Third Sunday of the Great Fast (Veneration of the Cross)

On the Third Sunday of the Great Fast we commemorate the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ceremonies are very similar to the feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14) and the Procession of the Cross (August 1). This Sunday prepares us for the commemoration of the Crucifixion and reminds us that the whole of Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ. The Cross teaches us that through pain and suffering we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: the heavenly inheritance and eternal glory.

In a sermon delivered in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, St. Sophronius (d. 638), the saintly Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave the following reasons which inspired this mid-Lent devotion to the Holy Cross:

1. To encourage the faithful in their spiritual efforts during Lent;

2. To assure them of the remission of their sins;

3. To join their sufferings to the redeeming sufferings of Jesus Christ, that they also become the partakers of His glorious resurrection. (cf. Migne, P.G., 87, 3309-3316)
   
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