Welcome to Our Parish Website | Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church

Welcome to the highest elevation Greek Orthodox parish in North America!

Click on the image above to be brought to the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church of Flagstaff YouTube Streaming Services Website

All services for Holy Cross Church are streamed ON LINE, and are open attendance. All in-person attendees are expected to respect and follow all Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic restrictions as documented at the church.

To watch the live stream of the Services, click on this link or on the image above. You will be taken to the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church You Tube Channel. There, beginning on Saturday, you will see a small video screen with a red rectangle below it, inscribed with the word "LIVE." Click anywhere on the video screen and the streaming will begin. The link will also be available on the Holy Cross Facebook Page.

Orthodox worship is like visiting heaven while on earth. Visitors are welcome to join us for services which are conducted predominantly in English.

Please consult the calendar for the schedule of events.

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

Icons are not just for personal computers.

Anyone who uses a personal computer is familiar with an “icon.” Point click on an “icon,” and a program or document opens. So, an “icon” is a symbol that represents an application or a document.

Centuries before the PCs were in vogue, and the term “icon” signified a stylized painting of Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saints, Angels, or events from the Gospel or the life of the Church. An icon is not merely a religious picture but a depiction done according to definite techniques, most often referred to as a “Byzantine style.” An icon acts as a window into heaven in the Orthodox Christian Church. In itself, it is as visible and tangible as anything in everyday life, but it also reveals another invisible dimension.

For Orthodox Christians, an icon is intended not as a work of art but a medium of prayer. It is venerated – people kiss it – but it is not worshipped. It is treated with reverence because it points to the holy person or event depicted.

According to the Orthodox Christian calendar, each Sunday of Lent has a specific theme. The first Sunday of Lent is dedicated to the “Triumph of Orthodoxy,” which commemorates the victory of the true faith over false doctrine, explicitly dealing with the teachings of sacred images. Icons have been used in the church and home from early times. There is a tradition that Saint Luke painted icons of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, which still exist today.

At the beginning of the eighth century, persecution arose against sacred images and those who venerated them. Thousands of devout Christians were martyred and tortured for their belief that God took human form in the person of Jesus, and therefore God can be depicted in a stylized icon as the man Jesus. For more than a century, the battle of Iconoclasm (icon-bashers) took place in the Byzantine Empire. Finally, in 842, those who defended icons were vindicated, and Empress Theodora ended the unrest.

On February 19, 843, which happened to be the first Sunday of Lent that year, a solemn procession was held in Constantinople, with the sacred icons being restored to the churches and homes. Since that day, the first Sunday of Lent was called the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Commemorating this event, the Church reaffirms its belief that the material world is good because God created it and incarnated in it. He continues to manifest himself in material forms: in icons, in Gospel, the Cross, and relics of the saints.

We will commemorate the 9th-century event at Holy Cross on Sunday, March 13 at noon during the unique Vespers service with the procession of icons. Please bring your favorite icon for the procession.

This service proclaims the continuity of the faith with the Apostles, a belief maintained for over 2000 years.

Fr. Eugen Rosu