This is a day of joy! At Christ’s Resurrection death disappeared, and life was seen in all its splendour. Adam, who rises again, exults with joy. Let us, therefore, rejoice and sing our hymn of triumph.
The day for the adoration of the precious Cross has arrived. Come, all ye faithful! It is exposed before us, and it sends forth the bright rays of Christ’s Resurrection. Filled, therefore, with spiritual joy, let us embrace and kiss it.
O Cross of my Lord, thy glory is immense! Show me now the divine face of thy beauty. Vouchsafe that I who venerate thee may sing thy praises. I speak with thee as though thou wert a living thing, and I embrace thee.
Let heaven and earth unite in singing its praise, for the most holy Cross is shown to all, the Cross on which Christ was fastened and sacrificed. Let us joyfully approach and kiss it.
The saintly Moses of old prefigured thy Cross, O Christ, when, dividing the waters with his rod, he led the Israelite people through the Red Sea, and sang a canticle of praise to thee in celebration of the going forth from Egypt.
Thy Cross, O Lord, which we kiss to-day, was prefigured by Moses, when he stretched forth his arms; by it, we put our spiritual Amalec to flight; by it also we are saved.
To-day there is joy in heaven and on earth, because there shines upon the world the sign of the thrice blessed Cross. Its sight is a source of unceasing grace to us.
What return shall we make to thee, O Christ, for thy having permitted us to adore thy venerable Cross, on which thy most holy Blood was shed, and to which thy Flesh was fastened with nails? We kiss it and give thee thanks.
The angelic hosts exult with joy because of the adoration of thy Cross; for on it, O Christ, thou didst wound the demon troop and save mankind.
The Church has been made a second Paradise, which, like the first, possesses a Tree of Life—thy Cross, O Lord—by whose contact we are made immortal.
The prophecy of the Psalmist is fulfilled: for lo! we adore the footstool of thy divine feet, thy venerable Cross, the much loved Wood.
The Wood which Jeremias saw put in thy bread is thy Cross, O merciful Redeemer! We kiss it, and honour thy chains, and tomb, and spear, and nails.
On this day a sweet odour is exhaled from the thurible of heaven—the Cross, perfumed with a life-giving ointment. Let us inhale this fragrance of heaven; let us ever venerate it with faith.
Tell us, O Eliseus! what is the wood thou didst put in the water? It is the Cross of Christ, which drew us from the depths of spiritual death. Let us ever venerate it with faith.
Jacob prefigured thy Cross of old, O Christ, when he adored the top of Joseph’s mysterious rod. He foresaw that it was to be the venerable sceptre of thy kingdom. Let us now adore it with ever faithful hearts.
The great prophet Daniel, when cast into the lions’ den, stretched forth his hands in the form of a Cross; he was saved from the jaws of the wild beasts, and for ever blessed Christ our God.
Let all the trees of the forest sing a glad hymn, for on this day they beheld one of themselves, the Tree of the Cross, being honoured with kisses and embraces. This is the Tree whose head was lifted up by Christ, as holy David foretold.
I, whose death was caused by a tree, have found thee, O Tree of Life, O Cross that bearest Christ! Thou art my invincible defence, my power protecting me against Satan. I venerate thee this day, and exclaim: ‘Sanctify me by thy glory!’
Rejoice and be glad, O Church of God, that adorest this day the thrice blessed Wood of the most holy Cross, round which the very angels stand ministering in awe.
Canon of St. Theodore the Studite on the Holy Cross
Locus Communis 