Saint John Climacus was probably born in the second half of the sixth century; but his country and origins are alike unknown because, from the beginning of his renunciation of the world, he took great care to live as a stranger upon earth. “Exile,“ he wrote, “is a separation from everything, in order that one may hold on totally to God.“ We only know that, from the age of sixteen, after having received a solid intellectual formation, he renounced all the pleasures of this vain life for love of God and went to Mount Sinai, to the foot of the holy mountain on which God had in former times revealed His glory to Moses, and consecrated himself to the Lord with a burning heart as a sweet-smelling sacrifice.
 
Setting aside, from the moment of his entry into the stadium, all self-trust and self-satisfaction through unfeigned humility, he submitted body and soul to an elder called Martyrios and set himself, free from all care, to climb that spiritual ladder (klimax) at the top of which God stands, and to “add fire each day to fire, fervour to fervour, zeal to zeal.“ He saw his shepherd as “the image of Christ“ and, convinced that his elder was responsible for him before God, he had only one care: to reject his own will and “with all deliberateness to put aside the capacity to make [his] own judgement,“ so that no interval passed between Martyrios„ commands, even those that appeared unjustified, and the obedience of his disciple. In spite of this perfect submission, Martyrios kept him as a novice for four years and only tonsured him when he was twenty, after having tested his humility. Strategios, one of the monks present at the tonsure predicted that the new monk would one day become one of the great lights of the world. When, later, Martyrios and his disciple paid a visit to John the Savaite, one of the most famous ascetics of the time, the latter, ignoring the elder, poured water over John’s feet. After they had left, John the Savaite declared that he did not know the young monk but, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he had washed the feet of the Abbot of Sinai. The same prophecy was confirmed by the great Anastasios the Sinaite (April 21), whom they also went to visit.
 
Bron: goarch.org

The commemoration and ceremonies of the Third Sunday of Lent are closely parallel to the feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14) and the Procession of the Cross (August 1). Not only does the Sunday of the Holy Cross prepare us for commemoration of the Crucifixion, but it also reminds us that the whole of Lent is a period when we are crucified with Christ.
 
As we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires“ (Galatians 5:24), and will have mortified ourselves during these forty days of the Fast, the precious and life-giving Cross is now placed before us to refresh our souls and encourage us who may be filled with a sense of bitterness, resentment, and depression. The Cross reminds us of the Passion of our Lord, and by presenting to us His example, it encourages us to follow Him in struggle and sacrifice, being refreshed, assured, and comforted. In other words, we must experience what the Lord experienced during His Passion – being humiliated in a shameful manner. The Cross teaches us that through pain and suffering we shall see the fulfillment of our hopes: the heavenly inheritance and eternal glory.
 
Bron: goarch.org

34 En tot Zich geroepen hebbende de schare met Zijn discipelen, zeide Hij tot hen: Zo wie achter Mij wil komen, die verloochene zichzelven, en neme zijn kruis op, en volge Mij.
35 Want zo wie zijn leven zal willen behouden, die zal hetzelve verliezen; maar zo wie zijn leven zal verliezen, om Mijnentwil, en om des Evangelies wil, die zal hetzelve behouden.
36 Want wat zou het den mens baten zo hij de gehele wereld won, en zijner ziele schade leed?
37 Of wat zal een mens geven, tot lossing van zijn ziel?
38 Want zo wie zich Mijns en Mijner woorden zal geschaamd hebben, in dit overspelig en zondig geslacht, diens zal Zich de Zoon des mensen ook schamen, wanneer Hij zal komen in de heerlijkheid Zijns Vaders, met de heilige engelen.
1 En Hij zeide tot hen: Voorwaar, Ik zeg u, dat er sommigen zijn van degenen, die hier staan, die den dood niet zullen smaken, totdat zij zullen hebben gezien, dat het Koninkrijk Gods met kracht gekomen is.

Our holy Father Gregory was born in Constantinople in 1296 of aristocratic parents who had emigrated from Asia Minor in the face of the Turkish invasion, and were attached to the court of the pious Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282-1328). Despite his official duties, Gregory’s father led a life of fervent prayer. Sometimes as he sat in the Senate, he would be so deep in prayer as to be unaware of the Emperor addressing him. While Gregory was still young, his father died after being clothed in the monastic habit; and his mother for her part wanted to take the veil, but delayed doing so in order to take care of the education of her seven children. Gregory, the eldest, was instructed by the most highly reputed masters of secular learning and, after some years, was so proficient in philosophical reasoning that, on listening to him, his master could believe he was hearing Aristotle himself. Notwithstanding these intellectual successes, the young man’s real interest lay only with the things of God. He associated with monks of renown in the city and found a spiritual father in Theoleptus of Philadelphia, who instructed him in the way of holy sobriety and of prayer of the heart.
 
Bron: goarch.org

1 En na sommige dagen is Hij wederom binnen Kapernaum gekomen; en het werd gehoord, dat Hij in huis was.
2 En terstond vergaderden daar velen, alzo dat ook zelfs de plaatsen omtrent de deur hen niet meer konden bevatten; en Hij sprak het woord tot hen.
3 En er kwamen sommigen tot Hem, brengende een geraakte, die van vier gedragen werd.
4 En niet kunnende tot Hem genaken, overmits de schare, ontdekten zij het dak, waar Hij was; en dat opgebroken hebbende, lieten zij het beddeken neder, daar de geraakte op lag.
5 En Jezus, hun geloof ziende, zeide tot den geraakte: Zoon, uw zonden zijn u vergeven.
6 En sommigen van de Schriftgeleerden zaten aldaar, en overdachten in hun harten:
7 Wat spreekt Deze aldus gods lasteringen? Wie kan de zonden vergeven, dan alleen God?
8 En Jezus, terstond in Zijn geest bekennende, dat zij alzo in zichzelven overdachten, zeide tot hen: Wat overdenkt gij deze dingen in uw harten?
9 Wat is lichter, te zeggen tot den geraakte: De zonden zijn u vergeven, of te zeggen: Sta op, en neem uw beddeken op, en wandel?
10 Doch opdat gij moogt weten, dat de Zoon des mensen macht heeft, om de zonden op de aarde te vergeven (zeide Hij tot den geraakte):
11 Ik zeg u: Sta op, en neem uw beddeken op, en ga heen naar uw huis.
12 En terstond stond hij op, en het beddeken opgenomen hebbende, ging hij uit in aller tegenwoordigheid; zodat zij zich allen ontzetten en verheerlijkten God, zeggende: Wij hebben nooit zulks gezien!