The hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, parish priest of Kotor, archpriest-stavrophor Nemanja Krivokapić served the Holy Liturgy today, on the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross, in the Church of St. Nicholas in the Old Town.

“The Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross is called this because we solemnly carry the Holy Cross into the middle of the church, bow to it and sing solemn songs. At the vigil we celebrated last night, the Holy Cross was solemnly carried out, which we bowed to and sang wonderful songs. That is why it is called the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross. The Cross is carried out in the middle of Lent, to strengthen and empower us with its power in our great spiritual struggle, to give us strength. Where does the Cross get this power from? How can the Cross help us? Isn’t it an ordinary object, if we recall the second commandment of God, which says “you shall not make for yourself an idol or any image, you shall not bow down to it or serve it”. Are we now, by this adoration of the Cross, violating the second commandment of God? Of course not. When we show respect to the Holy Cross, we are not showing respect to the object, but to the One who is glorified on that Cross, the Lord, God and Savior himself. It is the same as with icons, which we heard about in the first Sundays of Lent. We also honor icons, we also kiss them, we show them great respect,” said Fr. Nemanja in his sermon, indicating that by kissing an icon we kiss the Saint who is on it.

By praying before the icon and before the Cross, he emphasized, we pray to the One who rose again and conquered death.

“And as Njegoš says, “there is no resurrection without death,” the Cross is the place where the Lord Jesus Christ died and was crucified, the One who voluntarily suffered, who took upon Himself human nature, so that together with it He would resurrect and conquer death. Therefore, from that moment on, the Cross is not just an ordinary object, not even an object of ridicule as it had been until then, because the death on the cross was a shameful death. From the moment of the Resurrection and victory over death, and only God can do that, no one else, the Cross becomes a symbol of precisely that victory of God over the devil, the victory of good over evil, the victory of life over death. It is that power that comes out of the Cross, the power that God Himself gives, the God who has the strength and power to conquer the devil, to conquer death itself, which we humans could never conquer on our own,” said Father Nemanja.

As he pointed out, the Savior came to bring us salvation with His person. So that we, together with Him, may participate in salvation.

“From that moment on, the Cross becomes a sign, a power, and a symbol of us Orthodox. That is why the Church shows great respect to the Cross through liturgical songs. Every Wednesday and Friday are dedicated to the Holy Cross. One of the most beautiful songs dedicated to the Cross is “Svetilen”, which is sung on Wednesdays and Fridays and best describes what the Cross is to us, people: “The Cross is the guardian of the entire universe, the Cross is the ornament of the Church, the Cross is the strength of the emperor, the Cross is the fortress of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of angels, and the destruction of demons”. The song expresses the essence of our faith in the Cross, as the object that gives us the power of the Resurrection on it, which defeats demons and all opponents of the Cross,” said Fr. Nemanja.

The Cross in Orthodoxy, he emphasized, also represents the way of life of Christians.

“That is what is spoken of in this Gospel, when the Lord says: “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his Cross and follow me.” Which Cross should we take? The Cross that represents the way of life of us Christians, which is not easy. The Lord Himself said that this path is not easy, that it is a narrow path, but it leads to Paradise, because the broad one leads to hell. The narrow and thorny path leads to Paradise. It is the path of the feat of renunciation and struggle, the struggle with passions,” said Fr. Nemanja, adding that the Cross also implies suffering.

This also applies to us because we all have our own Cross and our own suffering, and it does not have to be only martyrdom, suffering for Christ, but also suffering in the passions.

“So, the struggle with our problems, with our passions. We all have our own Cross, some illness, some problem, and thank God that it is so. It is true that it is not easy, but it is salutary, because that Cross is given by God. God gives it to us so that through it we can strengthen and be saved. And when God created Adam, He did not immediately give him the kingdom, but He gave him the Cross. He gave him certain tasks that he should do, that is, obligations to perfect himself through them. So we also have our own temptations, through which we can only strengthen ourselves, to temper ourselves, to find salvation through that. Because everything is from God, and what is from God, as people say, is sweeter than honey. Just as we thank God for all the good that He has given us, and He has given us much more good, which we take for granted. We take for granted that we are healthy, that we can come to church today. There are some who cannot do that, who are lying at home sick. Therefore, God gave us suffering precisely out of love, so that through that suffering we would become stronger, fight and emerge better from the struggle, to see where we are, what we are made of and how much our faith in God, our love and trust that God is with us, no matter what suffering befalls us. All of this is God's permission and for our salvation, because He will never give us a temptation that we cannot bear, but He gives it to us as a good educator, a good parent who sometimes yells at a child, but so that he would be a better person. So God educates us through the Cross and through temptations, so that we would be better and gain salvation. May the Lord God grant that by the power of the Holy Cross, which we worship today, we too will find the right path and overcome our temptations and gain eternal salvation, amen", said Father Nemanja.