Lift High the Cross
The Revd Hannah Cartwright
To many of us who have grown up in the Church, the sight of a cross is something completely normal, a great source of consolation, or may even be associated with the comforting floral decor and religious wall hangings of relatives who were raised when the idea of Christendom was very much still ‘a thing’. Yet to those for whom faith is new, or who have been damaged by unwelcoming experiences of church, seeing a cross can feel stark or oppressive; associated with funeral homes and rigid behavioural expectations.
As with many symbols, we all unconsciously project our own experiences and associations on to the cross long before we consciously consider its meaning in other contexts. Christians in the early centuries of the Church would have lived with this challenge and confusion too; as a symbol of shame was reappropriated as one of hope and resurrection. After crucifixion ceased to be an authorised form of execution and Constantine aided the popularity of the Cross as a symbol of Christian faith, the cross became, and remains, an enduring reminder of Christ’s conquest over death as well as a reminder of his death upon it. And Holy Cross Day has since become a regular observance of the significance of the cross in Christian witness as Helena, the mother of Constantine, was said to have have uncovered the Cross of Christ during excavations in Jerusalem raising it to new devotional significance.
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Cross at St Cross Church in the grounds of Holywell cemetery. Part of the ancient parish of St Mary’s, St Cross now houses the historic collections library of Balliol College and remains under their care. But once a year we return to sing a special festal choral evensong - giving thanks together as a community who have been shaped by the cross, and who continue to look to the One who transformed this instrument of torture and death into a reminder of our liberation and the new life we share in Him.