The Largest Piece of the True Cross Of Christ—Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou, Mount Athos

    

In the Catholicon (Main Church) of the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou, thirteen pieces of the True Cross of Jesus Christ are treasured, four large pieces in ancient reliquaries and nine smaller pieces which are also housed in reliquaries with other relics of saints.

    

It is quite likely that all of these pieces of the True Cross were originally one large and unique piece, most likely of the piece that was donated to the monastery by the Eastern Roman Emperor (Byzantine) Romanos Lekapinos I.

The first and largest of these pieces is considered to be the largest piece of the True Cross of Christ in the world, and at the lower section of it, one of the holes that was created by the nails that pierced Christ’s holy Body can be seen.

  

It has the shape of a cross and is encased in a pure gold inner casing which has been designed in order to display the entire piece of the True Cross. It has a length of 31 cm and at its widest part it is 16 cm wide. The entire piece weighs 320 grams.

This piece of the True Cross never leaves the Monastery and is only displayed on feast days of the monastery and during the feast days of the Holy Cross.

  

The second largest piece of the True Cross of Christ which is kept at the holy monastery, also has the shape of a cross and is encased almost entirely in gold except for a small section which is left open to be venerated by the faithful. This is the piece that is taken out of Mount Athos, when requested by various Metropolises and cities outside of Mount Athos.

  

We are all aware of the myriads of miracles that are attributed to the True Cross of our Lord, however, this piece of the True Cross has a miraculous characteristic. It exudes a faint fragrance which is not anything like a natural or made perfume. This is witnessed by the majority of the faithful that have the opportunity to venerate It.

The reliquary in which the second piece is housed also has small piece of the holy relics of the Forty Martyrs and the relic of St. Modest, archbishop of Jerusalem the Martyr who is considered the protector of animal farmers.

Every year on Palm Sunday, thousands of people gather in the village of Petrokerasa in Greece to welcome the Holy Cross of the Monastery of Xeropotamou. The welcoming ceremony is a momentous event organised with ecclesiastical grandeur and spirituality. The journey, welcoming ceremony and hosting of the True Cross of the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou occurs every year without fail to this village from the year 1768 and probably even longer every Palm Sunday.

  

This ancient tradition, to which the fathers of The Holy Monastery keep true, is done in the same manner and tradition which has been handed down and historically documented since 1768.

This is due to a great miracle that occurred in the eighteenth century in this village. The village was plagued by a deadly disease which was affecting all of the inhabitants. The Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou was contacted by the villagers in order to bring the True Cross to the village in order to bless it. The fathers, immediately after receiving word, and with great honours and a grand procession, brought the piece of the True Cross to the village and upon Its procession around the village, the village was saved and the disease that plagued its inhabitants was eradicated in miraculous circumstances due to the presence of the True Cross.

  

In memory of this great miracle, the True Cross of the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou Mount Athos is taken to the same village every year to be venerated by the villagers and faithful.

Comments
Catherine Folger10/26/2022 12:34 am
Greetings from Indianapolis, Indiana. I am a jewelry appraiser and in need of information regarding a gold Cross reportedly containing a piece of Jesus Christ's Cross. This piece was reported to have been passed down several generations of an Orthodox Greek family. There is a hinge at the top and what looks like a ball at base. Any information that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and may God bless you. Catherine Folger
Jayson B Reyes8/9/2021 1:55 am
Greeting of peace! A blessed day to you brothers and sisters of the Lord, We would like to request the relic of our Lord or Blessed Virgin Mary with a Certificate attached that it can be publicly venerated at the time of the end of the pandemic. spreading devotion and love to her in our area, Because she is our Patroness here in our Community, Because we want to revive and strengthen the hearts of other people especially now during the pandemic, such as Blessed Mother Mary's non -surrender to Follow And obey the Lord when he times of Hard situation . we promise you that the Relic that you will provide will be preserved as our treasure and his inheritance to us. Thank you very much and may the Lord bless us always Jayson B. Reyes Caveza Street Candating, Arayat 2012 Pampanga, Philippines
Jose C. Lugay III11/22/2020 3:15 pm
Planning to construct a cross made of metal. Kindly send me the original dimensions of the Holy Cross, indicating the location of the horizontal piece. Thank you very much !
Amrik Francis5/1/2020 7:30 am
Amen , I'm blessed to have a view of the holy and true cross of our savior Jesus Christ .May Lord bless this whole world
Magdalena Angelica Lovejoy6/17/2019 2:03 pm
please pray my heart consciousness is healed and I am surrounded by a bubble of light for protection and send the enemy away, and pray I am given a healing cup of life from Jesus to heal my soul and that the Merkaba power heal my mind of loneliness and pray I meet my twin flame so I can get married and pray my book 5 Ways Of The Wise is a best seller and heal Eledaa Zechariah Beniel Kamphuijs heart and mind.

Dr. Magdalena Lovejoy
Sir Chris Akwarandu6/5/2019 4:40 pm
God is good
m john xavier5/11/2019 7:03 pm
It is not possible to everyone to see and be blessed by Jesus original cross.That is why He implanted His cross in evey ones heart, those whomever believe and trust Him.
Let us all rejoice enjoy by the very thought of His unparelleled sacrifice for me and you. He see our sincerity than our sins, like how the women bought to be stoned stayed back with Jesus submissively, when every one ranawy.
Thank you Jesus.
D. Sirris8/4/2018 9:09 am
A prayer request:
My sister in law, Paraskevi, is terminally ill with cancer, Glioblastoma to be exact. She has been suffering for over a year now. She is a very faithful, practicing Greek Orthodox Christian. She has a 6 year old son and a very loving and devoted husband who is doing everything possible for her.
I am writing this to simply ask if anyone who reads this and is planning to go to venerate the Holy Cross, to please, if possible, say a small prayer for her, or maybe light a small candle in her name. May our Lord Jesus and the Holy Cross Bless you and your families a million fold for your kindness. Thank you!
Conner Dixon9/3/2017 1:02 am
Hmm, do they still allow people to get a close up on this cross piece? I will travel to see it!

It is momenteous the closest we can physically get to Jesus

However he lives on in us through his blessings & the Eucharist^^

If i can visit this place, can you tell me the exact location/is the location still the same? Connor_dixon@hotmail.com
Scaria K Thomas4/15/2017 4:15 pm
May the Holly Cross be glorified bin the Whole world in Which Jesus Christ sacrifice d His great LIFE for the sake of our Souls.Praise to Jesus for always and forever
Misilei Mataia Siutaulalovasa4/11/2017 8:10 am
Ii might be right and might be wrong. I experience that the power of Jesus Cross is everywhere because the Holy Spirit of Jesus empowers His Church universally from the time of Penticost up to now, that was the power which converted Constantine, the emperor of Rome. Apostle Paul or Saint Paul says,"I am not ashamed of Gospel of Christ. It is the of God at work,saving everyone who believes, the Jew first, and also the gentiles. Paul said that he did not use clever words to preach the gospel lest the cross of Christ would lose its power. Gospel is Jesus Christ, He has the holistic power to empower His saints and His Cross.
Jose 11/27/2016 3:01 am
themiraculoustruecrossrelic.com
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×