De confessione pretiosae crucis

Of the Same: A Discourse on Not Being Ashamed to Confess the Precious Cross, and How through It Christ Saved Us, and That We Must Boast in It, and on Virtue, and How He Desires Our Salvation, and on Almsgiving. 1. This, brothers, is the sign which the Lord promised to give to all, saying: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah"—speaking of the cross, and the death, and the burial, and the resurrection. And again, revealing the power of the cross in another way, he said: "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am." "When you crucify me," he says, "and think you have prevailed over me, then especially will you know my power." And Christ spoke well. For after Christ was crucified, the Jewish customs ceased, the preaching flourished, the word was extended to the ends of the world; and land and sea, and inhabited and uninhabited regions, everywhere proclaim his power. Let no one, therefore, be ashamed of the venerable symbols of our salvation, and the sum of our goods, through which we live and through which we exist; but as a crown, let us carry about the cross of Christ. For everything concerning us is accomplished through it: if we need to be reborn, the cross is present; if we need to be nourished with that mystical food, if we need to be ordained, or to do anything else whatsoever, everywhere the symbol of our victory stands by.

This is why we inscribe it with great zeal in houses, on walls, on doors, on the forehead, and in the mind. For this is the sign of our salvation, of our common freedom, and of our Lord’s clemency. For he was led like a sheep to the slaughter. Therefore, when you seal yourself, consider the whole meaning of the cross, and quench your anger and all other passions. When you seal yourself, fill your forehead with great confidence, make your soul free. And you surely know what things provide us with freedom. Hence Paul, leading us to this—I mean to the freedom that befits us—raised us up in this way, reminding us of the cross and of the Lord’s blood: “For you were bought with a price,” he says, “do not become slaves of men.” Consider, he says, the price paid for you, and you will be a slave of no man. He calls the blood the price, the blood through the cross. For one must not simply engrave it with the finger, but first with the intention, with great faith, and thus imprint it on the sight. No unclean demon will be able to stand near you, seeing the sword by which it received the blow, seeing the blade by which it took the mortal wound. For if we, seeing places where condemned men are executed, shudder, consider what the devil will suffer, seeing the weapon through which Christ dissolved all his power and cut off the head of the serpent.

Do not, therefore, be ashamed of so great a good, lest Christ be ashamed of you when he comes with his glory, and the sign appears before him, shining more brightly than the ray of the sun. For the cross will then be seen, sending forth a voice through its appearance, and making defense for the Master before the whole world, showing that nothing was lacking of what pertained to them. This sign opened closed doors for our ancestors, this quenched poisonous drugs, this dissolved the power of hemlock, this healed the bites of venomous beasts. For if it opened the gates of Hades, and threw open the vaults of the heavens, and renewed the entrance of Paradise, and cut the sinews of the devil, what wonder if it prevails over poisonous drugs and beasts and other such things? Engrave this, therefore, in your mind, and embrace the salvation of our souls. For this cross converted the world, drove out error, brought back truth, made earth heaven, and made men angels. Because of this, demons are no longer fearful, but contemptible; nor is death death, but sleep. Because of this, all things that war against us are cast down and trampled underfoot. If, therefore, someone says to you, "Do you worship the crucified one?" say with a bright voice and a joyful face, "I both worship and will never cease to worship; and if he laughs, weep for him, for he is mad." Give thanks to the Master, that he has benefited us with such things as one cannot even learn without revelation from above.

For this reason, this man also laughs, because the psychic man does not receive the things of the Spirit; just as children also suffer this, when they see something great and marvelous; if you bring a child into the mysteries, he will laugh. Indeed, the Greeks resemble these children, or rather they are even more imperfect than them, and therefore more wretched, because they suffer the things of children not at an untimely age, but in maturity, whence they are not even worthy of pardon. But let us, crying out with a clear and loud voice, shout and say, even if all the Greeks are present, with even greater boldness let us say that our boast is the cross, and the sum of all good things, and all our boldness and crown. I would wish to be able to say with Paul, "The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world," but I cannot, being held by various passions. Therefore I exhort both you and, before you, myself to be crucified to the world, and to have nothing in common with the earth, but to love the fatherland above, and the glory from there, and the eternal goods; for we are soldiers of a heavenly king, and we are clothed in spiritual arms. Why then do we practice the life of hucksters and charlatans, or rather of worms? For where the king is, there the soldier must also be. For we have become soldiers, not of those far off, but of those near. For the king on earth would not tolerate all to be in the palace, nor by his side; but the king of the heavens wishes all to be near his royal throne. And how is it possible, being here, he says, to stand by that throne?

That Paul, while on earth, was where the Seraphim are, where the Cherubim are, and this man was nearer to Christ than these shield-bearers of the king. For these turn their eyes in many directions; but nothing dazzled him, nothing distracted him, but he kept his whole mind stretched toward the King and Lord. 3. So if we wish, this is possible for us too. For if it were a matter of distance in place, you would rightly be at a loss; but since He is present everywhere, to the one who is zealous and intent, He is near. For this reason the prophet also said, "I will not fear evils, because you are with me." And God Himself again: "I am a God who draws near, and not a God far off." Just then as sins separate us from Him, so also do righteous acts bring us together to Him. "For while you are still speaking," He says, "I will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" What father would ever so obey his children? What mother is so prepared and perpetually standing by, if ever her children should call her? There is no one, no father, no mother. But God stands perpetually waiting, if ever any of His servants should call Him, and though we never call as we ought, He has never disobeyed.

For this reason he says, "While you are still speaking, I do not wait for you to finish, and I will immediately obey." Let us therefore call upon him as he wishes to be called. And how does he wish? "Loose," he says, "every bond of injustice, dissolve the knots of violent contracts, tear apart every unjust agreement. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see someone naked, clothe him, and you will not overlook those of your own seed. Then your light will break forth early, your healings will quickly rise, your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. Then call upon me, and I will hear you; while you are still speaking, I will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" And who, he says, can do all these things? And who cannot, tell me? For what among these things is difficult? What is laborious? What is not easy? For they are not only possible but also easy, since many have surpassed the measure, not only tearing apart unjust documents, but also stripping themselves of all their possessions; not only receiving the poor with shelter and table, but also laboring with the sweat of their bodies to feed them; not only benefiting relatives, but also enemies. And what at all is difficult among these things? For he did not say, "Cross the mountain, cross the sea, dig up so many acres of land, remain without food, put on a sack," but, "Share your house, share your bread, tear apart the unjust documents that lie there.

What could be easier than this, tell me? But if you think it is difficult, consider the prizes as well, and everything will be easy for you. For just as kings in the horse races place crowns and garments and awards before the contestants, so also Christ places the prizes in the middle of the stadium, as if extending them through many hands, the words of the prophet. And the kings, being men, having a limited supply to spend and a competitive ambition that is consumed, strive to show the few as many; therefore, entrusting each single item to each of the attendants, they bring them into the middle in this way. But our King, on the contrary, having gathered everything together, since he is exceedingly wealthy and does nothing for display, sets them forth in the middle in such a way that, when extended, they will be infinite and will require many hands to hold them. And so that you may learn this, examine each of them with precision. "Then," he says, "your early light will burst forth." Does it not seem to you to be one gift? But it is not one. For it contains many things within: crowns and awards and other prizes, and if you wish, by loosening it we will show all the wealth as we are able to display it, only do not grow weary. And first let us learn what "will burst forth" means. It indicates to us speed and abundance, and how greatly he desires our salvation, and how he is in labor to bring forth these goods, and is eager; and nothing will hinder the ineffable rush. Through all of which he shows their abundance and the infinity of his resources.

What is "early"? That is, not after you have been in trials, nor after the onset of evils, but before they appear. For just as with fruits we call "early" that which appears before the season, so here too, indicating again swiftness, he spoke thus, just as he said above, "While you are still speaking, I will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" And what light does he mean, and what is this "light"? It is not this perceptible light, but another far better, which shows us heaven, the angels, the archangels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim, the thrones, the dominions, the principalities, the powers, the entire encampment, the royal cities, the tents. For if you are deemed worthy of that light, you will see these things, and you will be delivered from Gehenna, from the venomous worm, from the gnashing of teeth, from the painful bonds, from the narrowness, from the oppression, from the lightless darkness, from being cut in two, from the rivers of fire, from the curse, and from the places of pain, and you will go where pain and grief have fled, where there is much joy, and peace, and love, and delight, and gladness; where there is eternal life, and ineffable glory, and indescribable beauty; where there are eternal tents, and the hidden glory of the king, and those goods which the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man; where there is the spiritual bridal chamber and the bridal canopies of the heavens, and the virgins holding bright torches, and those wearing the wedding garment; where there are palaces of the Master, and the royal treasuries.

You see what great prizes there are, and how much was displayed through a single phrase, and how it gathered everything together? So too, when we unfold each of the following phrases, we will find great abundance and a vast sea. Let us not, therefore, put it off or be reluctant to show mercy to those in need. No, I implore you; but even if it is necessary to cast away everything, even to be thrown into fire, even to dare a sword, even to leap upon blades, even to suffer anything at all—let us bear everything readily, so that we may obtain the garment of the kingdom of the heavens and that ineffable glory. May it be granted that all of us attain it, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom are the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.