The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a very ancient feast. The history of the feast, like the history of the finding of the true Cross, is obscured by various legends. It is not easy to separate historical fact from pious legend.
Historians of the Eastern Church generally agree that two particular events gave rise to this feast: the finding of the holy Cross by St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century and its recovery or return from Persian captivity in the seventh century.
Tradition has transmitted several different legends about the finding of the Cross which is believed to have taken place in 326. The finding is celebrated by the Greek Church on the 6th of March. The Western Church originally celebrated this event on the 3rd of May until 1960 when the feast was excluded from the Church’s calendar.
The feast owes its origin to the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord, which was erected on Golgotha. This consecration, during the time of Marcarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, was celebrated on the 13th of September in 335. On the day following the consecration, the Cross was solemnly elevated for all to venerate. During the elevation, the people sang repeatedly, Lord, have mercy. Since that time, the Eastern Church celebrates the feast of the Exaltation on the 14th of September.
The second event which rendered the feast universal in the East was the return of the Cross from Persian captivity. In 614 the Persian King Chosroes captured Jerusalem and carried off the Cross. Fourteen years later, Emperor Heraclius recovered the Cross and had it brought back to Jerusalem where, on the 14th of September, a second celebration of the feast took place. Since that time on, the feast the name: The Universal Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-giving Cross.
Since the feast calls to mind the crucifixion and death of Christ, it is become a custom to observe a strict fact on this day. It is one of the twelve major feasts of the Eastern Church.
The Eastern Church has several other feasts that remember the Cross of Christ and the meaning it has for salvation history. On May 7th the Apparition of the Sign of the Cross in the sky in Jerusalem is celebrated. On August 1st the Procession of the Cross is celebrated. This feast recalls that the Cross was carried from the royal palace in Constantinople to the Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) every day for two weeks because of the various sicknesses that seemed to occur during the month of August.
The feast was already mention in the 13th century in the land of Rus-Ukraine. It has been universally celebrated in our Church since 1276.