Thoughts For Passiontide

Details: 19 March 2010

The Cross

The last two weeks before Easter, that is, Holy Week and the week before, traditionally and liturgically have been called “passiontide”, a period of time when devout Christians, putting aside to a large extent their worldly distractions, try to give as much attention and time as possible to the greatest event in all of human history, the salvation and redemption of our human race wrought by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Consideration of and meditation on Christ’s passion, of course, cannot be done without the word and thought of “the cross” being brought to the fore from its deep engravement on the heart and in the imagination of Jesus’ fervent and true disciples.

Saint Paul wrote, “But as for me, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). He wrote about Jesus, “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The Apostle to the Gentiles said, “The doctrine of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and an absurdity to the Greeks, but to those who are called, Jews and Gentiles alike, Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18-24).

The cross always looms large in Saint Paul’s writings, as it must have done in all his preaching. He told the Colossians, for instance, “And you, when you were dead by reason of your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (Jesus) brought you to life along with Him, forgiving you all your sins, cancelling the decree against us which was hostile to us. Indeed, He snatched it away completely, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).

Fathers & Doctors

The Fathers and Doctors of the Church always have made the theme of the cross the centerpiece of much of their preaching and writing. Saint Andrew of Crete said, “Had there been no cross, Life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And, if Life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled; we should not have obtained our freedom; we should not have enjoyed the fruits of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled. Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation, very many indeed, for both His miracles and His sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of His victory....it was the means by which the Devil was wounded and death conquered. The cross is called Christ’s glory. It is saluted as His triumph.”

Saint John Chrysostom proclaimed, “Impress this sign upon your hearts, therefore, and embrace this cross to which we owe the salvation of our souls. It is indeed the cross that has saved and converted the entire world, banished error, reestablished truth, made the earth into heaven, and made men into angels. Thanks to the cross, demons have ceased to be so much cause for fear and have become detestable, and dying is no longer death but sleep. Through the cross everything that has fought against us has been knocked to the ground and trampled over. So, if someone asks you whether you adore a Man Who was crucified, respond with a clear voice and a joyful mien: Yes, I adore Him and I will never cease adoring Him.”

Pope Saint Leo the Great remarked, “Thus, when our Lord was carrying the wood of the cross, wood that He later turned into a scepter of power, it seemed greatly degrading to the eyes of unbelievers, but it appeared as a wonderful mystery to believers, because the glorious Victor over the Devil and the Conqueror of the forces of hell was carrying the beautifully symbolic trophy of His triumph. And, on His shoulders with tireless patience, He displayed the sign of salvation so that all would adore it, almost as though He were trying to encourage all of His followers from that very moment. O marvelous power of the cross! O ineffable glory of the passion! In it we find the tribunal of the Lord, the judgment on the world, and the kingdom of the Crucified One.

Liturgical Words

With lovely and ancient words, the sacred liturgy, especially in the weeks before our Easter celebration of the resurrection of our Savior from the dead, extols the cross of Christ. “O faithful cross, most beautiful among the trees. No forest has ever produced such a leaf and flower and fruit as this! How sweet the wood and sweet the nails and sweet the burden they sustain! You are higher than all the cedar trees of Lebanon.” “By a tree we were brought into bondage in Eden, but by the tree of the holy cross on Mount Calvary we have been set free. The fruit of the tree in the garden seduced us. By the fruit of the tree of the cross, the Son of God has redeemed us!”

“We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world!” When the cross, the pledge of our redemption, is raised on high, our faith in Christ is confirmed and divine prodigies occur, foreshadowed by the rod of Moses and the serpent of bronze (Numbers 21:6-9). “O holy cross, you are our only hope!” “O great work of Love Himself! Death itself died when Life died on that tree!”

On top of the gigantic obelisk that now stands in the middle of Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, is a gold-plated hollow bronze cross containing a large piece (relic) of the true cross. Underneath these words are carved on one side of the marble base: “Behold the cross of Christ! Flee all you His enemies for the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David has conquered.” On the other side of the base are carved the words now used by Vatican Radio and Television as their call letters: “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!” (“Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ rules!”)

Saint Therese of Lisieux said, “Look at Jesus on the cross. See His adorable face, His glazed and sunken eyes, His wounds. There you see how He loves us!” Saint Rose of Lima said, apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may go to heaven.” Thomas a’Kempis wrote: “In the cross is salvation, peace, life, protection, heavenly sweetness, wisdom, and spiritual joy.”