Triumph
of the Cross
Feast Day September 14th
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| Exaltation of the Cross |
From a discourse by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop
The
Cross is Christ’s
Glory and Triumph
We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away
the darkness and brought in the light.
As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ,
leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the
cross that he who wins it has won a treasure.
Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the
costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its
sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.
Had there been no cross,
Christ could not
have been
crucified.
Had there been no cross,
life
itself could not have been nailed to the tree.
And if life and had not been nailed to it,
there would be no streams
of
immortality pouring from Christ’s side,
blood and water for
the world’s
cleansing.
The legal bond of our sin
would not be canceled, we should not have obtained our freedom, we should not
have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not
stand open. Had there been no cross,
death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.
Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and
honorable. It is great because through
the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation—very many
indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with
victory.
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| Christ on the Cross Salvation of Mankind |
The cross is honorable
because
it is both
the sign of Gods suffering
and the trophy of his victory.
It stands for his suffering
because on it
he
freely suffered unto death.
But is also
his trophy
because it was the means
by which the devil was
wounded and death
conquered,
the barred gates of hell
were smashed,
and the cross became
the one
common salvation
of the whole world.
The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his
triumph. We recognized it as the cup he
longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake.
As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen
to his words:
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| Christ Crucified |
Now is the
Son of Man
glorified,
and in him
God is glorified,
and God will glorify
him at once.
And once more:
Father,
glorify your name.
Then
a voice came from heaven:
I have glorified it and will glorify it again.
Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross is
Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s
glory and triumph.
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| St.Andrew of Crete |
