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THE CROSS OF CHRIST
For many centuries, on this day when the Elevation of the Precious Cross is celebrated, the bishop or priest stands in the center of the Church and lifts the Cross high above the congregation, blessing the faithful in the four directions of the horizon, while the choir chants “Lord, have mercy.” This was the celebration in the Christian empire, which was born under the sign of the Cross on the day when Emperor Constantine the Great saw the vision: “In this sign, be victorious.” It is the feast of the triumph of Christianity over kingdoms and civilizations, the feast of the Christian world which now lies upon the spiritual ruins of its own progress and development, and which continues to collapse before our eyes, regardless of whether this collapse is beautified to appear as ascent and progress.
“The beauty of the Church”
This ancient festive ceremony is performed today during the Divine Liturgy. The chanters once again sing the magnificent hymn: “The Cross, the beauty of the Church...” However, the majority of people surrounding our Churches do not participate in this mystical triumph. Millions of people will continue to live their normal lives, with the inevitable upheavals of life, their joys and sorrows, without any reference to what is happening inside the Church. And this happens because people of our time do not want to realize that the Cross of Christ, which our Church so strongly presents continuously, is three essential things:
The life-giving wood
The Cross of Christ is the tree of life. The Cross, in the times of the Old Testament and up until the era of Christ, was the most dishonorable means of executing criminals and lawbreakers of the time, the ultimate symbol of death. But how great is the power of God! This horrifying instrument of execution was instantly transformed into the tree of life, a life-giving instrument, at the moment when the body of the God-Man was hung upon it and stained its wood with the blood of the innocent one. From that moment on, the Cross became a symbol of life, strength, and creation, continuously accompanying the creativejourney of the Church through space and time.
Symbol of the Kingdom of God
The Cross of Christ is the symbol of victory and of the Kingdom of God. Our Lord was never more a king during His earthly life than when He ascended Golgotha, bearing the Cross on His shoulders. Never was His royal authority more evident than when Pilate led Him before the crowd – dishonored, condemned to death – saying, “Behold your king” (John 19:14). Only here can we see the full mystery of Christianity, because through the despised, condemned, and crucified God-Man, the love of God began to illuminate the world and opened a kingdom that no one has the right or the power to close.
Symbol of universal human unity
The Cross of Christ became a symbol of unity among people. In an age of divisions and inequalities, where injustice reigns and personal interest overshadows everything, the Cross of Christ offers itself as the most genuine symbol of human unity. Christ ascended the Cross and, with His two bloodied arms outstretched, embraced all people, abolishing inequalities and divisions. He embraced everyone with the same sincere love and invited them to unite under the symbol of the Cross, all equal among themselves, united in the hope of His Kingdom.
Today, when for many, the Cross of Christ is considered “foolishness,” today when most Christians venerate the Cross of Jesus only mechanically, today when the Cross and the Crucified have been removed from the iconostasis of our souls, we are called – those of us who are still moved by the Passion of Christ and believe in the power of the Cross – to delve into the three truths mentioned above and be led from external veneration to inner union with the Crucified One. Only then will the Feast of the Elevation also lift our own soul to heavenly experiences. Amen!
Archimandrite E. Oik.
A weekly pamphlet of Orthodox faith and life of the "Apostolic Ministry of the Church of Greece"
