The Celebrations of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The celebrations of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross came to an end on September 13th, the vigil of the feast. The festival resumed its last day at the Syriac Orthodox Church of the Mother of Light; where the choir of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Mosul, Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region delivered a performance of hymns. 

The event was attended by His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Awa III of the Church of the East of the Assyrians, H.G. Archbishop Bashar Warda, of the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil; H.G. Archbishop Nicadimus Dawood Matti Sharaf, of the Syriac Orthodox Archdioceses of Mosul and Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region; H. G. Archbishop Nazar Nathanael of the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Adiabene.

After the performance, the archbishops delivered awards for the winning teams of the football tournament which was ongoing during the period of the festival. Following, the church leaders lit the flame which refers to this feast, after which the torch was taken to each church to light the celebration’s flame, which included the Chaldean Catholic, the Syriac Catholic, the Syriac Orthodox and the Assyrian Church of the East Parishes and Cathedrals, making it an ecumenical procession to the churches.