Homily Three for the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Today the Holy Church, by the bringing forth of the Honorable Cross, gives us an image of the sufferings of Christ, recalling them especially now, as we complete the course of the Holy Fast, and thereby showing us that we too must bear our cross.
Today also is celebrated the memory of Saint Alexios, the Man of God, whom we especially venerate in our church.
But this day is especially dear to us also because it is and will be the name day of Batiushka, Father Alexei. Today the Lord has granted us to meet this day for the first time without him, and in the radiance of the Holy Cross. If today we have prayed to the Lord that His Holy Cross may not be fruitless in us, that, having venerated His sufferings, we may go from strength to strength and ourselves become laborers in the vineyard of Christ, let us remember that among us there was a man who not only bore his own cross, but also bore upon himself the countless crosses of his spiritual children. He was like the one of whom John Climacus speaks — that there are tears and sorrow according to God, and there is joy according to God, and that both — this and that — are sometimes united in one laborer of Christ.
Sorrow for one’s sins is accomplished invisibly for people — it is an inner feat — while for the world, for those around, there is joy in God.
This joy Batiushka possessed, who bore our cross, while we constantly forgot, or even did not see at all, that there was not only the joy that shone in his gaze, but also sorrow, the inner labor of a shepherd, the cross, the sufferings that he bore over many years.
He is with us on this day — we who not only remember him, but also understand him, pray for him. Let us then remember him, we, his unworthy, impure, sinful spiritual children; let us remember the cross that he bore — bore lightly and with joy — so that we did not even feel its weight, for in him there was sorrow according to God, while for us he was always joy and gentleness.
Is it possible that for us, who have seen the life of the laborer of whom John Climacus speaks, is it possible that for us, in these days of repentance and of the bringing forth of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross, it will not become clear that there is also Batiushka’s cross, which was not only his personal cross, but was composed of the countless number of our crosses? Is it possible that we, who saw him day by day, lived with him, rejoiced in his joy and brought him our sorrows — for, as Batiushka said, a shepherd must forget himself and take upon himself the sorrows of his flock. Is it possible that on this day, when we stand before the Cross of the Lord, when we ask the Lord that His Holy Cross not be fruitless for us — will we not realize that this Cross of Christ was given to us also through Batiushka? Will even this cross of Batiushka be fruitless for us?
Let us remember what we laid upon him, and in what he continually lightened us. Many would have wished to receive what we had, and we truly had it, felt it, and received it.
Let us remember how many sorrows and griefs we brought to him, our Batiushka, and how joyfully he received them and never rejected us, his spiritual children.
Let his cross not be fruitless for us. Therefore, remembering him, let us also remember our sins; let us remember what cross we brought to him; let us correct that by which we grieved him. It is not yet too late. During his life we were like the blind. Let us now, on the day of Batiushka’s remembrance, recall and correct our sins before him, and then, with the Lord’s help, the cross which our Batiushka, Father Alexei, bore in this life will not be fruitless for us. The Lord be with you. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
