Life Giving Cross

“If we imagine the cross as a tree, then its root is faith, from which grows first of all self-denial and the determination to abandon everything and to concentrate on the sole task of the salvation of one's soul, withdrawing from all else. From self-denial is born love, prepared for every obedience; from obedience - or simultaneously with it - grows patience, crowned with hope that raises one to heaven and into the inner sanctum behind the veil, as the Apostle says. Where all these dispositions are found, the tree of the cross does not stand alone and bare, but branches out into many shoots of various virtues, covering itself with the leaves of outward good behavior and abounding in the fruits of good deeds. There is found forgetfulness of the world and its customs; there is uninterrupted abiding in the monastery without departure; there is love of solitude; there is prayerful labor in the cell and in church; there is fasting there is indefatigability in handiwork, there is readiness to help one another; there is mutual forgiveness; there is mutual encouragement to goodness; there is peace; there is restraint of the eyes, tongue and ears; and so forth. Blessed is the soul which, withdrawing into itself, would find all of this in its heart! This is the evident sign that the tree of the cross has been erected therein, firmly established and abundant with living inner strength, so that it can indeed be called a life-giving tree, not only in general but specifically for that heart.”
St. Theophan the Recluse

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