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Evgeny Poselyanin
The two feasts of the "Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord" and the celebration of the "All-Merciful Savior Christ God and His Mother the Most Holy Theotokos, Mary" are combined in some menaions, but not all. The two feasts are given equal honor. This gives cause to suppose that these two feasts are not distinct and are essentially one and the same feast, known by two different names. This, however, is a totally wrong assumption. That becomes clear and undoubted if we take a look at the essence and reason for instituting these two different feasts.
In others faith must be cultivated, and this cultivation of faith is one of the most important tasks in life. It is widely known that people of faith are greatly interested in the question of how to pass their faith along to their children. You will even find atheists who are concerned about this.
Thus, the yoke was cast off without any bloodshed. All of their contemporaries saw a miracle in this; they glorified God's mercy and said, "Let not the light-minded boast in the fearsomeness of their weapons! No, neither weapons nor the wisdom of men, but the Lord has saved Russia today!" Here are the words of the Chronicles: "Then there was a miracle of our most glorious and pure Sovereign Lady, the Mother of God. Fear of God came upon King Achmet and he fled from the Ugra River not pursued by anyone. Thus did God deliver the Russian land from the heathen, through the prayers of the Most Pure One, the great wonder-workers, and all the saints. Amen.
