It is the name of the third Sunday of Great Lent, during which the Cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, is honored.
Pilgrimage Sunday is the third Sunday of Great Lent, when the Cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, is honored. It is a despotic holiday, which has its roots in Palestine, when on the first Sunday after March 6, the finding of the Holy Cross by Saint Helen was celebrated.
This Sunday is Mid-Lent, that is, it is in the middle of the forty-day fast. By gazing at and worshiping the Cross, Christians remember Christ's passion and gain strength to continue their fasting and spiritual struggle.
During the morning liturgy, the Cross is carried by the priest in a procession to the center of the church, where, as prescribed by church formality, the sequence of the Adoration of the Cross takes place. Afterwards, the faithful embrace the Cross and receive from the hand of the priest as a blessing flowers and rosemary (cross flowers), which they then keep in the iconostasis of their homes, like the flowers of the Epitaph. The Cross remains in the center of the church throughout the week, so at the end of each service it is worshiped by the churchgoers.
In the past, on the afternoon of the Sunday of Cross Pilgrimage, also called Mid-Lent, children would go around the houses and ask for eggs and wood for Easter, singing the verses:
Hail Dear Stavre
joy of the prophets
to give us an egg
to get out of here
Source: Sansimera.gr
