Alexandroupoli: For the fourth year the Litany for the Advancement of the Holy Crosstranslated

For the fourth year in a row, on the evening of Friday July 31, 2026, the revival of the old Byzantine feast of the Advancement of the Holy and Life-Creating Cross took place in our city. According to the Byzantine standard, the holiday symbolized the solemn exit of the Holy Cross from the Palace and its procession to the districts of Constantinople for the blessing of the faithful. The holy relic that is paraded through the streets and parishes of Alexandroupoli is a copy of the original kept in the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi and since 2023 it has been in the Metropolitan Church of Agios Nikolaos as a gift of the Monastery's Professor, Elder Ephraim.

With the experience of the previous three years, the preparation of this year's event was particularly careful, allowing the procession of the Holy Cross in a route of almost ten kilometers, which lasted well over three hours and covered most of the city. Decisive for yet another year was the contribution of the competent authorities, volunteers and local associations. Also present this year in the litany, the campers of the Holy Metropolis of Alexandroupolis in OURANOUPOLI Makris, just a few...