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.'

Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, was born in the year 1296 AD in Constantinople. Saint Gregory's father became a prominent dignitary at the court of Andronicus II Paleologos (1282-1328 AD), but soon died, and Andronicus himself took part in the raising and education of the fatherless boy. Endowed with fine abilities and great diligence, Gregory mastered all the subjects which then comprised the full course of medieval higher education.

Another monk was praying at night, during the office, when a remarkable thing happened. His mind left his body and flew out over the sea, it went to the mountains and the valleys, looked at the trees, the flowers, the fish of the sea, and saw and heard that everything in creation glorifies God. From that day forward he was unable to stand at all, and from his darting eyes, tears never ceased to flow. He saw, and said, that creation, even though it lacks a soul, pours out tearful praises to God, "whereas, I, who have a soul, am lost in sin."

The Holy Fathers of the Church suggest three ways to make progress in the spiritual life and attain spiritual perfection:

1. The way of catharsis or purification
2. The way of illumination, and
3. The way of perfection by total union with God.

God's act is pure Light, and when the Lord appears to us, He always appears as Light. In Holy Scripture, we read: "In Your Light, we shall see light." Only in the state of illumination does Divine grace makes possible the contemplation of the Divine Light. The hidden truths of Holy Scripture are not revealed to everyone since illumination comes through the special Divine gift of revelation. For this reason in the early Church, the Holy Bible was read only in the church and only by a charismatic person. In the Orthodox Church, we have never experienced "bibliolatry" or "worship of the book," as in some sects. The Church holds fast to the unadulterated spirit of the Holy Bible as it was delivered to the Saints, and through them, to us.

Saint John of Kronstadt addresses the teaching priests, the Christian teachers, and leaders in the following words:

Do not neglect to uproot from the hearts of children the tares of sins, impure, evil and blasphemous thoughts, sinful habits, inclinations and passions; the enemy and sinful flesh do not spare even children; the seeds of all sins are to be found in the children, too; show them all the danger of sin on the path of life; do not hide sin from them lest through ignorance and want of comprehension, they should be confirmed in sinful habits and attachments, which grow stronger and stronger and bring forth corresponding fruits when children grow up.