Today, 17 Tut, 27 September, the Coptic Church celebrates the Feast of the Cross, the sign of the Salvation granted by Jesus Christ through His death on the Cross.
The 27 September event is one of two annual celebrations of the Cross in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It commemorates the appearance of the Cross to the Emperor Constantine the Great while he was at war in 312AD with the promise that “By this (the Cross) you shall conquer”, and conquer he did. It also marks the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem in 335.
The second feast of the Cross is on 10 Paramhat, 27 March, which commemorates the discovery of the Holy Cross by Queen Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, in 326 at Jerusalem, and the restoration of the Cross back to the Christians in 629 by Emperor Heraclius after it was stolen by the Persian King Khosrau II in 614 and taken to Persia.
The first feast, marked on 27 September, is celebrated for three days. The second comes on 27 March, which is always during Lent, and is thus celebrated only one day so as to not shift focus from the Holy Fast.
On the two feast days, the celebratory Mass ritual boasts joyous melodies of praises sung to the Cross, extolling its healing power and its victory over evil. The melodies are specific to the Feast of the Cross, and are only sung on one other occasion throughout the year: Palm Sunday.
Watani wishes its readers a blessed, peaceful Feast of the Cross.
Watani International
27 September 2022