Since the Cross became, as it were, the altar of the awesome Sacrifice—for upon the Cross the Son of God died for the fall of mankind—it is fitting that we honor the Cross, bow down before it, and depict it as the sign of the common salvation of all people. Thus are those who venerate the wood of the Cross freed from the curse of Adam and receive the blessing and grace of God for the fulfillment of every virtue.
For Christians the Cross is the greatest glory and strength, for all our power is in the power of Christ crucified on the Cross, and all our exaltation and all our glory are in the humility of God, who humbled Himself so greatly that He was even willing to die among criminals and thieves.
—St. Simeon the New Theologian
On the Great Mystery of Redemption
Extraordinary, divine, wondrous indeed are all the miracles of Christ; yet the most wondrous of all is His precious Cross.
If there had been no Cross, Life would not have been nailed to the tree. And if Life had not been nailed to the tree, then from His side would not have flowed the streams of immortality—blood and water that cleanse the world.
For our sake the fearless Master suffered; for our sake the Only Sinless One was crucified… for us, the ungodly, Christ our Savior was delivered unto death.
Was it not because He hated sins that He was delivered unto death? In order to blot them out, He willingly died. But why is it said that He was “lifted up” or “will be lifted up”? To indicate the Cross; for upon it sin was nailed, and by the Cross sins were loosed.
Christ is called “redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), because He frees us who were held under sin, giving Himself for us as a ransom, as a purifying sacrifice for the whole world.
Christ, by the will of the Father, became man for the salvation of those who believe in Him and accepted humiliation and suffering in order by His death and resurrection to conquer death.
Christ granted us this grace by giving us the gift of His mercy: conquering death by His Cross, redeeming believers by the price of His Blood, reconciling man with God the Father, and giving life through a heavenly rebirth.
Remember Christ in the cave and in prison, and a richly adorned house will no longer tempt you. Remember Christ stripped and clothed in garments of mockery, and fine clothing will not attract you. Remember the vinegar and gall Christ tasted, and you will not crave luxurious feasts. Remember Christ who shed His Blood even for those who shed it; remember Him who prayed from the Cross for those who crucified Him—and you will not even think of vengeance against your enemies, but will forgive them magnanimously.
—St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow
On the Savior’s Death on the Cross
Why did the Lord suffer no other death, but death upon the Cross? Whoever asks this should know that this very death, and no other, was saving for us; and it was precisely this death that the Lord endured for our salvation.
For if He came in order to bear upon Himself the curse that was upon us, how could He become a curse in any other way than by accepting a death that was itself under a curse? And such a death is the death of the Cross, for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Gal. 3:13)
Secondly, if the Lord’s death is the redemption of all, if through it the dividing wall is broken down and the calling of the nations is accomplished (Ephesians 2:14), how could He call us to the Father unless He had been crucified on the Cross?
For can one die with arms outstretched only upon the Cross.
From: Readings For Every Day of Great Lent, Ed. N. Shaposhnikova (Moscow: Danilov Monastery, 2025).
