What Happened on the Cross

By nothing else except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low:

•       The sin of our first parent destroyed,

•       hell plundered,

•       resurrection bestowed,

•       the power given us to despise the things of this world,

•       even death itself,

•       the road back to the former blessedness made smooth,

•       the gates of paradise opened, 

•       our nature seated at the right hand of God,

•       and we made children and heirs of God.

By the cross all these things have been set aright:

•       It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us,

•       a raising up of those who lie fallen,

•       a support for those who stand,

•       a staff for the infirm,

•       a crook for the shepherded,

•       a guide for the wandering,

•       a perfecting of the advanced,

•       salvation for soul and body,

•       a deflector of all evils,

•       a cause of all goods,

•       a destruction of sin,

•       a plant of resurrection,

•       and a tree of eternal life

- John of Damascus (675-749 a.d.)