|
The
Holy,
Precious
and
Life-giving
Cross
of
our
Lord,
Jesus
Christ
| Feastday: |
SEPTEMBER
14
(Elevation
of
the
Holy
Cross)
3rd
Sunday
of
Great
Lent
(Adoration
of
the
Holy
Cross) |
Inside
this
beautiful
pectoral
reliquary
cross
is
contained
a
small
piece
of
the
Cross
on
which
Christ
was
crucified.
It
was given to
the
parish
in
the
early
1990's
by
an elderly parishioner
who
received
it
from
an uncle in Romania many years prior.
Over
the
centuries,
on
rare
occasions,
it
is
known
that
the
Patriarch
of
Jerusalem
has
given
such
crosses,
with
a
relic
of
the
Cross
inside,
as
gifts.
For
example,
Patriarch
MIRON,
the
first
patriarch
of
Romania,
had
received
a
similar
cross.
Written
in
French
around
the
frame
of
a
very
small
enameled
icon
of
the
Nativity
of
Christ,
are
the
words
"Jerusalem,
Mother
of
Churches".
The
inscriptions
on
the
cross,
written
in
Greek,
read:
"In
this
conquer"
and
"In
the
year
312",
in
reference
to
(Emperor)
St.
Constantine's
miraculous
vision
of
the
Cross
and
subsequent
conquering
of
the
Roman
Empire,
thus
liberating
Christians
from
persecution.
| St.
Theodore
the
Studite,
who
lived
in
the
9th
century,
preached
in
a
sermon: |
|
How
precious
the
gift
of
the
cross,
how
splendid
to
contemplate!
In
the
cross
there
is
no
mingling
of
good
and
evil,
as
in
the
tree
of
paradise:
it
is
wholly
beautiful
to
behold
and
good
to
taste.
The
fruit
of
this
tree
is
not
death
but
life,
not
darkness
but
light.
This
tree
does
not
cast
us
out
of
paradise,
but
opens
the
way
for
our
return.
This
was
the
tree
on
which
Christ,
like
a
king
on
a
chariot,
destroyed
the
devil,
the
lord
of
death,
and
freed
the
human
race
from
his
tyranny.
This
was
the
tree
upon
which
the
Lord
like
a
brave
warrior
wounded
in
hands,
feet
and
side,
healed
the
wounds
of
sin
that
the
evil
serpent
had
inflicted
on
our
nature.
A
tree
once
caused
our
death,
but
now
a
tree
brings
life.
Once
deceived
by
a
tree,
we
have
now
repelled
the
cunning
serpent
by
a
tree.
What
an
astonishing
transformation!
That
death
should
become
life,
that
decay
should
become
immortality,
that
shame
should
become
glory!
Well
might
the
holy
Apostle
exclaim:
Far
be
it
from
me
to
glory
except
in
the
cross
of
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
by
which
the
world
has
been
crucified
to
me,
and
I
to
the
world!
The
supreme
wisdom
that
flowered
on
the
cross
has
shown
the
folly
of
worldly
wisdom's
pride.
The
knowledge
of
all
good,
which
is
the
fruit
of
the
cross,
has
cut
away
the
shoots
of
wickedness.
The
wonders
accomplished
through
this
tree
were
foreshadowed
clearly
even
by
the
mere
types
and
figures
that
existed
in
the
past.
Meditate
on
these,
if
you
are
eager
to
learn.
Was
it
not
the
wood
of
a
tree
that
enabled
Noah,
at
God's
command,
to
escape
the
destruction
of
the
flood
together
with
his
sons,
his
wife,
his
sons'
wives
and
every
kind
of
animal?
And
surely
the
rod
of
Moses
prefigured
the
cross
when
it
changed
water
into
blood,
swallowed
up
the
false
serpents
of
Pharaoh's
magicians,
divided
the
sea
at
one
stroke
and
then
restored
the
waters
to
their
normal
course,
drowning
the
enemy
and
saving
God's
own
people?
Aaron's
rod,
which
blossomed
in
one
day
in
proof
of
his
true
priesthood,
was
another
figure
of
the
cross,
and
did
not
Abraham
foreshadow
the
cross
when
he
bound
his
son
Isaac
and
placed
him
on
the
pile
of
wood?
By
the
cross
death
was
slain
and
Adam
was
restored
to
life.
The
cross
is
the
glory
of
all
the
apostles,
the
crown
of
the
martyrs,
the
sanctification
of
the
saints.
By
the
cross
we
put
on
Christ
and
cast
aside
our
former
self.
By
the
cross
we,
the
sheep
of
Christ,
have
been
gathered
into
one
flock,
destined
for
the
sheepfold
of
heaven. |
|