Feast of the Cross in the Ancient FaithSýnishorn

Day 6: The Cross as Protection and Healing

As we continue our meditation on the Feast of the Cross, today we turn our attention to the protective and healing power of this life-giving symbol. Throughout Orthodox tradition, the Cross has been venerated not only as the instrument of our salvation but also as a source of divine protection and healing in our daily lives.

In Exodus 15:25-26, we read of a prophetic type of the Cross: "There the LORD made a statute and an ordinance for them. There He proved them and said, 'If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.'" This event, where Moses cast a tree into bitter waters to make them sweet, foreshadows how the Cross transforms the bitterness of our suffering into the sweetness of salvation.

St. Gregory of Nyssa elaborates on this typology in his work, “The Life of Moses” that the Wood of the Cross, casting its shadow over the bitter waters of this life, sweetens them by its healing power. Just as the tree transformed the waters at Marah, the Cross of Christ transforms our afflictions into occasions for grace. St. Ambrose of Milan, in his work "On the Mysteries," further expands on this idea, writing: "Marah was a fountain of most bitter water: Moses cast wood into it and it became sweet. For water without the preaching of the Cross of the Lord is of no avail for future salvation, but, after it has been consecrated by the mystery of the saving cross, it is made suitable for the use of the spiritual layer and of the cup of salvation."

The protective power of the Cross is particularly emphasized in Orthodox spirituality. Homes are blessed with the sign of the Cross and many wear cross pendants as protection and power “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). This practice is not superstition but a living testimony to the reality expressed in Ephesians 6:16 that faith, symbolized by the Cross, is "the shield with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

The Coptic Synaxarium (Lives of the Saints) recounts numerous instances where the sign of the Cross brought healing and deliverance. One such story tells of St. Macarius the Great, an Egyptian desert father and disciple of St. Anthony the Great, who healed a paralyzed man by anointing him with oil and making the sign of the Cross over him, saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, arise and walk." The man immediately stood up, fully restored. This miracle is sacramental in nature; God’s divine action (the healing of the paralyzed man), through a human agent (the priest St. Macarius the Great), using the physical (oil and sign of the Cross), permeating throughout the creation.

In times of epidemics or personal illness, Coptic Orthodox Christians have traditionally held special prayers, drawing on the healing power of the Cross. For example, the "Prayer of the Sick" in the Agpeya (Coptic Book of Hours) invokes the power of the Cross: "By the sign of Your life-giving Cross, heal the sickness of my soul and my body."

As we contemplate the protective and healing dimensions of the Cross, let us recognize that physical healing, while important, points to the deeper spiritual healing that Christ offers through His sacrifice. The ultimate healing is the restoration of our relationship with God, the healing of the soul wounded by sin.

Prayer: O Christ our God, who through Your life-giving Cross has provided us with protection against all harm and healing for all infirmities, grant us to trust in Your saving power. When we are afflicted in body or soul, help us to turn to Your Cross with faith. May we find in its shadow the peace that surpasses understanding and the healing that comes only from Your merciful hand. Through the prayers of Your Mother and all the saints who found refuge in Your Cross, deliver us from every evil. Amen.