Forefeast of Lifting of the Holy Cross; + Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem;+) Ven. John of Prislop; Martyrs of Dobrogea: Macrobius, Gordian, Elias, Zoticus, Lucian and Valerian; Hieromartyrs Cornelius the Centurion and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage; Sunday before the Lifting of the Holy Cross

Orthodox Calendar, September 13 Forefeast of Lifting of the Holy Cross The Dedication of the Temple of the Resurrection of Christ at Jerusalem celebrates the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection, built by Saint Constantine the Great and his mother, the empress Helen.

After the voluntary Passion and Death on the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the holy place of His suffering was long trampled on by pagans. When the Roman emperor Titus conquered Jerusalem in the year 70, he razed the city and destroyed the Temple of Solomon on Mount Moriah, leaving there not a stone upon a stone, as even the Savior foretold (Mt.13:1-2).

Later on the zealous pagan emperor Hadrian (117-138) built on the site of the Jerusalem destroyed by Titus a new city named Aelia Capitolina for him (Hadrian Aelius). It was forbidden to call the city by its former name.

He gave orders to cover the Holy Tomb of the Lord with earth and stones, and on that spot to set up an idol. On Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified, he constructed a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Venus in 119. Before the statues they offered sacrifice to demons and performed pagan rites, accompanied by wanton…