September: Day 14: Teaching 1:
Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord
(What Does It Mean To Take Up Your Cross?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
(What Does It Mean To Take Up Your Cross?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The Holy Church solemnly remembers today the finding of the Honorable Cross of the Lord. This joyful event took place, as is well known, three centuries after the Resurrection of the Lord, and was accomplished by Saint Helen, the mother of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine. When this pious queen visited the places sanctified by the life and sufferings of the God-man, the Holy Spirit aroused in her heart the desire to find the cross of the Lord, which until that time, due to the troubled circumstances of the Church, oppressed by persecution, remained unknown. It was difficult for the purple-bearing seeker to make this discovery; for the Jews and pagans, not tolerating the worship of the Crucified One, tried to erase all traces of His life. The cross of the Lord, together with the crosses of those crucified with Him on Golgotha, was buried in the ground, and on that very spot the Romans later erected a temple to a pagan deity. But the zeal of the queen and Equal-to-the-Apostles overcame all difficulties. The place of the cross was found, at the direction of a certain Jew, and the temple that stood on it was destroyed. When they then began to dig up the earth, at first an indescribable fragrance was sensed; then three crosses were discovered, on one of which was an inscription, the very one that Pilate had placed on the cross of the Lord. Despite this indication, the enlightened piety of the queen sought a still more reliable sign. Saint Makarios, then Patriarch of Jerusalem, used for this such a means as only the most living faith in the Crucified One could inspire. By his command, a sick man, who was at the point of death, was brought. The Saint touched him first with one, then with another cross, but without any effect; but when he touched with the third, on which was the inscription, the sick man stood up and became completely healthy. This miracle taught everyone that this was the true cross of Him Who is the resurrection and the life. The cross thus found was transferred with triumph to the temple of Jerusalem, where the holy patriarch raised it before the people from the pulpit, so that all, both great and small, could enjoy the sight of the life-giving tree. The holy Church, rejoicing at the discovery of the divine treasure, decreed that the memory of the discovery of the cross of the Lord should be celebrated annually on this day. Such is the origin of the present celebration (Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 1, Ch. 7).
II. Celebrating today the exaltation of the cross of the Lord, let us remember, beloved brothers and sisters of Christ, the other cross to which Jesus Christ pointed out to His followers: "If anyone wants to come after Me," He said, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Matt. 16:211).
a) What is this cross with which we must follow in the footsteps of the Lord, and of what is it composed? It is composed, my brethren, of those sorrows, griefs, and illnesses to which the justice of God has condemned fallen man; of those burdens, labors, and cares which each one is obliged to bear as a member of human society; of those griefs, annoyances, and failures which each of us encounters in life at almost every step; of those displeasures, insults, humiliations, and bitternesses which we so often have to endure in the circle of our neighbors, in public and private affairs, within our families and in society; of those losses and deprivations, misfortunes and calamities—public and private—which are permitted to befall us either by the testing wisdom or the punishing truth of the Heavenly Father.
b) Why is it necessary to bear this cross? Because we are worthily and justly condemned to labors and illnesses, to sorrows and griefs, to misfortunes and calamities throughout our entire life until death. Having sown the whole earth with thorns, can we not be wounded by them? Calling calamities upon the world of God through our sins, can we not be subjected to them? Attracting the curse of God's righteousness by our iniquities and sins, can we not feel its weight within ourselves? Having made for ourselves a cross from the tree of disobedience and transgression of the commandments of God, can we not bear it? And indeed, each of us bears this cross from birth to death.
c) Why is it then commanded to take up the cross and carry it, when it is already on everyone and everyone carries it? Because when we carry it out of necessity, involuntarily, it is only a deserved punishment, which necessarily befalls the criminal, without making him anything more than a worthily executed criminal; but freely accepted and carried with faith in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes a cleansing means and a healing medicine for sin. Both thieves crucified with Christ suffered the same punishment; but one of them perished in his unbelief and hardness; the other, with sincere repentance for his sins, confessing himself to be worthily suffering for his iniquities, said to Jesus: "Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom;" and for this he heard from the lips of the Lord Himself: "Today you shall be with Me in paradise."
This is always the case. With the same cross, along the same path of life, people go in opposite directions and come to opposite ends. Some, through the cross of earthly sorrows and griefs, like the prudent thief, ascend to heaven and paradise; others, like the other thief, descend from the cross of temporary sorrows to the cross of eternal torment in hell.
d) When and how can we make our cross, like the cross of Christ, saving? When we accept the cross given to us by God with living faith and sincere repentance, we bear it with complete submission and devotion to the will of God and with hope of eternal life, when in patience of sorrows and misfortunes we become like the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, following in His footsteps.
A true believer, whenever he encounters sorrow, says: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil?" (Job 2:10). Am I not obliged to bear the cross which the wisdom and goodness of the heavenly Father gives me with filial obedience? "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He accepts" (Heb. 12:6).
III. And the more our self-love is crushed by some misfortune, the more effectively some sorrow humbles our flesh and curbs our passions, turns us to humility and repentance, the more firmly we can be confident of the love and mercy of the Heavenly Father towards us, the more fervently we must pray that the Lord will help us by His grace to bear the cross He has placed upon us to the end of our lives with complete devotion to the will of the Heavenly Father, with firm trust in His goodness and mercy, with the consoling hope of eternal life and blessedness in the Kingdom of God.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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