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Being homogeneous in its remembrance with the week of the Passion of Christ, this holiday is completely different in character from those days that are exceptional in the year in terms of tenderness and greatness - days that alone have rightly received the name “holy and great.” These are the days of weeping over the Divine Sufferer; this is a day of joy about the consequences of His suffering, about the fruits of redemption. This is a holiday in honor of redemption itself in the person of its main instrument, sign and conductor for us. This instrument is worthy of such honoring, independent celebration in its honor, not only because of the significance that it had in the very act of redemption, not only because of the importance that it acquired over time in the life of Christians, but also because of what it was for Christ himself. “The cross is called the glory of Christ and the height of Christ,” says St. Andrei Kritsky (word on the Exaltation), citing John in support of the first thought. 13:31; 17:5; 12:28, and the second on John. 12:32: “Even if I am lifted up from the earth...” “If the Cross of Christ constitutes the glory of Christ, then even today the cross is erected so that Christ may be glorified. It is not Christ that is exalted so that the Cross may be glorified, but the Cross is exalted so that Christ may be glorified.” Being Christ's, His glory and height, this Cross is too close to us already in its original idea. He is, in fact, our Cross. Christ “carried on his shoulders the very cross on which he was crucified, as having taken upon himself the punishments determined by those who had sinned”; He “carried the cross that belongs to us” (St. Cyril of Alexandria on John 12). Hence the innumerable blessings that were poured out on us through the Cross. “This good helmsman, having filled our whole life with abundance and pacified it, gave us eternal life in the future” (St. Ephraim the Syrian, word on the Honest Cross). “By the Cross we got rid of enmity and by the Cross we were confirmed in friendship with God. The cross combined people with the face of angels, making their nature alien to any corruptible matter and giving them the opportunity to lead an imperishable life” (word on the Exaltation of Basil of Sleucia, also attributed to St. John Chrysostom). “He made the earth clean, elevated our nature to the royal throne” (St. John Chrysostom, word on the worship of the Cross). “This Cross turned the universe to the true path, drove out error, returned truth, made the earth heaven” (a word about the Cross attributed to St. John Chrysostom). “He put an end to the lawless affairs of the world, stopped its godless teachings, and the world no longer pleases the devil’s laws and is no longer bound by the bonds of death; (The Cross) established the commandment of chastity and eradicated voluptuousness; sanctified the rule of abstinence and overthrew the rule of lust. In fact, what good have we received besides the Cross? Which blessing is not given to us through the Cross? Through the Cross we learned piety and came to know the power of the Divine nature; through the Cross we understand the truth of God and comprehend the virtue of chastity; through the Cross we came to know each other; through the Cross we have learned the power of love and do not refuse to die for each other; thanks to the Cross, we despised all the blessings of the world and counted them for nothing, expecting future blessings and accepting the invisible as visible. The cross is preached - and the truth spreads throughout the universe, and the kingdom of heaven is confirmed (word on the Exaltation of Basil of Seleucia or John Chrysostom). In addition to acquiring these highest spiritual benefits for humanity, the Cross from ancient times began to manifest its saving power in the purely everyday needs of Christians. “This was a sign in the times of our ancestors,” testifies St. Chrysostom or a contemporary writer - opened imprisoned doors, extinguished destructive poisons, healed the bites of poisonous animals. If it opened the gates of hell and opened the vault of heaven, restored the entrance to heaven and crushed the power of the devil, then is it surprising if it overcomes destructive poisons? (a word on the veneration of the Cross, attributed to St. Chrysostom). Along with this, so to speak, mysterious, mystical meaning for a Christian, the cross also received a purely moral meaning for him. He became an encouragement and support for him in the hardships of personal crucifixion. “Look,” Christ seems to say, “at what My Cross has accomplished; make this kind of weapon and do what you want. Let (the follower of Christ) be as ready to undergo the slaughter and be crucified on the cross, says the Lord, as ready is the one who carries the cross on his shoulders; let him consider himself in such close proximity to death. Before such a person, everyone comes to amazement, because we are not as afraid of those armed with countless human weapons and strong courage as we are of a person gifted with such strength” (a word on the veneration of the Cross attributed to Chrysostom). “Looking at the cross inhales courage and casts out fear” (St. Andrew of Crete’s homily on the Exaltation). Finally, the cross also acquired eschatological significance for the Christian. “Then, it is said, the sign of the cross will appear in heaven. When “then"? When the forces of heaven move. Then, adorned with the sign of the church, having acquired for themselves this valuable bead, having well preserved this image and likeness, they will be caught up in the clouds" (Pantoleus, Presbyter of Byzantium, reading for the Exaltation). It is not surprising that the cross has become the sign of a Christian. “The cross was given to us as a sign on our foreheads, just as circumcision was given to Israel; for through him we, the faithful, are distinguished and distinguished from the infidels” (St. John of Dmaskin, Homily on the Day of the Cross). Gradually Christianity appreciated the full significance for it of this sign, this trophy of Christ's victory. And here providence came to the aid of the Church with its direct action - the removal of the Cross from the bowels of the earth and its appearance in heaven. “The Lord would not allow him to remain in the ground, but took him out and lifted him up into heaven; He will come with him at His second coming.” (St. John Chrysostom, word on the Cross and crucifixion). It was acquired under emperors who believed in Christ, acquired by divine and unartificial power, solely by the strength and firmness of faith. When God handed over the royal scepters to the Christians, at that very time He was pleased to reveal the Cross through a pious wife, a queen wife, a wife adorned with royal wisdom, making the wife wise, let’s say, with divine wisdom, so that she, partly using the power of speech inherent in a royal person, would use everything that could move the unyielding heart of the Jews” (St. Andrew of Crete, word on the Exaltation). “A sign of the Lord came out of the treasuries of the earth, a sign, shocked by which the hellish caves freed the souls contained in them. The spiritual pearl of the faithful came out, established in the crown of Christ, in order to illuminate the whole universe. He appeared to be raised up, and is raised up to appear (to be seen). They raise it repeatedly and show it to the people, just without exclaiming: “Behold, the hidden treasure of salvation has been found” (St. Andrew of Crete, word on the Exaltation). The holiday, established in memory of the discovery and appearance of the Cross, of course, had long-prepared soil in the souls of Christians, and was a response to a long-standing request of their spirit. But it, immediately gaining wide circulation and great solemnity, undoubtedly increased love for the Cross and veneration for it. The cross now acquires special significance in the Christian’s struggle against the invisible enemies of his salvation, especially in the hands of ascetics. Now they evaluate its entire significance not only in the work of our salvation accomplished by Christ, but also in the Old Testament preparation of this salvation, explaining much of it here, so to speak, by a recurrent action 906. The love and reverence that the Cross received very soon after its discovery and the establishment of a special holiday in honor of it is evidenced by an apocryphal legend about it, conveyed by a writer of the late 4th century. Severian Gavalsky. Abraham, at the junction of the rivers Jora and Dan into one river, met a man weeping about his sins, and told him, if he wanted to beg God, to bring him three logs. The patriarch stuck them in a triangle at a distance of half a field from both rivers and ordered the sinner to water them for 40 days, 40 measures of water for each log, saying that if they grow, God will have mercy on the sinner. They grew up, and the sinner came to thank Abraham. Having grown even more, the logs connected at the tops and formed a wonderful tree. It was cut down for Solomon's temple, but when it was raised to the prepared place in the ceiling, it kept changing in length and therefore they were forced to put it in the church. The Queen of Sheba, seeing him, exclaimed: “Oh, blessed tree, on which Christ, the King and Lord, was crucified.” Then Solomon placed this tree on the eastern side of the church, hanging it with 30 silver wreaths of 30 pieces of silver each. One of these wreaths was given as payment to Judas. Other wreaths were removed at the same time, and the tree lost its appearance; The Cross of Christ was made from it. You might be interested in: