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On the third Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the Veneration of the Life-Giving Cross, and for this reason: inasmuch as in the forty days of fasting we in a way crucify ourselves and become bitter and despondent and failing, the Life-Giving Cross is presented to us for refreshment and assurance, for remembrance of our Lord’s Passion, and for comfort… We are like those following a long and cruel path, who become tired, see a beautiful tree with many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life-Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining task….

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The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in al forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great Fast.

“It is impossible…to spend the present day devoutly unless we regard it as the last of our whole life” (St. John Step 6:24).

The immediate cause of the public celebration which accompanied the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem was, according to the Gospel of St. John, the raising of Lazarus, when “much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him” (John 12: 12, 13.)

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This day of Saint Thomas Sunday is called Anti-Pascha (meaning ‘in the stead of the Pascha’, not ‘in opposition to Pascha’) because with this day, the first Sunday after Pascha, the Church consecrates every Sunday of the year to the commemoration of Pascha, that is, the Resurrection.

The feast of the Ascension is the feast of salvation consummated. The whole process of salvation: birth, passion, death and resurrection are completed in the Ascension. “When Thou hadst fulfilled for us Thy dispensation, and united the things in earth with the things in I leaven, Thou, O Christ our God, didst ascend into glory, in no wise being parted from those that love Thee, but Thou didst remain with them inseparably and proclaim to them: I am with you, no one is against you.” As an expression of the meaning of this festival, the theme of the Ascension used to be placed in the dome of ancient churches, thus completing the scheme of paintings they contained….

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