Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Crossing the Threshold: The Tree of Life and Its Fruit

Dr. Alexander Roman alex.roman@unicorne.org

The Orthodox Holy and Great Fast has nothing to do with gloomy attitudes toward the body and self-deprecation through depriving our basic appetites of what they need.  In fact, it is about the celebration of the victory in our lives that God brings us in our Lord Jesus Christ.  The joy of victory is the repeated punctuation mark of the Fast.

We celebrated the victory of the truth of Christ's Divine Incarnation, especially as expressed by the Icon, on the First Sunday.  We then marked the victory of humankind's salvation and Theosis in Christ on the Sunday of Grace following.

Now we celebrate the confirmation and means by which this is all made possible through the victory of the Cross on the Third Sunday of the Fast.

The Cross is of tantamount significance to all of us as Christians.

It immediately reminds us of that tree in Paradise in which Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were expelled from it as a result. 

And we too were expelled from Paradise along with our original parents.  Original Sin brought us death, weakened our spiritual eyes and inclined us toward sinfulness.

The Cross is the Tree of Life by which God redeems us and lifts us up to Heaven.  He calls us to share in His Life thereby through participation in the Body of Christ.  

Just as Adam and Eve spiritually died through eating the fruit of the Forbidden Tree, so we are resurrected to new life in Christ by partaking of the Fruit of the Cross that is the Tree of Life.

The Eastern Church has a very mystical way of celebrating these truths.

The Cross relates to the Old Testament as much as to the New.  Isaiah's references to the cedar, the cypress and the pine while making the "place of My Feet glorious" (60:13) have always been understood to relate to the three types of wood that were made in the construction of the Cross of Christ. 

For Christ is truly Lord of the Trees and of all Nature, Who has wrought salvation in the midst of the Earth, as the Psalms sing! 

The Cross was also understood in relation to the foot-stool to which the Feet of Christ were nailed.  The Psalms refer to coming to worship at the foot-stool of the Lord (Psalm 99).

There was also a belief that the three types of wood to be used for the Cross grew together in a watery spot near the grave of Adam.  It was known already in the time of St Lot, nephew of Abraham and there are Icons of St Lot watering this triple tree.  The wood of these particular trees would figure prominently in the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem as well.

As we sing during the Feasts of the Cross, and in the prayers of the Horologion for Wednesdays and Fridays, "Lord, we see Thee in the pine, the cedar and the cypress!"

Everything about the mysticism of the Cross of Christ relates to the Trinity: three types of wood, three tiers, three languages in which the charge against Christ was written.

The fact of Christ's Crucifixion is also a proclamation of the truth of His Incarnation.  He truly took on human nature and God truly suffered in the Flesh for our salvation.

I have often wondered why God chose this form of death to suffer for us.  Could it be that it is one in which He could best be shown to be extending His arms toward us all in a loving embrace?  Did He not say that He would be lifted up so as to draw all to Himself?

The tradition was also that the Cross of Christ was planted on top of Adam's grave and that Christ's Blood dropped on Adam, thereby redeeming him and with him, all of us.

This is why a skull and bones are often represented at the foot of the Cross.  Along with it is the Spear that opened the Side of Christ from which flowed Water and Blood as Symbols of Baptism and Holy Communion.  On the other side is a reed with the sponge in fulfillment of the prophecy contained in Psalm 22 (KJV).

The slanted foot-rest on the Orthodox Cross is interesting.  It is only during the Great Fast that its real meaning and significance becomes clear in the prayers of the Ninth Hour.

These prayers describe the slanted foot-rest as a kind of scale of Grace.  The raised portion on Christ's right refers to the victory of Grace in the Good Thief (really "political rebel") or St Dismas, by tradition, in defending and confessing Christ.

The lowered portion on Christ's left refers to the failure of the other thief.  And both refer to all of humanity and our personal choices in this regard!

Half-way through the Great Fast, we are encouraged by saluting the Tree of Life and gazing upon Him Who was crucified on Calvary.

As we wind our spiritual way toward that Hill in our hearts, we stop for refreshment and joy by the uplifting of the Cross, the Emblem of the Resurrected Christ.

The frequent calling to mind of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor in the prayers of the Great Fast also remind us that Christ's Crucifixion was entirely voluntary.

Christ reminds us that no one takes His life, but that it is He Himself who lays down His life for His sheep. 

He does this to bring us such a wonderful salvation through faith in and communion of Himself which allows us to participate in His very transfiguring life.

We are reminded that we too share in the Cross and that we must take up our Cross daily, not only during the Great Fast, but throughout all our lives.

Christians have symbolically represented this by wearing a Cross, a praiseworthy tradition that we should all follow!

Our Cross need not be made of gold or silver.  A wooden one will do fine.  Coptic Christians wear Crosses made of leather called "matabs."

We may also place Crosses in significant places in our lives.  Perhaps we could place a Cross somewhere discreetly at our place of work as a sign of faith.  And perhaps God may choose to use His Cross and ourselves to bring others to Him who might not otherwise have come to know Him!

The Sign of the Cross is something that should be a main stay in our daily lives.  Like the early Christians, we should bless our food, our work, our cars before we drive, our beds and everything with the Sign of the Cross saying: 

"This (name the object) is being blessed with the Sign of the Holy Cross of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, + in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen." 

We should say this as we make the Sign of the Cross over the object with three fingers of our right hand.

We should also incline our heads after making the Sign of the Cross on ourselves in praise to the Trinity.

Roman Catholics do this only during Lent, but Orthodox Christians do this always!

The Cross is our Victory-Trophy.  It is the sceptre that imparts to us the victory and power of Christ our God.  With it, we receive inspiration and have access to power to call down Divine blessings and drive away evil as God's Priests, Prophets and Kings.

With the Cross, we have the power of our Crucified Lord with us in our lives.  He is victorious and He has overcome the world and together with the Serpent of old.

We suffer with Christ in His obedience to God's Will and yet, at the same time, we participate in His Resurrection and Victory over death through the Tree of Life that has undone the legacy of the ancient Tree of disobedience.  

Although we are liturgically only at the Third Sunday of the Great Fast, the Church already bids us lift up and shout for joy in honour of  the Banner of our salvation which is the Ensign of our Resurrected Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the King of Glory!

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