My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

ON MARCH 11th THE THIRD SUNDAY OF GREAT AND HOLY LENT: THE VENERATION OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS

The Third Sunday (the Sunday of the Cross). On this day the service of Orthros (Matins) concludes with the solemn Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; the ceremonies are closely parallel to those at the feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September) and the Procession of the Holy Cross (1 August). The Veneration of the Holy Cross on this third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent prepares us for the commemoration of the Crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which is soon to follow in Great and Holy Week, and at the same time it reminds us that the whole Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ: as the Synaxarion at Orthros (Matins) says, 'Through the Forty-Day Fast, we too are crucified, dying to the passions.' The dominant note on this Sunday, as on the two Sundays preceding, is one of joy and triumph. In the Canon at Orthros (Matins), the irmoi are the same as the Paschal midnight, 'This is the day of Resurrection...', and the troparia (hymns) are in part a paraphrase of the Paschal Christ's day and His Resurrection, but the Cross is regarded as an emblem of victory and Calvary is seen in the light of the Empty Tomb. (The Lenten Triodion)

Just as all the events in Christ's life are historical, so is His Passion. It is a historical event which took place during the rule of Pontius Pilate, as mentioned in the Holy Gospels. Since Christ was also perfect man, it means that He had a real human nature and lived at a particular time. Thus the historical event of the crucifixion is given great significance by the holy Evangelists (Gospel writers).

Yet at the same time it is also a mystery, because it refers to Christ's victory over death and the renewal of human nature. So it is not about remembrance of a historical event, nor about grief over the injustice done to a righteous man, but chiefly about the triumphal victory over the devil, death and sin. And the mysterious element here is not limited to this point alone but goes on to the personal experience of it. Personal participation in the passion and cross of Christ within the sacramental life of the church constitutes the power of the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ.

Therefore we do not confront the days of Great and Holy Week only as history, but chiefly from the sacramental and spiritual aspect. This means that we too share in Christ's Victory over death, as far as we conquer death by the power of the crucified and Risen Christ within our personal lives.

In the liturgical texts of Great and Holy Week it is repeated many times that Christ's Passion is voluntary. "As the Lord went to His voluntary passion..." Just as the Incarnation of the Logos/Word of God took place by the will of the Son, and with the good will of the Father and the cooperation, the synergy of the Holy Spirit, the same is true of Christ's Passion as well. Nothing happened to Christ by compulsion or as a servant, but everything was free.

The question is why did Christ have to suffer and why did He desire the Passion and the Cross? We know from the teaching of the Holy Fathers that the incarnation of the Logos/Word was previously willed by God, which means that God had preordained and planned the Incarnation of the Logos/Word, independently of Adam's fall. This is theologically acceptable because man could never have attained deification (theosis) if there had not been that particular person in whom the divine was united with human nature without change, confusion, separation or division. However, what entered in after Adam's fall was Christ, Passion, Cross and Death, precisely because after Adam's fall, death had come into the world. Thus Christ assumed a mortal and passable body willingly and freely.

There are many points which can be emphasized in order to show the cause of Christ's Incarnation and Passion.

First, Christ became incarnate to order to correct Adam's error...By His Incarnation the Logos/Word of God enters a second communion and relationship with man which is more paradoxical than the first. For then He gave us the best, that is to say, the image, and now He assumes the worst, that is to say human flesh (Saint Gregory the Theologian).

Secondly, in order to conquer death in His flesh, and thus for there to exist the real medicine of immortality, so that mortal man may receive it and be cured. The discovery of a medicine for some bodily illness gives hope to every man who suffers from that particular illness that he too may be cured. The punishment in the Old Testament, the law, the Prophets, the signs and the changes in the earth, in the sky, etc. could not cure man of the various illnesses and idolatry, because "a stronger medicine was needed." This stronger medicine is the Logos/Word of God, Who became Incarnate and died for man (Saint Gregory Palamas). Thus it is only through Christ that one can conquer death. (Source: The Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos HIEROTHEOS)

(To be conitnued)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George