By St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Mysterious is the power of the Cross no matter how unexplainable, it is true and indisputable.
Yet, St. John Chrysostom speaks of the custom of his time that the sign of the Cross is attached "on the emperor's diadem, on the accoutrements of the soldiers and tracing it on parts of the body: the head, the breast [chest] and the heart and also on the table of oblations and over beds." "If it is necessary to expel demons", says he, "we use the Cross and it also helps to heal the sick."
St. Benedict made the sign of the Cross over a glass which contained poison and the glass burst as though it were struck by a stone.
St. Julian made the sign of the Cross over a glass of poison brought to him and drank the poison, but he did not feel any pain in his body.
The holy female Martyr Vasilissa of Nicomedia enveloped herself with the sign of the Cross, stood amidst the flames and remained unharmed.
The Holy Martyrs Audon and Senis crossed themselves when the wild beasts were released on them and the beasts became docile and meek as lambs.
Among the ascetics of old, as it is today, the sign of the Cross was the most powerful weapon against the temptations of the demons.
The most horrible fears of the devil vanish into nothing, as smoke, when man traces the sign of the Cross over himself.
Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself willed to the one time sign of crime and shame, the Cross, following His crucifixion on the wood of the Cross, all victorious power and might.
