Sunday, April 7, 2024

Tone 3

Third Sunday of Great Lent; Veneration of the Cross

Sunday of the Holy Cross

Commemorated on April 7

Introduction

(GOARCH) On the Third Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Services include a special veneration of the Cross, which prepares the faithful for the commemoration of the Crucifixion during Holy Week.

Historical Background

The commemoration and ceremonies of the Third Sunday of Lent are closely parallel to the feasts of the Veneration of the Cross (September 14) and the Procession of the Cross (August 1). 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.

As we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24), and will have mortified ourselves during these forty days of the Fast, the precious and life-giving Cross is now placed before us to refresh our souls and encourage us who may be filled with a sense of bitterness, resentment, and depression. The Cross reminds us of the Passion of our Lord, and by presenting to us His example, it encourages us to follow Him in struggle and sacrifice, being refreshed, assured, and comforted. In other words, we must experience what the Lord experienced during His Passion - being humiliated in a shameful manner. The Cross teaches us that through pain and suffering we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: the heavenly inheritance and eternal glory.

As they who walk on a long and hard way and are bowed down by fatigue find great relief and strengthening under the cool shade of a leafy tree, so do we find comfort, refreshment, and rejuvenation under the Life-giving Cross, which our Fathers “planted” on this Sunday. Thus, we are fortified and enabled to continue our Lenten journey with a light step, rested and encouraged.

Or, as before the arrival of the king, his royal standards, trophies, and emblems of victory come in procession and then the king himself appears in a triumphant parade, jubilant and rejoicing in his victory and filling those under him with joy, so does the Feast of the Cross precede the coming of our King, Jesus Christ. It warns us that He is about to proclaim His victory over death and appear to us in the glory of the Resurrection. His Life-Giving Cross is His royal scepter, and by venerating it we are filled with joy, rendering Him glory. Therefore, we become ready to welcome our King, who shall manifestly triumph over the powers of darkness.

The present feast has been placed in the middle of Great Lent for another reason. The Fast can be likened to the spring of Marah whose waters the children of Israel encountered in the wilderness. This water was undrinkable due to its bitterness but became sweet when the Holy Prophet Moses dipped the wood into its depth. Likewise, the wood of the Cross sweetens the days of the Fast, which are bitter and often grievous because of our tears. Yet Christ comforts us during our course through the desert of the Fast, guiding and leading us by His hand to the spiritual Jerusalem on high by the power of His Resurrection.

Moreover, as the Holy Cross is called the Tree of Life, it is placed in the middle of the Fast, as the ancient tree of life was placed in the middle of the garden of Eden. By this, our Holy Fathers wished to remind us of Adam’s gluttony as well as the fact that through this Tree has condemnation been abolished. Therefore, if we bind ourselves to the Holy Cross, we shall never encounter death but shall inherit life eternal

Icon Of The Commemoration

The most common icon associated with the Veneration of the Cross is the same icon used on the Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, September 14. In the icon, Patriarch Macarius is standing in the pulpit elevating the Cross for all to see and venerate. On each side of the Patriarch are deacons holding candles. The elevated Cross is surrounded and venerated by many clergy and lay people, including Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine.

In the background of the icon is a domed structure that represents the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. This church was one of the churches constructed and dedicated by Emperor Constantine on the holy sites of Jerusalem.

Another icon related to this feast depicts the actual service of veneration that is conducted in the churches on the Third Sunday of Lent. In the center of the icon is the Cross. It is on a table surrounded by flowers. Above the Cross is the image of Christ in a partial mandorla representing His glory. He is blessing those who have gathered to venerate the Cross, the rulers, clergy, monastics, and laity.

As in the service of veneration, the icon shows the priest venerating the Cross as the people chant the hymn “We venerate Your Cross, O Christ, and Your holy Resurrection we glorify,” which is inscribed on the table holding he Cross.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sorry this is late. It took me longer than expected to get back from Virginia.

This coming Sunday, April 7 at 4:00 PM, is the third and final of the pan-Orthodox Vespers at St. Ignatius Orthodox Church. Please plan to attend if you can.

In Christ,

Fr Gregory

This Week at Ss Cyril & Methodius

Wednesday, April 3

• 2:00 PM- 5:30 PM: Office Hours/Confessions
• 6:00 PM: Presanctified Liturgy

Thursday, April 4

• 2:00 PM- 5:00 PM: Office Hours/Confessions
• 6:00 PM: OCF Meeting

Saturday, April 6

• 3:00 PM: Catechumen Class
• 4:00 PM: Choir Rehearsal
• 5:00 PM: Great Vespers & Veneration of the Cross
• 6:00 PM: Confessions

Sunday, April 7:  Sunday of the Holy Cross

• 9:00 AM: Hours & Precommunion Prayers
• 9:30 AM: Divine Liturgy
• 4:00 PM: Pan-Orthodox Vespers and Reception (St Ignatius)

Looking Ahead

Wednesday, April 10

• 2:00 PM- 5:30 PM: Office Hours/Confessions
• 6:00 PM: Presanctified Liturgy

Thursday, April 11

• 2:00 PM- 5:00 PM: Office Hours/Confessions
• 5:30 PM: Akathist to the Queen of All
• 6:00 PM: OCF Meeting

Saturday, April 13

• 3:00 PM: Catechumen Class
• 4:00 PM: Choir Rehearsal
• 5:00 PM: Great Vespers & Veneration of the Cross
• 6:00 PM: Confessions

Sunday, April 14:  Sunday of St. John Climacus

• 9:00 AM: Hours & Precommunion Prayers
• 9:30 AM: Divine Liturgy

Hymns After the Small Entrance

Tone 3 Troparion (Resurrection)

Let the heavens rejoice! Let the earth be glad! For the Lord has shown strength with His arm. He has trampled down death by death. He has become the first born of the dead. He has delivered us from the depths of hell, and has granted to the world//great mercy.

Tone 1 Troparion of the Cross

O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance! Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by virtue of Thy Cross,//preserve Thy habitation!

Tone 4 Troparion (Ss  Cyril and Methodius)

Divinely-wise Cyril and Methodius, / equals-to-the-apostles and teachers of the Slavs, / entreat the Master of all / to strengthen all nations in Orthodoxy and unity of mind, / to grant peace to the world and to save our souls.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

Tone 3 Kontakion (Ss  Cyril and Methodius)

Let us honor the sacred pair, who translated divine scripture / pouring forth a fountain of divine knowledge from which we still draw today. / Now as you stand before the throne of the Most-high / we call you blessed, Cyril and Methodius, / as you fervently pray for our souls.

now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 7 Kontakion (Cross)

Now the flaming sword no longer guards the gates of Eden; it has been mysteriously quenched by the wood of the Cross. The sting of death and the victory of hell have been vanquished; for Thou, O my Savior, hast come and cried to those in hell://“Enter again into Paradise!”

Epistle: Hebrews 4:14-5:6

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:  Mark 8:34-9:1

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.”

++++++++++++++++++++++

Hymn to the Theotokos

All of creation rejoices in thee, O Full of Grace:

the assembly of angels and the race of men.

O sanctified temple and spiritual paradise,

the glory of virgins,

from whom God was incarnate and became a Child:

our God before the ages.

He made thy body into a throne,

and thy womb He made more spacious than the heavens.

All of creation rejoices in thee, O Full of Grace.//

Glory to thee!

Communion Hymn

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest!

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous; praise befits the just!

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

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