March 1/14, 2004
Beloved Clergy and Parishioners in the Lord, Grace and Peace be with you.
THE SUNDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF THE GREAT FAST
or SUNDAY OF THE VENERATION OF THE CROSS
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 311]. Brethren:
4 14Having then a great High Priest Who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us be holding fast our confession. 15For we do not have a High Priest Who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who hath been tempted in all respects according to our likeness, without sin. 16Let us therefore be coming with boldness to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and find grace for help in due season.
5 1For every high priest being taken from among men is being appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, 2who is able to feel in due measure with those who are ignorant and led astray, since he himself also is compassed about with weakness. 3And by reason of this he ought, even for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. 4And no one taketh the honor to himself, but he who is called by God, even as also Aaron. 5Thus also the Christ glorified not Himself to become a high priest, but the One Who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee [Ps. 2:7]." 6Even as He saith also in another place, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek [Ps. 109(110):4]."
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 37]. The Lord said:
8 34"Whosoever is willing to follow after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and keep on following Me. 35"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life on account of Me and of the Gospel, this same one shall save it. 36"For what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his soul? 37"Or what shall a man give as an exchange for his soul? 38"For whosoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this generation, the adulterous and sinful one, also the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him, whenever He should come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
9 1And He was saying to them, "Verily I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who in no wise shall taste of death, until they see the kingdom of God having come in power."
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Because Bishop Gregory and Father George have been away, we are presenting you with these writings on the Cross. Enjoy. []:-)
St. John of Shanghai writes of the Cross:
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In the Prophet Ezekiel (9:6), it is said that when the Angel of the Lord was sent to punish and destroy the sinning people, it was told him not to strike those on whom the "mark" had been made. In the original text this mark is called "tau," the Hebrew letter corresponding to the letter "T," which is how in ancient times the cross was made, which then was an instrument of punishment.
So, even then, it was foretold the power of the Cross, which preserves those who venerate it. Likewise, by many other events in the Old Testament the power of the Cross was indicated. Moses, who held his arms raised in the form of a cross during the battle, gave victory to the Israelites over the Amalekites. He also, dividing the Red Sea by a blow of his rod and by a transverse blow uniting the waters again, saved Israel from Pharaoh, who drowned in the water, while Israel crossed over on the dry bottom (Exodus, ch. 14, 17).
Through the laying on of his hands in the form of a cross on his grandsons, Jacob gave a blessing to his descendents, foretelling at the same time their future until the coming of the "expectation of the nations" (Genesis, ch. 48).
By the Cross, the Son of God, having become man and accomplished our salvation. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the Cross (Phil. 2:8). Having stretched out His hands upon the Cross, the Savior with them as it were embraced the world, and by His blood shed on it, like a king with red ink, He signed the forgiveness of the human race.
The Cross of the Lord was the instrument by which He saved the world after the fall into sin. Through the Cross, He descended with His soul into hell, to raise up from it the souls who were awaiting Him. By the Cross Christ opened the doors of paradise which had been closed after our first ancestors had been banished from it. The Cross was sanctified by the Body of Christ which was nailed to it when He gave Himself over to torments and death for the salvation of the world. Then it was filled with life-giving power. By the Cross on Golgotha the prince of this world was cast out (John 12:31) and an end was put to his authority. The weapon by which he was crushed became the sign of Christ's victory.
The demonic hosts tremble when they see the Cross, because the kingdom of hades was destroyed by the Cross. They do not dare to draw near to anyone who is guarded by the Cross.
The whole human race, by the death of Christ on the Cross, received deliverance from the authority of the devil, and everyone who makes use of this saving weapon is inaccessible to the demons.
When legions of demons appeared to St. Anthony the Great and other desert-dwellers, they guarded themselves with the sign of the Cross, and the demons vanished.
When there appeared to St. Symeon the Stylite, who was standing on his pillar, what seemed to be a chariot to carry him to heaven, the Saint, before mounting it, crossed himself and it disappeared. The enemy, who had hoped to cast down the ascetic from the height of his pillar, was put to shame.
One cannot enumerate all the various incidents of the manifestation of the power of the Cross. Invisibly and unceasingly, Divine grace that gushes from it saves the world.
The sign of the Cross is made at all the Mysteries and prayers of the Church. With the making of the sign of the Cross over the bread and wine, they become the Body and Blood of Christ. With the immersion of the Cross the waters are sanctified. The sign of the Cross looses us from sins. "When we are guarded by the Cross, we oppose the enemy, without fearing his nets and barking." Just as the flaming sword in the hands of the Cherubim barred the entrance into paradise of old, so the Cross now acts invisibly in the world, guarding it from perdition.
The Cross is the unconquerable weapon of pious kings in the battle with enemies. Through the apparition of the Cross in the sky, the dominion of Emperor Constantine was confirmed and an end was put to the persecution against the Church. The apparition of the Cross in the sky in Jerusalem in the days of Constantius the Arian proclaimed the victory of Orthodoxy. By the power of the Cross of the Lord, Christian kings will continue to reign until Antichrist, barring his path to power and restraining lawlessness (St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on II Thes. 2:6-7).
The "sign of the Son of Man" (Matt. 24:30), that is, the Cross, will appear in the sky in order to proclaim the end of the present world and the coming of the eternal Kingdom of the Son of God. Then all the tribes of the earth shall weep, because they loved the present age and its lusts, but all who have endured persecution for righteousness and called on the name of the Lord shall rejoice and be glad. The Cross then will save all who conquered temptations, from eternal perdition by the Cross, who crucified their flesh with its passions and lusts, and took up their cross and followed afar Christ.
However, those who hated the Cross of the Lord and did not engrave the Cross in their soul will perish forever. For "the Cross is the preserver of the whole universe, the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the might of kings, the Cross is the confirmation of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of angels and the scourge of demons" (Octoechos: Exapostilarion, Monday Matins). [Sermon on the Exaltation of the Cross, 1947]
St. John of Damascus writes of the Cross:
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Every action, therefore, and performance of miracles by Christ are most great and divine and marvellous: but the most marvellous of all is His precious Cross. For no other thing has subdued death, expiated the sin of the first parent, despoiled Hades, bestowed the resurrection, granted the power to us of contemning the present and even death itself, prepared the return to our former blessedness, opened the gates of Paradise, given our nature a seat at the right hand of God, and made us the children and heirs of God, save the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For by the Cross all things have been made right. So many of us, the apostle says, as were baptized into Christ, were baptized into His death , and as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Further Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. Lo! the death of Christ, that is, the Cross, clothed us with the enhypostatic Wisdom and Power of God [Christ]. An! d the power of God is the word of the Cross, either because God's might, that is, the victory over death, has been revealed to us by it, or because, just as the four extremities of the Cross are held fast and bound together by the bolt in the middle, so also by God's power the height and the depth, the length and the breadth, that is, every creature visible and invisible, is maintained.
This was given to us as a sign on our forehead, just as the circumcision was given to Israel: for by it we believers are separated and distinguished from unbelievers. This is the shield and weapon against, and trophy over, the devil. This is the seal that the destroyer may not touch you, as saith the Scripture. This is the resurrection of those lying in death, the support of the standing, the staff of the weak, the rod of the flock, the safe conduct of the earnest, the perfection of those that press forwards, the salvation of soul and body, the aversion of all things evil, the patron of all things good, the taking away of sin, the plant of resurrection, the tree of eternal life.
So, then, this same truly precious and august tree, on which Christ hath offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sakes, is to be venerated as sanctified by contact with His holy body and blood; likewise the nails, the spear, the clothes, His sacred tabernacles which are the manger, the cave, Golgotha, which bringeth salvation, the tomb which giveth life, Sion, the chief stronghold of the churches and the like, are to be venerated. In the words of David, the father of God, We shall go into His tabernacles, we shall do reverence to the place where His feet stood. And that it is the Cross that is meant is made clear by what follows, Arise, O Lord, into Thy Rest. For the resurrection comes after the Cross. For if of those things which we love, house and couch and garment, are to be longed after, how much the rather should we long after that which belonged to God, our Saviour, by means of which we are in truth saved.
Moreover we worship even the image of the precious and life-giving Cross, although made of another tree, not honouring the tree (God forbid) but the image as a symbol of Christ. For He said to His disciples, admonishing them, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven, meaning the Cross. And so also the angel of the resurrection said to the woman, Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. And the Apostle said, We preach Christ crucified. For there are many Christs and many Jesuses, but one crucified. He does not say speared but crucified. It behoves us, then, to worship the sign of Christ. For wherever the sign may be, there also will He be. But it does not behove us to worship the material of which the image of the Cross is composed, even though it be gold or precious stones, after it is destroyed, if that should happen. Everything, therefore, that is dedicated to God we worship, conferring the adoration on Him.
The tree of life which was planted by God in Paradise pre-figured this precious Cross. For since death was by a tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection should be bestowed by a tree. Jacob, when He worshipped the top of Joseph's staff, was the first to image the Cross, and when he blessed his sons with crossed hands he made most clearly the sign of the cross. Likewise also did Moses' rod, when it smote the sea in the figure of the cross and saved Israel, while it overwhelmed Pharaoh in the depths; likewise also the hands stretched out crosswise and routing Amalek; and the bitter water made sweet by a tree, and the rock rent and pouring forth streams of water, and the rod that meant for Aaron the dignity of the high priesthood: and the serpent lifted in triumph on a tree as though it were dead, the tree bringing salvation to those who in faith saw their enemy dead, just as Christ was nailed to the tree in the flesh of sin which yet knew no! sin. The mighty Moses cried, You will see your life hanging on the tree before your eyes, and Isaiah likewise, I have spread out my hands all the day unto a faithless and rebellious people. But may we who worship this obtain a part in Christ the crucified. Amen. [From "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith", Bk. 4, Ch. 11]
Archbishop Averky writes concerning bearing one's cross and especially the Great Fast:
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"A life of fasting, properly understood as general self-limitation and abstinence, to the annual practice of which the Church always calls us with the Great Fast, is really that bearing of the cross and self-crucifixion which is required of us by our calling as Christians. And anyone who stubbornly resists this, wanting to live a carefree, happy, and free life, is concerned for sensual pleasures and avoids sorrow and suffering - that person is not a Christian.
Bearing one's cross is the natural way of every true Christian, without which there is no Christianity.
… Sincere prayer unites man and God….[But most people spend their time thinking:]… Money! Money! Power! Honor! - these are the temptations which, unfortunately, many people are unable to resist.
This is the source of all the disputes, disagreements and divisions among Christians.
This is the root of people's forgetting the "one thing needed" which is proposed to us by the true Christian faith and which consists of prayer, acts of repentance, and sincere, unhypocritical charity to our neighbors. The Holy Church always calls us to this, but especially now, during the Great Fast!
What is required of us Christians is not some kind of "exalted politics," not lofty phrases and hazy philosophy, but the most humble prayer of the Publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!", acts of repentance, and doing good to our neighbors, which proceeds from a pure heart.
And it is for the practice of all of this that the Church has established the Great Fast!
How powerfully, colorfully, graphically, and convincingly, with what ardent inspiration is all of this spoken of in the divine services of Great Fast!
No one anywhere has such a wealth of edification in this regard as do we Orthodox in our incomparable Lenten services, which, to their shame, the majority of Orthodox in our times do not know at all.
…Truly never before has the cross of each person who wants to be a true Christian been as heavy as in this time of the triumph of falsehood which we are experiencing.
Never before on this earth has there been such a huge number of people who freely and easily, without any shame, without any pangs of conscience "call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)." [Excerpts from "On Prayer, Fasting, and Bearing the Cross"]
Church / Monastery News:
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Vladyka Gregory and Father George just came back from a week-long trip to California. There they installed four icon canvases in the Los Angeles area. While there, they had an opportunity to visit Father George's family.
They also visited Savas and Anthony in San Diego, and on Friday they traveled to visit Father John, Matuska Debora, and their family. During the weekend, Vladyka and Father George served with Father John, and during the Sunday service, Vladyka tonsured Anthony Tadros to be reader for the Church of St. Seraphim. It was a great joy for Vladyka to be with Father John, his family, and parishioners. We all are pleased that his church is growing. Parishioners come from San Diego and Los Angeles to Father John's church in Running Springs. Unfortunately, some could not make it from the San Francisco area and other parts of Southern California, but this was due to circumstances beyond their control.
It was amazing to see the terrain as one drove up to Running Springs. The scorched earth is quite visible, and even the smell of the burned forest is still noticeable. Then as one enters Running Springs, for some unexplainable reason, the fire just stopped, and we were now in a green forest. The fires of the previous autumn, and their abrupt halting at Running Springs, caused the city to be coined as "the miracle city" by the fire-fighters. Of course, we know why the fire stopped so abruptly.
Please pray for:
Our Vladika Metropolitan Valentine.
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
In Christ,
+Bishop Gregory, and those with me.
