On August 14, the Church celebrates two important church feasts: the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the remembrance of 7 Holy Maccabee martyrs. The Maccabees suffered as confessors of faith in 166 AD. The Dormition fast also begins on this day. 

During the service, the Church glorifies the power of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord all the while remembering the righteous sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. The feast is celebrated in remembrance of wondrous miracles that occurred at the time the Life-Giving Cross was carried around Constantinople. 

During the evening service at the monastery and after the great doxology, the clergy brought the cross in the middle of the Trinity Cathedral for veneration. It will remain there before the evening of the following day when it will be carried back inside the altar after the evening service. 

On the day of the feast and after the Divine Liturgy, the clergy, sisters and many faithful went in procession towards Venerable Alexandra’s holy spring. The services of Lesser blessing of the water and blessing of this year’s honey harvest took place there.