Reverencing the life-giving Cross, the Holy Church calls us to bow down before it.
The Divine and Most Honorable Cross of the Lord is for us a treasure of sanctification and strength. It is the example of the Lord, who humbled Himself even unto death on the Cross. Having reached the midpoint of the course of Great Lent, the Church calls us to humility, which becomes all the more necessary as we advance in piety, lest pride and Pharisaic self-exaltation overshadow the fruits of our spiritual labors and cause us to lose justification before God, who looks not only at our deeds but also at our thoughts.
St. Ambrose of Milan, speaking in the fourth century at the midpoint of Great Lent, said:
“Give thanks, brethren, to the divine mercy that has granted you safely to reach the middle of the Forty Days. But only those can worthily give thanks for this gift who have thus far tried to live as they were taught at the beginning of Great Lent—that is, those who have sought the forgiveness of their sins through daily fasting, almsgiving, and attendance at church. But those who have neglected all this—who have not fasted daily, have not given alms, have not been diligent in prayer, or have prayed without contrition of heart—such people should not rejoice, but rather grieve and weep.”
On the Power of the Cross
For this reason the Church raises up the Cross of Christ, that, warring under this sign, you may conquer your enemies. For even when the soldiers of an earthly king gather around their military banner, they stand more firmly against the enemy; but the soldier who departs from it more quickly perishes.
See how the heavenly King has armed the soldier who follows Him! He gave him neither shield nor helmet, neither bow nor armor, nor anything of that sort, but something stronger than all these—the power of the Cross, the sign of victory over the demons.
I myself have used this weapon—that is, the weapon of the holy Cross—against all enemies. Arm yourself with it, so that you too, being armed, may overcome this enemy.
—St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Today also the Cross of Christ appears in the firmament of the Church, so that we too, by this sign, may conquer our enemies and remain close to it. The Cross of Christ is exalted and lifted up so that we may defeat and overthrow the demons, and that we ourselves, who have fallen, may rise again and be corrected.
If you trace the sign of the Cross upon yourself with great faith, not one of the unclean spirits will dare approach you, seeing that sword from which it once received its mortal wound.
If, my brother, you always call upon the help of the holy Cross, then there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling (Psalm 91:10).
Let us also strive to be more attentive to our spiritual life. Then we shall surely notice how the demon-tempter entangles us with his nets in our thoughts, words, and deeds. At that moment, following the example of the saints of God, let us immediately direct against him the saving weapon of the holy Cross.
—Bishop Vitaly of Mogilev (Grechulevich)
The Cross is the head of our salvation; the Cross is the cause of countless blessings. Through it we who were once disgraced and rejected by God have now been received among His sons. Through it we no longer remain in error but have come to know the truth. Through it we who once worshiped trees and stones have come to know the Savior of all. Through it we who were once slaves of sin have been brought into the freedom of righteousness. Through it the earth itself has become heaven.
The Cross is the fortress of the saints and the light of the whole world. Just as in a house filled with darkness someone lights a lamp and sets it high, driving away the gloom, so Christ, in a world enveloped in darkness, planted the Cross like a lamp and lifted it high, scattering all the darkness upon the earth. And just as a lamp holds its light above upon its summit, so the Cross upon its summit bore the shining Sun of Righteousness—our Savior.
The Power of the Cross
When the Holy Church brings forth from the depths of the altar the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and sets it before the faithful for veneration, what thought does she intend to awaken?
This thought: That her true children, who are passing through the arena of fasting and struggling against their passion-laden flesh and against the devil—who during the fast especially kindles his fiery arrows against them—may look upon the Cross and vividly recall the sufferings which our Lord Jesus Christ endured in His most pure flesh for our salvation.
By this remembrance they might be strengthened in the struggle against their flesh, its passions and desires, and may not spare themselves in crucifying it with its passions, but courageously fight against the adversary who assails us with manifold temptations.
“Look,” the Lord seems to say to us from the Cross, “what I endured for your sake in the flesh that I took upon Myself for your salvation—My most pure flesh, untouched by any sin. Will you refuse to crucify the passions and lusts of your own flesh? Will you refuse to endure a little bitterness of fasting? Will you not for a time deprive yourselves of pleasures in order to restrain the flesh, which, the more you indulge and satisfy it, the more it rages? Will you not endure the fiery arrows of the enemy, when I allowed him to pierce My divine flesh with every kind of arrow?”
This is the thought with which the Cross is brought forth today for veneration.
Therefore, do not grow faint because of fasting or because of the struggle with passions and the devil. Rather, fight courageously, calling for help upon Him who suffered for us and who by the Cross conquered our enemies. And thus conquer.
Amen.
—Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt
From: Readings For Every Day of Great Lent, Ed. N. Shaposhnikova (Moscow: Danilov Monastery, 2025).
