Third Sunday of the Great Fast: Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross March 31, 2019

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1 Third Sunday of the Great Fast: Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross March 31, 2019 Saint Gregory Palamas: You should venerate not only the icon of Christ, but also the similitude of His Cross. For the Cross is Christ s great sign and trophy of victory over the devil and all his hostile hosts; for this reason they tremble and flee when they see the figuration of the Cross. You should venerate icons of the saints, for the saints have been crucified with the Lord. And you should make the sign of the Cross upon your person before doing so, bringing to mind their communion in the sufferings of Christ. In the same way you should venerate their holy shrines and any relics of their bones; for God s grace is not sundered from these things, even as the divinity was not sundered from Christ s venerable body at the time of His life-quickening death. By doing this and by glorifying those who glorified God you too will be glorified together with them by God, and with David you will chant: I have held Your friends in high honor, O Lord (Psalm 139:17) Far in advance, Moses proclaimed in the clearest possible way the figure and form of the Cross and the salvation that this sign would bring. For he stood his staff upright and stretched out his hands above it and, when he had formed himself into the shape of a Cross upon his staff, this sight completely routed Amalek (Exodus 17:8-13). Again, by placing the serpent of brass sideways upon a standard, he publicly raised up the sign of the Cross and commanded the Jews who had been bitten by serpents to look upon it as a means of salvation, and so he healed the serpents bites (Numbers 21:4-9). Icon of the Veneration of the Holy, Precious, and Life-giving Cross Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church 3585 North 12th Street Grand Junction, Colorado Reverend Protopresbyter Luke Uhl, Pastor Parish Web Page: Parish Answering Machine: Father Luke: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver under the spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Ecumenical Patriarchate Saint Symeon the New Theologian: Let us consider how we should glorify God. We cannot glorify Him in any way other than that in which He was glorified by the Son; for in the same way as the Son glorified the Father, the Son in turn was glorified by the Father. Let us, then, diligently use the same means to glorify Him Who allows us to call Him Our Father in heaven, so that we may be glorified by Him with the glory that the Son possesses with the Father prior to the world (cf. John 17:5). These means are the Cross, or death to the whole world, the afflictions, the trials and the other sufferings undergone by Christ. If we endure them with great patience, we imitate Christ s sufferings; and through them we glorify our Father and God, as His sons by grace through adoption and as co-heirs of Christ.

2 Entrance Hymn. Tone 2. The Divine Services, Page 33 First Antiphon, Tone 2 The light of Your countenance, Lord, has shone upon us. Ταῖς πρεσβείαις τῆς Θεοτόκου, Σῶτερ, σῶσον ἡµᾶς. You have given a sign unto those who fear You, that they may flee from before the face of the bow. Through the intercessions if the Theotokos, Savior, save us. You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive. Ταῖς πρεσβείαις τῆς Θεοτόκου, Σῶτερ, σῶσον ἡµᾶς. You have given an inheritance to those who fear Your name. Through the intercessions if the Theotokos, Savior, save us. Δόξα..., καὶ νῦν... Ταῖς πρεσβείαις τῆς Θεοτόκου, Σῶτερ, σῶσον ἡµᾶς. Second Antiphon, Tone 2 All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Σῶσον ἡµᾶς Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν... Let us worship at the place where His feet have stood. Save us O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead... But God is our King before the ages, He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. Σῶσον ἡµᾶς Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν... I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Save us O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead... Glory..., now... Only begotten Son... Third Antiphon, Tone 1 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at the footstool of His feet. Σῶσον Κύριε τὸν λαόν σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονοµίαν σου, νίκας τοῖς Βασιλεῦσι κατὰ βαρβάρων δωρούµενος καὶ τὸ σὸν φυλάττων διὰ τοῦ Σταυροῦ σου πολίτευµα. Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the rulers against all of their adversaries, and preserve Your commonwealth by Your holy Cross (by Your holy Cross). Shepherd them and bear them up unto eternity. Σῶσον Κύριε τὸν λαόν σου... (See above) Resurrection Apolitikion. Tone 3. Let all things above in heaven rejoice and let all things below on earth be glad. With all the might and strength of His arm an eternal deed the Lord did perform; beneath His feet He has trampled down death by death, and first born of the dead has He become; from the womb of Hades has He delivered us, and to all the world has granted His great redeeming mercy. Apolitikion of the Precious Cross. Tone 1. Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the rulers against all of their adversaries, and preserve Your commonwealth by Your holy Cross (by Your holy Cross). Apolitikion of the Temple. Tone 4. (page 33) Kontakion during the Great Fast. Tone Plagal 4. To you, the champion Commander, I your city inscribe victorious anthems of thanksgiving, for deliverance from suff rings, Theotokos. Inasmuch as you have power unassailable, from all manner of dangers set me free, that I cry out to you: Rejoice bride unwedded! At the Trisagion Hymn: Ἀµήν. Τὸν Σταυρόν σου προσκυνοῦµεν Δέσποτα, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν σου Ἀνάστασιν δοξάζοµεν. Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your holy resurrection we glorify. Τὸν Σταυρόν σου προσκυνοῦµεν Δέσποτα, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν σου Ἀνάστασιν δοξάζοµεν. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. And Your holy resurrection we glorify. Ναὶ Δύναµις. Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your holy resurrection we glorify. Τhe Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great Communion Hymn Ἐσηµειώθη ἐφ ἡµᾶς τό φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, (τοῦ προσώπου σου,) Κύριε. Ἀλληλούϊα. Let the light of Your face shine upon us, (shine upon us,) O Lord. Alleluia.

3 The Meaning of the Veneration of the Cross On the Third Sunday of the Great Fast, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy we celebrate the Service of the Veneration of the Cross, which prepares us for the commemoration of the Crucifixion during Holy Week. Not only does the Sunday of the Holy Cross prepare us for commemoration of the Crucifixion, but it also reminds us that the whole of Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ and likewise our life must be joined to Christ Who united God to man. As we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24), mortifying ourselves during these forty days of the Great Fast through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving the precious and life-giving Cross is now placed before us to refresh our souls and to encourage us who may be filled with a sense of bitterness, resentment, and even depression. The Cross reminds us of the Passion of our Lord and, by presenting us His example, it encourages us to follow Him in struggle and sacrifice, being refreshed, assured, and comforted. We must also experience what the Lord experienced humiliation and shame for our sins. The Cross teaches us that through spiritual struggle not only during the Great Fast but through all our life we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: eternal glory and the inheritance of the Kingdom of heaven. When a man walks a long, hard way bowed down by fatigue, he may find great relief and strengthening under the cool shade of a leafy tree. Similarly, we find comfort, refreshment, and rejuvenation under the Life-giving Cross, which our Holy Fathers planted on this Sunday. Under the Cross we are fortified and we are enabled to continue our Lenten journey with a light step, rested and encouraged. Before the arrival of an earthly king, his royal standards, trophies, and emblems of victory come in procession and then the king himself follows in a triumphant parade, jubilant and rejoicing in his victory and filling those under him with joy. Likewise, the Feast of the Cross precedes the coming of our true King, our Lord Jesus Christ. This Feast proclaims in advance His victory over death and His appearance to us in the glory of the Resurrection. The Life-Giving Cross is His royal scepter and, by venerating it, we are filled with joy and glorify Him. Therefore, we are ready to welcome our King, Who manifestly triumphs over the powers of darkness. The present feast has been placed in the middle of Great Lent that it might be compared to the spring of water at Márah. In the Old Testament, God s chosen people of Israel encountered this spring in the desert wilderness, but its waters were undrinkable due to their bitterness. Yet, when the Holy Prophet Moses dipped the wood shown to him by God into the waters, they became sweet and refreshing. Likewise, we come to the spring at this midpoint of the Fast, and the wood of the Cross sweetens these days. Indeed it sweetens all the days of our lives, which are often bitter, grievous, and filled with tears. Christ comforts us during our course through the desert of the Fast, and during the course of the deserts of our life. He guides and leads us by His hand to the spiritual Jerusalem on high in the power of His Resurrection. We call the Holy Cross the Tree of Life, placing it in the middle of the Fast, just as the ancient tree of life was planted in the middle of Eden. By eating from that primordial tree when he was not permitted to do so, Adam sinned and lost Paradise. But we, by eating from the Tree of the Cross, in the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus, receive eternal life. By venerating the Holy Cross on this day, we begin to bind ourselves to Christ s Way of the Cross that leads to salvation and life. The Order for the Veneration of the Cross Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Priest: Wisdom! Rise! Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the rulers against all of their adversaries, and preserve Your commonwealth by Your holy Cross. Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the rulers against all of their adversaries, and preserve Your commonwealth by Your holy Cross (by Your holy Cross). (Repeat) Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to the rulers against all of their adversaries, and preserve Your commonwealth by Your holy Cross (by Your holy Cross). Priest: Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your holy resurrection we glorify. Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your holy resurrection we glorify. (Repeat) Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your holy resurrection we glorify.

4 Daily Services During the Third Week of the Great Fast: Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday Evenings Great Compline: 6:00 pm Wednesday Evening Presanctified Liturgy: 6:00 pm Friday Evening Akathist Hymn: 6:00 pm Great Compline on Weekday Evenings The Service of Great Compline will be celebrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings throughout the period of the Great Fast (Great Lent). Small Compline is read every evening by faithful Orthodox Christians as their evening Prayer before bed. In monasteries it is read in community. Great Compline is read and sung in parish and monastery churches during the Great Fast, and is one of the favorite and very beautiful Lenten services. Presanctified Liturgy on Weekday Evenings The Presanctified Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Wednesday evenings throughout the period of the Great Fast. This Liturgy is more solemn than those of Saint Basil or Saint John Chrysostom. At the Presanctified Liturgy, the faithful receive Communion from the Holy Gifts consecrated the previous Sunday. For this service, the Ninth Hour starts at 5:30 pm and the Liturgy begins at 6:00 pm at our Saint Nicholas parish. Akathist Hymn on Friday Evenings The beautiful Akathist Hymn will be sung during Small Compline on each of the first Five Fridays of the Great Fast. The Akathist Hymn is a service of thanksgiving to the Theotokos for her intercession on our behalf. It is a service also asking her to continue praying for our salvation, much like the Paraklesis. Small Compline begins at 6:00 PM on the first five Friday evenings. Services of the Great Fast a Limited Engagement The very beautiful and more somber liturgical Services of the Great Fast are only available for a limited time: for only six weeks. We have heard this and read this: Orthodox Christian is not a name we call ourselves; it is a life we live. We have probably also heard this: Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car (Garrison Keillor). For updated schedule information, always refer to: www. saintnicholasgj.org/worship_schedule/ Let us do all we can make a serious and sacrificial effort to come to church for weekday services: Great Compline, Presanctified Liturgy, and the Akathist Hymn. Let s not miss this limited opportunity! If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your parish priest!

5 Epistle of the Third Sunday of the Fast Hebrews 4:14-5:6 BRETHREN: Seeing then that we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He Who said to Him: You are My Son, today I have begotten You. As He also says in another place: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Gospel of the Third Sunday of the Fast Mark 8:34-9:1 AT THAT TIME: When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. And He said to them, Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Third Sunday of the Great Fast In the middle of the Great Fast, the Orthodox faithful place the precious Cross of Christ in the midst of the temple (i.e., the parish church), and come forth to venerate it. The service of the procession and veneration at the end of the Liturgy are similar to that celebrated on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross in September, but the purpose is different. In September we commemorate the finding of the true Cross in the fourth century by Saint Helena, as well as its restoration to Jerusalem in AD 628 after it had been seized fourteen years earlier by Persian invaders. On the Third Sunday of the Great Fast, however, our focus is not on history but is exclusively on our faith and our reverence. This feast proclaims the pivotal role played by the Cross in the divine economy of salvation, and it also prepares us for the commemoration of our Lord s crucifixion during Holy Week. Perhaps the feast can best be explained by the words of the Exaposteilarion Hymn from Matins: Seeing the precious Cross of Christ placed before us, let us venerate it and rejoice in faith; with love let us greet the Lord Who by His own free choice was crucified upon it, asking Him to grant that uncondemned we might all venerate His precious Cross, and attain the resurrection. The Epistle today urges us to approach the throne of Christ with boldness; we approach the precious Cross and venerate it in the same way. We know that we can approach Christ because He has great compassion for us, indeed Jesus Christ is our high Priest Who was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) We can reach out to our merciful Savior, because He understands our circumstances and feels our pain, having embraced every aspect of human existence from conception through birth, and has thereby joined our humanity to His divinity. Let us follow Him, taking up our cross, but remembering that this cross is not the one I choose but rather the one He Himself places on our shoulders. Let us be ready to accept all trials and sufferings that come, dying to this passing world and thereby attaining eternal life. Let us venerate the precious Cross, not with the kiss of an unrepentant sinner like Judas, nor with a respectful but superficial kiss that reflects no change in the interior life, but rather with a kiss that is a sign of faith and commitment to follow Christ.

6 On the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. These words from today s Gospel are addressed to us, but what do they mean? What are we to understand when we read, to taste of death? What is it, to see the kingdom of God? Simply stated, to taste of death means to suffer from all that entered into the world when death entered into the world. In other words, when Adam and Eve fell death entered the world bringing with it hard work, the pain of childbirth, anguish, depression, stress, worry, disease, and old age, etc. In Adam and Eve s fall, we have all fallen, and we are all exiled from the Paradise of Eden. Thus, because Adam and Eve tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we also have all tasted of good and evil. All the difficult things, therefore, taste of death. Every time that we undergo them, we suffer a part of death, and we have a foretaste of death. Nonetheless, there is a way to overcome these travails of earthly life. There is a way to avoid the taste of death. Death is overcome by reversing the process of the Fall: by returning to Eden, by living according to God s commandments, and by eating of the Tree of Life as God desires us to do. Today s service tells us how to do this, how to be restored to the state of mankind before the Fall: by tasting of the Fruit of the New Tree of the New Adam in the New Eden. The New Tree is the Cross, and the New Adam is Christ. The Fruit of the New Tree of the New Adam is the Resurrection, and the New Eden is the Church: the Resurrected Body of Christ. We taste of the Fruit of the Resurrection whenever we taste the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, which is offered to us by, and within, the Church, the Body of Christ. And this is precisely the meaning of the words in today s Gospel that it is possible to see the kingdom of God present with power. In other words, if we face up to life s difficulties with the Cross of Christ, we shall not taste of death. Indeed, in the light of the resurrecting power of the Cross, the difficulties we experience in life will no longer hold for us the bitter taste of death. And this is the whole difference between the Church which accepts the Cross and the world which rejects the Cross. The world sees all human problems with anguish, for it is locked in to pessimism. It sees no way out of its difficulties, for it does not have an eternal perspective, the perspective of the Cross. On the other hand the Church sees all the difficulties which we naturally come up against in life as challenges, opportunities to combat evil, merely temporary difficulties. However long those difficulties may last, at the end, the worst thing that can happen to us is that we shall die. For the Christian, however, to die is to be with Christ. Moreover, death holds no sting, for Christ has overcome death. In the light of the Cross and Its fruit, the Resurrection, death holds no fear for us. In fact, in the Cross the taste of death becomes the taste of life. Moreover, the Cross and the Resurrection bring life more abundantly. In the light of the Cross and of the Resurrection we see the Kingdom, where there is no sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but only life everlasting. In other words, a place where those things that taste of death no longer exist. In the perspective of the Cross and of the Resurrection, the perspective of the kingdom of God, of which we have a foretaste even now, all human life with all its problems is but a single passing moment in eternity. And if we look at our lives from this Christian perspective, then indeed, we do not taste of death, for we have already to some small extent seen the Kingdom of God. Your Cross we venerate, O Master, and Your Holy Resurrection we glorify!

7 From The Explanation of the Gospel of Saint Mark by Saint Theophylaktos, Archbishop of Ochrid (AD ) Mark 8: And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever desireth to follow after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever desireth to save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospels, the same shall save it. For what shall it profita man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? [In this passage of Saint Mark, and in the following commentary, the single Greek word, psyche, has been translated as either "life" or "soul" as it has both these meanings.] Since Peter had rebuked Him for wanting to be crucified, the Lord called the people unto Him, and said in the hearing of all, but directing His words mostly towards Peter, "Do you find fault with Me, Peter, because I take up the cross? I say to you, that neither you, nor anyone else, will be saved unless you die for the sake of goodness and truth." See that Christ does not compel a man to die on a cross against his own will. Instead He said, "Whosoever desireth." The Lord is saying: "I compel no one. I invite him to something good, not to something bad to which he must be forced. Whoever does not want these things is not worthy of them." We can learn what it means to deny oneself if we understand what it means to deny another. He who denies another is he who, when he sees his brother, or servant, or father, being flogged or even murdered, does not turn towards him and pity him in his suffering, but acts as if he were a stranger to him. In this same manner the Lord wants us to show no pity towards our own bodies, so that even if we are flogged, or worse, let it make no difference to us. Let him take up his cross, that is, accept a most shameful death, for at that time to die on a cross was considered the most shameful of deaths. But since many were crucified for being bandits, the Lord added to the crucifixion something else: that one ought to have virtue. This is what it means to follow Me. Although His command that one give oneself over to death seemed hard and cruel, the Lord straightway shows this commandment is given out of love for mankind. For whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find life. (But the death of a condemned man, or of one who hangs himself, is not for Christ's sake and brings no such reward.) And, on the contrary, he who appears to have saved his life, far from finding life, shall lose it by not remaining steadfast during his time of martyrdom. Do not say to Me, "But he has saved his life" it means nothing. Even if you say that he has gained the whole world as well, it is of no benefit. No one can exchange money for his salvation, for if that were so, a man who had gained the world but lost his soul, could, while burning in the flames of hell, use his money to buy innocence. But at that time and in that place no such trade can be made. Here let us shut the mouths of those who say, following Origen, that all the souls in hell will be restored [and reunited with those in heaven] after they have been punished in accordance with their sins. (This false teaching of Origen, apokotastasis, the general restoration of all fallen creation, was condemned by the Church as heresy at the Fifth Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in AD 553.) Let them hear that there is no exchange that can be made there for ones soul. No one is kept in hell as a punishment. Rather, it is the weight of his own sins which holds him there. Mark 8:38-9:1. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. And He said unto. them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. Intellectual faith does not suffice, but confession of faith with ones mouth is required as well. Since man himself is two-fold, let his sanctification be two-fold as well. The soul is sanctified by faith, but the body is sanctified by confessing.

8 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed to confess that the Crucified One is his God, of him also shall the Crucified One be ashamed. For the Lord shall judge that man to be an unworthy servant, when He comes with glory, escorted by the angels, and no longer in lowly form. At the second coming He will not appear, as He did before, to be of base origin and circumstance, and an object of scorn. Since He speaks of His own glory, He desires to show that He is not vainly boasting, and says, There be some of them that stand here, namely, Peter, James, and John, who shall not die until I have shown them at the Transfiguration the glory with which I shall appear at the second coming. For the Transfiguration was nothing less than a foreshadowing of the second coming, and as He appeared in radiance then, so will He shine at the second coming, as will also all the righteous.