My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Around the year 325AD and at an advanced age, St. Helen journeyed to Jerusalem to find the Cross of our Lord. On the spot where the crucifixion had taken place, a temple to Aphrodite had been erected by the Emperor Hadrian to cover this holy place. Upon her arrival, St. Helen had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed and the earth removed revealing the tomb of our Lord and three crosses.

In an attempt to determine the Cross of our Lord, Patriarch Makarios instructed that the crosses be placed on a deceased man whose funeral procession was passing by. Having placed the first two on the deceased and without change, the third brought the man back to life. In addition, the cross was placed on a sick woman who recovered. Patriarch Makarios raised the Cross for all to see, and the people sang “Lord Have Mercy.”

What was used in antiquity as an instrument of torture to degrade the worst of criminals became the Life-Giving tree through Christ. As if betrayal, trial, scrouging, and ridicule were not enough, He was deemed the worst of criminals. Yet, through Christ ascending it, that which was used to degrade, and insult has become the Life-Giving tree referenced in the hymnology of the Church.

Our Lord tells us in the Gospel of Luke (9:23): “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” The purpose of our taking up our cross and following Christ is not simply an act of self-sacrificing piety. We are called to take up our cross so we might unite ourselves with Christ in His sacrificial humility.

In His Service,

+Fr. Mario