Two Reflections on the Veneration of the Holy and Life-giving Cross By: Two Orthodox Christians

Reflection 1:

““Today the Cross of the Lord goeth forth, and the faithful welcome it with longing, and they receive healing of soul and body and of every malady. Let us kiss it with joy and fear: with fear, because of sin, for we are unworthy; with joy, because of the salvation granted to the world by Him Who was crucified thereon, Christ the Lord, Who hath great mercy” (Orthros, Doxastikon of the Praises).

Which Orthodox Christian dares to not venerate the Cross of Christ!? Refusal to kiss the precious Wood – due to a demonically-influenced fear of getting sick from it - is an open show of one’s absence of faith and complete acceptance of delusion. How far from Christ and truly lost is the Orthodox Christian who has no perception that the Cross of the Lord is life-giving! How great the Divine punishment they kindle for themselves because of their faithlessness and blasphemy – both in this life and in the next!