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The Early Church Fathers on the Sign of the Cross and Holy Water.

 

  • Early Church Fathers
  • From the Scriptures

 

 

  1. St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258)
    Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330)
    St. Anthony of Egypt, (A.D. c.251 - 356)
    Eusebius of Cæsarea, (A.D. c.263-338)
    The Apostolic Constitutions, (dated A.D. c.270)
    St. Athanasius of Alexandria, (A.D. 296-372)
    Macarius of Egypt, (A.D. c.300-391)
    St. Ephrem the Syrian, (of Edessa), (A.D. 306-378)
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem, (A.D. 315-386)
    St. Gregory of Nazianzen, (A.D. 318-389)
    St. Basil the Great, (A.D. 328-379)
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis, (A.D. 332-403)
    St. Gregory of Nyssa, (A.D. c.335 - c.394)
    St. Ambrose of Milan, (A.D. 340-396)
    St. Jerome, (A.D. 342-420)
    Blessed Jerome of Jerusalem, (flourished in A.D. 385)
    Severus, Rhetor, (unknown - A.D. 398)
    St. John Chrysostom, (A.D. 344 - 407)
    St. Gaudentius of Brescia, (unknown - A.D. 410)
St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258), North African; bishop; biblical scholar, martyr.

The heading of chapter 22 of the second Book of Testimonies is:

"That in this sign of the cross is salvation to all who are marked on their foreheads."

Second Book or Testimonies, chapter 22, Page 557.

"Ozias the king, when, bearing the censer, and contrary to God's law, with violence assuming to himself to sacrifice, despite the opposition of Azarias, the priest, he refused to be obedient and to give way, was confounded by the wrath of God, was polluted by the spot of leprosy on his forehead, in that part of his body marked by his offended Lord, where they are signed who merit the Lord."

De Unitate, page 403.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 424

We there meet with a curious account of a virgin called Justina, who:

"made the sign of the cross and thus repelled the assaults of demons . . . and with the cross of Christ cured diseases, and calmed the tumult of the people."

P. ccxci, attributed to St. Cyprian by St. Gregory of Nazianzum
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 425

Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330), was an early Christian author, the goal of his writings was to present Christianity in a form that would be attractive to philosophical pagans.

"Christ stretched out His hands in death and measured the world; that even then He might show that, from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, a mighty people, assembled out of all tongues and tribes, would come under His wings, and receive on their foreheads that greatest and sublime sign.

[He then says that of this sign the marking of their door posts by the Jews, with the blood of the paschal lamb, was a type.]

For Christ was a fair lamb without blemish, innocent, that is, and just and holy, who, sacrificed by those same Jews, is salvation to all who have marked the sign of blood, that is, who have marked on their foreheads the sign of the cross on which He shed His blood. . . . Let it suffice for the present to explain what is the potency of this sign. What a terror this sign is to devils He may know who sees how, when adjured through Christ, they flee from the bodies which they have obsessed. For as He, while living among men, put the devils to flight by a word, and restored to their former senses the troubled minds of those who had been driven to madness by their evil assaults, so now His followers expel those same foul spirits from men by the name of their master, and by the sign of His passion. Of this the proof is not difficult. For when they are sacrificing to their gods, if there stand by one who has his forehead signed, they cannot proceed with their sacrifices,

Nor the consulted prophet answers give.

And this has often been the chief cause why wicked kings have persecuted righteousness. For certain of ours, who were in attendance on their masters as they were sacrificing, by making the sign upon their foreheads, put to flight their gods, so that they could not describe what was to happen, in the bowels of the victims. . . . And as demons cannot come nigh unto those on whom they see the heavenly mark, nor hurt those whom the immortal sign fences round as an impregnable wall, they assail them by means of men, and persecute them by the hands of others."

Divin. Inst. c. 4, Oxon. n. 26-7, pp. 395-97, Galland, p. 305.
For an actual example of the above, see
De Mortibus Persecutor, c. x.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 425-426

St. Anthony of Egypt, (A.D. c.251 - 356), (also known as Anthony the Great, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, and Anthony the Anchorite), Egyptian; prominent leader among the Desert Fathers. The biography of Anthony's life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations.

"Neither ought we to fear these appearances (of evil spirits). For they are nothing, but quickly vanish, especially if one defends himself by faith and the sign of the cross."

Oratio ad Monachos, n. 8, p. 638, t. iv. Galland.
See also Ibid. n. 20, p. 645.

This passage is quoted by St. Athanasius in his Life of St. Anthony:
Sec. 23, p. 649, Ed. Ben. t. i. par. 2, Patav. 1777.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 426

Eusebius of Cæsarea, (A.D. c.263-338), appointed Bishop of Cæsarea in A.D. 314, Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist, scholar of the Biblical canon who was deeply embroiled in the Arian controversy.

Narrates of Constantine that he was accustomed:

"to sign his countenance with the saving sign, and to glory in the victorious trophy."

De Vita Constant. l. iii. c. 2.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 426

The Apostolic Constitutions (or Constitutions of the Holy Apostles), dated A.D.c 270, is a Christian collection of eight treatises which belongs to genre of the Church Orders.

The high priest, therefore, together with the priests, praying to himself and having put on his shining garment, and standing at the altar, and having made the sign of the cross upon his forehead with his right hand before all the people, let him say:

[Then follows the preface, the narrative of the " Institution," and he then continues.]

Being mindful, therefore, of His passion, and death, and resurrection from the dead ... we offer to Thee, King and God, according to His ordinance, this bread and this chalice, giving Thee thanks through Him, that Thou hast thought us worthy to stand before Thee,

L viii. c. xii.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Pages 464

St. Athanasius of Alexandria, (A.D. 296-372), Egyptian; bishop, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. He was present, as an assistant to St. Alexander of Alexandria, at the council of Nicea who he succeeded in A.D. 326. During more than forty years he was the champion of orthodoxy, and suffered much severe persecution from the Arian party.

"By the sign of the cross all magic ceases; all incantations are powerless; every idol is abandoned and deserted ; all irrational voluptuousness is quelled, and each one looks up from earth to Heaven."

De Incarn. Verbi, t.i.n. 31, p. 59.
See also Ibid. n.48, page 71; and n. 55, page 76.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 426-427

Macarius of Egypt, (A.D. c.300-391), also known as Macarius the Elder and the Lamp of the Desert was an Egyptian Christian monk, hermit and priest. contemporary with St. Athanasius, and the friend of the great St. Anthony, died at the advanced age of ninety, after passing sixty years in the desert.

"After the sign of the cross, grace immediately thus operates, and composes all the members and the heart, so that the soul from its abounding gladness seems as a youth that knows not evil."

Hom. ix. p. 48, in Ed. Op. S. Greg. Thaum. Paris, 1622.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 430-431

St. Ephrem the Syrian, (of Edessa), (A.D. 306-378), Syrian; born in Nisebis, deacon, hymnist, poet. His works were even during his own lifetime almost all translated into Greek, and were, as St. Jerome informs us, held in such high estimation, as to be read in some churches after the Holy Scriptures. We have his life by St. Gregory of Nyssa.

On Ezekiel 9:4

"And mark a sign upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, he says, for the circumcision of the flesh sufficed not unto salvation, and therefore has it been set aside, and the sign of the cross is substituted in its place."

T. ii. Syr. Comm. in Ezech. p. 174.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 428

"And having ended his prayer, as he withdrew, he thrice made the sign of the cross over the village."

T. ii. Gr. in Vit. S. Abra. p. 7.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 428

"He signed himself with the cross, and thus addressed the evil spirit."

T. ii. Gr. in Vit. S. Abra. p. 9.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 428

"Let us crown our door-posts with the honored and lifegiving cross, saying with the Apostle, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14). Let us sign that same life-giving cross upon our door-posts, and on our foreheads, and on our breasts, and on our lips, and on every limb; and let us arm ourselves with this invincible weapon of Christians; the conqueror over death; the hope of the faithful; the light of the earth s boundaries; that opens paradise; that destroys heresies; faith's support; the mighty safeguard, and salutary boast of the orthodox. This, O Christians, let us not cease, day and night, each hour and moment, to bear about us; without it do nothing; but in going to bed, and rising up, and working, and eating, and drinking, and journeying, and voyaging, and crossing rivers, adorn all your members with the life-giving cross, and there shall no evil come to thee, nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling (Psalms 90:10). The adverse powers, on beholding this sign, depart trembling. This too has sanctified the world; this has dispelled darkness, and brought back light; this has destroyed error; this from the sun's rising to its setting, and from north to south, has gathered together the nations, and linked them in love into one Church, one faith, and one baptism. This is the impregnable wall of the orthodox. What mouth, or what tongue, shall worthily sing the praises of the invincible weapon of Christ the king? . . . And this and more than this (might be) said concerning the honored cross."

T. iii. Gr. in Secund. Adv. Dom.pp. 211-12.
This passage is repeated in T. iii. Gr. p. 372; and Ibid, in Sanct. Parasc.p. 471.
See also a passage to the same effect in T. iii. Gr. Panopl.p. 221, D. E.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 428-429

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, (A.D. 315-386), Palestinian; ordained by Maximus, he was made bishop of Jerusalem in A.D. 345; scholar and Doctor of the Church. None of his writings have been preserved to us, except eighteen catechetical instructions addressed to catechumens, and five mystagogic discourses addressed to neophytes.

"Let us not, therefore, be ashamed of the cross of Christ, but even though another hide it, do thou openly seal it on thy brow, that the devils beholding that royal sign may flee far away trembling. But make thou this sign when thou eatest and drinkest, sittest or liest down, risest up, speakest, walkest; in a word, on every occasion, for He who was here crucified is above in the heavens."

Catech. iv. n. 14, p. 58.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 427

"Many have been crucified throughout the world; but none of these do the devils dread, but Christ having been crucified for us, when they see but the sign of the cross, the devils shudder."

Catech. xii. n. 22, p. 194.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 427

"Let none be weary: take up arms against the adversaries in the cause of the cross itself: set up the faith of the cross as a trophy against the gainsayers. For when thou art about to dispute with unbelievers concerning the cross of Christ, first make with thy right hand the sign of the cross of Christ, and the gainsayer will be dumb. Be not ashamed to confess the cross."

Catech. xiii. n. 22, p. 194.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 427

"Let us not then be ashamed to confess the crucified. Let the cross become our seal, made with boldness by our fingers upon the forehead, on everything: on the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in and goings out; before sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are walking and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is gratuitous, for the poor s sake; without toil for the sake of the weak; since also its grace is from God; it is the sign of the faithful and the dread of devils. For He has triumphed over them in it, having exposed them confidently in open show (Colossians 2:15). For when they see the cross they are reminded of the crucified: they are afraid of Him who has bruised the heads of the dragon. Do not despise the seal, because it is a free gift, but for this the rather honor the benefactor."

Catech. vi. n. 36, p. 200.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 427-428

St. Gregory of Nazianzen, (A.D. 318-389), Cappadocian; archbishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church.

"But when, as this man (Julian) proceeded in his career, fears began to assail him, he flies unto the cross, and to his old remedy, and with this he signs himself against his terrors, and Him whom he had persecuted he makes his helper. And what follows is more fearful. The sign of the cross prevailed; the demons are vanquished; his fears cease; and then? He again breathes forth evil; he recovers his audacity; he dares again; and again the same fears, and again the sign of the cross, and the quiescent demons."

Contr. Julian. Orat, iii. T. i. p. 71.
See also another instance in the same oration, p. 85, C.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 430

"Avaunt, demon, lest I smite thee with the cross; the cross before which all things tremble. I bear the cross upon my limbs; the cross accompanies me on my journeyings; the cross is my heart; the cross is my glory."

T. ii. Carm. xxi. p. 94.
See also Carm. lxi. p. 142.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 43
0

St. Basil the Great, (A.D. 328-379), Cappadocian; bishop of Cæsarea in A.D. 369, theologian, monk. Studied in Palestine, Constantinople, and Athens. Many of the subsequent years of his life were spent in the deserts of Egypt and Libya. His character and works have gained for him the surname of "the great".

"Gordius having thus spoken and signed himself with the sign of the cross, advanced to receive the stroke."

Hom, in Gord. Mart T. ii. P. i. n. 8, p. 208.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 430

St. Epiphanius of Salamis, (A.D. 332-403), Palestinian; bishop, abbot, scholar.

He says of a woman exposed to sin, that "She signed herself in the name of Christ; for she was a Christian."

[He then mentions recourse being make to magic to seduce her, and observes:]

"This was the third circumstance that taught him that the power of magic availed not against the name of Christ, and the sign (seal) of the cross."

T. i. Adv. Hæres. (30), pp. 131-32.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

St. Gregory of Nyssa, (A.D. c.335 - c.394), bishop of Nyssa in A.D. 371, an erudite theologian who made significant contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene creed. Gregory's philosophical writings were influenced by Origen. He was the brother of the great St. Basil.

In the dying address of St. Macrina we find the following:

"Thou, O God, hast given unto those that fear Thee a sign, the form of Thy holy cross, for the destruction of the adversary, and for the safeguard of our life. . . And at the same time that she was speaking these words she formed (laid) upon her eyes and mouth, and heart the sign (or seal)."

T. ii. De Vita S. Macrinae, pp. 194-5.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 429

"Having entered the temple with his attendants, he (St. Gregory Thaumaturgus) at once filled with dread the evil spirits, by invoking the name of Christ; and with the sign of the cross he purified the air defiled with vapors."

T. iii. De Vita S. Greg. Thaum. p. 548.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 429

"Let the sheep hasten unto the seal (character) and that sign of the cross which is a remedy against evils."

T. iii. App. De Baptismo, p. 216.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 430

St. Ambrose of Milan, (A.D. 340-396), German; reluctantly made bishop in the A.D. 374., Doctor of the Church. He closed a great and glorious career in A.D. 396. We have his life by Paulinus.

"But now there is no need of the slight pain of circumcision for a Christian people, which bearing about the death of the Lord, inscribes at every instant, upon its own forehead, the contempt of death, as knowing that it cannot have salvation without the cross of the Lord."

T. iii. Ep. lxxi. Constantio, n. 12, pp. 1073-74.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

"The catechumen believes also in the cross of our Lord Jesus, with which (cross) also he is signed."

T. ii. de Myster. c. iv. n. 20, p. 331.
See also Ibid. De Fide Resurr. L. ii. n. 46, p. 1146.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

St. Jerome, (A.D. 342-420), Dalmatian; born in Strido; priest, hermit, abbot, biblical scholar, translator and Doctor of the Church. In an age distinguished by men of the greatest eloquence and learning, St. Jerome, especially in all matters connected with the Sacred Scriptures, was then preeminent, and has probably never since been equalled.

"Let the banner of the cross be planted on thy forehead."

T. i. Ep. xiv. ad Heliod. n. 6, col. 32.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

"At every action, at every step, let thy hand depict the cross of the Lord."

Ib. Ep. xxii. ad Eustoch. n. 37, col. 119.
See also Ib. Ep. cvii. n. 2, col. 673;
T. ii. Vita S. Hilarion, n. 6, col. 16, et alib.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

"Keep the door of your heart shut, and frequently defend your forehead with the sign (seal) of the cross, lest the exterminator of Egypt find some (unguarded) spot in you."

T. i. Ep. cxxx. n. 9, col. 980.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 432

Blessed Jerome of Jerusalem, (flourished in A.D. 385), a presbyter of Jerusalem.

"To enter into a Church, that is not the mark of a true Christian, seeing that many unworthy persons enter with us, nor the making the sign of the cross"

Galland. T. vii. Comment, util. p. 529.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 431

Severus, Rhetor, (unknown - A.D. 398), (Severus Sanctus Endelechius or Endelechus), Christian rhetorician and poet of the fourth century, a friend of St. Paulinus of Nola.

"A sign, which, they say, is that of the cross of Christ; this sign, placed on their foreheads, was the certain safety of all the flocks."

Carm. Bucol. De Victu. Signi Crucis, p. 208, Galland, t. viii.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 434

St. John Chrysostom, (A.D. 344 - 407), Syrian; archbishop, Doctor of the Church. Born at Antioch in 344; he was ordained priest in A.D. 383, and raised to the see of Constantinople in the year A.D. 398. His eloquence gained him the title of Chrysostom, or the mouth of gold. His expositions of Scripture, especially the Epistles of St. Paul, are very valuable. This illustrious prelate died on his road to exile, in A.D. 407.

"And how wilt thou enter into the (Jewish) synagogue? For if thou shalt sign thy forehead, instantly will the wicked power that dwells in that synagogue flee away; but if thou sign not thyself, thou wilt at once, at the very doors, have flung away thy weapons; and then the devil, taking thee naked and weaponless, will load thee with ten thousand evils."

T. i. Or. viii. Adv. Jud. n. 8, p. 841.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 432

"Reflect why the whole world hastens to look upon a sepulchre that now contains no body: what power draws men from the very extremities of the earth, to gaze on where He was born, where buried, where crucified. Contemplate the cross itself, what a sign of power it is. For that cross was previously an accursed thing, a shameful death; yea a death of all others the most disgraceful. But lo! now it has become more honored than life; more resplendent than diadems; and we all bear it about on our foreheads, not merely not ashamed of it, but even glorying in it. Not private individuals only, but even they that wear the diadem, bear it on their foreheads in preference to that diadem : and justly. For better is that than countless diadems. For the diadem adorns indeed the brow, but the cross protects the mind. This is that which repels demons; this the diadem that removes the soul's diseases; this an invincible weapon; this an impregnable wall; this an unconquerable safeguard; this not only repels the irruptions of barbarians and the incursions of hostile troops, but the phalanxes of pitiless demons."

T. v. Expos, in Ps. cix. n. 6. p. 310.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 432

"Wherefore let no one be ashamed of the venerable symbols of our salvation, and of the chiefest of good things, whereby also we live, and whereby we are; but as a crown, so let us bear about the cross of Christ. For indeed by it all things are perfected amongst us: whether one is to be regenerated, the cross is there; or to be nourished with that mystic food; or to be ordained; or to do anything else whatsoever, everywhere this, our symbol of victory, is present. For this cause, both on house, and walls, and doors, and on the forehead and on the mind, do we inscribe it with much care. For of the salvation wrought for us; and of the common freedom; and of the goodness of our Lord; this is the sign. For, "as a sheep was He led to the slaughter." Whensoever, therefore, thou signest thyself, reflect on the whole purport of the cross, and quench anger and all the other passions. When thou signest thyself, fill thy forehead with great confidence; make thy soul free. . . For not merely are we to engrave it with the finger; but before this, with the will with much faith. If thou shalt thus fashion it on thy face, none of the unclean demons will be able to come near thee, seeing the blade from which he received his wound, seeing the sword from which he had his mortal wound. . . . This is the sign which for our forefathers and for us has opened closed doors; this has quenched poisonous drugs; this has taken away the power of hemlock; this has healed the bites of venomous beasts."

T. vii. Hom. liv. in S. Matt. n. 4, pp. 620-1.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 432-433

"If thou perceive thy heart burning within thee, seal thy breast, placing on it the cross."

Ib. Hom. Ixxxvii. n. 2, p. 927.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 433

"Learn how great is the power of the cross: how many good things it has done, how many it still does; how it is a security of life. Through it all things are done. Baptism is through the cross, for the seal must be received; ordination (xetporovia) is through the cross: whether we be in the way or at home, wherever we are, a great good is the cross, a saving armor, a shield which cannot be beaten down, the devil s adversary."

T. xi. Hom. xiii. in Ep. ad Philipp. n. 1, p. 342.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 433

St. Gaudentius of Brescia, (unknown - A.D. 410), Italian; became bishop around A.D. 387, theologian and author of many letters and sermons, held in high esteem by the people of Brescia.

"Let the word of God and the sign of Christ be in the Christian's heart, in his mouth, on his forehead, at his food, at the bath, in his chambers, at his coming in and going out, in joy, in sorrow, that agreeably to the doctrine of St. Paul, "Whether we eat or drink."

Serm. viii. De Lect. Evanyg t.v. Bib. Maxim. SS. PP. p. 954.
Also The Faith of Catholics, Volume 3, Pages 434

 

 

The Use of the Sign of the Cross: This sign is prescribed in our rituals to be frequently used, particularly in the administration of Baptism and in the Sacrifice of the Altar, the Mass; to signify, that all grace is derived from the Passion of Christ. The Cross, furthermore, is marked on various parts of the dress of our ministers, and on the vessels appropriated to the divine service, to denote their destination.

 

On the altar is raised a cross with the figure of our crucified Saviour placed upon it, to bring to our minds that it was He who died for the sins of the world, and that there is no other name under Heaven whereby we must be saved. Finally, we often sign ourselves with the sign of the cross, pronouncing at the same time the words,

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the [Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit]",

thereby attesting our belief in the blessed Trinity, and in the incarnation and death of our Saviour. Jesus Christ.

___________________________

 

The Use of Holy Water in the Church: From the history of the earliest ages of the Church we learn that it was the practice to bless all inanimate things destined for the use of man, and particularly such as were used in the service of religion. Thus, a blessing was pronounced over the water and oil used in the administration of the sacraments. Besides this, water, mixed with salt that had been blessed, was placed at the porch of churches, with which the faithful washed their hands and signed their foreheads as they entered; and with the same water they, and other things, were often sprinkled by the minister.

 

Salt, mingled with the water, is deemed the emblem of prudence and incorruption; and the water denotes purity and innocence of heart. When the parishioner enters their Catholic parish, and applies Holy Water, with the sign of the cross, to his forehead, he is admonished, by the action, of the cleanliness of heart and hand he should have in the presence of his Maker.

 

 

 

The Church's Scriptures that support the Sign of the Cross and Holy Water.

 

The importance of the Word of the Cross

18 The word of the cross to them indeed that perish is foolishness; but to them that are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God.

 

1 Corinthians 1:18

The importance of preaching Christ crucified

23 We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling-block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness; 24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

1 Corinthians 1:23-24

The importance of preaching Christ crucified

2 For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.


1 Corinthians 2:2

The importance of the Cross of Christ to St. Paul

14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.


Galatians 6:14

Paul encourages the Philippians to be obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross

8 He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. 9 For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names; 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth."


Philippians 2:8-10

 

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