We
were truly blessed to have received on 5th December 2013 in our
Church a true fragment of the Holy & Precious & Life-Giving Cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
It
came from Jerusalem where it is kept and preserved by the Holy Fathers of the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. While in London it is kept overnight
at the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
The
President of our Community Mr. Pantelis Demosthenous brought it in his car in
the morning of the 5th December together with the Deacon Charalambos
from Jerusalem and arrived early in the morning in front of our Church. In the evening the Holy Cross was returned to the Archdiocese in the car of the Treasurer of our Community Mr. Soteris Constantinou and his wife Alexandra, who is the President of St. Agatha Ladies Sisterhood of our Community.
Thousands
of worshippers flocked to our Church of Saint Panteleimon and Saint Paraskevi to
catch a glimpse of the very Cross on which Jesus was crucified and to venerate
it.
A
series of Sacred Services were held throughout the day by Fr. Anastasios and
visiting Priests, while worshippers travelled from as far as Kent to touch,
kiss and pray in front of the Holy Relic.
The
visit of the Holy Cross had generated a lot of interest and emotions amongst
the members of the Greek and Russian Communities in England.
There
were many people with disabilities and illnesses who had come to touch the Cross,
hoping for a real and quick answer to their fervent prayers.
The
True Cross had been discovered by St. Helen, when she travelled to Jerusalem in
327 AD. A number of fragments exist in Churches and monasteries in Jerusalem,
Greece and Cyprus.
A
Greek Orthodox pilgrim and a Romanian Orthodox member of our Community had
talked to an English journalist who came to see and experience this great event
and said:
“It
is not every day you get a chance to see a part of the Holy Cross. It is a great
honour and a great opportunity to pay our respects” (Marios Minaides, chairman
of the Association of Greek Communities in Great Britiain).
“It
is the most holy object in the world. That word «holy» is almost not enough to
describe it. To touch something that Jesus himself has touched it is like we
have touched him. This is a great opportunity in my life. I’m very happy” (Marius
Ionescu).
Various newspapers and web-sites
dedicated space for this historic moment in the life of our Community. Some of
them are these:
