Orthodox Christians celebrated the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, one of the Twelve Great Feasts, on 27 September 2020. On this day Metropolitan Vikenty of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the Central Asian Metropolitan District, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Tashkent. On the eve the All-Night Vigil was celebrated with the rite of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Concelebrating with His Eminence were Priest Vitaly Golban, Protodeacon Alexander Nesin, Deacon Rustik Kovalev and Deacon Pyotr Gnatik.
During the service the archpastor offered his hierarchal prayer for the end of the coronavirus pandemic and for the speedy healing of the sick.
At the end of the Liturgy a hymn of glorification was sung to the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, after which Metropolitan Vikenty addressed the parishioners with his archpastoral word, greeting them on the Lord's Day and the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.
"Today we venerate the Cross of Christ. Today we venerate the sufferings of Christ the Saviour on the Cross. And these sufferings and the Blood which the Lord shed on the Cross sanctified the Cross of the Lord. The cross was a thing of shame in life. And out of this shame the Lord made the Cross a thing of glory and honour, because the Cross of the Lord acquired power from God, from Christ, who suffered on the Cross and washed it with His Precious Blood.
In venerating the Cross, we venerate Christ. If we do not venerate the Cross, we do not venerate the sufferings of Christ, and that means we do not venerate the labour and struggle which the Lord accomplished for our redemption, for our deliverance from sin, the curse and death.
Of course, the most important thing is that through His sufferings on the Cross the Lord granted us the Resurrection, the Kingdom of God, eternal blessed life.
The Cross of the Lord is for us, dear brothers and sisters, an altar of sacrifice, the universal sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of all mankind. We too must offer our own sacrifice for Christ's sake. One of these sacrifices is what we do every week: throughout the whole year we fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. We abstain from meat and dairy products, we abstain from sin, we try to live according to God's commandments, looking upon the Cross of the Lord and His sufferings for our sake."
