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Exalting The Cross
‘Exaltation’ seems like such a strange word to use in reference to the Cross of Christ. Exaltation? Why on earth would we want to exalt an instrument of horror, humiliation, torture and death? What conceivable reason could there be for having a feast day to celebrate the Cross? The Christians of earlier centuries seemed to have had much the same thought; on the relatively rare occasions when a Cross was depicted in early Christian art, it was the Cross alone, in it’s simplest and plainest form, and certainly never with the figure of Christ upon it. Only much, much later did we begin to depict Christ upon that Cross –…
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The Power of the Cross
There is something terrifying and yet deeply consoling about the Cross. We are terrified because the Cross reminds us, at the human level, that we must all suffer in one way or another during life. None of us can or will escape this reality. Suffering will find us. And none of us like suffering – not one of us wants to suffer. At the spiritual level, the Cross consoles us greatly; there, we see the Lord in His own suffering – and by means of that suffering, we see and experience our redemption. By His holy Cross we are redeemed and the way of salvation is opened to us. Further,…
