Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross
from Orthodox Christian Parenting
on the website of Antiochian Christian Orthodox Archdiocese
On the third Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate the Sunday of the Holy Cross.
We’re halfway through Lent, and perhaps some of our determination and eagerness for the Lenten journey is waning
a bit. That is exactly why the Church Fathers chose this Sunday for us to
commemorate the Holy Cross.
Father Alexander Schmemann, in his book
Great Lent, reminds us that throughout Great Lent we are crucifying our self, and trying to live up to this week’s
Gospel reading. The Gospel reading for the Sunday of the Veneration of the
Holy Cross is from Mark 8 and 9, and reminds us of Christ’s command, “If any man would come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” [Mark 8.34]. Schmemann
goes on to explain that it would do us no good to take up our cross and follow Christ had it not been that he took up the
Cross in the first place. “It is his Cross, nor ours, that saves us. It is his Cross that gives not only meaning but also power to others” [pp
76-77].
In gratitude for his taking up the Cross,
and to encourage us to continue taking up ours, the Church gives us this Sunday.
Christ’s example of suffering willingly and completely reminds us that our struggles are small in comparison.
But it also reminds us that he understands struggle and pain.
Today’s epistle reading exhorts us, “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weakness, but one who in every respect has teen tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to hope in time
of need [Hebrews 4.15-16]. Christ’s conquering death by taking up
the Cross offers us the hope of resurrection as well as the assurance that our struggle is not in vain: it leads us towards
him, toward heaven.
The placement of the Veneration of the
Holy Cross in the middle of Great Lent is more than just an encouragement for us to keep going.
It also is the fulfillment of an earlier type. “It’s very
beautiful, actually. Think of Paradise, the Garden of Eden.
The Tree of Life was placed in the middle of the Garden of Eden, and here we find the Holy Cross – often said
to come from the wood of the Tree of Life, for this wooden Cross is indeed the means to eternal life.
The Holy Church places it here [in the middle of Great Lent] to remind us of Adam’s sin, and to remind us that
it is only through the Holy Cross that we will find eternal life” [Bjeletich, Elisa and Kristina Wenger, Tending
the Garden of our Hearts: Daily Lenten Meditations for Families, pp107-108].
And so, in the hope of the Resurrection, with determination to continue our struggle (for he understands struggle
and has made a way for us), let us sing with joy of the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross, “O Lord, save Thy
people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victory to the Orthodox Christians
over they enemies, and by the power of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation!”
Glory to God for his example, his victory, and his great mercy towards us and our own struggles, through the Life-Giving Cross!
Here are a few quotes from Church Fathers about this Sunday and/or the Holy Cross:
“Why do we honor the Cross with such reverence that we make mention of its power in our prayers after asking
for the intercession of the Mother of God and the Heavenly Powers, before asking for that of the Saints, and sometimes even
before asking for that of the Heavenly Powers? Because after the Savior’s sufferings, the Cross became the sign of the
Son of Man, that is, the Cross signifies the Lord himself, incarnate and suffering for our salvation” – Saint
John of Kronstadt.
“Whenever, then, you Christians adoring
the Cross, know that you are adoring the Crucified Christ, not the mere wood….[The Cross and the representations of
the saints] are not our gods, but books which lie open and are venerated in churches in order to remind us of God and to lead
us to worship him” – Saint Leontius of Naples, Cyprus.
“The Cross
is wood which lifts us up and makes us great….. The Cross uprooted us from the depths of evil and elevated us to the
summit of virtue” – Saint John Chrysostom.
“Shine, Cross
of the Lord, shine with the light of thy grace upon the hearts of those who honor thee.
With love inspired by God, we embrace thee, O desire of all the world. Through
thee our tears of sorrow have been wiped away; we have been delivered from the snares of death and have passed over to unending
joy. Show us the glory of thy beauty and grant to us thy servants the reward
of our abstinence, for we entreat with faith thy rich protection of great mercy.
Hail! Life-giving Cross, the fair Paradise of the Church, Tree of
incorruption that brings us the enjoyment of eternal glory: through thee the host of demons have been driven back, and the
hierarchies of angels rejoice with one accord as the congregation of the faithful keep the feast.
Thou art an invincible weapon, an unbroken stronghold; thou art the victory of kings and the glory of priests. Grant us now to draw near to the Passion of Christ and to his Resurrections. Hail! life-giving Cross, unconquerable trophy of the true faith, door to Paradise,
succor of the faithful, rampart set about the Church. Through thee the curse
is utterly destroyed, the power of death is swallowed up, and we are raised from the earth to heaven: invincible weapon, adversary
of demons, glory of martyrs, true ornament of holy monks, haven of salvation bestowing on the world great mercy.
Come, Adam and Eve, our first father and mother, who fell from the choir on high through the envy of the murder of
man, when of old with bitter pleasure ye tasted from the tree in Paradise. See,
the Tree of the Cross, revered by all, draws near! Run with haste and embrace
it joyfully, and cry to it with faith: O [precious Cross, thou art our succor;
partaking of thy fruit, we have gained incorruption; we are restored once more to Eden, and we have received great mercy. Gory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto
ages of ages. Amen” -
from Great Vespers on Saturday evening before the Third Sunday of Lent.
