Procession with the Holy Relics of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Seven Holy Martyred Maccabees, Their Mother Solome and Their Teacher Eleazar. Venerable Father Alphonsus Liguori.
Beginning of the Dormition Fast (Spasivka). Dormition Fast.
1 Corinthians 1:18-24. John 19:6-11,13-20,25-28,30-35.
Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-24
Today we begin the Dormition Fast, fourteen days of prayer of fasting to spiritually prepare ourselves to celebrate the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. Fittingly, today’s epistle reading begins with discussing the message of the cross, and it ends declaring Christ to be “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24).
St. Paul explains that “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). In the time of the New Testament, crucifixion was used as a brutal way to execute someone. It led to a horrific, shameful death. Jesus, the Almighty God incarnate, Who preached God’s love and forgiveness and worked wonderous miracles of healing for so many people and even raised the dead, was subjected to execution on the cross. Logically, it is difficult to fathom that the unchangeable, eternal God could become man, born in human history from a virgin’s womb. It is further preposterous to imagine this same God being born in a cave in Bethlehem and eventually reaching death on a cross. The wisdom of this world would say that the “successful,” the “rich,” the “powerful” people are the true victors. Nobody could imagine “victory” coming after a shameful death on a cross.
God demonstrated His love for us by what He suffered for us. He suffered this death so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). Christ’s death on the cross was the ultimate expression of self-sacrificing love. By humbly accepting a death He did not deserve on a cross, Christ was obedient, trusting that His Father willed what was best. Christ is risen from the dead! By His death, Christ conquered death, not only for Himself but for everyone who by faith dies and rises with Him in baptism. In two weeks, we will celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos, and we can remember that it was Christ’s victory over death which made her passing from death to life possible. Through our faith in Christ, we shall all be raised on the last day (see John 6:40).