The True Cross
According to Orthodox tradition, the Lord's Cross was made from three kinds of wood: Cypress, Pine and Cedar. This is believed to be a fulfillment of Isaiah 60:13:
The glory of Lebanon will come to you, with cypress and pine and cedar together, to glorify my holy place; and I will make my footstool glorious.
Legacy Icons is pleased to offer a new Wall Cross hand-crafted in our own woodshop from these three kinds of wood. Place this unique symbol at the heart of your home prayer corner and remember all that Our Lord has done for us.
In Orthodox liturgy, the Cross is often called the Lord's footstool.
After Saint Constantine the Great legalized Christianity, his pious Christian mother Helen went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to view the holy sites. By this time, a temple dedicated to Venus had been built on Golgotha.
Saint Helen desired to construct a Church on the site, dedicated to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. She removed the pagan temple, and during the excavation three crosses were found near the Lord's tomb, the Holy Sepulchre. All who saw the crosses thought one of them must be the Lord's True Cross.
Saint Macarius, the Bishop of Jerusalem, prayerfully discerned the way to tell which was the True Cross. He brought a woman who he knew was suffering with a disease, and had her touch each cross. When she touched the Savior's Cross, she was instantly healed.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated on September 13, 335. The Cross was kept there and venerated by the faithful for centuries. Saint Mary of Egypt venerated the Cross before departing to the wilderness.
Over time, the actions of pilgrims, and later wars and conquests caused the Cross to be taken, broken up into fragments and dispersed throughout the world. The largest remaining fragment of the Cross is preserved on Mount Athos in the Koutloumousiou Monastery.
As a symbol, the Cross is a powerful symbol. The Lord himself spoke of bearing the "cross" of our personal burdens, and Saint Paul wrote of the Cross in a more symbolic fashion. By the second century, Christians inscribed the Cross on their homes and made the gesture of the Sign of the Cross as a blessing.
In celebration of the Feast of the Cross on September 14, Legacy Icons offers a variety of items dedicated to this holy symbol of our Lord's triumphant death and resurrection.