"Rejoice, O Life-Giving Cross!' For the Exaltation of THE PRECIOUS LIFE-GIVING CROSS

"Rejoice, O Life-Giving Cross!' For the Exaltation of THE PRECIOUS LIFE-GIVING CROSS

"Before Thy Cross we fall down and worship, o Master, and Thy Holy Resurrection we glorify." 

Saint John Chrysostom

“How great is the power of the Cross! How great is the change made by it in the human race! How from the deep darkness it has led us to the boundless light, from death it has restored us to eternal life, from corruption it has transferred us to incorruption.

What good is not accomplished for us by means of the Cross?  Through the Cross we learned piety and learned the properties of the Divine essence. Through the Cross we learn the truth about God, through the Cross we who were far from Him are united to Christ, and we become worthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Through the Cross we learn the power of love, and we are taught to die for others. 

Through the Cross we are scorned and all what we do is not temporal, we search the blessings of the future, and we accept the invisible as if seen. The Cross is preached, and the faith in God is confessed, His truth is spread throughout the universe. The Cross is preached, and the faith in the resurrection, the life and the kingdom of heaven is made without a doubt.

What is more precious than the Cross and what is more saving for the soul? The Cross is the triumph over demons, the armor against sin and the sword with which the Lord has struck the snake. The Cross is the will of the Father, the glory of the Only-Begotten, the joy of the Holy Spirit, the ornament of angels, the protection of the Church, the praise of St. Paul, the protection of the Saints, the lamp of all the world. ..."