On August 14, on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Holy Cross, as well as memory of the 7 Maccabees Martyrs, we had a nice and rich celebration in our temple.

Before the reading of the Hours the Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov solemnly transferred the cross from the altar to the middle of the church and placed it on the stand.

After the Hours the Rector served the Divine Liturgy. After the Gospel lesson he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today, on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, we also celebrate feast of the Procession of the Precious Wood of the Holy Cross. We have the Cross in the middle of the church for veneration. On this day the Church also commemorates the Old Testament Martyrs, called the Maccabees who suffered for the faith in true God. It is the first day of the Dormition Fast, and our devout people know that on this day we bless the new honey and should have the blessing of water”.
“Speaking of the water, we recall that today our Sunday Gospel is about Jesus walking on the waters (Mt. 14, 22-33). That was a quite impressive picture for the Apostles: to see their Teacher walking upon the Sea of Galilee. Believing that Jesus is the Lord and the Son of God, we may say that it was nothing strange about it. If Christ is God, then the laws of nature are not controlling Him. If He is the Creator, He can override the laws of creation. God can do anything. And thus, that picture of Jesus walking on the sea is supposed to convince us and convince His Disciples that He is actually the Son of God. The Gospel mentions that first they thought that they see a ghost (Mt. 14, 25). They thought so because they had never seen a man walking on the water. When Jesus spoke to them and told them not to be afraid, they recognized Him (Mt. 14, 26)”.
“It was important to convince the Apostles and later all the Christians that our Lord Jesus Christ was a real human person but, at the same time, He was the Son of God. And it was important to remember that it was actually Him who performed the miracles and later suffered for us on the cross. Not just once, at the Sea of Galilee, the Apostles thought that they see a ghost when Jesus was before them. When He rose from the dead and appeared to them, they also perceived Him to be a ghost (Lk. 24, 37). But He was real. And some heretics in the old times taught that real Christ could not be crucified; it was only a vision, an illusion of Him being on the cross; the real Jesus was spared. No, we believe and we proclaim it in the Creed that our Lord was crucified, suffered and was buried. Honoring today the Holy Cross we have to remind ourselves of that truth, of that divine reality – that God actually became Man and suffered on the cross. Jesus was not some magician who could show how He walks on the water, perform other magic tricks. He was the Son of God, He performed not tricks but true miracles. And later He did not create some illusion of being crucified, but actually “humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross”, as says St. Paul (Phil. 2, 8)”.
“First Jesus lifted Himself above the stormy waters of the sea, conquering the laws of nature, showing the Disciples that He is able to do that. Then later, at the end of His mission, He lifted Himself above the sinful earth on the Precious Wood of the Cross to show His love. He submitted Himself to death because of that love. And then, on the third day He rose from the dead, He trampled death by death, He lifted Himself again – above the law of the sinful world. And He showed His divine power. And among many of His gifts for us He left us the gift of the power of His Precious and Life-giving Cross”.
“Dear brothers and sisters, in today’s Gospel we also heard that Jesus invited Peter to walk on the waters with Him. And that is something else besides the power of Jesus being the Son of God. That is telling us that Christ is calling His faithful people to act along with Him, to override the usual laws of this world being in union with Him. Having true faith we can be part of His miracles, we can participate in His divine works and we can lift ourselves above our corrupted nature. And following Christ we may also bear our own crosses and be ready to die with Christ in order to be resurrected with Him and to live with Him in the age to come”.
“The Gospel says that Holy Apostle Peter did actually walk on the water along with Christ. He probably made a couple of steps but then he became afraid of the wind and began to sink (Mt. 14, 29-30). Thinking of that we should conclude that Peter, in order to continue walking on the water, had to have stronger faith and to focus on Jesus, not on the wind. Same thing with us: in order to be lifted above our corrupt nature, in order to override it, to become holy, we need a strong faith and a focus on what is godly and spiritual. Faith is a gift and we need to pray for it. But our focus on Christ and His Cross is something we have to exercise. God will certainly help us in both things – in acquiring faith and in supporting our focus on Him. In today’s Gospel Jesus stretched out His hand and rescued Peter (Mt. 14, 31). In the same way Jesus is ready to save us. But we have to desire to be saved. The Holy Cross is also among us to help us, to rescue us from the evil things in this world. The Church always reminds us of the Cross. Every church has a cross above its dome. That should also help us to focus on Christ, on what is godly and spiritual. Of course, it is easier in a Christian country where you have a lot of churches. Being there you can look any direction and see the cross. It is much harder in a non-Christian land but still you can find a cross somewhere”.
“Dear brothers and sisters, let us cherish the strong faith and let us focus on our Lord Jesus Christ being helped by His Holy Cross. May its invincible, ineffable and divine power strengthen us in our fidelity to the Lord. May the Precious Cross preserve us on our journey to salvation bestowing upon us the grace of Christ and leading us for the eternal blessedness!”

During the Litany of Fervent Supplication the Rector had a petition for the suffering country of Ukraine and its people. He also added a commemoration of the “suffering Ukrainian land” at the Great Entrance.

Before the Holy Communion the choir prayerfully performed hymns of the celebrated feast.

After the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector congratulated our young parishioner, Elena Malyshev on her past 8th birthday and proclaimed the Polychronion on her behalf.

Following the Divine Liturgy we had the Lesser Blessing of Water performed by the Rector in the middle of the church. After that service Fr. Igor blessed the new honey and sprinkled the temple and the faithful by the newly-sanctified water. At the end of the celebration the Rector and parishioners venerated the Holy Cross.