“Grant renewal of the Spirit in hearts and give inward light to those who, in faith, perform the holy renewal of the house of Your temple, which You were pleased to establish in Your Divine name, You alone glorified among the saints.”
(Kontakion of the Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, tone 2)
On the eve of the Exaltation of the Honourable Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Church remembers the solemn consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. This occurred on 26 September 335.
For many years, pagans had trampled the holy sites where the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and rose again. Then, in the fourth century, Emperor Constantine the Great, Equal to the Apostles, felt moved to act. He sent his mother, Queen Helena, who shared his title, on a mission to Jerusalem to find the Cross of the Lord. Constantine also ordered that every place touched by Christ's earthly life be cleansed of pagan defilement. A great church would rise where He had suffered and conquered death. Jerusalem itself would be reborn.
Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem. Icon. Kostroma province, first half of the eighteenth century
Empress Helena mounted what was truly an archaeological expedition. This effort produced remarkable results: they discovered both Golgotha — the place where Christ was crucified — and the cave where He was buried and rose again. After finding the Cross of Christ, Queen Helena remained in Jerusalem for some time. She built several churches there: the basilica marking Christ's Nativity in Bethlehem, churches at His Ascension on the Mount of Olives, another honouring the Holy Family in Gethsemane, and more at other Gospel locations.
On Golgotha itself, where they found the Honourable Cross, the holy queen began constructing a church that sheltered both sites beneath its roof — the place where Christ suffered death and where He rose again in glory. The building work lasted ten years.
The temple complex of Emperor Constantine the Great, 325 AD (no longer preserved)
The completion of the Church of the Resurrection coincided with the thirtieth year of Constantine's reign. A great council was meeting in Tyre, and every bishop in the empire received an invitation to join these joyful celebrations.
From lands as far apart as Palestine, Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Thrace, Bithynia, Arabia, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Egypt, and beyond, church leaders made their way to Jerusalem for the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord.
Jerusalem's finest church poets wrote glorious hymns for this special service. Today, some of these same melodies are sung whenever a church is consecrated — at the evening service on the night before its dedication.
"Renew yourselves, brothers, and having put off the old man, live in newness of life. Place a bridle on all those things from which death springs: discipline every part, hate every evil fruit of the tree, and for this reason remembering only this, let us flee from the old ways. Thus may man be renewed; so is honoured the day of renewal."
(Second Sticheron at Vespers)
Other hymns from this feast draw parallels between consecrating a church and renewing the Church as a whole. They speak of a newly built temple and the new life offered in Christ. They link the raising of a church of stone to the building up of the temple within each believer's soul.
In a real sense, the entire Christian world lent its strength to the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection, and of Jerusalem itself. From that moment, the Church began to mark this day with a yearly feast, as a sign of Christ’s victory and the triumph of His Church. Since 335 AD, when on 26 September the Church of the Resurrection was dedicated, it has also been the custom to observe the Exaltation of the Cross on the following day, 27 September. These two feasts are closely linked. Together, they show that Christ's death on the Cross and His rising again were not mere symbols but real events in history. These events have solid, physical proof — found during the excavations in Jerusalem in the time of Emperor Constantine the Great.
The Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem, the modern aedicule over the Lord’s tomb, built two hundred years ago
In Old Testament times, Judas Maccabeus cleansed the Holy of Holies after it had been defiled by Syrian idol worship. He then established an annual celebration marking its renewal (see 1 Maccabees 4:36–59). The Gospel speaks of this festival: “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter…” (John 10:22). In New Testament times, Emperor Constantine — equal-to-the-Apostles — built what we might call a second Holy of Holies. Together with the holy fathers, he set aside this day for Christians everywhere to celebrate the renewal of Jerusalem's great church. This dedication became the first such renewal in Christian history. Later came others — for example, the renewals of Saint Irene's church and the Great Church, and of Saint Sophia under Justinian.
Church of the Resurrection of the Word in Uspensky Vrazhek, Moscow
In Orthodox teaching, only the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem can rightfully bear the name of Christ's Resurrection. All other Resurrection churches are, in fact, dedicated to the feast marking the renewal (or consecration) of Jerusalem's great church. In Russia, this festival gained another name: "Resurrection of the Word." The title makes a simple point: it is a remembrance that is spoken of as the Resurrection, to set it apart from the joyful feast of Christ’s Bright Resurrection — Easter itself.
Church of the Resurrection of the Word on Litratotskiye Mostki, Saint Petersburg
Cemetery churches often carry this dedication. On this day, in sanctuaries honouring the Word's Resurrection, worship follows the Paschal rite, and the faithful greet each other with the glad cry: "Christ is risen! — Truly He is risen!" Ordinary people also call this festival "Autumn Easter."
“Be renewed, be renewed, O New Jerusalem, for the light of the Lord has shined upon you. This temple was created by the Father; this temple was established by the Son; this temple was made new by the Holy Spirit, to enlighten, strengthen, and sanctify our souls.”
(Sticheron at the praises)
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
Sources:
1. On the Feast of the Renewal of the Church. Pravoslavie.ru (pravoslavie.ru)
2. Andreevsky leaflet no. 15 (patronal feast—Resurrection of the Word) (andreevsky-monastery.ru)
3. Resurrection of the Word (fondholyland.ru)
4. About the church: Church of the Resurrection of the Word in Uspensky Vrazhek (vslov.ru)
