Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross commemorates the discovery of the cross of Christ on September 13, 326 and its solemn presentation in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the following day.

This feast is celebrated every year on the Sunday closest to September 14 (i.e. between September 11 and 17). The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (poor. Վերացումն Սբ. Խաչի կամ Խաչվերաց) is one of the five high feasts of the Armenian Church.

With this feast, the church celebrates the liberation of the cross of Christ from Persian captivity and its return to Jerusalem.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is possibly originally a church consecration festival, as the double basilica was consecrated by Emperor Constantine on September 14, 335. However, this day was not chosen by chance, as the story goes that it was Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, who found the cross on September 13, 326.

While most Orthodox churches celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates this feast, called Meskal, on September 27 every year. In Ethiopia, this day is an immovable public holiday and Meskal is the country's biggest festival. Here too, the festival commemorates the finding of the cross by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great.