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Flowers for celebrating cross Pilgrimage Sunday (Rodares)

Cross Pilgrimage Sunday is the third Sunday of the Great Lent, on which the Cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, is commemorated.On the eve of the Feast of the Cross, the girls in the village collect rosemary, marjoram and basil from the houses and yards, and they then sit down and tie small bunches, and put in the center an aromatic flower, such as a carnation, a rose, a hyacinth, or lilies, and then tie them with string. The bunches are then distributed by the priest to the people after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. In Crete these bunches are traditionally called “rodares” or “rosaries”.