Fr. Seraphim Holland shares the homily on the Sunday of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross. The epistle today exhorts us: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace". Where does this boldness come from? The Gospel today explains: we must choose to take up our cross and follow Christ. We look at the readings today, and the hymn of the cross that we sing when we make prostrations: "Before Thy Cross, we bow down and worship O master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify!" in light of two spiritual principles: "First the cross then the resurrection," and "first obedience and then following, understanding." Hebrews 4:15-16, Mark 8:34-35,9-1