On the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Metropolitan Epifaniy reminded believers about another custom that the Orthodox observe on the days of special veneration of the Holy Cross, which is a premortal bow in front of the shrine, according to the OCU press service.
By performing it, believers honor the Cross of the Savior by singing and glorifying His Resurrection at the same time. For although the cross was a familiar instrument of shameful and painful capital punishment for the Romans, for Christians it became a reminder of the sacrifice of the Son of God and a sign of His victory over death.
“Just as the grave in which the body of the deceased Christ was laid, after His resurrection is called luminous and life-giving, so the Lord’s Cross is no longer a sign of punishment and death for us – it is life-giving and saving. That is why in worshiping the honest Cross, we combine our veneration of the Savior’s sacrifice and veneration of His glorious resurrection from the dead,” said the head of the OCU.
He added that this very worship, as a bodily action, also is of a symbolic nature. Because by kneeling before the Cross of Christ and bowing our faces to the ground, we thereby testify to our humility, our submission to God. And standing up, we testify that the gracious power of the Lord lifts us up from the ground, strengthening us.
“All these symbolic actions connect the commemoration of an ancient historical event with the awareness for us, Christians, of the meaning and significance of the Honest and life-giving Cross itself. Because although we raise the image of the cross, we worship it, but in accordance with the teaching set forth by the VII Ecumenical Council, we do it relatively, transferring the respect shown to the image to the original image. That is, we bow not to a tree or an image, as such, but through them, as an image, we honor the Savior Himself, who for our sake accepted death on the cross,” explained Metropolitan Epifaniy.
Therefore, veneration of the cross, when it is performed with faith, has the same life-giving and saving effect for us as prayer, as participation in divine service and sacraments. And vice versa – whoever despises the Cross of the Lord, who mocks it and despises the Savior crucified on it, will have the same fate as the mad robber and others who mocked the Lord Jesus Christ during His crucifixion, the bishop is confident.
