“We adore Your cross, Lord, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection”
The season of the Great Fast is a special time for mortification and penance, both internal and external. Because this spiritual struggle lasts a longer time, it often happens that we begin the first days or weeks of fasting with great zeal and resolution, but then gradually we become physically and spiritually exhausted, weakened and discouraged. Holy Church knowing well the weakness and instability of our human nature, places before our eyes the holy Cross in the middle of the fast an extraordinarily powerful incentive to motivate us to persevere in our spiritual struggle.
On the third Sunday, or mid-Lent, holy Church encourages us to venerate the Cross of our Lord in a very special manner, so that we may be strengthened in spirit. This Sunday, therefore, is called the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross.
The holy Cross is designed to remind us of God’s infinite love for us, Christ’s suffering for our sake and our obligation to carry our daily cross courageously. Jesus Christ addressed these words to all of us,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me… He who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 9,23 and 14,27)
The Spiritual Significance of This Sunday
The Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross reminds us that Christians employ a powerful weapon in their battle with the enemies of his salvation – the Holy Cross. Particularly on this Sunday, the cross is raised before us as a sign of strength, salvation, victory and triumph. The synaxary – a spiritual instruction – in the Matins service of this Sunday beautifully explains the reasons for venerating the Holy Cross on this day:
“On this Sunday, the third Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the veneration of the honorable and Life-Giving Cross, and for this reason: inasmuch as in the forty days of fasting we in a way crucify ourselves…and become bitter and despondent and failing, the Life-Giving Cross is presented to us for refreshment and assurance, for remembrance of our Lord’s Passion, and for comfort… We are like those following a long and cruel path, who become tired, see a beautiful tree with many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life-Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining task… Or, to give another example: when a king is coming, at first his banner and symbols appear, then he himself comes glad and rejoicing about his victory and filling with joy those under him; likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to show us His victory over death, and appear to us in the glory of the Resurrection Day, is sending to us in advance His scepter, the royal symbol – the Life-Giving Cross – and it fills us with joy and makes us ready to meet, inasmuch as it is possible for us, the King himself, and to render glory to His victory… All this in the midst of Lent which is like a bitter source because of its tears, because also of its efforts and despondency…but Christ comforts us who are as it were in a desert until He shall lead us up to the spiritual Jerusalem by His Resurrection…for the Cross is called the Tree of Life, it is the tree that was planted in Paradise, and for this reason our fathers have planted it in the midst of Holy Lent, remembering both Adam’s bliss and how he was deprived of it, remembering also that partaking of this Tree we no longer die but are kept alive…”
The Spirit of the Liturgy of the Veneration of the Holy Cross
The services of this Sunday almost make no mention of the Cross as being a symbol of suffering, penance, or humiliation, but rather extol the holy Cross as a symbol of joy, victory and triumph, which are brought to fulness through the glorious Resurrection.
The dominant hymn for this Sunday is: “We adore Your Cross, Lord, and we glorify your holy Resurrection.” Where did this sublime hymn come from? This hymn is taken from the Matins service of Easter Sunday: “Having witnessed the Resurrection of Christ…” This prayer is also recited at every Sunday Matins service. It is a very old prayer; we find it already in the Resurrection or Easter Matins and the Sunday Matins of the ninth century. It was also included in the oldest liturgical services of the monasteries of Mt. Athos. In that resurrectional and profoundly dogmatic prayer we find the very words: “We adore Your Cross…”
Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., in his pastoral letter on “The Veneration of the Holy Cross” says:
“The essence of the veneration of the Cross cannot be more clearly and more gloriously expressed than it is in the service of the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross. Our Rite has always joined this veneration of the Cross with the commemoration of the Resurrection. Bowing before the Cross, we pray: ‘We adore Your Cross, Lord, and we glorify Your Resur- rection. This is the true Christian meaning of the Cross. Beyond the Cross the Christian sees the glory of the Resurrection and the joy of everlasting bliss.”
The whole Vespers and Matins services of this Sunday, the sticheras, canon and sessional hymns, are a sublime hymn of praise in honor of the Cross of our Lord. We sing in Great or Solemn Vespers:
“Rejoice, O Life-Giving Cross, most beautiful paradise of the Church, tree of Immortality, which gave us the joy of everlasting glory, by which the legions of demons are driven away, the choir of Angels rejoice and the assemblies of the faithful celebrate. You are the invincible weapon, the immovable fortress, the victory of kings, the glory of priests, grant that we also may share the passion of Christ and experience His great mercy.” “Rejoice, O Life-Giving Cross, sure victory of religion, gate of paradise, defense of the faithful, bulwark of the Church. Through You corruption has been overcome, the power of death has been crushed, and we have been lifted up from earth to heaven. You are the invincible weapon, conqueror of demons, glory of martyrs, true ornament of the religious, and haven of salvation, – O Cross, bestow upon the world Your great mercy.”
In the first Ode of the canon of St. Theodore the Studite, we read,
“Today is a day of triumph, for through the Resurrection of Christ death has disappeared, the star of life has shone forth, Adam has been raised and he exults with joy; therefore, let us rejoice singing the song of victory.”
The Rite of Venerating the Cross
On this Sunday a solemn rite of veneration of the holy Cross is carried out during the Matins service in the following manner: After the Vespers service the beautifully decorated Cross is carried from the sacristy and placed on the altar. On the following day, during Matins service at the Great Doxology, the priest takes the Cross from the altar, places it upon his head and goes out to the middle of the church and there places it on the tetrapod. The troparion “Save your people….”, is then sung. After this they sing three times: “We adore Your Cross….. and each time a prostration is made. While the sticheras of the feast are being sung, the faithful come forward and devoutly kiss the holy Cross.
While the faithful are venerating the Cross, the following stichera is sung:
“Come, all you faithful, let us adore the life-giving tree, upon which Christ the King of glory willingly stretched out His arms and raising us up, restored us to that original happiness, the enemy stole from us in the past, seducing us by vain pleasures so that we became estranged from God. Come, all you faithful, let us bow down before the tree, through which we have become worthy to crush the heads of invisible enemies. Come, all you nations, let us extol the Cross of the Lord with hymns of praise: Rejoice, O Cross, perfect salvation of fallen Adam. Our most faithful kings glory in you, for by your power they overcame their enemies. Today we Christians with awe kiss you, we glorify the crucified God upon you and say, ‘O Lord, crucified on the Cross, have mercy on us, for you are good and you love mankind.”’
Instead of the Trisagion Hymn, at the Divine Liturgy on this day, we sing, “We adore your cross, O Lord…” This hymn in honor of the holy Cross we sing as we bow before the Cross and devoutly kiss it, at the conclusion of each church service throughout the whole week until Friday.
The Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross, indeed, teaches us to understand the great significance the Holy Cross has for us, not only during the Lent, but also throughout our whole life. This Sunday tells us that wherever we find the Cross, there will we find strength, victory, salvation and the pledge of resurrection to eternal life of bliss.
To arouse ourselves to a greater veneration and love for the holy Cross, let us frequently call to mind those profound thoughts expressed by the great venerator of the holy Cross, St. Ephrem the Syrian (+373) in the following hymn:
“The Cross is the resurrection of the dead. The Cross is The Cross is The Cross is the hope of Christians. the staff of the lame. the consolation of the poor.The Cross is the dethronement of the proud.
The Cross is the hope of the hopeless.
The Cross is the helm of those who sail.
The Cross is
the harbor of the storm-tossed.
The Cross is the father of orphans.
The Cross is the comfort of the afflicted.
The Cross is the protector of youth.
The Cross is the glory of men.
The Cross is the crown of the aged.
The Cross is the purity of virgins.
The Cross is the bread of the hungry and the fountain of the thirsty.
…Therefore, let us make the sign of this Life-Giving Cross on our forehead, lips and breast… Let us not leave the Cross even for one hour, even for one moment, and let us not do anything without it, but whether we are going to sleep, or getting up; whether we are eating or drinking, whether we are traveling on land, sailing the sea, or crossing rivers, we should adorn all the members of our body with the sign of the Life-Giving Cross.”