Today, September 14th is the commemoration of the Feast of the Exaltation (Discovery) of the Holy Cross.
Christ our God, who were willing raised upon the cross, grant your mercies to the new people who bear your name. By your power, grant joy to the Church. Give her victory over evil with your invincible trophy, the weapon of peace, as an ally! (Troparion)
From a discourse by the bishop St. Andrew of Crete, we learn:
We are celebrating the feast of the Cross,
which drives away darkness and brought in the light.
As we keep the feast,
we are lifted up with the crucified Christ,
leaving behind us earth and sin
so that we may gain the things above.
So great and outstanding a possession is the Cross
that he who wins it has won a treasure.
Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things
and the costliest, in fact as well as in name,
for on it and through it and for its sake
the riches of salvation that had been lost
were restored to us…
And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph,
hear what He Himself also said:
“When I am lifted up,
then I will draw all men to Myself.”
Now you can see that the Cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.
Also from St Andrew of Crete, in one of his sermons on the Exaltation of the Cross, says: “The Cross is exalted, and everything true gathers together, the Cross is exalted, and the city makes solemn, and the people celebrate the feast.”
Blessings for the feast, I hope you are celebrating!
The image is from the Syriac Orthodox Church.