Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master!

(GOARCH) - On the Third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Services include a special veneration of the Cross, which prepares the faithful for the commemoration of the Crucifixion during Holy Week.

The commemoration and ceremonies of the Third Sunday of Lent are closely parallel to the feasts of the Veneration of the Cross (September 14) and the Procession of the Cross (August 1). Not only does the Sunday of the Holy Cross prepare us for commemoration of the Crucifixion, but it also reminds us that the whole of Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ.

As we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24), and will have mortified ourselves during these forty days of the Fast, the precious and life-giving Cross is now placed before us to refresh our souls and encourage us who may be filled with a sense of bitterness, resentment, and depression. The Cross reminds us of the Passion of our Lord, and by presenting to us His example, it encourages us to follow Him in struggle and sacrifice, being refreshed, assured, and comforted. In other words, we must experience what the Lord experienced during His Passion - being humiliated in a shameful manner. The Cross teaches us that through pain and suffering we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: the heavenly inheritance and eternal glory.

Complete article complete with an explanation of the feast, special observances, hymnography and the iconography available here.

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Before Thy Cross we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify. (Thrice)

+ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

And Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.

Before Thy Cross we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.

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A sampling of videos from the Elevation and Veneration of the Holy Cross.

From the Carpatho-Russian tradition (Krestu Tvojemu)



From the Greek tradition (ΤΟΝ ΣΤΑΥΡΟΝ ΣΟΥ)



From the Russian tradition



From the Antiochian tradition