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The cross is the proof of the love with which God loves us, said PS Paisie at the Patriarchal Cathedraltranslated

September 13, 2026 · 1 min read

"The cross is not the explanation of the fact that God loves us. The cross is the proof of the love with which God loves us," emphasized Sunday the Most Reverend Father Paisie Sinait, Patriarchal Vicar Bishop, at the Patriarchal Cathedral.

The hierarch explained that the Gospel of the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross sheds light on the apparent paradox between the humility of the Cross and the ascension of which the Savior speaks.

"It is precisely in this paradox that one of the greatest mysteries of Christian teaching lies: what people considered to be the defeat of Christ becomes, in God's plan, the sign of His victory, and what seems descent and death is revealed to be ascension and the beginning of eternal life."

Salvation is God's loving work Starting from the Savior's conversation with Nicodemus, the Most Reverend Father Paisius Sinait showed that salvation is not the exclusive result of man's effort to reach God, but of God's coming to man.

"Salvation is not the result of a spiritual need of man, through which man would succeed, by his own powers, to rise up to God, but it is above all the loving work of him...

Source: Агентство Basilica (română) · Read the full story →

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Daniel Lewis

That line about the Cross not being an explanation but the actual proof of God's love really stuck with me. It's a simple way to look at it, especially when you read how the Bishop tied it to the Gospel with Nicodemus and how salvation is God coming down to us, not us climbing up on our own. Makes the whole paradox feel less like a riddle and more like something you can hold onto when things get tough.