On the second day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia began his visit to the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
Approximately one kilometer west of the Old City of Jerusalem lies one of the most important Christian holy monasteries – the Monastery of the Holy Cross. According to tradition, on this site, the righteous Lot planted a triple tree of pine, cypress, and cedar, from which the Holy Cross was later made – the very Cross upon which the Most Pure Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for the salvation of the world. According to the sacred tradition of the Church, this tree was cut down during the construction of Solomon’s Temple, but it could not be processed and was thrown into the Kidron Valley as a curse. Later, however, in an attempt to further humiliate our Lord, it was chosen to be fashioned into the Holy Cross. Only then did the wood become usable.
The foundation of the monastery dates back to the time of Emperor Constantine the Great and his Holy Mother Helen in the 4th century AD. For centuries, the monastery endured the dramatic fate of the Holy Land, suffering invasions by the Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Turks. For seven centuries it was the property of the Georgian community, until in the 17th century the Patriarchate of Jerusalem repaid its debts and restored it to its jurisdiction. Today, with the blessing of Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, the monastery houses the Institute of Biblical and Theological Studies of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
The Monastery of the Holy Cross was also a stop on the pilgrimage of St. Sava in 1229. St. Sava donated valuable relics to the monastery and built monastic quarters. According to historical records, frescoes of the first archbishop of Serbia, St. Sava, and his father, St. Simeon the Myrrh-flower, adorned the catholikon – the main church of the monastery.
The sacred entourage accompanying the Primate of the Serbian Patriarchate includes Bishop Petar of Toplica, Archimandrite Danilo, Director of the Patriarchal Administrative Office, Protopresbyter-Deacon Dr. Dragan Radić, Professor at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, Deacon Vasilije Bursać, Director of the Pilgrimage Organization “Dobročinstvo”, and Subdeacon Dejan Nakić.
