Feast of the cross
Thursday, September 24, 2009
This Sunday, 27th September 2009, the
Church will celebrate the Glorious Feast of the Cross.
“Your were not redeemed
with corruptible things like silver and gold”, says St. Peter, but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1
Peter 1:18-19).
It is with love, devotion, reverence and
thanksgiving we do the sign of the Cross daily, expressing our deep love,
gratitude and honour to the crucified Christ who
sacrificed His precious blood for my salvation. In living the words of
the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
I who lives but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20).
The early Church Fathers contemplated on the power
of the sign of the Cross as follows:
1. Tertullian (160-225)
– “In all our travels and journeys, in our going out and coming in, when we put
on our clothes or take off, when we wake up or go to bed, in our sitting down
and rising up, at the table and in all our works, we cross ourselves with the
sign of the Cross.”
2. Origen (185-254) –
“The letter ‘T’ looks like the Cross and the ‘Key of life’ used by the ancient
Egyptians, the same mark, which the Christians make on their foreheads both
before praying and reading the Holy Books.
3. St. Cyril of
Jerusalem (315-386)– “We should not
be ashamed to confess Christ crucified and make the sign of the Cross
courageously with our fingers as a seal on our foreheads and on everything, on
the bread we eat and the cup of water we drink, when we go out and come in,
wake up or sleep on our way and at home.”
4. St. Augustine of
Hippo (354-430) – “We know the members of
Christ’s body by the sign of the Cross. For this reason, the Lord Himself
confirms the power of the Cross on our foreheads that the sign which was
previously a sign of shame became now for pride.”
5. St. Athanasius
the Apostolic (295-373) – “By the Cross
man can drive away all the deception of the demons, and he who wants to
experience that practically let him/her come and see how the work of Satan and
his false divination and the wonders of magic are destroyed by just making the
sign of the cross and how the demons flee away.”
6. St. Cyprian of
Carthage (195-259) –
Used to encourage the martyrs to endure torture saying, “Make your faces be
sanctified by the Cross and let the sign of God be kept prevailing.”
7. St. Ambrose of
Milan (340-397) – “We make the sign of the
Cross on our foreheads to declare Christ openly, and make it on our hearts to
reveal that we love Him, and make it on our arms to consecrate our work for
Him.”
8. St. John
Chrysostom (347-407) – wrote
wonderful articles on the sign of the Cross. Here are some excerpts from
them:
“The sign of the Cross which was previously scary to all men, now everyone is
competing to own it until it became in every place, among governors and people,
men and women, married and unmarried and virgins. People cannot stop
making it during every honourable matter; they carry
it inscribed on their foreheads as if it were a flag of victory.”
He also says, “The face that is sanctified with the mark of God does not bow
down to the devil but keeps itself to the crown of the Lord. For the days
of our forefathers until present, this great holy sign abolished the power of
poison and healed from the poisonous bits of the beasts. It is a medicine
for human shortcomings, anger and lusts.”
The sign of the Cross gives us protection, strength
and victory as it appeared to Emperor Constantine in battle and heard a voice
from heaven saying, “By this sign you prevail” and it became a turning point in
history confirmed by what is written in Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame
him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb.”
Wishing you a blessed and joyous Feast of the Cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ who said to us, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his Cross and follow
Me.” (Matthew 16:24). “And he who does not take his Cross and
follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew
10:38).
Please remember us in your prayers.
COYA Servants
