image :: The Resurrection, Stanley Spencer (d.1959, British)
“He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
II Corinthians 5:15
The Cross of Christ is the Door to heaven,
the Key to paradise,
the Downfall of the devil,
the Uplifting of mankind,
the Consolation of our imprisonment,
the Prize for our freedom.
The Cross was the Hope of the patriarchs,
the Promise of the prophets,
the Triumph of kings and the Ministry of priests.
Tyrants are convicted by the Cross and the mighty ones defeated,
it lifts up the miserable and honors the poor.
The Cross is the End of darkness,
the Spreading of light,
the Flight of death,
the Ship of life and the Kingdom of salvation.
By the Cross, Christ draws everything to Him.
It is the Kingdom of the Father,
the Scepter of the Son,
and the Seal of the Holy Spirit.
Rupert of Deutz, 12th century
sound :: Down to the Praying Ground, Kelly Joe Phelps (2012)