The Invincible Power of the Cross: A Great and Fearful Sign

 

The power of the Cross is a Mystery; however inexplicable it may be, it is nevertheless true and indisputable.

Nevertheless, Saint John Chrysostom refers to a custom of his time, according to which the sign of the Cross was affixed “to the emperor’s diadem, to the equipment of soldiers, and likewise to parts of the body—to the head, the breast, and the heart—as well as to the table with votive offerings and above beds.... If we must cast out demons, we make use of the Cross, just as we also do for the healing of the sick.”

Saint Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a cup containing poison, and the cup shattered as though it had been struck by a stone. Saint Julian made the sign of the Cross over a cup of poison that had been brought to him; afterward he drank it and suffered no harm. The Holy Great-Martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia protected herself with the sign of the Cross, stood amid the flames, and was preserved unharmed. The Holy Martyrs Audactus and Callisthenes made the sign of the Cross when the wild beasts that had been let loose rushed upon them, and immediately the beasts became as gentle as lambs.

From the time of the ancient ascetics down to the present day, the sign of the Cross has been the most powerful weapon against the temptations of the demons. The most fearsome devices of the devil vanish like smoke when a person makes the sign of the Cross.

Thus, it is a proof of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for the human race that the Cross—once a sign of dishonor and shame—became, through His Crucifixion and Resurrection, a great and fearful sign, a treasury of every victorious power and might.

 

- Saint Nikolai Velimirovich, The Prologue of Ohrid [Greek edition], August 25, pp. 221–222, 1st ed., 2015, Stamoulis S.A. Publications. Shared by the G.O.C. Metropolis of Oropos and Phyle:

https://www.imoph.org/pdfs/2026/09/27/20260927aDinamisStayrou.pdf