Commemoration of the Dedication of the Holy Church of the Resurrection of Christ Our God (335); Forefeast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; the Holy Priest-Martyr Cornelius the Centurion
Galatians 2:21-3:7; Mark 6:1-7
Read Galatians 2:21-3:7
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
The dedication, or consecration, of the Holy Church of the Resurrection of Christ our God, took place in the year 335, and it was a solemn and memorable event in Church history. It is common to remember and celebrate the event of the consecration of a local parish or a Sobor–the episcopal or patriarchal cathedral. On August 5th we celebrate the Consecration of the Holy Resurrection Patriarchal Sobor in Kiev—this is a significant event because it shows forth our Church as rising from the ashes of communism and a legitimate successor of Kievan Christianity.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 the city was a wasteland. Rome was particularly harsh towards Jerusalem because of the attempted insurrection and the attempted subsequent war against the Roman Empire. The emperor Hadrian (117-138) built a city overtop of the ruins and did not permit that its original name even be pronounced. Hatred toward Christians began to increase also. In the year 119, Hadrian attempted to erase the memory of the faith by building a pagan temple of Venus over Golgotha—the site where Jesus was crucified.
The precious site of our Lord’s crucifixion was covered until the empress Helen journeyed to Jerusalem in the fourth century with the mandate of restoring Christian holy sites. She destroyed all the pagan temples and began the work of finding the holy site buried in the ground. Once it was found and confirmed with the great miracle of the Holy Cross of Christ they began working on building a large and beautiful Church, which would encase the holy Sepulchre and Golgotha. St. Helen never saw the completion of the Church of the Holy Resurrection for she reposed in the Lord seven years before its completion.
The consecration, which occurred on September 13, 335, was attended by a multitude of bishops, priests, deacons and many people. It was a special and solemn moment not only for Jerusalem, but for all Christians. This was a great triumphal moment in history. It proclaimed the Truth of Christ: that Christian Faith cannot be destroyed, or overcome. Three hundred years of persecution could not destroy the Faith. The Resurrected Lord cannot be erased or destroyed by paganism, nor by communism, nor by today’s secularism. This is a triumphal reminder of the power of Christ.