From 614 to 628, the Venerable Tree was captured by the Persians. God's Providence preserved the Tree even there, in a foreign land. The pagans, amazed by the miracles that accompanied the ark with the Cross, did not dare to boldly touch the Christian shrine. The victory of the Greek Emperor Heraclius over the Persians returned the Cross to Jerusalem. Both the return of the Cross and its elevation over the Holy Sepulchre took place precisely on the day of the feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Wood of the Cross of the Lord.

Thus, my beloved, three events of different times from the life of the Cross of the Lord illuminate this day. And I repeat as a reminder to you - this is the discovery of the Tree of the Cross, and the construction of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord on Golgotha, and the bringing of the Life-Creating Cross into this church, and the last return of the Life-Giving Tree from captivity and its installation on Golgotha, in its original place.

Twenty centuries have passed since the greatest event of the Savior's sacrifice on the cross on Golgotha, when Christ ascended to heaven in glory. The Cross remained on earth, continuing to do the great work begun on Golgotha. And to this day the Cross lives as a living person, as a human being, taking upon itself both boundless love and equally boundless hatred.

And just as love and malice, faithfulness and betrayal confronted each other at the first Saving Cross of the Lord, so the Cross is destined to be a stumbling block at all times in the life of the world. For some, the atheists, it is a cruel and hateful field of suffering, leading to death. Sorrows and sufferings of earthly life are the lot of all earth-born.

For others, followers of Christ, the cross of the same sorrows and sufferings becomes a favorite field of supreme spiritual delight, a path of marching after the beloved Christ into eternal life to glory. The Cross continues to live in the world, some for salvation, others for greater destruction. The struggle between evil and good at the foot of the Cross continues for the sake of love or hatred for the One by Whom the Wood of the Cross was sanctified.

Let us not go into the depths of history for examples, let us take living examples of our days. What malice and rejection of the Cross are now manifested by all those who have departed from the Orthodox Church of Christ, and especially by Protestants and sectarians, who blaspheme the Cross of Christ, our sign of the Cross, and accuse the Orthodox of idolatry for venerating the Cross. The Cross is the guardian of the entire universe, the Cross is the guardian and affirmation of each person in the truth - does not exist for them.

And with the rejection of the Cross, they reject the very path of salvation, the path of the procession following Christ. And they become the plaything of demons on the way to perdition. And here is another example. In 1992, love for Christ gathered pilgrims from all over the world to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. And the holy fire in the lamps had not yet been extinguished, but in the hearts of the trembling miracle of the descent of God's grace and the joy of Paschal Sunday, and Paschal week, as a single day, rejoiced in the Church of God, and the blasphemous, impudent heart, breathing malice, was already preparing an act of terrible blasphemy.

On Saturday of Bright Week, a criminal hand uprooted the Holy Cross, which had stood on Golgotha for centuries. But God is not mocked. Blasphemers swear to themselves. The Lord beholds this struggle from the height of His glory, and the invincible victory – the Cross of Christ – is given to the faithful as a weapon against enemies, visible and invisible, until the last day of the world, until the day of the glorious and terrible Second Coming of the Lord.

And the appearance of the Lord of Glory on earth will be revealed only by the great sign in heaven of the Cross of the Lord, which will be seen by all the peoples of the earth, which everyone will see. They will see, and weep, and tremble. And this will be the third greatest appearance of the Cross on the eve of the appearance of the Savior at the Last Judgment. Let us, dear ones, strengthen our thoughts by the life-giving power of the Cross of Christ, let us direct our reverent attention to it, and above all, on this day of its feast, let us lift it up and glorify it in our souls and bodies; let us bow down before the Cross in the tenderness of our hearts and in contrition of spirit, for it is impossible to worthily glorify both the incomprehensible power and the majesty of the Cross of the Lord.

And in order to be at least a little ready for us to perceive this incomprehensible phenomenon, the Holy Church commands us by her Ustav: "On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, we dare not touch cheese, eggs, or fish," since the veneration of the Cross consists in the mortification of the flesh. Merciful Lord, by the invincible and Divine power of Thy Cross, preserve, bless and save us! Amen.   14 (27)

September 1993 Great Lent and Preparation for It On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee This sermon was not published during Fr. John's lifetime The Temple of God is the house of our Heavenly Father is a house of prayer. He summons His children into it, so that in prayerful communion they may feel His closeness and His love more acutely, so that the warmth of the Father's edification and His power may be carried away with them into the difficulties of human life.

He sees everyone, the light of His Gospel Truth sanctifies those gathered to the last depths. So it was during the earthly life of the Savior, when the Pharisee and the publican prayed in the huge Jerusalem temple, so now the Lord sees us standing before Him with prayer, so it will always be until the last days of the world. But the Gospel parable speaks today about the prayer of only two pilgrims. The Pharisee and the Publican.

  Why did they attract the attention of the All-Seeing Eye? How did you distinguish yourself?  It would seem that there is nothing in common between them. One stands in the first ranks of those praying, the first, as a righteous man, he is also in the opinion of people; another stopped at the door of the temple, as the last before God, and in the eyes of others he is a crying sinner.  The Pharisee lifts up his gaze to the mountain with a prayer: "God!

I give Thee praise, as I do, as other men"; the publican sees the footstool of his feet, and striking his chest whispers: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Two prayers are directed to God: - two states of the soul, two ways of life. Both people are in church, both with a prayer on their lips, but have both been covered by God's mercy and His favor?  And we hear the voice of God: "I say unto you, that this (the publican)