Sunday Before the Elevation of the Holy Cross – St. John Chrysostom on the Holy Cross

“The Cross of the Lord is unpleasant and sorrowful to the ear, but it consists of joy and gladness. It is the originator, not so much of suffering as much as of passionlessness. For Jews the Cross is temptation, for pagans it is madness, but for us believers, it reminds us of our salvation. When in church one reads about the Cross and one is reminded of the sufferings on the Cross, the faithful are indignant at the Cross and let out a plaintive wail and murmur not at the Cross but at the crucifiers and unbelievers. For the Cross is the salvation of the Church, the Cross is the praise of those who hope on it. The Cross has released us from the evil that possessed us and is the beginning of the blessings received by us. The Cross is the reconcilement of His enemies with God, the promise of sinners to Christ. For by the Cross we were freed from enmity and through the Cross, we have become amiable to God. The Cross delivered us from the authority of the devil, the Cross saved us from death and destruction. The Cross changed human nature to the angelic, having released it from all that is corruptible, and have found lives worthy of immortality.”