Join us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Cross Day. The Rector, T.J. Freeman, will preach.

This observance recalls the dedication in 335 A.D. of the great church complex built at the site of Jesus’ death and resurrection in Jerusalem. According to the historian Eusebius, Emperor Constantine ordered this magnificent shrine to honor Christ’s resurrection, entrusting its construction to his mother, the empress Helena. During the excavations, Helena is said to have discovered a relic believed to be the true cross.

The complex included a basilica for the Liturgy of the Word and a circular church, called The Resurrection, with its altar set over the tomb. Between them lay an open courtyard where the exposed rock of Calvary stood, becoming the focal point for the veneration of the cross on Good Friday and for daily prayers. The chosen date of September 14 for the dedication echoed the biblical account of Solomon’s temple being dedicated in the same month, making Holy Cross Day a lasting commemoration of both the cross and the resurrection.