The Finding of the Holy Cross
March 17, 2023
The church celebrates the appearance of the Honorable Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was revealed by the lover of God, Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, from under the pile of Golgotha, after she ordered its removal. As to the reason for how this great pile of dirt came into being, it was thus: the Jewish leaders when they saw all the signs and wonders which were made manifest from the sepulchre of the Savior, such as raising the dead and healing the sick, became angry, and they sent forth throughout Judea and Jerusalem ordering all the people to cast the sweepings of their houses and the dirts over the sepulchre of Jesus of Nazareth. They continued to do so for more than 200 years, until it became a very great heap.
When Saint Helena came to Jerusalem and asked the Jews about the whereabouts of the Cross, they did not inform her. Finally, some of them told her about an old Jew called Judas who knew the place. She called him, and he denied it at first, but when she urged him, he told her about that pile. She ordered its removal and the Holy Cross was found. She built a church for it, consecrated it and celebrated for the Honorable Cross on the sixteenth day of the month of September.
Our country Ethiopia commemorates the feast of the Holy cross times a year which is first, the feast of the appearance of the Honorable Cross found by Saint Helena, which is on the tenth of Megabit, on the month of September is celebrated four times, which are September 10, the day of Emperor Zara Yakob brought the portion of the holy cross to Ethiopia, September 16, is the commemoration of day Saint Helena’s search of the cross signed by incense, by lighting and digging, on September 17 is consecration of its church and on September 21 is the entry day of the Holy cross at Gishen Debre Kerbe.
May the blessings of the Holy Cross be with us and Glory be to God forever; Amen!