During the celebration of Elevation of the Holy Cross after doxology the priest holds in his hands the Holy Cross and he gets out on the deacons ‘doors from the left after the sextons who have lit candles. In 1959, atDionisiou Monastery from the Holy Mountain, after it was said the first litany of the usual service for the Elevation of the Holy Cross which is done in the middle of the church, when the priest went to the other side of the analogion to say the second litany, the baker of the monastery, father Arsenios, came to him, keeping in his hand a dish with a little dough made of flour and water which he put under the disk with the Holy Cross.
Seeing this one of the elders with whom I was staying in the right pew got upset and told me in a whisper:
`Father Lazarus, what is this fool doing? Why does he bother the service?`
`He forgot to put th dough at the right time and that`s why he is trying now to put it under the Holy Cross. He had to put it at the right time without bothering but even now the grace of the Holy Cross will make the dough become new leaven.
This is a miracle which has been taking place for centuries every year but only a few know it.
Hearing these the elder who despised elder Arsenios was shocked and marveled at the wondrous influence of the Holy Cross. Then other monks told him about this miracle too, especially Sophrony, the monk who made the antidora and who confessed to him that when he had put for the first time the dough under the Holy Cross he was overwhelmed by disbelief and he had doubts that the dough would turn into new leaven.
`But what a strange wonder, my Elder, that one told me, for my fully reassurance on the same day after the Holy Liturgy was finished went with me to the place where the antidora are made and where I had put the dough and when I took the cover from the dish with a very strong disbelief I saw that it was full and the dough was overbrimming from the dish. Then I marveled, I made the sign of the cross and glorified God and asked Him to forgive me for the disbelief I had before.
And this happened especially because of my disbelief since as the monks who knew what usually happens told me, on the first day the dough grows only a little. Then this is kneaded with some more flour and the next day it grows so much that it overbrims from the dish.
I`ve related this miracle although it is known to many, because there have always been people like doubting Thomas and for being known by the coming generations whose faith only God knows how ardent will be.
(Monk Lazarus Dionisiate, Dionisiate Stories, Evanghelismos, Bucharest, 2012, pp. 168-169, translated from Greek by pr Stefan Nutescu).
