A little girl asked the question, ‘When Jesus was on the cross, did, er.. did He bleed?’ Sister Magdalen responded to the girl by first showing her the icon on the wall of the monastery refectory, and allowed the icon to speak to the child. In her book, Conversations with Children, Sister Magdalen shared how Orthodox icons of the Crucifixion show genuine suffering, but not in an overwhelmingly tragic way. Icons are like the Gospels. They are straightforward but calm. The icon of the Crucifixion shows Christ not as a doomed figure. Christ suffering on the Cross was done voluntarily. He suffered out of love in order to conquer evil.

Speaking to a group of young children, the word ‘crucifixion’ came up. A seven year old boy trying to be witty, said ‘Crucifixion! You mean it’s not a true story!’ As you can imagine, this remark received a lot of raised eyebrows. The boy added, ‘All right, only teasing. Jesus Christ knows I did not mean it. It should be called cruci-non-fiction.’ It is imperative that we realize the importance of the Crucifixion. ‘And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again’ (Mark 8:31 ). Jesus preparing His disciples speaks of His passion. We commemorate the Cross that Jesus carried at every Divine Liturgy. The Great Entrance reminds us of when Jesus carried His Cross on which He would be Crucified. The cloth the Priest / Deacon places on his shoulders reminds us Jesus carried His Cross on which He would die. The procession of the Gifts from the Prothesis (Offering Table north of the Holy Altar) to the Holy Altar Table reminds us that Christ voluntarily went forth to His suffering.

All of us, like the little girl concerned about the suffering of Jesus, have asked, ‘Why did Jesus Christ have to suffer on the Cross?’ Jesus became the suffering Servant, offering Himself on our behalf. Saint Peter wrote, ‘Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.’ Jesus assumed a mortal body willingly. He became a man while remaining fully God. The church teaches us that Christ became man to enter into a second communion – relationship with man and woman. Because Jesus was sinless, He was the only one who could be crucified and conquers death. ‘The Savior endured all of His sufferings in order to reconcile by the Blood of the Cross the heavenly with the earthly’ (St. Cyril of Jerusalem ).

‘Yes, He did bleed,’ Sister Magdalen responded to the little girl. Sister Magdalen went on to say, ‘Let’s go and see the picture (icon of the Crucifixion). Look, you can see Him and the holes where they put the nails, and you can see the blood. But you can’t see lots of horrible blood because otherwise we’d be too sad. We wouldn’t remember that He let them put Him on the cross because He loves everyone. He is peaceful. And then we remember what happened after, as well. (Looking at the icon Resurrection) You know what happened after He was dead for three days?’ The little girl answered, ‘He, er … He got up again.’ Sister Magdalen told the little girl that we celebrate when ‘He got up,’ when He rose again. The little girl ran off and raced to her father. She told her father excitedly, ‘It’s all right, Daddy. Jesus did bleed, but we wipe it off for him’. The nailing of the cross had troubled the little girl, but she understood from her conversation with Sister Magdalen and the icons that our faith in what Christ accomplished by His death can, as it were, fulfill the purpose of it. Sister Magdalen said, ‘Indeed we wipe it off for Him’ when we accept the gift of His redemption and give Him joy by returning to Him.’

‘May the Lord God remember all of you in His kingdom, both now and forever and to the ages of ages’ (Prayer at the Great Entrance). We pray the words of the penitent thief who was crucified next to Jesus. At the Great Entrance we are asking God to remember us. We witness the great Sacrifice Jesus has made for our salvation during this sacred moment of the Divine Liturgy. The prayer of the Great Entrance is completed when we faithfully and properly receive the Holy Eucharist. The gospel becomes a reality. ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’ (Mark 8:34 ). Let us follow God and experience His love. When we follow God we follow His light He becomes the lamp in our life.