Sentence:  The cross is that high symbol of <WSD>sacred</WSD> service, the devotion of one's life to the welfare and salvation of one's fellows. The cross is not the symbol of the sacrifice of the innocent Son of God in the place of guilty sinners and in order to appease the wrath of an offended God, but it does stand forever, on earth and throughout a vast universe, as a <WSD>sacred</WSD> symbol of the good bestowing themselves upon the evil and thereby saving them by this very devotion of love. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Characterized by solemn religious ceremony or religious use, especially, in a positive sense; consecrated, made holy.