The Orthodox Church of Albania celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the Cathedral of the “Resurrection of Christ” in Tirana today.
Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, along with Metropolitan Nathaniel of Amantia and Bishop Astios of Vyllida, as well as clergy of the Archdiocese.
The Archbishop said: “Many people maintained very different attitudes towards the mystery of the Cross. Some saw this as a scandal, how could God let His Son suffer on the Cross? There were others who saw this as foolish. What happened in the 1st century AD also happened in the last century (20th century). Atheist propaganda again deemed (the mystery of) the Cross in one way or another – it was deemed as a scandal by many people and as stupidity by several others.
But as our Apostle stressed, for us the Holy Cross is the main mystery of our Church, as it is the constant symbol of the path we tread upon in life, the power and the wisdom of God. What seemed to be the greatest weakness it actually becomes the greatest strength. By the grace of God, those of us who are close to Him have experienced in many cases this amazing power that the Holy Cross bears during tough times and in our daily lives.
The wisdom of the Cross represents the humility that reached its peak (when He was) on the Cross. And this wisdom determines and illuminates the path that each of us has to follow.
My brothers and sisters, while today we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, let us exalt even more the symbol of the Holy Cross in our hearts, emotions and spirit and let us feel that our Lord, through the Holy Cross, is the wisdom and the power that we have inside.”
