Too many people these days have difficulty in accepting a positive view of Christ dying on the cross. Far from their hearts are Pope Leo’s words: “How <\/i><\/span>marvelous the power of the cross<\/i><\/u>; how <\/i>great beyond all telling the glory of the passion<\/i><\/u>.” Here’s <\/i><\/span>Pope Saint Leo the Great’s Our understanding, which is enlightened by the Spirit of Afterward he said: Now my How marvelous the power of the cross; how great beyond Lord, you Now there is a more The different sacrifices of animals are no more<\/u>: the one offering of <\/p>\n <\/p>\n God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died<\/b>, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful<\/b>, and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n The power of his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death, I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. By dying he submitted to the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity. As all die in Adam<\/u>, so all will be brought to life in Christ<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Ex Sermonibus sancti Leónis Magni Papæ<\/i> (Sermo 8, De passione Domini<\/i>, 6-8: PL 54, 340-432)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All week many of us who work in a parish have kept the events of Holy Week in front of us. Mostly because of the work that needs to be done in preparing the sacred Liturgy. Sadly, not enough time for prayer. Reminder: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is this weekend, it is not … Continue reading The marvelous glory and power of the cross, St Leo says<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[2741,1953,1891],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSermon on the Passion:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Crucifixion](\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/Crucifixion%20JCasentino.jpg\")
\ntruth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the cross
\nas it shines in heaven and on earth. It should see with inner vision the
\nmeaning of the Lord’s words when he spoke of the imminence of his passion: The
\nhour has come<\/u> for the Son of Man to be glorified.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nsoul is troubled, and what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. But it
\nwas for this that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your Son. When the voice
\nof the Father<\/u> came from heaven, saying, I have glorified him, and will glorify
\nhim again<\/i>, Jesus said in reply to those around him: It was not for me that this
\nvoice spoke, but for you. Now is the judgment of the world, now will the prince
\nof this world be cast out<\/b>. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
\nall things to myself.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nall telling the glory of the passion: here is the judgment-seat of the Lord,
\nthe condemnation of the world, the supremacy of Christ crucified.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndrew all things to yourself so that the devotion of all peoples everywhere
\nmight celebrate, in a sacrament made perfect and visible, what was carried out
\nin the one temple of Judea under obscure foreshadowings.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndistinguished order of Levites, a greater dignity for the rank of elders, a
\nmore sacred anointing for the priesthood, because your
\ncross is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces. Through the
\ncross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonour, life
\nfrom death.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
\nyour body and blood is the fulfillment of all the different sacrificial
\nofferings, for you are the true Lamb of God: you take away the sins of the
\nworld<\/b>. In yourself you bring to perfection all mysteries, so that, as there is
\none sacrifice in place of all other sacrificial offerings, there is also one
\nkingdom gathered from all peoples.<\/span><\/p>\n