O Cross of Christ, immortal tree
On which our Saviour died,
The world is sheltered by your arms
That bore the Crucified.
From bitter death and barren wood
the tree of life is made;
Its branches bear unfailing fruit
And leaves that never fade.
Give glory to the risen Christ
And to His Cross give praise,
The sign of God’s unfailing love,
The hope of all our days.
A Hymn to God the Father
Ben Jonson
Hear me, O God!
A broken heart
Is my best part.
Use still thy rod,
That I may prove
Therein thy Love.
If thou hadst not
Been stern to me,
But left me free,
I had forgot
Myself and Thee.
For sin’s so sweet,
As minds ill-bent
Rarely repent,
Until they meet
Their punishment.
Who more can crave
Than thou hast done?
That gav’st a Son,
To free a slave,
First made of nought;
With all since bought.
Sin, Death, and Hell
His glorious Name
Quite overcame,
Yet I rebel
And slight the same.
But I’ll come in
Before my loss
Me farther toss,
As sure to win
Under His cross.
The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there.
—St Macarius the Great
Look anxiously to the ordering of your lives while your stay on earth lasts. What was the ransom that freed you? You know well enough that it was not paid in earthly currency, silver or gold; it was paid in the precious blood of Christ; no lamb was ever so pure, so spotless a victim.
—1 Peter 1:17-19
It’s because of the cross that our suffering has meaning and our pain an end. We are assured in the cross that there is a dawn to our darkness.
Icon of Victory
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs bestowing life!
-Paschal (Easter) Hymn
The Crucifixion — Pompeo Batoni, 1762
From twelve o’clock until three o’clock there was an unearthly darkness that fell over the land, for nature, in sympathy with its Creator, refused to shed its light upon the crime of deicide. Humankind, having condemned the Light of the World, now lost the cosmic symbol of the Light, the sun. At Bethlehem, where He was born at midnight, the heavens were suddenly filled with light; at Calvary, when He entered into the ignominy of His crucifixion at midday, the heavens were bereaved of light.
—Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ
