UOC Primate: The Cross is our great protection against the devil

His Beatitude Onuphry. Photo: UOC Press Service

On September 27, 2025, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Agapitus Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and delivered a sermon on the spiritual power of the Cross.

“The greatest power that God has given to man for victory over the devil is the power of the holy and life-giving Cross,” the Primate emphasized in his word to the faithful.

Metropolitan Onuphry reminded his flock of the history of mankind’s salvation through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. “Before the Savior was crucified on the Cross, the cross was an instrument of shameful death. The most vicious criminals, robbers, and evildoers were crucified on it. And the Lord, taking upon Himself the sins of the whole world, Himself willed to be crucified like the vilest criminal and evildoer, so that our wickedness might be justified before God,” said His Beatitude.

Special attention in his homily was given to the spiritual significance of the Cross in the life of believers. “Before the Cross demons tremble – those evil spirits who always seek man’s destruction and constantly wage war against him,” he stressed. The Primate explained how evil spirits act: “Man does not see them with bodily eyes, but they are spirits that influence through thoughts, through feelings. They affect man and strive to tear him away from God. And by tearing him away from God, they make him a son of perdition.”

His Beatitude also gave the faithful specific guidance on using the power of the Cross in daily life. “Blessed is the man who wears a cross – it is a great protection for him,” he said. Metropolitan Onuphry especially emphasized the importance of making the sign of the Cross properly: “For the more diligently we make the sign of the Cross over ourselves, the more the power of Christ extends within us.”

In conclusion, the Primate pointed out the universal significance of the Cross as the symbol of Christian faith. “We adorn churches, chapels, and our homes with the Cross; we place crosses at sites of earthly events. We set them up as a symbol of life’s victory over death, as the symbol of our salvation,” His Beatitude said.

Earlier, Metropolitan Onuphry said that it is easier to defeat entire armies of enemies than to conquer one’s own self.

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