Good Friday

"The cross is the gate of mysteries; here takes place the entrance of the mind unto the knowledge of the heavenly mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is hidden within the sufferings of the cross... The greater place the suffering of Christ takes in us, the greater becomes our consolation in Christ... It is not possible that our soul produce spiritual fruits, except when our heart is dead to the world. For the Father quickens the soul that has died the death of Christ" (from The Mystical Treatises of Isaac of Niniveh, Homily 79, 544).

Orthodox Crucifixion Icon
by Theophanis the Cretan