Do you want to learn the power of this blood from another source? Look from where it flowed initially and from where it had its source, from above the cross, from the side of the Lord. For, it is said, ‘When Jesus was dead but still hanging on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. This was the symbol of baptism and of the mysteries. Therefore, it did not say, ‘Blood came out,’ but ‘Blood and water.’ Why? Because, from both of these, the Church is born, ‘the water, for regeneration, and the blood, for sanctification, the Spirit’s manifestation.’ And the symbols of the baptism and the mysteries came from the side. From the side, therefore, Christ formed the Church, just as He formed Eve from the side of Adam.—St. John Chrysostom, Sermon 3 on the Newly Illumined.
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