Excerpt from the Homily on the Exaltation of the Precious Cross by St. John Chrysostom (amateur translation)
Let us sing a new song, O faithful, to
the righteousness of the Lord King, and let us confess, or better
yet, let us hymn and glorify, and praise, and worship, and magnify
the presence of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, and in
hymns let us venerate and praise the honored and thrice-blessed wood
of the Master. Come, O beloved, in song let us dance and praise in
faith, and together with the Prophet David let us chant and say: “Let
the light of Your countenance shine upon us, O Lord.” (Psalm 4:6) What other
light is there, other than the cross of our Lord and God and Savior
Jesus Christ, through which the world was saved, and those who
believe were delivered from slavery to Belial, and the writ of our
sins was torn apart? Christ is the countenance of the Father: “He
who sees me, therefore, has seen the Father.” (John 12:45) The light, therefore,
of the face of the Lord is the Cross, through which, as a a shining
lamp, the world was enlightened, and the earth was shaken, and the
rocks were rent, and the dead were raised, and the sun hid itself,
and the heaven clothed itself in sackcloth, desiring to show the
ungrateful and ignorant and denying Judeans that the Master and
Creator was truly crucified in the flesh.
This grace, O beloved, I seek to praise
rightly and I desire to approach the Cross, and being unworthy that I
am, I tremble in my flesh and my tongue is silent, and my lips are
paralyzed, and my thought within is slow to bear witness. How could
I, the base one, rightly be strengthened to relate regarding the
power of the precious and life-giving Cross? I speak, therefore,
through a portion of God's grace which I understand, for neither are
the angels strong enough to worthily praise this power. When the sign
of the Cross is beheld, the angels worship, not the wood itself, but
Him Who through it was willingly crucified in the flesh: Christ.
Adam, through the wretched tree was condemned, and the new Adam,
Christ our God, through the wood of the Cross has strengthened us.
And the word of the Prophet was fulfilled, saying: “You have given
a sign to those who fear You, who flee from the face of the bow.”
(Psalm 60:4) The sign is the Cross on the forehead and hand of the faithful, and
the bow is the error fashioned by the devil, from which the wretched
ones are wounded by the arrows of thoughts with the wounds of sins.
Come, O faithful, let us partake of the veneration of the precious
and spotless Cross, for all living creation was seized with
amazement, beholding Christ being pierced in the side, He Who is the
Fashioner and Ruler of all, by the lance that pierced the blessed
side, causing water and blood to pour forth as a spring that
surpasses understanding, bearing the crown of thorns, drinking
vinegar and tasting gall, having lots cast for His garments by the
hands of the murderers, servants of the darkness and friends of the
shadow, as each ran to receive his portion. The ranks of the bodiless
angels were shaken. the heavens were seized with hatred. the light
and radiance of the stars was extinguished. The great giant of the
sun hid its radiance, and the air was filled with darkness. The day
was transformed into deep night, and furthermore the radiant
adornment of the temple was rent. The earth shook as if boiling, and
the death were speedily freed from their bonds of the grave. The
Thief dwells in Paradise through his faith and his word, and Judas
mortally wounds himself by hanging. Peter is afraid to swear by the
Master, and will not be saved from his error until he is driven to
cry bitterly, and is cleansed from his sin.
The dragon of the abyss beholding these
things, cries our wailing: “O my servants and my powers, the rulers
of the darkness, who has plunged a stake into my heart? I am pierced
with a wooden lance, and I am torn apart. My innards are in pain, my
heart is sore, my senses are corrupted, and my spirit is in agony. I
should not have numbered Judas with my disciples. I should not have
picked up the wood of crucifixion. I thought that I would hold it
within my hands, but now I am bound by it as a slave, and all those
who I held since the first-formed man, I am compelled to disgorge.”
Come, O beloved, let us cover ourselves below the wings of the
precious and life-giving Cross. For the four ends of the Cross
signifies that He Who was crucified upon it is God over all places,
and has received all from the ends of the earth. Christ God was
lifted up upon it, that He might dissolve the demons that infested
the air, and made our passage to heaven unhindered, as our Savior
Himself told us: “When I am lifted from the earth, I will draw all
men towards me.” (John 12:32) And what more should I tell you? Hearken to the
word of the Prophet: “The Lord shall send you a rod of power from
Sion.” (Psalm 110:2) And because this rod is Christ, as Isaiah also said: “A
rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse.” (Isaiah 11:1) Moses bearing this
divided and brought back together the Red sea: dividing, that the
people of God might pass through, bringing back, that the people of
Egypt might be covered by the depths of the sea.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
Such a beautiful message ! Praise be to Him who is All and forever.
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