Feast Day: May 7th
About The Appearing in the Sky over Jerusalem of the Sign of the Precious and Life-giving Cross: At that time the heresy of Arianism, which taught that Christ was merely a creature and not God, was causing great turmoil and division throughout the Empire. Even after the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325, many people were drawn to this false teaching, and the Orthodox found themselves in the minority in many places… In May of 351 a luminous Cross appeared over Jerusalem, stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, a distance of about five and a half miles. The Cross was wide as it was long, and shone more brightly than the sun. Many people left their homes and workplaces to gather in the Church and Glorify Christ. The historian Sozomen says that this wondrous sign led to the conversion of multitudes of pagans and Jews to Christianity… The apparition of the Cross remained over the city for a whole week. The vision of the Cross over Jerusalem strengthened the Orthodox faithful and contributed to the return of many Arians to the Church. It is also a reminder of the awesome Second Coming of Christ, when “the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven” (Matthew 24:30)…
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Prayers
Apolytikion in the 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 Savior, Thou didst also thereby strengthen the faithful. Keep us always in peace, by the intercessions of the Theotokos, O Christ our God, and save us.
Kontakion in the 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.
A Verse: The Cross planted in the ground, Sanctified the Earth in days of old. And now that it has appeared, it Sanctifies also the Heavens. On the seventh the seal of the Cross spread out in the Heavens.
The Precious and Life-giving Cross
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Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in his letter to the Emperor Constantius, describes the event he witnessed with his own eyes: “On the nones [or 7th] of May, about the third hour [or nine in the morning], a vast luminous body, in the form of a Cross, appeared in the Heavens, just over the Holy Golgotha, reaching as far as the Holy Mount of Olives [that is, almost two English miles in length], seen not by one or two persons, but clearly and evidently by the whole city. This was not, as may be thought, a momentary transient phenomenon: for it continued several hours visible to our eyes, and brighter than the sun, the light of which would have eclipsed it, had not this been stronger. The whole city, struck with a reverential fear, tempered with joy, ran immediately to the Church, young and old, Christians and heathens, citizens and strangers, all with one voice giving praise to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the worker of Miracles; finding by experience the Truth of the Christian Doctrine, to which the Heavens bear witness.”
