WHY DO WE WEAR A CROSS?

Procession of the Life-giving Cross of Our Lord
August 1

In pre-Christian times, the Cross was the instrument of a shameful and horrible death. The Romans invented it and used it in order to intimidate the peoples whom they had subjugated. Everyone looked on this instrument of execution the shameful Cross with horror.

But a remarkable change took place with respect to the Cross after Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on it. The Lord suffered and died on the Cross. He took horrible sufferings upon Himself in order to save us from sins. The Cross received great glory, such as no other object made by the hands of man has possessed. The Cross became the sign of our salvation, through which we receive the power of God the grace of God.

The Cross is the first and greatest Christian sacred object. When the priest sanctifies water, he immerses the Cross in it, and the water becomes holy. When we wear the Cross on our chest, our body constantly touches it, and from this touch it, too, is sanctified. The Cross that we wear protects us from danger.

During the Soviet Union, believing people would wear a Cross at great risk, since there could be much un-pleasantness from the godless for this. But these remarkable people were not afraid to confess their faith, and they would fearlessly wear a Cross. One ought not to look upon the Cross as some kind of jewelry like a bracelet or brooch. The Cross must adorn our soul and not our clothing, and must constantly remind us that we are Christians, called to live according to our faith, which is founded on the Savior’s sufferings on the Cross.