Homily on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. -Met. Korniliy (Titov)

By Met. Korniliy (Titov) Dear brothers and sisters! In the profoundly rich and spiritually meaningful service for the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the significance and meaning of the sacrificial death on the Cross, which the Lord offered for the redemption of the sins of the human race, are revealed. After this sacrifice, the life-giving wood of the Cross becomes an all-strengthening power for the struggle against sins. Let us recall the words of the festal troparion: “Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance”—the Lord acknowledges us, sinful people, as His inheritance, for us the Savior shed His divine blood on the Cross. “And preserving Thine own by Thy Cross”—the life-giving Cross is the protector of all Orthodox Christians, the foundation of our life according to Christ’s commandments. The Cross is given to every Christian at Holy Baptism and accompanies our entire life. The Cross overshadows the final resting place of man—the grave mound. Great is the power of the life-giving Cross! In the church hymns of today’s feast, the honorable and life-giving Cross is praised as “the glory of angels, the adornment of apostles, the strength of the righteous, the praise of the faithful, the beauty of priests, the victory of the pious, the door to paradise, the haven of salvation, the hope of Christians, the guide to the lost, the refuge for the storm-tossed, the healer of the weak, the resurrection of the dead, the scourge of demons, the guardian of the whole universe, the invincible weapon, the victory in battles, the beauty of the Church, whereby the power of death was destroyed and abolished, and we are raised from earth to heaven.” In praising the Lord’s Cross, the Holy Church calls us to kiss the holy Cross with joy and fear—fear because of our sins, for we are unworthy of its holiness, and joy because of the salvation granted to the world through the voluntary sacrifice of our Savior on the Cross. Today is both a sorrowful and a joyful day. It is sorrowful because we see the Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the Cross, enduring the most painful and shameful death. It is joyful if we understand why Jesus Christ died on the Cross. We know that every person is born with original sin and then commits many sins of their own. Yet nothing impure, nothing sinful, can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Before Christ’s coming, no one could enter the Heavenly Kingdom; all were destined to perish in Hades. This would have been so forever if Jesus Christ had not suffered and died for us on the Cross. We could never atone for our guilt on our own. “With His blood He washed away our sinful defilement.” Jesus Christ not only offered a sacrifice on the Cross for our sins but also granted us grace and strength to preserve ourselves from new sins. When a rich man forgives a poor man’s debt, which he cannot repay, he does a good deed. But he does an even greater good when, beyond that, he gives the poor man money to restore his livelihood and live without dependence on others. Look upon the Cross: is not Jesus Christ that compassionate rich man? Did He not give even Himself, His life-giving blood and life, so that we might receive grace from God and begin a new life? If Jesus Christ had not died on the Cross, we would not have baptism, nor confession, through which the sins committed after baptism are forgiven. If Christ had not offered His most pure Body in sacrifice on the Cross, we would not have the sacrament of Communion, in which we are united with Christ. Much more could be said about what we owe to Christ and what we have thanks to the death of Christ the Savior on the Cross. What does Jesus Christ require of us for His sufferings? Only that we live according to His teaching and His commandments. The Holy Church today solemnly celebrates the finding of the honorable Cross of the Lord. This feast was originally established by the Church in honor of the joyful event that occurred, as is known, three centuries after the Lord’s Resurrection. According to ancient Christian historians, the finding of the Lord’s Cross was accomplished by the holy Emperor Constantine the Great and his mother, Helena. Having deep reverence for the Cross, through which Emperor Constantine achieved many victories, he desired to build a church on Golgotha. To fulfill this desire, his pious mother Helena traveled to Jerusalem with a firm resolve to find the Lord’s Cross, the location of which had been lost during times of persecution against Christians. It was difficult for the Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helena to find the Cross, for Jews and pagans, intolerant of worship of the Crucified One, sought to erase the memory of the Lord’s Cross. Along with the crosses of the thieves crucified with Christ on Golgotha, the Lord’s Cross was buried in the ground, and a pagan temple was built over the site. By divine inspiration, an elderly Jew revealed the location of the Cross. When they began to dig, a wondrous fragrance filled the air, and then three crosses were uncovered. Identifying the Lord’s Cross was difficult, as the tablet with the inscription “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” lay separately. Thus, a higher, divine testimony was needed to confirm the Lord’s Cross, not a human one. Saint Macarius, then Patriarch of Jerusalem, by divine inspiration, ordered the crosses to be placed upon a deceased maiden. The touch of two crosses produced no effect, but upon the touch of the third Cross, the maiden came to life. All saw that this miracle was wrought by the power of the life-giving Cross, which grants resurrection and life. The found Cross was solemnly carried to the Jerusalem temple, where Empress Helena joyfully bowed and kissed the honorable Cross. The fame of the miracle of the Cross’s finding drew crowds to the temple. Due to the multitude, not all could see the honorable Cross. Then Patriarch Macarius took the Cross, stood on an elevated place, and raised it, showing it to the people, who in joyful rapture ceaselessly cried out, “Lord, have mercy!” From that time, the Holy Church established the annual celebration of the Finding and Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. In memory of this event, the Holy Church performs the rite of the exaltation of the cross during the festal service, when the bishop, in the center of the church, blesses all four directions of the world with the cross, lowering it downward and raising it upward, symbolizing the bitter fall of humanity and its rising with Christ from the depths of Hades to the Kingdom of God, from death to eternal, blessed life. Thus, the cross, once an instrument of shameful execution, became the instrument of our salvation from sin. On it, our Savior was nailed by His divine, holy will and love for us. The Cross of Christ thus became a symbol not of evil and shame but of honor and the greatest good for all humanity. Christ said to His disciples before His death: “No man taketh My life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:18). The Lord, of His own free will, gave Himself to death so that others might live eternal life with God. Christ voluntarily gave His life, enduring the horror of abandonment, betrayal, and suffering for each of us, because each of us is precious to Him, loved by Him. We distance ourselves from God through our sins, self-love, and lack of faith. Therefore, for the salvation of each of us, He would endure again the horror of death on the Cross, as He revealed to the Apostle Peter in a wondrous vision during his flight from Rome. Thus, the Cross is an image of Christ’s love for us, His followers, and at the same time a sign of our reciprocal love, devotion, and fidelity to the Savior, tested not by words but by complete dedication of our lives to God, through sacrificial love on the Cross, which can grant life to others. We venerate the Cross, which for us signifies victory over evil and death. This is why we must make the sign of the cross with special reverence, for it is the sign before which all dark forces tremble, vanquished by the weapon of the Cross. The saving power of the Cross, sprinkled with the blood of the Lord, has extended to the entire human race. Let us point to at least a few of the countless examples of the power of the honorable and life-giving Cross. According to the account of Saint Prochorus, a disciple of John the Theologian, the holy apostle healed a sick man lying by the wayside through the sign of the Cross (Life of St. John the Theologian, September 26). A certain pious man named Ir, following the instruction of the holy Apostle Philip, traced the image of Christ’s Cross with his hand upon the afflicted limbs of the sick Aristarchus—and immediately the withered hand was healed, the eye regained sight, the ear was opened, and the sick man became whole (Life of the Holy Apostle Philip, November 14). When Saint Epiphanius, still unbaptized in his childhood, was thrown down by a furious donkey and severely injured his thigh, a certain Christian who found him made the sign of the Cross over him three times and thereby healed the youth (Life of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, March 12). But the wonder-working Cross of Christ not only heals ailments; it also renders the human body unharmed by fire, wild beasts, deadly poisons, and other mortal dangers. Thus, Saint Thecla, the righteous, made the sign of the Cross over “a multitude of wood and kindling gathered beneath her for her burning”—and the fire dared not touch her body (Life of St. Thecla, September 24). The holy martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia protected herself with the sign of the Cross and stood “for many hours in a burning furnace” without any harm (Life of the Holy Martyr Basilissa, September 4). Condemned to be torn apart by beasts, the holy martyrs Abdon and Sennis shielded themselves with the holy Cross, and the ferocious animals, like gentle lambs, kissed the feet of God’s servants (Life of the Holy Martyrs Abdon and Sennis, July 1). Under the influence of the healing power of Christ’s Cross, even deadly poisons were rendered harmless. Thus, Saint Bishop Julian, having traced the holy Cross on a cup offered to him by evildoers, drank the deadly poison and felt no harm in his body (Spiritual Meadow, Chapter 3). Similarly, the venerable Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a glass vessel containing poison, and the poisonous container shattered as if struck by a stone (Life of St. Benedict, March 12). For those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge the power of His suffering on the Cross for sinful humanity, the sign of His Cross is a great strength and protection against all evil and misfortune, against the schemes of the enemy of our salvation—the devil. After this, brothers and sisters, we cannot but turn to our conscience and ask it whether we believe and live as befits a Christian, called to become an heir of eternal life, redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. In times of persecution, Christians always cherished the treasures that the pagan world threatened to take from them. The Holy Church prescribes that every Christian should protect themselves with the sign of the Cross throughout their life. But how is this instruction actually fulfilled? Observing how some Christians make the sign of the Cross, one is sometimes astonished, even horrified, by the carelessness with which it is done. Holy Scripture pronounces a curse for negligence toward holy things: “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully” (Jer. 48:10). Consider the correctness of making the sign of the Cross, by which we, as it were, declare: “I am a Christian, I believe in Christ, in Him I was baptized, in Him I hope and trust.” The sign of the Cross is the mark by which God turns His merciful attention to us, pouring out His saving grace. How greatly do those sin who, instead of making the sign of the Cross properly and devoutly, perform something resembling neither a cross, nor a bow, nor a prayer—merely a mechanical motion of the hand, the meaning of which they themselves do not understand. Such waving “maketh the demons rejoice.” But of those who make the sign of the Cross devoutly, the writings of the holy fathers say: “And whoso maketh the sign of the Cross rightly, placing their hands upon their forehead, their belly, their right shoulder, and then their left, the angels, beholding, rejoice, seeing the true Cross imaged upon their faces.” What explains this lamentable negligence toward the sign of the Cross? Most likely, such careless waving of the hand occurs because negligence and distraction reign in the soul. This suggests that such a person has weakened in faith itself, forgetting the Savior crucified on the Cross and His sufferings, which freed us from the power of the devil and granted us eternal life. Christ calls all Christians: “Take up thy Cross, and follow Me.” Thus, the apostles, martyrs, and venerable saints followed Christ with joy. They willingly sacrificed for the Lord all the blessings of the world, even their very lives, and were not deceived in their hope, inheriting the eternal and blessed Kingdom, as the Apostle Paul says: “If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together with Him” (Rom. 8:17). We, Old Believers, cannot but recall the example of the courageous bearing of the Cross by the confessors of ancient Orthodoxy—Lady Theodosia Morozova, her sister Princess Evdokia, and those who suffered with them. Thus, Protopope Avvakum describes their feats: “They, putting aside womanly weakness, took upon themselves manly wisdom and went to suffer torments for Christ’s sake.” When their tormentors offered them to renounce the old faith, they replied: “For the faith of our fathers, we are ready to die. Even if we die, we shall not betray the true faith!” Thus did the great zealots of ancient piety fulfill the words of the Gospel: “Take up thy Cross, and follow Me.” They were co-crucified with Christ, and the world was crucified to them, as the Apostle says. Why, then, do most people today not follow Christ? Perhaps it is due to unbelief or weak faith, attachment to the fleeting blessings of temporal life, pride, sloth, spiritual ignorance, or negligence toward salvation. In his time, Saint Cyprian wrote of this: “Christians have given themselves over to the spirit of the world. Peace has lulled their faith to sleep. All have begun to care for worldly and temporal things. These bonds, these chains, have suppressed faith, bound the soul, and made it prey and food for the serpent, who treads the earth by God’s judgment” (On the Fallen). The words of Saint John Chrysostom speak of the same: “If someone from outside came to us and thoroughly knew both Christ’s commandments and the disorder of our lives, I do not know how they could imagine enemies of Christ worse than us, for we walk a path as if resolved to go against His commandments” (Homily on Repentance). Bishop Michael Semenov, in his homily “On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Lord’s Cross,” reflects on the inner strength of Christians in times of persecution: “It is said that in Old Belief, since the eight-pointed Cross, which was once removed even from prayer houses, began to be solemnly raised on bell towers, zeal for the faith, love, and mercy have diminished—not to mention that men have disfigured their beards. Whether this is so, I do not know, nor do I wish to engage in rebuke. I only wish to say that the external exaltation of the ‘Cross’—gold, jewels, flowers on the sign of the Son of Man—does not yet signify the true triumph of Christianity. The highest place a person can give to the Cross is in their soul and upon their shoulders, following the first Cross-Bearer. And this Cross is constantly in danger; in outwardly peaceful times, even more so than ever. Great attention and vigilance of will and spirit are required to bear this Cross high and preserve it from desecration.” “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,” teaches the Lord. To deny oneself, according to the Savior’s commandment, means to overcome passions, sinful inclinations, and attractions to sin and all evil. All people, including the greatest saints, were not free from the temptations of passions and were in many ways like us. But they did not allow passions to rule over them, subduing and suppressing them in time. If, due to their natural weakness, they fell in the struggle with passions, they quickly rose and, with renewed strength and experience, re-entered the battle until they overcame them. Thus, they ascended higher and higher, rightly called ascetics and valiant, angel-like warriors. In the bitter lot of earthly life, all experience sorrows and burdens. Yet some, through the Cross of earthly deprivations, griefs, and sorrows, ascend to heaven, to paradise, like the wise thief who endured torments with repentance and called upon Christ. Others, like the second, wicked thief, enduring the Cross of temporal sorrows and torments, descend to Hades for eternal torments, for they do not repent of their sins or follow Christ. But Christ’s followers must not only bear their Cross in His footsteps but also be crucified upon it, as the Apostle says: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). For since man transgressed God’s commandments, sin dwells in him, like a heavy stone weighing down his heart, all his feelings, and darkening his mind. In man, there is a ceaseless struggle between the immortal spirit, which the eternal God “breathed” into him, and the flesh, which must be nailed to the Cross for salvation. This does not mean tormenting or mutilating our body. No, the body itself does neither evil nor good. We must crucify the evil that lives in our flesh—we must “mortify,” as the Apostle teaches, “our members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). All passions, all evil impulses, are enemies living in our flesh, warring against God’s laws. These we must conquer with God’s help. To do this, as the Apostle says, we must “put on the whole armour of God, the breastplate of righteousness, and take the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:11), that is, we must arm ourselves with virtues. For example, armed with humility, we overcome pride; with temperance, we cast down fornication and lust; with fasting, we mortify gluttony and drunkenness. Above all, we must arm ourselves with Christian love, which, as the Apostle says, is “the bond of perfectness” (Col. 3:14), for love directs us to do what is truly beneficial for our salvation and to faithfully fulfill our duties to God and neighbor. Thus, brothers and sisters, let us strive to crucify our flesh with its passions and lusts, boldly fighting against sins, that we may, even here on earth, taste the sweetness of the blessedness God has prepared for those who love Him. But if we serve sin and do not crucify our flesh, know that it will crucify us; if we give free rein to passions, they will become our tormentors and destroyers, leading us, in the end, to the grave, for “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and from the grave to the abyss. Such is the outcome of earthly sufferings if a person does not repent in life. “By many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God,” which is “within us.” The first step is repentance, the turning of our will from evil and sin to good. A constant, often painful struggle with passions is necessary, which raises us to the Cross of co-crucifixion with Christ. A Christian must be united with the tree of life, rejecting self-pity, entering the battle with passions, and crucifying themselves. Wondrous is this path—it takes away, yet in taking gives; it cuts off, yet in cutting grafts; it kills, yet in killing gives life. Great is the blessing and labor of Christ’s Cross, by which death is trampled and life is granted. Let us pray to the Lord to send us resolve and strength in the feat of spiritual warfare, delivering us from passions. Let us look with faith and hope upon the life-giving Cross, repeating: “By the power of Thy Cross, preserve us, O Lord.” Brothers and sisters! Bearing our Cross, let us follow the Lord under the banner of His Cross, serving the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who granted us salvation through His divine mercy, love for mankind, and redemptive death on the honorable and life-giving Cross. Let us bear our Cross with humility, patience, and gratitude, that in the day of our passing we may hear the joyful voice of Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven: “Where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour” (John 12:26). source