The Exaltation of the Holy Cross is the last of the five great feasts of the Armenian Apostolic Church and is celebrated in memory of the return of Christ’s crucifixion wood from Persian captivity to Jerusalem and its erection on Golgotha. Hence the name of the feast — Exaltation of the Cross.
This year the feast was observed on September 14. In the churches and monasteries of the Tavush Diocese a liturgy was served for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and the meaning of the feast was explained: above all, it signifies spiritual renewal through resurrection. According to Grigor Tatevatsi, the Cross became a bridge joining the chasm between heaven and earth, “the opener of paradise’s gates and the giver of the heavenly kingdom as an inheritance.”
To be crucified and to triumph, to die and to live forever. The Cross reminds us that one must fight, but wage a just war, because “You will win this war, because your cause is just.”
