Cross
Share
Updated
April 23, 2008
The Orthodox Church does not have statues like the Catholic Church, but they do
revere holy pictures, or icons. In Russia the most important of these icons was
the Virgin of Vladimir. Both Ivan the Terrible and Nicholas II carried it into
battle. They believed they could not be defeated if that picture went before
their army.
We mean something quite different when we sing "Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before." Some may not be comfortable with the military motif, but in fact there is a great struggle between good and evil, and we take our place in that struggle only because of the confidence we gained from the cross -- and from the Christ Who died on it.
We mean something quite different when we sing "Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before." Some may not be comfortable with the military motif, but in fact there is a great struggle between good and evil, and we take our place in that struggle only because of the confidence we gained from the cross -- and from the Christ Who died on it.