14-го числа

Two elders walked from Egi to Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, writes John Moschus. Having come, at the discretion of God, to the hotel, settling down to rest in it. It was sultry. Here they found three young men departing from Yehovah with a harlot. The elders sat down at a distance. One of them, taking St. from the bag. The Gospel, I began to read. The harlot who was with the young men, seeing that the elder was reading, left them, came up and sat down next to the elder. The elder, turning to her, said: “unfortunate! How shameless you are! You were not ashamed to come up to us and sit down.” She answered: “No, father, do not reject me. I am full of sins, but the Lord God of all did not reject the harlot who approached Him.” The elder told her: “That harlot was no longer a harlot.” She answered him: “I hope in the Son of the living God, that at this hour I will not return to my sins.” Leaving the young people and everything she had, she followed the elders. They sent her to a monastery near Yegov, called Nahiba. I saw her already in old age, reasoning very prudently, and I heard it from her herself. 129 According to other news, she was called Mary and finally became so elevated in spiritual life that miracles were performed. 130 Since blessed John saw Mary as an old woman in 606, then her death probably followed in 607. Let us add to this the story also of Moschus about the Lycian event, contemporary with the acts of Mary, especially since it, expressing the need for firm fidelity to good intentions, serves as an addition to the history of Mary. “Abba Nicholas,” writes Moschus, presbyter of the Jordan monastery of eunuchs, told us (John and Sophronius) that in his country (he was from Lycia) there is a monastery in which there are about forty virgins; In this monastery, five virgins agreed to run away from the monastery at night and choose husbands for themselves. One night, when all the monasteries were sleeping, they wanted to take their clothes and run away, but suddenly all five were seized with a demon. When this happened, they no longer left the monastery and afterwards they thanked God and, confessing their sins, said: we thank the merciful God who punished us so that our souls would not perish.” 131 Plaquilla, the wife of Emperor Theodosius the Great, is known as a deeply pious Christian. The zeal with which she devoted herself to charity was so great that she not only helped the poor with money, but also personally visited them and cared for the sick. Finding this incongruous with the dignity of a royal person, some people convinced the empress that it was enough for her to provide monetary benefits and that it was inappropriate to devote her personal labor to the poor. “I know that it is proper for the imperial rank to provide generous benefits to those in need,” answered the empress, “but I think that it is my duty to devote my personal work for the sake of the One who was pleased to elevate me to this rank.” Thus, having filled her life with the most beneficial activities, Empress Plaquilla died peacefully around the year 400. Exaltation of the Holy Cross The Feast of the Exaltation is a glorious celebration of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord, following two sacred events in the history of the Church of Christ. The first is the miraculous appearance and discovery of the Cross during the reign of Constantine the Great. Constantine, born in paganism, had a just love for Christianity, following the example of his father, who, among his fellow kings, alone knew how to show his subjects a source of security and peace in his power. Maxentius declared war on Constantine under the pretext of taking revenge on him for the death of his father Maximian Herculius and, in the person of Constantine, defeating the strong defender of Christians. Eusebius says that Constantine’s forces were weaker than the enemy’s. He felt that he needed help from above and looked for it. He began to think: what kind of God would he call upon to help him? At the same time, it occurred to him that not a small number of former sovereigns, having placed their hope in many gods, were deceived and ended their work unhappily; and that his father Constantius, who throughout his life revered the one Most High God, had signs of His protection. Constantine began to call upon Him, to ask and beg that He would appear to enlighten him about Himself and, in the present matter, extend His blessing to him. Diligently offering up his prayers and petitions about this, “the king (i.e. Constantine the Great) received a most amazing sign sent from God, so it would not have been easy to believe if someone else had spoken. But the victorious king himself assured us with an oath when, long after that, we wrote this essay and were honored with his acquaintance and conversation. Therefore, who will doubt the truth of this legend, especially since subsequent times were evidence of its truth? In 312, on the 28th day of October, going against Maxentius, who was imprisoned in Rome, “at midday, when the sun began to lean towards the west,” the king said, “I saw with my own eyes the sign of the Cross made of light and lying in the sun, with the inscription: hereby conquer (εν τουτω νιχα). This sight filled with horror both himself and the entire army, which, without knowing where, followed him and continued to contemplate the miracle that had appeared.” Thus, the miraculous appearance of the Cross to Constantine the Great took place in the middle of the day and was attested by modern writers, who, from the words of eyewitnesses, described in detail the circumstances of the phenomenon: this was especially the case with Eusebius and others. “Konstantin was perplexed, what would such a phenomenon mean? The next night, Christ of God appeared to him in a dream with a sign seen in heaven and commanded him to build a military banner in his likeness and use it for protection from enemy attacks. As soon as the light of day dawned, Constantine told his secret to those close to him, and then, calling on the experts who knew how to handle gold and precious stones, and having described to them the image of the sign, he ordered the same to be made from gold and precious stones in its likeness. We once happened to see this banner with our own eyes. It had the following appearance: on a long spear covered with gold, there was a diameter at the top, forming with the spear the image of the Cross. At the very top of the spear, a wreath of precious stones and gold lay motionless, and on the wreath was a sign of the saving name: the first two letters showed the name of Christ, from the middle of which came the letter ρ. Later the king had the custom of wearing these letters on his helmet. On the diameter of the spear hung a thin, white cloth - royal fabric, covered with various precious stones, shining with rays of light. Embroidered with gold, this board seemed inexpressibly beautiful to the spectators and, hanging on the cross-section, had the same latitude and longitude. On a straight spear, the lower end of which was very long, under the sign of the Cross, at the very top of the fabric hung a chest image made of gold of the God-loving king and his children. The king always used this saving sign, as a defensive weapon, to defeat opposing and hostile forces, and he ordered that similar banners be worn in all troops. Struck by the wondrous vision and deciding not to honor any other God other than what he had seen, Constantine called to himself the mysteries of His word and asked them: who is that God, and what is the meaning of the sign that he saw? They answered that God, who appeared to him, is the only begotten Son of the one and only God, and the sign that appeared is a sign of immortality and a solemn sign of the victory over death that he won during the days of His earthly life. Then, having revealed in detail the doctrine of the incarnation, they explained to Constantine the reasons for the coming of the Son of God to earth. Constantine, although he was enlightened by their words, nevertheless had before his eyes the miracle of the epiphany given to him and, comparing the heavenly vision with the verbal explanation, he was confirmed in his thoughts. He was convinced that the knowledge of these subjects was communicated to him from above, and he even began to read the divine scriptures himself. Moreover, he commanded God’s priests to be with him, in the thought that the seen God should be honored by all means of service. Having thus secured himself with good hopes for Him, he hastened to finally extinguish the flame of the tyrant’s fire. Having called on the God of all and calling on Christ as a savior and helper, also placing a victorious banner with a saving banner in front of his men-at-arms and bodyguards, Constantine set out with his army against Maxentius, who had strengthened himself in Rome. By the power of God, Constantine overthrew the enemy, who, fleeing, was thrown from the Milvian Bridge into the Tiber, 15 versts from Rome, and drowned. The winner triumphantly entered the reigning city, where everyone greeted Constantine with cheerful faces and hearts, with blessings and inexpressible joy. But, possessing innate piety, he was not at all vain with the people’s exclamations and did not become proud of the praises, but, aware of God’s help, he immediately offered a prayer of gratitude to the Author of the victory. With nationwide monuments and signatures, he told everyone the power of the saving sign of Christ. In the midst of the royal city, he erected this sacred banner and inscribed definitely and indelibly that this saving banner is the guardian of the Roman Empire and the entire kingdom. When his statue was placed in the most crowded place in Rome, he immediately ordered that tall spear in the form of a Cross to be set in the hand of his image and the following inscription to be inscribed in Latin: “with this saving sign, a true testimony of courage, I saved and freed our city from the yoke of the tormentor and returned to the Roman Senate and people freedom, former splendor and celebrity.” Subsequently, Constantine and his soldiers repeatedly experienced the power and help of the Cross. According to the legend of Eusebius, “where the banner of the Cross was shown, the enemies fled, and the victors pursued them. When the king found out about this, the saving banner, as the most effective means of victory, ordered to be transferred to where he saw one of his regiments weakened. With this sign, victory was immediately restored, because those who fought under it were strengthened by cheerfulness and strength sent from above. Therefore, Constantine ordered those of his shield-bearers who were distinguished by their strength of body, strength of soul and pious disposition to serve solely in the service of this banner. There were no more than fifty such men in number; they had no other duty than to stand around the banner, or to follow it as a guard, when each of them alternately carried it on their shoulders.” The writer of this story, long after those events, was told about this at his leisure by the king himself, and added the following memorable event to his story. “One day, in the heat of the battle, there was a noise in the army and great confusion spread. At this time, the one carrying the banner suffered greatly from timidity, and therefore handed over his burden to another in order to escape from the battlefield. When one accepted the banner, and the other left and was no longer guarding the banner, an arrow shot at the latter pierced his belly and took his life. Accepting punishment for his timidity and unbelief, he fell and died. On the contrary, for the one who took the saving banner, it became the guardian of his life, so that no matter how much arrows were shot at him, he remained unharmed.” By the power of the Cross, Constantine defeated not only Maxentius, but also Augustus Licinius, the Scythians and the Sauromatians. The cross, a degraded instrument of execution among the pagans, from the time of its appearance and assistance to Constantine in victories over his enemies, became a sign of the triumph of Christianity over paganism in the Roman Empire. The miraculous and beneficial appearance of the Cross strengthened Constantine the Great’s love for Christianity and instilled in him a high reverence for the tree of the suffering and death of the Lord, both because of the divine sign about the Cross given to the king, and because of the assistance provided to him by the Cross in battles with his enemies. The king clearly began to patronize the Christian faith; prohibited punishment by crucifixion; He decorated his banners and weapons with the image of the Cross on them, and had with him a constant life-giving Cross, for which he “pitched a tent outside the camp and at a very distant distance from it, and, maintaining an immaculate and pure lifestyle there, offered prayers to God.” At the end of the Council of Nicaea and upon the return of all the shepherds of the Church to their places, the king was overjoyed that the whole Church agreed in the teaching of the faith. To express gratitude to God for the unanimity of the bishops, for himself and for his children, and for the empire, he recognized his duty to immediately build a house of prayer in Jerusalem, near the place called Cranie, in order to make the most sacred place of suffering and resurrection an object of universal reverence, and wrote about his intention to Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem. His pious mother Elena contributed to the fulfillment of the king’s good desire. In 326, she arrived in Jerusalem with a letter from the king, having the zeal to worship St. places and the desire to find the Cross on which the Savior sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world. They supposed to find the Cross on Golgotha, for the Jews were in the habit of burying the instrument of execution near its place. About the instruments of the cross of St. Andrew of Crete, in his homily on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, says: “When the Lord of life and death, three days after death on the cross, rose again, then the Jews, wounded by the arrows of envy and fear (so that any of the venerable and sacred instruments of Christ’s suffering would not become instruments of vengeance for the Jews and protection for Christians), buried them in the ground and thus hid the treasure, i.e. The cross and all other instruments of the cross, such as nails and an inscription.” The Jews buried the rock of the Holy Sepulcher deeply, in which they saw a crushing reproach to themselves and a monument to their rejection of Jehovah. However, not only Jews, but also pagans, who replaced the Jews out of hatred for Christ and Christians, tried to blot out the divine monument of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ the Savior, to consign to oblivion and destroy the barely emerging reverence for God. In 119, the pagans, by order of Hadrian, who expelled the Jews from Jerusalem, filled the saving cave with earth, paved it with stone and closed it with an idol temple. By order of the king, the place of the suffering and death of Christ on Golgotha ​​was found and cleared. In the depths of it, on one side, a coffin was discovered in the form of a cave - the place of the resurrection of Christ, and on the other side of the same place three crosses were found, and also separately from them a tablet on which were inscribed not only Hebrew, but also Greek and Roman letters, which letters and words expressed nothing more than the following: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. These very words, as we read in the Gospel, by order of Pilate, the ruler of Judea, were written over the head of Jesus crucified (John 19:19). However, it was still very difficult to distinguish the Cross of the Lord from other crosses, especially when not only the inscription was taken away and was located far from it, but the three crosses themselves lay all together. For this reason, the divine tree of the Cross of the Lord remained unknown and a higher testimony was required than what was in human power. In fact, God did not allow Christians to give honor to the cross of the thief instead of the Cross of the Lord. The highest evidence was revealed in the miraculous power of the life-giving Cross. Through the miraculous healing of a woman from a serious illness and the resurrection of the deceased, the life-giving Cross of Christ was discovered through the laying of one of the crosses found. The Saving Cross, found at that time, is still kept in Jerusalem in a silver ark, and the queen sent part of this Cross to her son Constantine. “We conveyed the news of this event,” says Sozomen, as we ourselves received it from husbands to whom the mentioned event was completely known and who, having received information about it through succession from fathers to children, described it if possible and left it to posterity.” The discovery of the Cross marked the beginning of the Feast of the Exaltation. The event of discovery with the live participation and personal presence of Queen Helena, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and a large gathering of Christians, accompanied by wondrous signs of Providence, which served to indicate and glorify the Cross of the Lord and converted many unfaithful to Christ, was the beginning of the holiday. The queen, patriarch and others, having seen the life-giving Cross, worshiped and kissed it with joy and reverence. But the large crowd of people on Golgotha ​​on the occasion of the discovery of the Cross did not allow everyone to immediately kiss this precious treasure extracted from the bowels of the earth, and many were eager to at least see it. To satisfy the pious thirst of the believers, Patriarch Macarius from an elevated place showed the people an honest tree, erecting or raising it. Christians, seeing the Cross of the Lord, cried out with reverence: “Lord, have mercy!” Thus, the day of finding the Cross became the beginning of the annual holiday of the Exaltation of the Cross and those prayers, worship and kisses that are still preserved in the Orthodox Church on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross. Since the discovery of the Cross, churches began to be built in his honor. Such churches were founded by Queen Helena in Jerusalem at the site of the discovery of the Cross and by Constantine the Great in Rome. After the organization of the first in memory of suffering, death, resurrection and finding the Cross, and after the consecration of this church on September 13, 335, the Feast of the Exaltation was assigned to the 14th day of September. Since the discovery of the Cross by the Fathers of the Church, for example: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom and others, we find many indications of the Feast of the Exaltation. St. Cyril says in his clarification: “Jesus Christ was truly crucified for our sins. If you intend to reject this, to expose you, the place visible to us is the blessed Golgotha, on which we have now gathered for the sake of Him crucified on it; and the whole universe already has parts of the tree of the Cross.” It should be noted that before the discovery of the Cross, when there was a pagan temple on Calvary, Christians, with all their zeal, could not gather there for worship; and therefore, from the time of the discovery of the Cross, liturgical meetings on Calvary and the celebration of the Cross began. In the 5th century, Anatoly, Bishop of Constantinople, set out some hymns for the Feast of the Exaltation, which we now hear on the 14th day of September. In ancient times, numerous fans flocked to Jerusalem for this holiday. In the 5th century, among them was the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who, having worshiped the Cross of the Lord, hid from the temptations of the world into the desert and began the saving feats of her own cross. In the same century, Evagrius mentions the erection of the Cross, worshiping it and kissing it, as this has been preserved from ancient times to this day. In the 6th century St. Gregory the Great mentions the Feast of the Exaltation on the 14th day of September. In VII St. Andrei Kritsky, in his homily on the Elevation of the Cross, said: “The Cross is being erected and all the faithful are flocking. The cross is erected and the city triumphs, and the nations celebrate. The Cross is erected not only because Christ was lifted up on it, but also because the Cross, having been found, exposed the madness of the Jews. That is why we now triumph that on this day a long-hidden shrine has been discovered - that this hidden treasure, having been pulled out of the ground, has shone like gold.” In the 7th century, the Church combined the memory of another sacred event with the ancient feast of the Exaltation, which again glorified the life-giving Cross of the Lord. This event was the glorious return of the life-giving Cross from Persia. Upon the accession of the Greek emperor Phocas (602–610), Chosroes II, king of Persia, declared war on him under the pretext of avenging the death of Mauritius and his children. Heraclius I (610–629) deposed Phocas and had to fight the Persians, who crossed the Jordan in June 614 and devastated Palestine and Jerusalem; they killed many clergy, monastics and pious laity; burned the Church of the Ascension in Jerusalem; They stole everything that was precious in the church - many sacred vessels, and, by the way, the tree of the Cross of Christ. Patriarch Zacharias and his numerous people were taken captive. The shrine was in the hands of the pagans for 14 years, but to its glory: the rumor that spread in Persia with the bringing of the Cross of the Lord that the Christian God had come here filled the hearts of the pagans with such fear that they left untouched not only the tree itself and the ark in which it was kept, but also the treasures that adorned the ark. Many of the pagans, hearing about the power of the Cross, turned to Christ. Siroi or Syroes, the son and successor of Chozroes on the Persian throne, forced by Roman arms to make peace with the Greek king Heraclius, at the end of 628 returned the captives and St. Cross. Rejoicing and thanking God for the great mercy bestowed upon Christians by the return of the shrine, the king himself, with the patriarch, clergy and people, reverently met in Constantinople and from here in 629 accompanied the returning Cross to Jerusalem, there to bring thanks to God for the victories He had granted. Having reached Mount Elion, King Heraclius took the Cross on his shoulder to carry it to the Church of the Resurrection. But at the gates to Golgotha, an invisible force stops the Cross. Patriarch Zacharias, who accompanied the Cross, inspired the king that the Son of God carried the tree of the Cross to Golgotha ​​not in royal majesty, but in the humble form of a servant. Touched by the saint's inspiration, the king humbled himself, put aside his royal robes and barefoot the next day brought the life-giving Cross into the church, to the place from which it was stolen by the Persians. Christians looked with joy at the triumph of the Cross of the Lord. In the church, according to ancient custom, the Cross was erected again by the hands of the patriarch, and the people exclaimed in tenderness: “Lord, have mercy.” The discovery and return of the Cross of the Lord from the Persians are combined into one holiday of the Exaltation; and this connection increased the solemnity of the holiday. It is numbered among the twelfths and is associated with fasting, as on the day of remembrance of the extreme humiliation and death of the Lord, and is glorified by new liturgical chants. In the 7th century Andrew of Jerusalem, Bishop of Crete, in VIII Cosmas of Maium, Theophan of Constantinople-Confessor, St. John of Damascus, in IX Joseph the Studite, Emperor Leo the Wise and others betrayed to the Church many hymns with which it now glorifies the honorable Cross. However, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross was not initially celebrated everywhere on the 14th day of September, perhaps because the discovery of the Cross took place during Easter and was celebrated on these days before the construction of the Church of God on the site where it was found. The ancient celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross on Easter in Jerusalem is mentioned by Peacock, Bishop of Nolan, in his XI letter to the North, around 393. He writes: “every year, when the Lord’s Easter occurs, the bishop of the city brings the Cross to the people for veneration, beginning the veneration himself. Apart from this day, on which the mystery of the Cross itself is celebrated, and as some sign of a sacred triumph is presented, it is never shown, unless at the request of pious people who come from distant places solely to venerate the Cross, as if as a reward for their long journey.” Based on these words, they think that the Exaltation of the Cross was anciently celebrated in Jerusalem on Good Friday. The scientist Assemanius, an Orientalist (1687–1768), argues that the celebration of the Exaltation was celebrated in ancient times in Jerusalem on the second day of Easter, and confirms his opinion on the words of Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (629), who in his homily on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross says: “Today is Sunday remembered: tomorrow the Cross appears. Today Sunday is glorified: tomorrow the Cross is raised on an elevated place. In ancient times, the Cross preceded the Resurrection, and now it leads and precedes the Cross. Amazing change." But these words only testify that the saint spoke the word for the Exaltation of the Cross after Sunday, and not that in ancient times the Exaltation took place on the second day of Easter. In the eighth century in the West, the celebration of Helen’s finding of the Cross was moved to the 3rd day of May, and on the 14th day of September, the appearance of the Cross to Constantine the Great and the return of the Cross from Persia are remembered there. Not limiting itself to the limits of the forefeast and postfeast, which consist of 9 days - from September 13 to 21, the Church begins to glorify the life-giving Cross from August 1, - from the day of the origin of the venerable Cross, singing at morning services: “Moses drew the Cross.” Meeting and seeing off the great feast of the Exaltation, the Church calls the Sunday preceding it the week before the Exaltation, and the subsequent one - the week after the Exaltation. Since ancient times, the worldwide erection of the life-giving Cross has been a great monument to the rise of the Church of Christ from under the yoke of more than three centuries of persecution for the worldwide triumph over Judaism and paganism - the day of victory and exaltation over the enemies of the faith of Christ. The days of the life-giving Cross of the Lord inspire us to achieve a similar victory over our passions, which are also the enemies of Christ, for the unhindered following of Christ and the achievement of eternal bliss. If anyone wants to follow Me, says the Savior, let him deny himself and take up his cross and come after Me. Whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel will save it (Mark 8:34–35). Following the example of Ap. Paul, we should boast only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal.6:14). The crucified Christ is for us God's power and God's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24). The path of the cross, associated with external hardships, is the path of purification, spiritual perfection and high joy. Carrying the cross causes the ascetic of piety suffering and death, but it also brings life and joy. Under the cross, our outer, earthly and vain man suffers and decays, but our inner and spiritual man is renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). The Holy Church, expressing the state of the cross of external deprivation with internal replenishment, decorates the tree of the cross on the days of worship with green and fragrant flowers - signs of life, hope and joy. Regarding the subsequent fate of the Cross of Christ, we note that it was in Jerusalem during the Crusades, from 1099 to 1245. During the siege of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099, Christians who were in the city hid the Cross from the eyes of Muslims. During the capture of Jerusalem by Christians on July 11, 1099, the sight of the Cross aroused the liveliest delight in the crusaders; The Cross delighted them as if they had seen Himself Crucified on the Cross. They carried the Cross triumphantly through the streets of the city and again placed it in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. During the invasion of Emir Avdal with a large force in 1099, in order to wrest Jerusalem from the hands of Christians, the patriarch came out to the army with the life-giving Cross. On the eve of the battle on August 14, the tree of the Cross was carried along the ranks of soldiers as a guarantee of blessing and victory. The battle took place on the field of Ascalon, and the Muslims were completely defeated. Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem (1100–1118), entrusted ten knights with the guardianship of the honorable Cross. Baldwin attributed the failures in the war to the absence of the Cross. Under Baldwin, who lived and died in the midst of the camps, during the 18 years of his reign, the inhabitants of Jerusalem almost never saw the life-giving Cross in the church, almost never saw the life-giving Cross in the church, because it was constantly among the soldiers and its mere sight often brought victory. Under Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem (1118–1131), before the battle on the Ascalonian plains with the Egyptian troops, Patriarch St. The hail carried the tree of the life-giving Cross ahead of the troops, and the Muslims were defeated. Under Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem (1131–1142), in the country of Trachonite, in sight of Bostra, knights, warriors and people, surrounding the Bishop of Nazareth, who carried the life-giving Cross, with tears implored him with their prayers to stop the unbearable disasters from a cloud of enemy arrows, from fire and smoke among the burning thorns on the field through which the crusaders were passing. The Bishop raised the Cross, begging for mercy, and at the same time the wind changed direction. During the Third Crusade (1171–1188), before the fight against Saladin, the life-giving Cross was shown to Christians as the only means of salvation, and placed among the assembly of defenders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 2, 1188, during the Battle of Tiberias, the life-giving Cross, placed on a hill, animated the pious warriors. The enemy himself (Saladin) said that the Christian warriors near the Cross fought with excellent courage, because they saw in the Cross their firmest stronghold and indestructible shield. Knights of the Church or St. John fought until evening around the Cross, which was carried by the Ptolemaid bishop. When he was killed, the Bishop of Lida accepted the Cross and wanted to escape; but was detained and captured by the Saracens. A cry of despair rang out among Christians when they saw the sign of their salvation in the hands of the evil believers. The warriors threw down their weapons and no longer thought about escaping, they threw themselves at the swords of their enemies; the battlefield was a spectacle of despair. Christina, who could not preserve the Cross of Jesus Christ, was no longer afraid of losing freedom and life. The cross was taken to Baghdad. During the siege of Ptolemais (1188–1192), the emirs, driven by the crusaders to the point of being unable to defend themselves, promised the French king Philip, if he gave them freedom and life, to return the life-giving Cross to Christians. But Saladin, under various pretexts, did not fulfill the conditions; Saladin looked at the Cross as not an object of temptation, as a reproach of the Divine. He did not agree to cede the Cross to either the Georgian king or the Emperor of Constantinople, who offered significant sums of money for the shrine. All the benefits of the world, Saladin said, could not force him to return to the Christians this shameful monument of their idolatry. The Tree of the Cross was held captive by Saladin and his successors for more than 30 years. In 1221, on September 8, during the surrender of Damietta, Christians returned the life-giving Cross of Jesus Christ, according to an agreement. During the Seventh Crusade (1242 - 1245), before the battle with the Khivans at Gaza, the tree of the Holy Cross, according to custom, preceded the Christian army. Apart from these few information about the tree of the life-giving Cross of Christ, we do not have and, mentioning it, it is impossible to imagine it in all its completeness, in which it was when the Savior was crucified on it. Tradition tells us about many parts of the Cross of Christ, from ancient times separated from it and carried to all countries of the world for its consecration. The oldest of the parts of the Cross of Christ was, without a doubt, in Constantinople, sent here, according to Sozomen, in 326 by Queen Helena, who, having found the Cross, sent part of it to her son Constantine for the blessing of his kingdom. In the same century, Peacock of Nolan sent part of the Cross to the North. St. Chrysostom, speaking about the reverence of ancient Christians for the Cross, wrote in the 4th century: “many, having covered a particle of the Cross with gold, carry it around their necks.” In the 4th century, parts of the Cross were preserved in Syria - Anamea and Sergiopolis on the Euphrates, sent here by Justinian and Theodora, his wife. In the same century, part of the Cross was brought from the east to France in Poitiers. In the 6th century St. Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, sent part of the Cross for a blessing to Richard, King of Visigoth. In the 7th century, according to the chronicle of Sigibert in 688, and Ekkegaard in 969, Pope Sergius established that on the day of the Exaltation during worship, part of the Cross, which was kept in Rome, in the church called Constantine, should be taken out annually for worship and kissing from the people. In 1109, on July 28, a part of the Cross was brought from Jerusalem to Paris and placed in the Church of St. Claudia (Saint-Cloud). On this occasion, a holiday was established in France on the first Sunday of August (Susception de la sainte croix). At the beginning of the 13th century, the Doge of Venice, Henry Dandolo, contributed to the transfer to this city of a part of the Holy Cross, set in gold, which, according to legend, was worn by Emperor Constantine the Great. Parts of the Cross are mentioned especially often in legends about the crusaders, of which others, as a reward for their labors, wanted and received only particles of the life-giving Cross; and others considered it permissible to steal parts of the Cross and other shrines. Since ancient times, part of the life-giving Cross was also kept in Moscow in the Assumption Cathedral. Regarding the storage of this part, the cathedral resolution of 1681 decreed: “to arrange it in a prepared ark and keep it in the cathedral church in a special place, firmly established for that purpose, with all danger.” A part of the Cross of Christ has been kept in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Petersburg since 1799. Recently, a part has been kept in the Gethsemane monastery, near the Sergius Moscow Lavra, and in other places. Thus, the Cross of Christ in its parts, as St. said back in the 4th century. Cyril of Jerusalem, went to all the ends of the universe, for the salvation of which Christ was crucified on the Cross. But the main part of the tree of the Cross, which was anciently kept in Jerusalem in the Church of the Resurrection, they say, is even in the village there in the altar of the cathedral church of the Greeks in a special ark. John Moschus Spiritual Meadow, ch. 30, p. 27. M. 1843 Prologue Sept. 14. The ascetic is also called Mary in the ancient Latin translation of Lug. Mosha Meadow of spirits., ch. 134, p. 135. 136. Since Sophrony began to live with Blessed. John since 594, then the Lycian event happened around 588.