On the threshold of Holy Week, we examined the layers of St. Mary’s life — a living icon of the Cross. In her, the Cross is no longer an idea but a way of life — a path to transformation.

Through the awakening of her conscience, and repentance, the desert blooms. St. Zosimas beholds beauty beyond appearances. Creation itself is renewed. In Christ, male and female, sinner and saint — all divisions are healed.

Fr. Robert reminds us: "When we take up the Cross and make it our own we affirm what we proclaim in the Resurrection Matins, 'Through the Cross joy has come into all the world.' "