WHO WE ARE
Holy Cross is an English-speaking Orthodox Church,
living and proclaiming the living Faith of our Fathers, Holy Orthodoxy,
the One Holy Catholic (Orthodox), Apostolic Church,
“built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ being the Corner-stone.” [cf. Psalm 117:22 LXX; Matthew 21:42]
Pentekost Kontakion
A strange thing contrary to the law of nature is now heard,
for when the One Voice of the disciples,
resounded through the grace of the Spirit,
the various peoples, tribes and nations,
heard separately (in their own language and dialect),
the great things of God, and were instructed (in their own language and dialect),
in the knowledge of the Trinity.
The only way to know and understand the Faith, is to know and understand in our spoken language, the content of our hymnody in the Services, and for us, it is English. Holy Orthodoxy is a living Faith where we experience the supernatural uncreated energy of the Grace of God in the Mysteries and Gifts, in a life of purification, illumination, and deification (theosis).
The definition and basis of the Orthodox belief is the Creed, amplified and established in the 4 Criteria outlined below:
1. The Seven Ecumenical Councils & equal Synods of the Church
2. The entire body of the Orthodox Services
3. Canonical Scripture
4. Apostolic Tradition of the Church
There cannot be variants, expressions, or branches, or lungs of the One Truth, for Truth can not live in contradiction. If there is One Church, then there is only one united, infallible mind of the One Church. This is the historical Church – the Orthodox Church without innovations, distortions, heresies or doctrinal pollution.
This is the Faith of the Apostles, the Saints, and the Fathers.
“Preaching cannot cease; divine worship is fulfilled according to correct rite and in an edifying manner; iconography is uplifting and pious and the singing is sober, simple and reverent. The fulfilment of this is the responsibility of those who serve. It is necessary to speak out, not just in churches but also in homes, using every opportunity to describe the Divine Reality, and expose the seduction of our soul by the illusions of the mind and body."
The Path to Salvation: St Theophan the Recluse