Several hymns for the feast of the Elevation of the Precious Cross (September 14th) acclaim the Cross as part of our defense against temptation and evil. As one verse from Vespers simply affirms, “O three-branched Cross of Christ, thou art my strong protection.” A few weeks later, on October 1st, we celebrate the feast of the Protection of the Theotokos, similarly honoring her as our defender in the spiritual struggle. Yet, if we compare the hymns for these two feasts we see that they give the term “protection” significantly different meanings. Comparing them illustrates the variety of ways in which our Lord manifests His care and concern for us.
We might say that the Cross represents the “active” aspect of protection. The images evoked are aggressive, even military. The hymns frequently allude to Israel’s victory over the armies of Amalek, secured because Moses stood through the battle with his arms outstretched in imitation of the Cross (Exodus 17). They portray the Cross as the “unconquerable trophy of godliness,” an “invincible weapon,” a “rod of strength” by which Christ “killed our slayer.”
The hymns here are only echoing the Fathers. Saint Ambrose says, “.. His death is the life of all. We are signed with the sign of His death, we show forth His death when we pray; when we offer the Sacrifice we declare His death, for His death is victory.” Saint Cyril of Jerusalem uses comparable imagery; he calls the Cross “the trophy of salvation that to this day heals diseases, that to this day drives away devils, and overthrows the trickeries of potions and charms.” Elsewhere he says, it is the sign of the faithful and the dread of devils, for ‘He triumphed over them in it … ‘ [Colossians 2: 15]; for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified.” Similarly, Saint John Chrysostom, in his Paschal homily, describes the Lord’s descent into death as an invasion: “He has quenched death who was subdued by it. He has despoiled trades who descended into hades …. It received a body and it encountered God. It received earth and came face-to-face with heaven. It received that which it saw and fell before what it could not see.” And in another place he adds simply, “The power of the Cross is beyond words.” The Cross is the symbol of the Savior’s defeat of sin and death which had held mankind enthralled, It continues to be a potent weapon against the demons who contrive to seduce us from the way of salvation and against our own spiritual weakness which makes us all too eager to follow them.
The Theotokos represents protection in its “passive” aspect. In Greek and Russian the designation of the feast, which we render into English as “protection”, actually means “veil”. It alludes to the historical event in which the celebration originates. Barbarians had besieged Constantinople. While standing in church an old monk saw a vision of the Theotokos, accompanied by angels and saints. He saw her remove her veil and spread it out like a protective canopy over the city. He interpreted this as a sign that the beleaguered city would soon be relieved, and his interpretation was borne out. The feast has grown from the commemoration of the Virgin’s intervention at a particular point in history to a general celebration of her role as intercessor and patroness of Christians.
The hymns of the feast bear this out. Not surprisingly, they often employ the image of a sheltering garment, “the veil of your mercy,” for example. We entreat her, “By your precious veil protect your people from all assaults.” Her role as intercessor is emphasized: She is “the refuge of all”, and the righteous behold her “in the heavens with out-stretched arms in prayer, entreating peace for the world, confirmation for Orthodox Christians, and salvation for our souls.” “As His Mother you have boldness to approach Him,” we cry. “Therefore, help those who keep your holy feast in faith, O Lady. In your mercy do not forget to visit us, for you received the gift from God of guiding and protecting your servants, the Christian flock.”
Thus we see in these feasts two complementary facets of spiritual protection. The Cross exemplifies the aggressive side, which defends by attacking and defeating the forces of evil. The veil of the Theotokos typifies the passive side, sheltering us and shielding us from malevolent assault.
The person of Christ, the God-made-man, draws these aspects together. We honor the Cross, adorn our temples with it, and trace its sign upon our bodies because it was His tool in hewing out our salvation. The Cross sums up all that came before it, Christ’s whole incarnation, His intervention in the flesh to set right a world woefully gone wrong. It also symbolizes what comes after, pointing beyond the Lord’s Passion to His glorious Resurrection. We call it “the life-giving Cross” because, when we see it, we remember the Crucified who has given us eternal life.
Similarly, we honor the Virgin because of Him whom she bore. We honor her both as the vessel from whom the Word took His humanity and as the channel by which Her divine Son continues to shower His grace and mercy upon the world. But we also honor her because of her obedient acquiescence in the divine plan of salvation. Orthodox Tradition teaches that, at the Annunciation, she could have rejected the angel’s greeting and renounced the role to which God called her. The history of fallen man is full of such refusals The Theotokos, however, responded in humility, faith, and love, opening herself heart, soul, and body to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Paul unites these two aspects of protection by reminding us that the Lord’s death, like the Virgin’s acceptance of the Incarnation, is an act of humility and obedience. He recalls that Christ, “though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself… And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2: 6-8). The crucifixion is believable only because it is so incredible: God restores His corrupted creation by submitting Himself for a time to its shame; He secures eternal life for man by Himself tasting death. The Cross defies the debased logic of a fallen, sinful world. It makes sense only in light of the all-consuming logic of love. As Saint John Chrysostom declares, “There is not so great a sign of the love of God for mankind, not heaven, nor sea, nor earth, nor the creation of all things out of nothing, nor all else beside, as the Cross…. For it was that death which saved the world when it was perishing. That death connected earth with heaven, that death destroyed the power of the devil, and made men angels and sons of God: That death raised our nature to the kingly throne.”
The Theotokos is our protectress because she is the supreme example human obedience and love. The Cross is our protection because it symbolizes the triumphant power of Divine love and compassion. Both come together in the person of Christ our Savior, who took flesh from Mary and made that flesh His own, who delivered it over to death on the Cross, and who, both God and man, strode forth from the tomb in triumph. Through the prayers of the Theotokos and by the sign of His precious Cross, may He ever preserve us from evil in this world and may He raise us up to reign with Him in glory in the age to come.
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