How Do I Worship Wood?

by Michael Shackleton · Published April 12, 2022 · Updated April 11, 2022

(Photo: Kelly Sikkema/unsplash)

On Good Friday our priest came into church singing: This is the wood of the cross. Come let us worship. How do I worship wood? Please explain.

It would be crazy to worship wood. We demonstrate our reverence on Good Friday not for the wood of the cross but for the figure of the crucified Jesus attached to the cross, which is a graphic reminder of what Jesus did for our sake on Mount Calvary.

“This is the wood of the cross on which hung the salvation of the world; come let us worship” are words that go way back to the late 4th century. They applied then not to the wood of a crucifix but to the True Cross (that on which Christ was crucified), which is reputed to have been discovered in Jerusalem by St Helena. Naturally, churches in and around Jerusalem soon acquired fragments of the Cross and these were given great honour, in particular in Good Friday’s liturgical recalling of Christ’s sacrificial death.

The relic of the True Cross was kept in a sealed casket. In the liturgy, deacons would put the casket on a cloth-covered table in front of the bishop, open it and show it to the assembly. Then the bishop would take it in his hands and all present, clergy and people, would come up individually and bow before the relic before kissing it. The liturgy we celebrate nowadays is based on this ancient practice, which quickly spread throughout Christendom.

Churches fortunate enough to possess a relic of the True Cross will re-enact the ancient rite of reverencing a relic of the True Cross as described above. It is usual to have the relic embedded in the wood of a crucifix rather than to display it as it is.

Very few churches have such a spiritual treasure and that is why the rubrics direct that a simple crucifix must be used instead. In this way, the Christian custom of paying deep respect and gratitude to the crucified Christ is carried on dramatically every Good Friday.

Reverencing sacred symbols such as the Infant in the Christmas crib, holy relics, icons and the crucifix, must never be mistaken for acts of worship of the objects themselves. These practices are the Church’s way of seeing and touching the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in a very human, focused and practical manner.