations in the form of a reduced portion of food and a complete rejection of worldly entertainment.

This means that in the middle of Lent, the Christian already knew “his cross” and fully felt all the temptations that accompany abstinence, against which he raised his spirit. This is a kind of act of recognizing one’s burden as voluntary, desired.

During the Iranian-Byzantine War in 614, the Persian king Khosroes II besieged and captured Jerusalem, capturing the Jerusalem patriarch Zechariah and capturing the Tree Life-giving Cross, once found by Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen.

In 626, Khosroes, in alliance with the Avars and Slavs (yes, Slavs!) almost captured Constantinople. Through the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, the capital city was delivered from the invasion, and then the course of the war changed, and in the end the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius I celebrated the victorious end of the 26-year war.

Presumably on March 6, 631, the Life-Giving Cross returned to Jerusalem, reports the Rosregistr portal. The emperor personally carried him into the city, and Patriarch Zacharias, rescued from captivity, walked joyfully next to him. Since then, Jerusalem began to celebrate the anniversary of the return of the Life-Giving Cross.

It must be said that at that time the duration and severity of Lent were still being discussed, and the order of Lenten services was just being formed. When did the custom begin to postpone the holidays that occur during Lent? weekdays to Saturdays and Sundays (so as not to violate the strict mood of weekdays), then the holiday in honor of the Cross also shifted and gradually became assigned to the third Sunday of Lent.

Just in the middle of Lent, intensive preparation began for those catechumens who were going to be baptized on Easter this year. And it turned out to be very appropriate to begin such preparation with the veneration of the Cross.

Starting next Wednesday, at each Presanctified Liturgy, after the litany for the catechumens, there will be another litany for those “preparing for enlightenment” - precisely in memory of those who diligently prepared and were planning to be baptized soon.

Over time, the purely Jerusalem holiday of the return of the Cross became not so relevant for the entire Christian world, and the holiday in honor of the Cross acquired a more global meaning and a more applied meaning: as a remembrance and help in the middle of the strictest and most difficult of fasts.

The veneration of the cross begins the week with the Sunday of the same name, which ends the 3rd week of Lent. Consequently, the week of the Veneration of the Cross is the third, despite the fact that a greater number of services with veneration of the cross take place in the 4th week.

On the mentioned Sunday, the first service with bows to the cross takes place. The next one takes place on Monday, exactly one day later. Also on Wednesday and Friday evening of the 4th week, the last service of the Cross takes place, after which the cross takes its place in the altar.

The veneration week of Lent in 2018 falls on March 5th. On this day, the traditional removal of the cross to the middle of the temple hall will take place, so that everyone praying can bow to the ground before it and be inspired by the feat done by Jesus to continue the fast.

During the liturgy these days, the prayer to the Most Holy Trinity, which traditionally accompanies the service every day, is replaced by the prayer hymn “We worship Your Cross, O Master, and holyly we glorify Your Resurrection,” after which bows should be made.

If possible, you should visit all 4 services. The single voice of dozens, turned into prayer, can create a miracle, especially if our will has weakened under the pressure of routine.

Saturday evening on all-night vigil The Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is solemnly brought into the center of the temple - a reminder of the approaching Holy Week and Easter. After this, the priests and parishioners of the temple make three bows in front of the cross. When venerating the Cross, the Church sings: “We worship Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy resurrection.” This chant is also sung at the Liturgy instead of the Trisagion.

The Holy Cross remains for veneration during the week until Friday, when it is brought back to the altar before the Liturgy. Therefore, the third Sunday and fourth week of Great Lent are called “Worship of the Cross.”

According to the Charter, there are four venerations during the Week of the Cross: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Sunday, the veneration of the Cross occurs only at Matins (after the removal of the Cross), on Monday and Wednesday it is performed at the first hour, and on Friday “after the dismissal of the hours.”

Liturgical texts in honor of the Cross are very sublime and beautiful; they are replete with contrasts, allegories, and artistic personification.

There was such an interesting Russian folk tradition - baking cookies in the form of crosses on the Cross. Crosses may differ in size, but they are always of a similar shape; most often they are made symmetrical, equilateral, with four rays.

To do this, two equal strips of dough are placed on top of one another in a cross shape (these are “simple” crosses). or the rolled out dough is cut into “crosses” with a mold or knife (these are “cut-out” crosses).

Sometimes they are made even simpler - in the form of round cakes, on which the image of a cross is applied. According to legend, such Crosses “drived away” everything bad from the house and household members.

Ivan Shmelev in his book “The Summer of the Lord” described this custom well. I will give an extensive quote here - Shmelev very vividly showed how such a tradition is inscribed in the order of life and thinking of an Orthodox, church child. Shown the “presentation angle” of this custom:

“On Saturday of the third week of Lent we bake “crosses”: “Cross Worship” is suitable.
“Crosses” – special cookies, with almond flavor, crumbly and sweet; where the crossbars of the “cross” lie – raspberries from jam are pressed in, as if nailed down with nails. They have been baking this way since time immemorial, even before great-grandmother Ustinya - as a consolation for Lent. Gorkin instructed me this way:
– Our Orthodox faith, Russian... it is, my dear, the best, the most cheerful! and lightens the weak, enlightens despondency, and brings joy to the little ones.

And this is the absolute truth. Even though it’s Lent for you, it’s still a relief for the soul, “crosses.” Only under great-grandmother Ustinya there are raisins in sadness, and now there are cheerful raspberries.

“Worship of the Cross” is a holy week, strict fast, some kind of special, - “su-lipped,” - Gorkin says so, in the church way. If we kept it strictly in the church way, we would have to remain in dry eating, but due to weakness, relief is given: on Wednesday-Friday we will eat without butter - pea soup and vinaigrette, and on other days, which are “variegated”, - indulgence... but on The snack is always “crosses”: remember the “Worship of the Cross”.
Maryushka makes “crosses” with prayer...

And Gorkin also instructed:

– Taste the cross and think to yourself: “The venerable cross” has arrived. And these are not for pleasure, but everyone, they say, is given a cross in order to live an exemplary life... and to bear it obediently, as the Lord sends a test. Our faith is good, it does not teach evil, but brings understanding.”

Products:

150 g peeled almonds,
1⁄2 cup boiling water,
100 g honey,
1 lemon slice with skin about 1 cm thick,
1⁄2 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg,
1⁄4 cup olive oil,
250 g wheat flour,
50 g rye flour,
2/3 sachet of baking powder.

How to cook:

Wash the almonds and pour boiling water for 10 minutes. Add honey, butter, a slice of lemon and grind with a blender. Mix flour, baking powder and spices. Pour the nut-honey syrup into the flour and knead the dough, which should eventually be rolled into a ball.
Leave the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour, then roll it out into a thin layer (about 5 mm) and cut out crosses. Bake at 190 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour,
300 g honey,
2-3 tbsp. spoon of vegetable oil,
100 g peeled nuts,
1 teaspoon of spices,
1 lemon,
1 teaspoon soda, raisins.

Preparation

Grind the kernels of nuts (walnuts, almonds or hazel) thoroughly or pass through a meat grinder, combine with honey, add vegetable oil, spices and finely grated lemon with zest.

Mix the mixture, add flour mixed with soda and knead the dough.

Roll it out, cut crosses with a notch or a knife, put the raisins on top and bake in the oven.
To flavor cookies, you can use various spices: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg etc., as well as their mixtures.

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You will need:

250 g lean margarine,
3 cups flour,
1 cup potato starch,
1 tbsp. l. baking powder,
2 packets of vanilla sugar,
zest of 1 lemon,
1 glass of water.

We bake Lenten lemon cross cookies:

Chop margarine with flour and starch. Add sugar, baking powder, finely grated zest and replace the dough with very cold water(from the refrigerator). Make crosses by pressing raisins into the crossbars and bake.

Products:

1 glass of cucumber pickle,
1 cup refined sunflower oil,
1 glass of sugar,
100 g coconut flakes,
2-3 cups of flour.

A simple recipe for Lenten crosses in brine cookies:

Mix butter, sugar, brine, half the chips and flour. Knead the dough as thick as shortbread. Roll out, sprinkle with remaining coconut shavings. Cut out the crosses, place on a baking sheet lightly sprinkled with flour and bake at 180 degrees for 5-8 minutes. Instead of coconut flakes, you can use poppy seeds, lemon zest, candied fruits, dried apricots, cut into small pieces or dried orange peels crushed in a coffee grinder.

Cookies ingredients:

25 g poppy seeds,
1 cup flour,
4 tbsp. spoons of sugar,
5 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil,
0.5 teaspoon of soda,
3 tbsp. spoons of water with lemon juice

Lenten cookies with poppy seeds Crosses during the week of the Cross - step by step recipe with photo:

Mix poppy seeds with 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar, add 100 g of water, heat for 10 minutes until the water boils. Cover with a lid. Rub the poppy seeds in a mortar until milk of the poppy appears and the characteristic poppy smell appears.
Pour flour, poppy seeds, 3 tbsp into a bowl. spoons of sugar and rub with your hands.
Add oil.
Add soda with lemon juice, add 2 tbsp. spoons of water and knead the dough. Wrap in film and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Roll out the dough 0.5 cm thick, cut out crosses. Press a raisin into the middle of each cross. Bake at 180 C for 15 minutes.

In the old days, on Wednesday during the week of the Cross, people congratulated people on the end of the first half of Lent. It was customary to bake cross-shaped cookies from unleavened dough. Cookies were baked with prayer. In these crosses they baked either rye grain to make bread, or a chicken feather to raise chickens, or human hair to make the head easier.

A person was considered happy if he came across one of these objects. The cookies were a reminder of the suffering of Christ and that every person has his own cross in life.

There was a custom on the third Sunday of Lent to fumigate the house with vapors of vinegar and mint in order to cleanse the home and drive out the spirit of any disease.

The third Sunday is called Week of the Cross. Its name comes from the fact that on Saturday evening, according to a special rite, veneration of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, which has become for us “ tree of life” and opened the entrance to the blissful heavenly Fatherland lost by pristine man. Remembering the suffering on the cross that the Lord endured for the sake of our salvation, we ourselves must strengthen ourselves in spirit and continue our fasting feat with humility and patience.

History of the establishment of the Week of the Cross

“On the same day, in the third week of Lent, we celebrate the veneration of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross, for the sake of sin. For the sake of the fourty-day fast, in some way we are crucified, killed by passions, and the feeling of grief, the imams, is despondent and falling. The Honest and Life-Giving Cross is offered, as if to repose and strengthen us, remembering the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and consoling us. Even if our God were crucified for our sake, how much we owe to Him for the sake of His work.

... Just as the path is traversed by duty and is sharp, and labor aggravated, even where the tree is blessed and leafy, they rest for a little while, so even now in Lenten time and a regrettable path and feat, planted in the midst of the God-bearing Father, the Life-Giving Cross, giving us weakness and peace, arranging those who were needy and easy for the work before them.
... The Holy Pentecost is like a bitter spring, for the sake of contrition and the grief and sadness that comes to us from fasting. Just as in this environment the divine Moses placed a tree and sweetened it, so God, who led us through the wise Red Sea and Pharaoh, with the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross sweetens, even from the fourty-day fast, grief and sadness. And consoling us, as if we were in the desert, He will lead us all the way to wise Jerusalem with His resurrection" ( Lenten Triodion, Synoxarion on the Sunday of the Cross ).

The Gospels do not provide much detail about the cross on which Christ was crucified. The discovery of the Holy Cross took place in 326, when it was found Saint Queen Helena during her pilgrimage to Jerusalem:

...divine Constantine sent blessed Helen with treasures to find the life-giving cross of the Lord. Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem met the queen with due honor and together with her looked for the desired life-giving tree, remaining in silence and diligent prayers and fasting. (“Chronography” of Theophanes, year 5817 (324/325))

The history of the discovery of the Holy Cross is described by many authors of that time: Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), Rufinus (345-410), Socrates Scholasticus (c. 380-440), Theodoret of Cyrus (386-457) .), Sulpicius Severus (c. 363-410), Sozomen (c. 400-450).

For the first time in surviving texts detailed history the finding of the Cross appears in Ambrose of Milan in 395. In his “Word on the Death of Theodosius,” he tells how Queen Helena ordered to dig at Golgotha and discovered three crosses there. According to the inscription " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews“She found the true Cross and worshiped it. She also found the nails with which the Lord was crucified. All the few indications from historians closest in time to the search boil down to the fact that the crosses were found not far from the Holy Sepulcher, but not in the Sepulcher itself. There was a possibility that all three crosses used in the execution that day could have been buried near the site of the crucifixion. Sozomen in his work he puts forward the following assumption about the possible fate of the Cross after the body of Jesus Christ was removed from it:

The soldiers, as the story tells, first found Jesus Christ dead on the cross and, having taken Him down, gave Him away for burial; then, intending to hasten the death of the robbers crucified on both sides, they broke their legs, and threw the crosses themselves one after another, at random.

Eusebius of Caesarea describes the excavation site as follows:

Some atheists and wicked men intended to hide this saving cave from the eyes of people, with the insane intention of hiding the truth through this. Having used a lot of labor, they brought earth from somewhere and filled the whole place with it. Then, raising the embankment to a certain height, they paved it with stone, and under this high embankment they hid the divine cave. Having completed such work, they only had to prepare a strange, truly tomb of souls on the surface of the earth, and they built a gloomy dwelling for dead idols, a hiding place of the demon of voluptuousness Aphrodite, where they brought hated sacrifices on unclean and vile altars. (Eusebius of Caesarea, “Life of Constantine.” III, 36)

The place where the Cross was found is located in the chapel of the Finding of the Cross of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, in a former quarry. The location of its discovery is marked by a red marble slab with an image of a cross; the slab is surrounded on three sides by a metal fence; this is where the Cross was initially kept. To the chapel of the Finding of the Cross from the underground Armenian Church St. Helena there are 22 metal steps leading down, this is the lowest and most eastern point Church of the Holy Sepulcher - two floors down from the main level. In the chapel of the Finding of the Cross, under the ceiling near the descent, there is a window marking the place from which Elena watched the progress of the excavations and threw money to encourage those who worked. This window connects the chapel with the altar of St. Helen's Church. Socrates Scholasticus writes that Empress Helen divided the Life-Giving Cross into two parts: one she placed in a silver vault and left in Jerusalem, and the second she sent to her son Constantine, who placed it in his statue mounted on a column in the center of Constantine Square. Socrates reports that this information is known to him from the conversations of the residents of Constantinople, that is, it may be unreliable. The remaining part of the Cross in Jerusalem was located there long time, and the believers worshiped the honest tree. In 614, Jerusalem was besieged by the Persian ruler Khosra II. After a long siege, the Persians managed to capture the city. The invaders took away the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross, which had been kept in the city since the time it was found by Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen. The war continued for many years. Having united with the Avars and Slavs, the Persian king almost captured Constantinople. Only the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos saved the Byzantine capital. The Persians were defeated. The Cross of the Lord was returned to Jerusalem. Since then, the day of this joyful event has been celebrated annually.

At that time, the order of Lenten church services had not yet been finally established and some changes were constantly being made to it. In particular, I practiced transfer of holidays that occurred on weekdays of Lent to Saturday and Sunday. This made it possible not to violate the strictness of fasting on weekdays. The same thing happened with the Feast of the Life-Giving Cross. It was decided to be celebrated on the third Sunday of Lent. On these same days, it was customary to begin preparing the catechumens whose sacrament of baptism was scheduled for. It was considered correct to begin instruction in faith with the veneration of the Cross of the Lord. This tradition existed until the 13th century, when Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders. From then on, the further fate of the shrine is unknown. Only isolated particles of the Cross are found in some reliquaries.

Divine service on the Week of the Cross. Troparion and Kontakion

At Matins on the Sunday of the Cross, after the Great Doxology, the priest takes the Cross out of the altar. When singing the troparion “Save your people…” The cross is placed on a lectern in the center of the temple. “We worship Your Cross, Master...” the priest proclaims and bows to the ground. After the clergy, they approach the lectern in pairs and all the worshipers, first male, then female, bow and kiss the Cross, while the choir at this time sings special stichera dedicated to the redemptive suffering of Christ the Savior.

R aduisz life-giving places, red flowers of paradise2, the imperishable tree, the pleasure that has given us eternal glory. and 4 also the wickedness of the Poltsy 2, and 3 the festivities of the festivities are celebrated, and 3 the assemblies of the faithful celebrate. weapons are invincible, affirmation is indestructible. This is a victory, congratulations2. xt0you are not in the same age, and3 wait for us to achieve, and3 great mercy. (Lenten Triodion, stichera on the Sunday of the Cross)

In a similar way, the veneration of the Cross of the Lord is performed two more times a year - on the first day of the Dormition Fast (August 14, n.st.), when the “Origin of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord” is celebrated, and on the twelfth holiday (September 27, n.st.). During the Week of the Cross, the fourth week of Great Lent, during the daily service, the veneration of the Cross also occurs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a special rite during the reading of the hours.

Troparion, tone 1.

With 22 gD and your people, and 3 blessings 2 of your dignity, grant victories to the Russian power against resistance, and 3 your preserving the people.

Kontakion, tone 7.

No one else ardently guards the gates of the E3dems. This is why you will find the most glorious thing, the great tree, the mortal sting, and destroy the year’s victory2. I have come for all of you, who are in this place, come back to heaven.

Folk traditions of the Week of the Cross

In Rus', on Wednesday of the Week of Cross Worship, it was customary in all peasant houses to bake crosses from unleavened wheat dough according to the number of family members. They baked either a chicken feather in the crosses, “to make the chickens grow,” or rye grain, “to make bread grow,” or, finally, human hair, “to make the head easier.” Anyone who came across a cross with one of these items was considered lucky.

On Wednesday of the Week of the Worship of the Cross, the fast was broken, and small children went under the windows to congratulate their owners on the end of the first half of the fast. In some areas, this custom of congratulations was expressed in a very original form: congratulatory children were placed like chickens under a large basket, from where they sang in thin voices: “ Hello, master-red sun, hello, hostess-bright moon, hello, children-bright stars!... Half of the shit broke, and the other bent" It was customary to pour water on the simple-minded congratulatory children, and then, as if as a reward for the fright they had endured, they were given crosses made of dough.

Iconography of the Week of the Cross

As usual, the crucified Christ is depicted on the cross. Below, under the feet of the Savior, a footstool is depicted; on the top of the cross there is a board with an inscription initial letters Pilate’s inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (I.N.C.I) or the inscription “Jesus Christ”. On large temple images, crucifixes are depicted on both sides of the cross. Holy Mother of God and the Apostle John the Theologian, who, according to the Gospel, stood at the very cross during the execution. The icon “Worship of the Cross” depicts a cross surrounded by heavenly forces.

Churches dedicated to the Holy Cross

In Jerusalem, on the spot where, according to legend, the Tree of the Cross grew, a monastery was founded. Monastery of the Holy Cross and its location are mentioned in many tales and legends. According to one of the legends, the time of creation of the monastery is the period of reign Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Helen, that is, the 4th century AD. e. According to another legend, the founding date of the monastery is the 5th century. And this event is associated with Tatian, the king of Iberia (Georgia). It is believed that Tatian, king of Iberia (Georgia), made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and decided to build an Iberian monastery west of Jerusalem, on land that Constantine the Great had granted to Mirian, another Iberian king. According to the third legend, the monastery was built during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610-641). Returning victoriously from the Persian campaign, Heraclius camped at the place where the monastery is now located. This place was revered due to the fact that the Tree of the Cross grew there - the tree from which the Cross of Christ was made. The Holy Cross itself, which Heraclius returned from Persia to the Holy Land, was erected on Calvary. Irakli ordered to build a monastery on the chosen site.

In the city of Aparan, Aragatsotn region of Armenia, there is Church of the Holy Cross. It was built at the end of the 4th century. In 1877 the temple was restored. Belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church

Also on the island of Akhtamar (Türkiye) there is an early medieval Armenian Monastery of the Holy Cross. Built in 915-921.

Soulful teaching on the Week of the Worship of the Cross

The Cross of the Lord is a sign of victory over death and the forces of hell, the royal banner of Christ God, preceding His glorious appearance in the Holy Resurrection, as stated in the synoxarion of the Week of the Cross. The cross is our shield and weapon in the fight against invisible enemies and our own mental and physical passions and vices; in it we find true spiritual strength and strength when we strive to follow our Savior. Honoring the Cross and the suffering of the Lord, we shed both sorrowful and joyful tears, in hope of our own inner renewal and resurrection, which would have been impossible without the Great Sacred Sacrifice, which took place two thousand years ago on Calvary.

If the Sinless Lord Himself endured so much and suffered in His Most Pure Flesh for the sake of our salvation, then all the more we, sinful people, defiled by passions and vices, must suffer and endure, subduing carnal whims and lusts for the sake of the purification and enlightenment of the immortal soul.

The Christian religion is a “crusader” religion, as the Apostle Paul says: “It has been given to you for Christ’s sake not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.”(Phil. 1:29). AND “Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God”(Acts 14:22). Carry your cross within your strength, i.e. crucifying bodily lusts and desires is a narrow and cramped path of salvation for every Christian. Worshiping the Holy Cross of the Lord and “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.”(Heb. 12:2), we are encouraged in spirit and gain courage for exploits in order to reject conceit and pride and patiently follow in the footsteps of the holy fathers, who left us a worthy image and example to follow. That sorrow and patience are really necessary for internal self-education and spiritual growth, many edifying teachings say, instructing us on the path of virtue and improvement.

“...It is impossible for anyone to be saved without suffering and inconvenience, O my soul. What can I tell you about the Creator Himself of heaven and earth, of all creation, visible and invisible?! Wanting to save the human race from enslavement to the devil and hellish prisons, to save our forefather Adam from the curse and crime, God became man, incarnate from the Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Son - Word in Holy Virgin and was born without male seed. And the Invisible became visible. And he stayed with people. And He accepted reproach, dishonor, spitting and beatings on His most pure face from mortal man. And he was crucified on the Cross, and struck on the head with a cane, and, having tasted vinegar and gall, was pierced in the ribs with a spear, and put to death, and placed in a tomb. And He rose again on the third day by His power. O great miracle, amazing both to the angel and to people: the Immortal wanted to die, not wanting to see how the creation of His hands was tormented by the violence of the devil in hellish captivity!
Oh, your utmost meekness and indescribable love for mankind for our impoverishment and orphanhood! Oh, terrible and amazing sight of Your long-suffering, Lord! My mind is terrified and great fear attacks me, and my bones tremble when I talk about this. The Creator of all invisible and visible creation - but He wanted to suffer from His creation, from corruptible man! And the angels are horrified before Him, and all the powers of heaven incessantly glorify their Creator, and all creation sings and serves with fear, and the demons tremble. And so he endures all this and suffers: not from powerlessness, not from subordination, but by His will, ours for the sake of salvation, showing us an example of humility and suffering in everything, so that they also suffer, as He suffered, which my soul heard about.” ("Flower Garden" of Hieromonk Dorotheus ).

At Sunday Liturgy per week of the Worship of the Cross read Gospel of Mark(chapter 37), in which the Lord speaks about the path of self-sacrifice for the sake of the eternal salvation of the soul. Blissful Theophylact of Bulgaria deeply and edifyingly reveals to us the meaning of this church Gospel Word.

And calling the people with His disciples, He said to them: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his life for Me and the Gospel will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:34–37)

Since Peter reproached Christ, who wanted to hand himself over to be crucified, Christ calls on the people and speaks publicly, directing his speech mainly against Peter: “You do not approve of the fact that I take up the cross, but I tell you that neither you nor anyone else You will not be saved unless you die for virtue and truth.” Notice that the Lord did not say: “He who does not want to die will die,” but “whoever wants to die.” As if to say, I don’t force anyone. I call not for evil, but for good, and therefore whoever does not want it is unworthy of it. What does it mean to deny yourself? We will understand this when we learn what it means to reject someone else. Whoever rejects someone else, whether his father, brother, or someone from his family, even if he watches him being beaten or killed, does not pay attention and does not sympathize, having become alien to him. So the Lord commands us, that for His sake we too should despise our body and not spare it, even if they beat or blame us. Take up your cross, it is said, that is, a shameful death, for the cross was then considered an instrument of shameful execution. And since many robbers were crucified, he adds that with the crucifixion one should also have other virtues, for this is what the words mean: and follow Me. Since the command to give oneself up to death would seem heavy and cruel, the Lord says that, on the contrary, it is very humane, for whoever loses, that is, destroys his soul, but for My sake, and not like a robber executed or a suicide (in this case death will not be for My sake), he says, he will save - he will find his soul, while he who thinks to save his soul will destroy it if he does not resist during the torment. Do not tell Me that this last one will save his life, for even if he acquired the whole world, everything is useless. No amount of wealth can buy salvation. Otherwise: he who acquired the whole world, but lost his soul, would give everything when he burned in the flame, and thus would be redeemed. But such a ransom is impossible there. Here the mouths of those who, following Origen, say that the state of souls will change for the better after they are punished in proportion to their sins are stopped. Yes, they hear that there is no way to give a ransom for the soul and to suffer only to the extent that is supposedly necessary to satisfy for sins.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels. (Mark 8:38)

Internal faith alone is not enough: verbal confession is also required. For since man is dual, sanctification must also be twofold, that is, the sanctification of the soul through faith and sanctification of the body through confession. So, whoever is ashamed to confess the Crucified One as His God, He will also be ashamed and recognize him as an unworthy servant when He comes no longer in a humble form, not in humiliation, in which He appeared here before and for which some are ashamed of Him, but in glory and with the army of angels » (Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, ch. 8, 34-38).

The Word of the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

It may seem hard and strange to modern man listen to instructions about abstinence and “submission of the flesh to the spirit,” about various self-restraints and even some (however, moderate and reasonable) exhaustion of the flesh. The Holy Fathers point out that the root of such an opinion and reasoning lies in our voluptuousness and self-pity, our favorite habits, when the Church Charter sets clear boundaries and standards of behavior in the life of a Christian, and the inner old “I”, according to carnal wisdom, begins to object and asking “why?!”

That is, why fasts, bows, long prayer rule? Isn’t there a kind of ostentatious ritual action here, the so-called “ritual belief”, which has a clearly defined external form and is devoid of any internal spiritual content? But only ignorant people can say and think this way, who themselves have not yet tasted exactly that spiritual, quiet joy that is given to us after testing, after sorrows and deeds, enlightening the eyes of the heart for pure and concentrated prayer. When we bow to the ground, we confess our fall and humility before God, the consciousness of our unworthiness, we remember that we ourselves are dust, and to dust we will return. And when we rise from bowing, it is as if at the same time we rise in soul to a better and new life, which we find in observing the Christian commandments. What is difficult to explain in words, a person himself easily understands when he learns the corresponding life experience.

The Cross and Resurrection of the Savior reveal to us the highest heavenly mysteries, incomprehensible to any scientific philosophy, because they teach not earthly sciences, but the true path of virtue, which alone leads to the Eternal Heavenly Fatherland. For, as the holy fathers say: “There are many so-called wisdoms on earth, but all of them will remain on earth. The deepest wisdom of all is to save one’s soul, since it lifts the soul to heaven into the Kingdom of Heaven and places it before God” (“Flower Garden” by Hieromonk Dorotheus). The power and wisdom of Christianity is the Cross of the Lord, by worshiping which we hope to reach the day Happy Easter, where we will find a worthy reward for the ascetic labors and hardships endured.