Crosse

“ Till—in one night—the crosses rose like flowers,
[12] Legions of small white crosses, mile on mile,
Pencilled with names that had outfought all pain,
Where every shell-torn acre seems to smile—
Who shall destroy the cross that rose again?
Out of the world's Walpurgis, where hope perished,
Where all the forms of faith in ruin fell,
Where every sign of heaven that earth had cherished
Shrivelled among the lava-floods of hell,
The eternal Cross that conquers might with right
Rose like a star to lead us through the night.
IV.
How shall the world remember? ”

“ And whan the tyme approched of the passyon of our lord / thys tree aroos out of the water and floted above the water / And of this pyece of tymbre made the Iewes the crosse of our lord / Thenne after this hystorye / the crosse by which we been saved / came of the tree by whiche we were dampned. And the water of that pyscyne had not his vertue onely of the aungel / but of the tre/. With this tre wherof the crosse was maad / there was a tree that went over thwarte / on whiche the armes of our lord were nayled/. ”

“ The view of Jesus Christ, said a great servant of God, makes the cross so sweet, that it seems to me impossible to be happy without it. I feel disposed to remain all my life without any consolation, even spiritual. The love of Jesus Christ is everything to me. The cross has its charms, and whoever loves Jesus Christ perfectly, finds ineffable delight in crosses. ”

“ We frequently meet with crosses in the way of duty; and, though we must not pull them upon our own heads, yet, when they are laid for us, we must take them up, carry them after Christ, and make the best of them. ”

“ The crosse, usually held in both hands, is made to retain the ball by an ingenious rocking motion only acquired by practice. As there is no “off-side” in Lacrosse, a player may pass the ball to the front, side or rear. No charging is allowed, but one player may interfere with another by standing directly in front of him (“body-check”) , though without holding, tripping or striking with the crosse. No one may interfere with a player who is not in possession of the ball. Fouls are penalized either by the suspension of the offender until a goal has been scored or until the end of the game ”

“ The evening shadows are beginning to fall as we see Christ raised on the cross. He hangs there for twenty minutes, and most indescribably sublime are the words given from thence. When all is over, it is so real, you think that this time death must really have taken place. The three crosses, the bound thieves, the fainting women, the mounted centurion, the soldiers drawing lots, all seem to belong to real events, enacted, not acted. ”

“ The Cross is the gift that God makes to His friends.
How beautiful it is to offer ourselves every morning in sacrifice to the good God, and to accept everything in expiation of our sins! We must ask for the love of crosses ”

“ What is meant by a weeping cross is not clear, nor has anyone pretended to assign to such edifices, if indeed they ever existed except in popular fallacy, any characteristic features by which they may be recognised as distinct from other crosses. ”

“ The ball may be kicked or struck with the crosse, as at hockey, but the goal-keeper alone may handle it, and then only to block and not to throw it. Although the ball may be thrown with the crosse for a long distance—220 yds. is about the limit—long throws are seldom tried, it being generally more advantageous for a player to run with the ball resting on the crosse, until he can pass it to a member of his side who proceeds with the attack, either by running, passing to another, or trying to throw the ball through the opponents’ goal. ”

“ In what a dreadful age do we live! .... When the Church instituted this holy ceremony, everyone longed for the happiness of placing these crosses in his field and behaved with the utmost respect. When they were found, either during the reaping or the vintage, people bowed down to the earth to adore Jesus Christ, Who died on the Cross for us, and in that way they expressed their recognition of the fact that He had desired to bless and preserve their harvest. ”

“ The adoration of the cross by the Romans is spoken of by the Christian Father Minucius Felix, when denying the charge of idolatry which was made against his sect.
"As for the adoration of cross," (says he to the Romans) , "which you object against us, I must tell you that we neither adore crosses nor desire them. You it is, ye Pagans, who worship wooden gods, who are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses, as being part of the same substance with your deities. For what else are your ensigns, flags, and standards, but crosses, gilt and beautiful. ”

“ Every disciple of Christ hath his cross, and must count upon it; as each hath his special duty to be done, so each hath his special trouble to be borne, and every one feels most from his own burthen. Crosses are the common lot of God's children, but of this common lot each hath his particular share. That is our cross which Infinite Wisdom has appointed for us, and a Sovereign Providence has laid on us, as fittest for us. It is good for us to call the cross we are under our own, and entertain it accordingly. We are apt to think we could bear such a one's cross better than our own ”

“ Cross of Calvary, the Latin cross or cross of crucifixion elevated on three steps; Cross of Jerusalem, one having each arm capped by a cross-bar; Cross of Lorraine, a cross with two horizontal arms, combining the Greek and Latin crosses; Cross of St James, a Latin cross figured as a sword; Cross of St Patrick, the saltier cross of Ireland (red on a white ground) .—Cross one's mind, to flash across the mind; Cross the path of any one, to thwart him.—Ansate cross (crux ansata) , a common symbol of immortality in ancient Egypt; Archiepiscopal cross, the pastoral staff surmounted by a cross ”

“ Thus one who cannot read the account of Our Lord's passion may learn it from the Stations of the Cross, and one who kneels before a crucifix and looks on the bleeding head, pierced hands and wounded side, is better able to understand Christ's sufferings than one without a crucifix before him.
Q. 1057. What are the Stations or Way of the Cross? A. The Stations or Way of the Cross is a devotion instituted by the Church to aid us in meditating on Christ's passion and death. Fourteen crosses or stations, each with a picture of some scene in the passion, are arranged at distances apart. ”

“ The Game.—The object of the game is to send the ball, by means of the crosse, through the enemy’s goal-posts as many times as possible during the two periods of play, precisely as in football and hockey. There are twelve players of each side. In every position save that of goal there are two men, one of each side, whose duties are to “mark” and neutralize each other’s efforts. The game is opened by the act of “facing,” in which the two centres, each with his left shoulder towards his opponents’ goal, hold their crosses, wood downwards, on the ground, the ball being placed between them. ”

“ This should be made by placing four large pins in the necessary positions. (M. A.)
"Thorns, in the form of a cross, were either laid in the window, or should be put in a window, to keep witches from entering." "Roman Etruscan Remains," Charles G. Leland, New York, Scribners, 1891, page 108.
"In a Tuscan incantation to break love:" ... "When you wish to prevent a young man from visiting a girl, in any house, take shoemaker's wax and four nails. Make of these a cross, and put such crosses under the seat whereon the lover and maid sit. ”

“ howbeit Christ and His cross part at heaven's door, for there is no houseroom for crosses in heaven. One tear, one sigh, one sad heart, one fear, one loss, one thought of trouble, cannot find lodging there: they are but the marks of our Lord Jesus down in this wide inn, and stormy country, on this side of death. ”

“ Dear children, I have had much sorrow since we last met and talked of the joys of heaven—a beloved brother has, I trust, through Christ’s merits, joined the bright hosts rejoicing there. But should not I meekly bear the cross which my heavenly Father sees good to send me? To every one passing through this life is given a cross—a trial to bear. To some it is so light that they scarcely feel it; with others so heavy that it bows them to the dust. Each of you knows, or will know, its weight. But let none be afraid nor cast down. The cross prepares for the crown. ”

“ Well for thee, O cross, which hast put on the Lord, hast gathered in the robber, hast called the apostle to repentance, and hast not deemed us unworthy to be received by thee! But why do I speak yet so long and allow not the cross to embrace me, in order to be raised to life in the cross, when I, through the cross, have gone from life to death, which is the lot of all? Come then, servants of my joy and beadles of Aegeates, and fulfill the wish of both of us and bind the lamb to the cross of suffering, the man to the demiurge, the soul to the Saviour! ”

“ The Cross and Crown. THE CROSS.
Emblem of Ignorance and Cruelty,
Ensign of Superstition's brutal reign,
Banner of Despotism's foul career,
Signal of Reason laid upon its bier,
Image of dark and gross Idolatry,
Object of worship since the Christ was slain!
The sign of the impostor and the fool,
By which they conquer and command the throng,
The cross is lifted upward everywhere
Man will submissive bow and mutter prayer,
The minion meek, or church's thoughtless tool,
Or worse, the cunning priest who knows the wrong. ”

“ The cross he bears is painful, heavy, and unjust, and yet he cheerfully carries it, inviting thee to carry your cross after him to Paradise. No cross will ever be so weighty or painful for thee as Jesus’ was. Wilt thou, then, refuse to accept it from his hands? Wilt thou shrink from bearing it in his company? Without the cross the way to heaven is not open to thee; without the cross thou canst not be a follower of Jesus. Courage, then, and follow in his footsteps with cheerfulness. Do not fear that he will not lighten its weight; he will cheer thee and assist thee. ”

“ My meditation of him shall be sweet when I consider his cross and mine.
The cross is the emblem of our religion. To it the awakened sinner flies when conscience fills him with gloomy fears. There is no place of safety for him save in its blessed shadow. Looking up with faith, he sees Jesus, the suffering Saviour, and with the sight peace and joy fill his heart. As he starts upon his pilgrim course the cross is set before him, and these are his marching orders: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." ”

“ Near the cross, a trembling soul Love and mercy found me;
There the Bright and Morning Star Sheds its beams around me.
Refrain
Near the cross, O Lamb of God! Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o'er me. ”

“ The strangest and most thrilling sight of all was the cross in this unholy spot, not a symbol of victory and hope, but of the lowest infamy and degradation, of the vilest death which the vilest men can die. ”

“ And is it poslible for any human heart to contemplate the cross of so divine a Being, and not to glory? is it possible to say, Angels, he rules over you; but he died, he died on a cross for meː and not exult in such transporting beneficence?———This will be more evident, if we examine,
III. What reason the apostle had to glory in the cross of Christ. The cross, though in itself an ignominious tree; yet, being the cross of Christ, is infinitely ennobled. It becomes the tree of life; it bears the divine fruit; its clusters are all spiritual and heavenly blessings. ”

“ I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross. ”

“ The cross is that high symbol of sacred service, the devotion of one's life to the welfare and salvation of one's fellows. The cross is not the symbol of the sacrifice of the innocent Son of God in the place of guilty sinners and in order to appease the wrath of an offended God, but it does stand forever, on earth and throughout a vast universe, as a sacred symbol of the good bestowing themselves upon the evil and thereby saving them by this very devotion of love. ”

“ As we have first of all been taught to sit at the foot of the cross, and neither hope nor glory in anything else, we have made that the foundation. Under the cross you have watered us with the showers of divine instruction and prayers, that, like this vine, we might entwine about it and bear pleasant fruit. ”

“ Ay, as the groanings of the cross must have astounded angels, so shall the results of the cross amaze the seraphim, and make them admire the excess of glory which has arisen from the shameful death of their Lord. O beloved, great things are to come out of our Jesus yet. Courage, you that are dispirited. Be brave, you soldiers of the cross. Victory awaits your banner. Wait patiently, work hopefully, suffer joyfully, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. ”

“ These may have been nothing more than an advertisement, but from the care with which the cross was elaborated, and the neatness with which it was made to resemble a natural piece of wood, I am inclined to believe that the man felt some pleasure in his work for its own sake, and that he was not utterly submerged. The cross in such dens as these, or, worse than dens, in such sewers! If it be anything, it is a symbol of victory, of power to triumph over resistance, and even death. ”

“ The form of the cross which we trace with our right hand from our forehead to our breast, and then from the left to the right shoulder, is a profession of faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God, who became man and died on the cross for our redemption. ”