Saint Nicholas Cathedral
September 14, 2023
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joyous feast! Съ праздникомъ!
Among the twelve so-called Great Feasts, eleven are celebrations of events, whether from the life of the Lord or the life of the Theotokos. We can put those feasts in chronological order: the Nativity of the Theotokos—the first great feast of each new liturgical year—followed by her Entrance into the Temple, the Annunciation, Christmas, the Meeting of the Lord, Theophany, Transfiguration, Palm Sunday, Ascension, Pentecost, and, finally, Dormition, the last great feast before the end of each liturgical year.
But today’s feast stands outside that chain of events, that annual cycle by which we constantly celebrate and participate in the life of the Lord and the Theotokos. The Exaltation of the Cross refers to no single historical event. Though its historical origin is tied to the restoration of the holy Cross to Jerusalem after it was stolen by the Persians in the early seventh century, this is not the event celebrated in the hymns of the feast.
Rather, the feast celebrates the appearance of the Cross down through the ages, starting in the Old Testament. The Cross appears in Moses’ outstretched arms; the Cross is the rod that budded, the staff that struck the rock, the hands of Jacob crossed in blessing. The Cross is the tree of life that stood in Eden in the beginning. The Cross appeared from heaven to St. Constantine and from the earth it came into the pious hands of St. Helen.
The Cross is revealed in the lives of the saints: it is the strength of kings, the power of the righteous, and the majesty of priests. The Cross is revealed in the wonders of God, in all his providential care: it is the guide of the blind, the physician of the sick, and the raising of the dead.
The Cross is the means of Christ’s Passion; during the veneration of the Cross, among the many hymns sung, are hymns of Holy Friday. The Cross is our liberation from death, our freedom from passions, the defeat of the devil who cruelly lorded himself over our race.
In other words, as we exalt the Cross today, we celebrate the Cross as it appears throughout time and space. The whole world is made cruciform, in the shape of the Cross, and the whole world is redeemed by the holy Cross. Properly, today’s feast is known as the Universal Exaltation of the Cross: the whole universe rejoices in the Cross of Christ, and in the Cross, we behold the whole universe, since the Maker of the universe, dying on the Cross, redeemed and remade his creation.
Indeed, the Cross is exalted not just in all the universe, but beyond the universe: beyond stars and beyond voids. The Cross is exalted not only throughout space and time: it is the key opening the door to eternity. This door is the wounded side of Christ crucified, from which sprang the Blood and water, the fountain of immortality.
Today, as we exalt the precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, the saving Cross of the Lord, the redeeming and renewing and revivifying Cross of the Lord, let us who have been bathed in that holy water and washed in that holy Blood of the crucified Savior follow the example of Moses, Joshua, and Jacob, and let us make our own actions and lives conform to the shape of the Cross through self-denial and living for others, not for our own appetites. The Cross is the shape of salvation and new creation, and if we wish to be saved, we must conform to the Cross of Christ, exalting it not only with words, but with deeds.
In this way, commending ourselves by the Cross into the hands of God, we will then have a sure hope in his mercy and forgiveness and love, which came into the world through that same Cross.
To Jesus Christ, who suffered on the Cross for us men and for our salvation, be all glory and adoration, together with his Father and his All-holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
O power of the precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, forsake not us sinners!