The cross destroyed the enmity of God towards humanity, brought about reconciliation, made the earth heaven, associated human beings with angels, pulled down the citadel of death, hamstrung the force of the devil, extinguished the power of sin, delivered the world from error, brought back the truth, expelled the demons, destroyed temples, overturned altars, suppressed sacrificial offerings, implanted virtue, and founded the Church.

The cross has broken our bond, it rendered the prison of death powerless, and it demonstrated the love of God.

 The cross is the impregnable wall, the invulnerable shield, the safeguard of the rich, the resource of the poor, the defense of those exposed to snares, the armor of those who are attacked, the means of suppressing passion and acquiring virtue, the wonderful and marvelous sign. . . . The cross opened Paradise.

The doctrine of the incarnation is very hard to receive . . . , that this God who surpasses all understanding and baffles all calculation, having passed by angels, archangels, and all the spiritual powers above, deigned to become human, and to take flesh formed of earth and clay, and enter the womb of a virgin and be borne there for nine months, be nourished with milk, and suffer all those things to which human beings are liable.

Just as He hungered, as He slept, as He felt fatigue, as He ate and drank, so also did He pray for deliverance from death—in this He manifested His humanity and the weakness of that human nature which does not submit without pain to be torn from this present life.