The
Cross
The
cross has acquired an exceedingly special place in the
Christian faith and worship. Since Christ suffered on it,
the cross for the Orthodox is a symbol of the supreme
sacrifice and of the Resurrection not only of the Lord but
also of one's own in the life to come. The Greek term for
cross is used by Homer, Thucidides and Herodotos. But the
Seventy Translators of the Old Testament, although they seem
to know the verb, do not quote the noun. The cross as the
emblem signifying salvation by way of Christ's sacrifice on
it comes to eminence with the books of the New Testament.
The Church from the very beginning decreed special days for
honouring the Cross of Christ. St. Helen, the mother of
Constantine the Great, journeyed to Jerusalem about 326AD
and found the place where Christ was buried and built on it
the famous Church of the Resurrection. Consecrated in the
year 335, it still remains the most respected place of
worship for the Orthodox where the famous Service of the
Resurrection takes place at midnight of the Saturday of Holy
Week. According to the greatest historians of the time, such
as Socrates and Theodoret, Ambrose and Nicephoros Kallistos,
together with the tomb, the Cross of Christ was also found.
To commemorate this day, the Church decreed the third Sunday
of Great Lent as the feast day of the finding of the Cross,
calling it Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross.
Another day when the Cross is ecclesiastically venerated is September 14, the Exaltation of the Cross. This feast is connected with the historical event of emperor Heracleias' recovering the Cross from the Persians into whose hands it had fallen in 614. The Cross was raised in the Church of the Resurrection to be venerated by the people. Since then, on September 14 a special Liturgy has been taking place and the Cross is being raised and exalted by the Orthodox. The day has been specified as a fasting day of the severity of the days of the Holy Week. And since, according to the narrative, St. Helen discovered the Cross buried in a spot on which the herb basil had grown, sprigs of blessed basil are distributed to the faithful by the priest when they bow and kiss the Cross.
Apart
from the formal occasions on which the Orthodox venerate the
Cross as the Christian symbol signifying life rather than
death, the sign of the Cross
and small crosses as articles of personal piety and
symbolism have played a deep reaching role in the daily
experience of the Orthodox. Before kissing an icon, the
Orthodox Christian crosses himself as a sign of sealing
himself with the symbol most indicative of his relation with
Christ and most protective against evil and other
adversities of personal and communal experience. It is
believed that Constantine the Great won by the sign of the
Cross, not only his most decisive personal battle, but also
brought about the most historical changes in the life of man
since the conquests of Alexander the Great. The Christian
martyrs were marching to their death holding Crosses to
their heart as objects not only of complete identification
with their Master, but as sources of strength as well, that
rendered the pain of death an event of supreme personal
fulfillment. For today's Orthodox, the Cross stands as a
personal protector in the midst of a life that tends, most
of the time, to be confusing, fragmented as it is by so many
enemies.
from The Orthodox Messenger, Sept-Oct
1996
published bi-monthly by the SA Central Youth
PO Box 269, GLENELG SA 5045 AUSTRALIA