Homily for the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross #
By the mercy of God, we have reached the midpoint of the Great Fast. In order to strengthen and encourage us to continue our spiritual struggle, the Holy Church today turns our gaze to the Life-giving Cross of Christ and reminds us of the sufferings and labors that our Lord Jesus Christ endured for our salvation. The remembrance of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion calls us to imitate and to suffer with Him, that we also might become partakers with Him in the glory and joy of the Resurrection.
Today, the Gospel is read concerning each of us bearing the cross, and of the sufferings and sorrows that are inseparable from the Christian path of the cross. “Whosoever will come after Me,” said Jesus Christ to His disciples and to the multitude, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34–37).
From ancient times, the Cross was prefigured through images recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The image of the Cross reveals to us the surpassing wisdom of God, which puts to shame the proud wisdom of the world. Innumerable blessings have been shown to mankind through the Cross; through it, evil and ungodliness are restrained, and from the beginning of the world the mere appearance and likeness of the Cross have foretold great wonders. Thus, Moses, by means of his rod prefiguring the Cross, with one strike divided the sea, and with another brought the waters back together again, drowning the enemies and preserving the chosen people. In another instance, when Moses lifted his hands in the form of a cross, he put the enemies to flight.
But if even the image of the Cross bore such power, how much greater is the power of the very archetype itself—the Precious and Life-giving Cross! After the coming of Christ into the world and His crucifixion on the Cross, a great and wondrous transformation took place in how the Cross was regarded. What was the cross before Christ’s crucifixion upon it? It was an instrument of shameful capital punishment. This cruel form of execution came to Judea through the Roman conquerors. Before the arrival of the Romans, the Jews knew of executions by hanging upon a tree, and of such victims it was said, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Deut. 21:23). Crucifixion was even more cruel than hanging, for it brought long, unbearable torment. We can imagine the horror and revulsion people had for this disgraceful means of execution before Christ.
But after our Lord Jesus Christ endured death upon the Cross, redeeming the sins of the human race through His suffering, the Cross became a sacred symbol for Christians. The wood of the Cross gained a glory and honor that no man-made object has ever possessed. What once was a shameful instrument of death became a subject of praise for the apostles—the disciples of Christ—and an object of reverent veneration and honor for all Christians. At the same time, it remains a stumbling block and foolishness to Jews and Gentiles. The Cross of Christ, in the words of the Apostle, “is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18)—that is, the source of His strength, the testimony of His wise providence for our salvation.
Time passes, but the glory of the Cross does not diminish or fade—rather, it increases and spreads. We read the words of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, who spoke of the power of the Cross:
“Let us with boldness make the sign of the Cross upon all things: upon our forehead, upon the bread we eat, upon the cups we drink; let us trace it at our comings and goings, when we lie down and rise up, when we are on the road or at rest. It is a mighty safeguard, given to us freely though we are poor and weak. For it is the grace of God, a sign for the faithful and a terror to evil spirits.”
For this reason, today we venerate the Precious Cross. Today we honor the Tree that has granted us life, and the whole Christian world celebrates with joy the memory of the three-beamed, life-bearing Tree. Even in times far removed from Christianity, people, upon seeing the image of the Cross, felt an inexpressible joy, for a blessed change took place within their souls. The vision of the Cross drove away evil passions, granted grace, peace, help, and protection. Therefore, the prophet David, foreseeing by the grace of the Holy Spirit the majesty of the blessed Tree, cried out: “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy” (Psalm 98:5).
Countless blessings have been granted to us through the Cross, the very sight of which radiates the highest wisdom and power, confounding worldly pride, subduing malice and unrighteousness. Saint Theodore the Studite writes in his Homily on the Veneration of the Precious and Life-giving Cross:
“O great gift, so solemnly set before us today! O ineffable blessedness! Once slain by the devil, we now receive life through the Tree; once deceived by a tree, now by a Tree do we drive away the ancient serpent. Truly wondrous and glorious transformation! In place of death, we are granted life; in place of corruption—incorruption; in place of dishonor—glory. And thus, not without cause did the holy Apostle Paul exclaim: God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14). When the Apostle Paul says, the world is crucified unto me, he calls us to flee the world and sin—even to separate ourselves from those close to us by blood, if they hinder our pious way of life.”
To crucify oneself to the world means to cleanse the soul of passions, to cast out evil thoughts from the heart. This brings inner peace and spiritual comfort. One of the God-bearing Fathers, instructing others, once said:
“Apply all diligence, that your inner work be in God; and then thou shalt overcome the inward passions.”
The Apostle Paul adds: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The Lord calls us to die to ourselves—that is, to sin—and to live unto God, that is, to grow in virtue.
Above all, we must understand that the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, through self-denial, deprivations, and sufferings. This is the path that Jesus Christ commanded us to walk. Concerning this, the Apostle Peter says: Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps (1 Peter 2:21). And if we consider ourselves followers of the Lord, His disciples, let us walk in His steps, crucifying our flesh with its passions and desires. As Saint Gregory Palamas writes:
“He who is nailed to the cross can no longer be moved to sin. Therefore, it is necessary to ascend to the heights of the cross, lest, by casting oneself down, one become separated from Christ who is crucified upon it.”
He continues:
“If thou seest within thyself a passionate and fierce temptation toward lust, know that thou hast not yet crucified thyself. How then shalt thou be crucified? Struggle against the passions and their causes; avoid seductive glances and improper closeness with those who bring temptation to thy soul; reduce that which feeds lust—excessive wine, gluttony, and idle talk; and with a contrite heart, call upon God for help against the passions.”
How then shall we not honor and exalt the Cross, which has declared victory over sin and death? The death of Christ was sacred and saving, and therefore the Apostle Paul says: We are buried with Him by baptism into death (Romans 6:4). Thus, we also, having taken on the likeness of His death, shall be partakers of the Resurrection.
Christ set forth three conditions for those who desire, by their own free will, to follow Him. First: let him deny himself, second: take up his cross, and third: follow Me (Mark 8:34).
What do the words let him deny himself mean? They mean that the Christian must resolve, for the name of Christ and for the confession of the true faith, to forget all the comforts of this world, and to endure all trials and tribulations firmly and unshakably. He must guard himself from every sin, correct his sinful life through repentance, and always be ready to suffer reproach, humiliation, and even death for Christ’s sake.
To fulfill the Lord’s call let him deny himself—that is, let him reject himself—we, desiring eternal salvation, must necessarily humble our sinful self-love. According to the command of the Savior, we must renounce our sinful desires, learn to deny the pleasures of the flesh, and impose limits on ourselves in all things. With all our strength, we must strive to restrain our insatiable, lustful, unruly, and deceitful flesh. And to make it easier to deny ourselves, to cease listening to and fulfilling our sinful cravings, let us more often look upon the Cross of Christ and remember that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He might grant us forgiveness.
For the forgiveness of each of our sins, Christ had to descend from heaven, suffer, and die upon the Cross. Let us recall in our minds, as we strive against sin, what torments Jesus Christ endured for our sins!
The Lord, in commanding us to deny ourselves completely—that is, to renounce sin, which the devil sows into our souls—calls us to renounce all his works, all service to him, and all his pride. But we, having grown attached to a life of the flesh, come to live in union with sin and grow accustomed to it. Instead of beginning a resolute battle against sin and breaking with it forever, we often settle for half-measures. Yet, as the prophet Isaiah says: Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2).
Let us look to the examples of many saints, who were once sinners but, with God’s help, decisively and irrevocably entered the struggle against sin, against the passions, and against the devil. How sincerely they came to love God, renouncing the life of the flesh for the sake of Christ and His Gospel! But we, loving our flesh and the pleasures of this sinful and vain world, forget the inevitability of death. We dream of living long years in comfort, chasing after pleasure, and we forget our immortal soul—that it is worth infinitely more than the entire world with all its treasures, which shall pass away as a shadow.
The Lord calls us to deny ourselves—that is, to turn away from ourselves, to pass by ourselves, and follow after Christ. But to turn away from oneself and shift one’s attention from oneself is only possible when we redirect our attention to something higher, something more important. It is not possible simply to turn away from oneself without turning toward something else.
How, then, are we to fulfill the Savior’s commandment, let him deny himself? We must begin with what is simple and within reach of everyone. We must look around us: who is in need of our love, our mercy, our compassion, our help, our care, our pity? In going to these downtrodden ones with love and assistance, we go also to Christ, bearing His Cross—for His Cross is His love, by which the Lord is ready to sacrifice Himself for us. And in following Him, we will forget ourselves, being wholly absorbed in the care of others—not only our care, but Christ’s own care working through us.
The second command: Let him take up his cross, said the Lord. He did not direct us to His own Cross, which He bore for the human race—for that is beyond the strength of ordinary man—but to the cross that is given to each person as his earthly portion. Each must bear his own cross patiently, always looking toward the end of this earthly life, strengthening himself with the thought that perhaps hundreds or thousands of others are bearing a yet heavier cross. We must all bear our crosses of trial without complaint, staying spiritually vigilant, suppressing the desires of the flesh, overcoming temptations, and not murmuring in sorrows against the wise Providence of God, who ordains all things for our salvation.
The path of our salvation necessarily passes through suffering, through sorrow, through temptation—for it is only through testing that our faith is made strong. The way of the Cross, which Christ commanded us to follow, is a path of suffering. Suffering purifies the soul, lifts it up, and makes us wise. It is only through suffering that a person can come to understand what mercy and the love of God truly are.
The Cross of the Lord is the symbol of His love for us, because true love is always sacrificial, always crucified. The Lord, who is love, spread out His arms upon the Cross, as though in a crucified offering of love, desiring to embrace the whole world.
Our love, too, must always be sacrificial—for true love means that one person gives himself, truly himself, for the sake of the one he loves. Therefore, if we love God, we must give ourselves for His sake and for the sake of our neighbors, just as He gave Himself for us. The Lord loves us just as we are—weak and sinful at times. He, who created us, desires not that we live according to our own will, but that we walk the path of salvation, voluntarily bearing our cross.
The Lord gives each person a saving cross suited to his strength, for He knows what sufferings a man can bear in order to be cleansed from sin and ascend to spiritual heights. For Christ, who strengthens us on the way of the cross, has said: My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30).
Let us remember that the temporary sufferings we endure for Christ in this life free us from eternal torments after death.
We must come to understand and acknowledge this: all the sorrows that befall us in life are given for our salvation, for the path of the Christian is a path of suffering. A Christian ought not to complain in the midst of suffering, but rather should give thanks to God, counting himself worthy of sorrows and sufferings as a means of atoning for his sins. All the saints lived amid sorrows; through them they were strengthened and purified. Let us recall the life of Saint Alexis, the Man of God, who willingly bore the cross of renouncing family comfort, enduring slander and hardship with meekness, humility, and joy.
The Apostle James writes: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (James 1:2). And this joy in relation to sorrows and temptations is given to the Christian when, grieving over his own imperfection, he strives to cleanse himself from sin and instills in his heart the thought of the saving power of the Cross and the redemptive nature of suffering. The Lord ascended into heaven by way of the Cross—this path He has appointed for all of us, His followers. Suffering is a blessing, the Church affirms, for we enter into the Kingdom of God only through it, only through the bearing of the Cross. And our prayer, when we find ourselves in sorrow and affliction, should not be for God to remove them from us, but that He would give us the strength to bear our cross and lighten its burden.
Sorrow is inseparable from the Christian life. Therefore, in the Beatitudes—the commandments of spiritual joy—it is said: Blessed are they that mourn, blessed are ye when men shall revile you, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Christianity is the only faith in the world that glorifies suffering. The world, by contrast, runs after the pleasure of sinful temptation and therefore rejects and avoids the Cross. We, however, are called, while living in this world and beholding its beauty and its allurements, to remember that all these things are passing, and that our true homeland is in heaven. Yes, this world is bitter, for it contains much suffering; and yet people still grow attached to it, seduced by its sweetness, pursuing its pleasures and delights. But we must remember that for those who seek only joy, sorrow shall surely follow—as is shown in the Gospel in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous (Psalm 34:19), says the Psalmist David. One might ask: why does the Lord send sorrows and misfortunes upon the righteous? In this, the Lord tries their faith and, at the same time, shows to those around them their great patience, humility, and love for God. The righteous themselves, by overcoming their sorrows, only became stronger and more steadfast—like a tree exposed to many winds and storms, which grows ever firmer, sinking its roots more deeply into the earth.
But to seek out temptations voluntarily is itself a sin, just as it is wrong to flee from every sorrow and trial. In our prayers we say: Lead us not into temptation—that is, we ask God not to allow us to fall into such trials as might shake our faith and cause us to fall into grievous sin. And if the Lord grants us cleansing through temptations, trials, and sorrows, then we ask that, in the midst of them, He not permit us to fall or to depart from Him.
Bearing the Cross is the path to the salvation of our soul. The time of this earthly life is given to us by the Lord so that, with hope, endurance, and resolve, we may learn to carry our cross. The Lord gives many kinds of cross-bearing sorrows—martyrdom, sickness, poverty and destitution, the loss of loved ones, marriage and loneliness, the care of the sick and elderly, reproach and humiliation, and many other various crosses of suffering. We must bear our cross from youth, with humility and prayer—for prayer eases the weight of the cross. Every time we bend under its burden, let us remember how our Lord Jesus Christ bore His Cross—or rather, how He bore our Cross, for it was for our sins that He suffered, and our sorrows and burdens that He took upon Himself.
Why does the Cross and the sign of the Cross possess such dreadful power against demonic forces? Because the Cross testifies to Satan of the greatest power of God—the power of humility. The devil fell from God through pride, but the Lord overcame the devil by His humility. The sight of the Cross, upon which the Lord manifested His supreme humility and by it conquered the enemy, is unbearable to him. We ourselves, lacking humility, often struggle to endure suffering, forgetting the consolation promised in the Kingdom of Heaven. Advancement in humility is the very path to God and to the salvation of the soul, for the pattern of humility was given to us by Christ Himself. If we walk the path of humility, we are walking the road to Golgotha, and through it we are raised together with Christ to heaven—the path to our co-resurrection with Him.
The Lord, by His sacrifice upon the Cross, helps us deeply and firmly to receive the grace-filled, saving truth: that there is no other way to heaven but through humility and the willing acceptance of suffering for Christ’s sake. Therefore, if we would enter into the Kingdom of God, we must humble ourselves, endure without complaint the unpleasant circumstances of life—its sicknesses and sorrows—cutting off murmuring, overcoming our lusts and passions, and thus gradually, step by step, year by year, learn endurance; and through endurance, little by little, acquire humility, which shall bring us salvation.
We must learn to thank the Lord for the cross-bearing sufferings in our life, for even the heathen give thanks for blessings. But our cry to God in times of sorrow and hardship should be: “Glory to God for all things!” Saint John Chrysostom says that those who endure sorrow with thanksgiving to God shall receive a crown equal to the martyrs; and he adds: “One ‘Glory to God’ in sorrow and misfortune is worth more than a thousand thanksgivings in times of prosperity.” Just as the grape, when it is crushed and placed under pressure, becomes wine, so too our soul, when pressed by sorrow, reaches the eternal dwellings—so say the holy fathers regarding patience.
Walking the way of the Cross, we come to know the fruits of humble cross-bearing: victory over the devil’s temptations, healing of soul and body, cleansing from sins, the gaining of inner peace and long-suffering. Having tasted the fruit of the Cross, we, with the Apostle Paul, may say with joy: I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20).
To bear sorrow without complaint is especially needful in our times, when many are filled with despondency and murmuring. In the early centuries of Christianity, the faithful were saved by enduring persecution and bodily torments.
Suffering for the name of Christ, for His truth, and for the holy and true faith is a path that leads to the very heights of sanctity. And now, when the Lord in His mercy has spared us from such tribulations, our salvation lies in repentance and the uncomplaining endurance of life’s sorrows. Saint Theodosius the Great once foretold that in the last times, when people will become strangers to one another like wild beasts, zeal for God will grow cold, and the monastic struggles will diminish. Then the Lord will permit lesser sorrows, and those who endure these trials shall be saved.
At the same time, we must remember that not all sufferings deliver us from eternal torments, but only those borne without murmuring against God, as was the case with the pious, penitent thief on Golgotha.
The Lord also pointed to the third condition for those who desire salvation: and follow Me—that is, let him walk after Me. It is only for the sake of the Savior that we ought to endure and be meek in affliction, to strive in every virtue—not for gain or vain glory, but willingly, having resolved to follow Christ and to endure all things for His sake. To follow Christ means to imitate Him, to strive to live as He commanded, to act as He acted.
The Cross, which we venerate today, signifies for us God’s victory over evil. The Cross is our banner, our weapon, and our shield—it is given to us from holy baptism. That is why we must treat it with reverence, venerate it, and diligently sign ourselves with the sign of the Cross. By the Cross, we conquer all the dark powers, who know that they were defeated by Christ on Golgotha. And when we make the sign of the Cross, we as it were take up Christ’s Cross and resolve to follow Him on the path He has shown us: Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow Me.
Brethren and sisters! Let our life be a bearing of the cross, for the cross is to us the banner of victory. Let us bow before the Cross with reverence, love, and awe—it is the symbol of our salvation. Let us remember the sufferings which our Lord Jesus Christ endured upon it for our salvation, that we might attain the Kingdom of Heaven, being crucified and dying with Him, and rising again with Him unto life eternal. Let us give our lives in a cross-bearing sacrifice of love for our neighbors—until the time comes to give our life wholly into the hands of God.
Beholding the Holy Cross, laid today in the midst of the church, and kissing it, let us be strengthened in the labor of fasting and prayer. Let us venerate the Holy Cross with all our life, our soul, and our heart, that we may with triumph attain unto the joyful and radiant day of Christ’s Resurrection, singing:
We venerate Thy Cross, O Master, and we glorify Thy holy Resurrection!