LIVING ORTHODOX

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, greetings on the blessed feast of the Procession of the Cross of Our Lord. It’s always marvellous to celebrate such days, and an extra special treat that we have here, in our humble parish, a relic of the True Cross that we can venerate. How often though, dear ones, do we take this marvellous trophy, this shelter, this refuge, this mighty weapon for granted?

Many of us know how to make the sign of the cross. Yet many of us either forget to take refuge beneath the sign of the cross or we are ashamed of the cross. This shame is something the devil, man’s ancient enemy, will either take away to push us into a fall, or he will give it to us in order to paralyze our spiritual lives—be this by either making it difficult to confess the sins we’ve committed, or by causing us to either half-heartedly make the sign of the cross or to abandon it altogether.

The saints, however, know how powerful the Cross is. Saint John Chrysostom urges Christians to not be careless in how one makes the cross. When one does it properly and with reverence and trust in God, the demons flee in fear from it. But, when one does it carelessly or negligently, then it is to their delight. 

St. Anthony the Great said that, when one makes the sign of the cross, it burns the demons! He could see them bursting into flames when he made the sign of the cross. The Cross, which was seen as a mark of shame, the worst execution possible, has become for us the ultimate symbol and thusly the ultimate reality of Christ’s victory over death. 

We see types of this even in the Old Testament, when Moses and the Israelites were at war with Amelek and his army. When Moses the Godseer had his hands raised, the Amelekites were losing. However, whenever he lowered his hands, they began to defeat the Israelites. His brother, Aaron and another man named Hur had to hold up his hands, and holy tradition teaches us that Moses’s arms were stretched out like a cross. Such is the wonder and mystery of God. For in this battle it was no coincidence that Joshua (Yeshua), which is the name of our Lord Jesus (meaning saviour), was at the front lines, storming the enemy. The Holy Fathers teach us that this was to prefigure Christ’s descent into Hades and His storming the gates of Hades. Of course, Israel won the war, just as Christ secured victory over death. The devil and his army were defeated by our Lord and by way of the cross. The Kingdom of God, which is the Kingdom of light and life, prevailed over the kingdom of Satan, which is a kingdom of darkness and death.

Brothers and sisters, before you is a piece of the wood of the Cross. The Cross our Lord was crucified on in order to trample death by death. I urge you all to never take this precious gift for granted. Cross yourselves when arising from bed as a reminder of the resurrection that awaits us all. Cross yourself before you eat, before you drive, and before you sleep. For one can never know when the Lord may come for us. 

Pray the prayer to the Venerable Cross of the Lord over the bedside before you sleep. This powerful prayer exorcises the demons and reminds us that it was by the Cross that Christ descended into hades and trampled on the power of the devil, giving us His venerable Cross for the driving away of every adversary. It is more than just a simple symbol. It is our armour, our weapon, and ultimately our inheritance. With the sign of the cross, many countless saints performed incredible miracles. St. Donatus, and those with the saintly bishop, were able to drink of water that had been poisoned by a serpent. When St. Donatus made the sign of the cross over the water, it became safe to drink. 

Remember dear ones that the Cross is our invincible trophy. It bears witness to the resurrection and, as you heard today in the epistle, “that message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Christ is indeed the power and wisdom of God, and the tree of our Lord upon which the fruit of eternal life—the precious body and blood of our Lord—hangs never withers. It never dies. For death was destroyed by way of it. 

Never forget the words of St. John of Kronstadt: “A Christian without a cross, is no Christian at all.” So remember to make the sign of the cross in all that you do, and to bear the cross God has given you with thankfulness and patience.

Let us run to the Cross of the Lord and find in it consolation, protection, and the path to our salvation. 

Amen. 

Fr. Mikhail