Stavroula: Name Day

For Orthodox Christians the Cross is no ornament but “the guardian of the whole world,” the weapon by which Christ conquered death. At baptism the priest places a small cross on the newly baptized, and from that moment it is worn next to the heart for life, under the clothing, and not taken off even to bathe. On the reverse of Russian crosses is engraved the prayer “Спаси и сохрани,” “Save and protect.” The Church keeps the Exaltation of the Cross, recalling its finding by St Helen in Jerusalem; the Procession of the Wood in August, when the Cross was carried through Constantinople against sickness; and the Sunday of the Cross at mid-Lent. Each evening the faithful pray, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered... rejoice, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, which drivest away the demons.” Orthodox Christians trust the Cross to guard them always.

What the faithful pray for

• protection from the demons (‘Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered’)
• ‘Save and protect’ (Спаси и сохрани), the prayer engraved on the back of the Russian baptismal cross
• strength to carry one’s own cross
• healing and deliverance from illness
• victory over temptation
• the protection of the journey and the home
• remembrance of Christ’s love at every moment

Protection

• from evil spirits
• from every evil, even when one cannot make the sign of the Cross
• the wearer at all times
• from illness, as when the Wood of the Cross was carried through Constantinople in August

Miracles

• St Helen found the Cross of the Lord in Jerusalem, and its lifting up before the people is commemorated in the Universal Exaltation of the Cross. (source)
• Because of the sicknesses of August, the Precious Wood of the Cross was carried in procession through Constantinople to sanctify the city and deliver it from illness. (source)

Read the life of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross