www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West hand position for sign of cross

Dear Marshall,

I wish I could be as computer-literate as you and bring up such beautiful icons at the drop of a hat!

Christ is depicted with His Hand in the position of the Christogram.

The ring finger and thumb need not be crossed, only joined since the "X" is a joining of two bars.

It still represents the "X" of "XC" or Xpictoc in Greek, of course.

In addition, mention should be made of the fact that not all iconographers are as well versed in such rubrics!

The theology of the three-bar Cross is established, but there are many icons that break the canons and come up with all sorts of variations!

The blessing of the lips, as you've described, is also a Benedictine tradition.

Benedict had his monks read to during meal-time and the appointed monk would begin spiritual reading with the three-fold blessing on his lips as you mention.

In the Byzantine tradition, this blessing is said twice just before the reading of the "Hexapsalm" or the holy six psalms of Matins.

In the Sarum Rite, from which the Anglican tradition derives, there is the beautiful blessing of an infant's right hand during the baptismal rites - to empower it to make the Sign of the Cross throughout life.

Another most beautiful Sarum tradition was the practice of having communicants come to the priest who stood under the "Rood" or Cross on top of the Rood Screen or what we would call an iconostasis.

This was to underscore that the communicants were partaking of the Fruit of the Tree of Life.

Alex

Dear Adam,

That is entirely possible and there are many practices that are either taken from or else inspired by the Old Testament.

It is more than likely that the Sign of the Cross with the thumb represents one of the most ancient usages of the Church of Rome in this regard. Ancient written liturgies direct worshipping Christians to mark their foreheads with their finger with the Sign of the Cross.

Christians marked everything with the Sign of the Cross, their food, their beds before retiring, their homes - everything.

We too can and should do this as well.

As we make the Sign of the Cross over something, we should say: This ____ is being blessed with the Sign of the Holy Cross in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Alex

Dear Alex,

Okay, so who does the Christogram sign of the cross? The Greeks? The OB's? I need some clarity.

So far, I have heard of three liturgical hand positions:

1. Western (little & ring down; middle and index up)
2. Greek
3. Old Believer

Clarify on 2 and 3 please. Sorry to be so slow on the uptake.

yours in Christ,
Marshall

PS: Yes! Isn't that icon of Christ glorious?

The Sarum Rite seems interesting! It's actually part of my heritage since my family name and a lot of my family are Anglo. I looked this rite up in the Catholic Encyclopedia and it said that during the marriage ceremony that a silken canopy was held over the newly married couple. This reminds me of the Jewish custom of marrying a person under a canopy. Is this Sarum Rite still practiced in it's ancient form today?

Adam

Dear Marshall,

Yes, the two basic Eastern "blessing" hand positions are:

1) thumb, little and ring finger brought together, signifying the Holy Trinity - index finger extended with the middle finger joined to it, slightly bent, to signify Christ and the Son of God "bending the heavens" and coming down to be Incarnate of the Virgin Mary.

2) The "Christogram" which is similar to the above but is based on the first and last letters of "Jesus Christ" in Greek or "IC XC."

The index and middle fingers are extended as above to form the "I" and "C."

The ring finger and thumb are joined or crossed to form the "X" and the little finger is curved, like the middle finger, to form another "C."

1) is highly favoured in the Slavic Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, as the way in which priests and bishops et al. bless the faithful. During the Russian "Stoglav" Council or Council of 100 chapters or teachings, it was stated that everyone is also to make the Sign of the Cross on themselves (laity included) in this manner and the Council excommunicated anyone who would not. So 1) was used both to bless and to cross oneself. Pat. Nikon later reversed this and promoted the three-fingered Sign of the Cross of the Greeks for crossing oneself.

2) is highly favoured throughout all other Churches following the Byzantine Rite and in others. In addition, I've seen Ukrainian priests and bishops use the "Christogram" as well. Some say that 1) is a form of the Christogram.

The Christogram is used legitimately only by the Roman Pope in the West in the RC Church, although I'm seeing more and more RC priests use it. Those pesky Eastern influences, you see . . .

Alex

Dear Adam,

As you know, the Sarum Rite was the most popular Usage in England way back when, but there were also the Hereford Usage, that of Bangor and that of York (the Archbishop of York styled himself "Of York and of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury "of ALL England").

The Synod of Milan has the Sarum Rite and has published Sarum liturgical works, along with the ancient Benedictine Offices.

Alex

Dear Friends,

I've heard that the small signs of the cross on the forehead, lips, and heart made as the gospel reading is announced are accompanied by the words (silently):

May God's Word
be on my mind,
on my lips,
and in my heart.

The symbolism is beautiful.

Paul

Alex,

How about "Our People" (Po-Nashemu) making the sign of the cross in their homes (all rooms of the house) when leaving their home for a extended period of time. I remember my Baba doing this every year when it was time for her to take her "vacation"
(Otpust in Uniontown Basilian Monastery). She would make the sign of the cross in each room as she was on her way out the door! I'm sure this is still done in "Starij Kraj" by most of the Greek Catholic/Orthodox faithful.

S'Bohom
Ung-Certez

Question:

Does one make the Old Believer Sign of the Cross from right to left like the "contemporary" Byzantine way?

Thank you;
Stefan

Hi Francisco!

Sorry for this delayed reaction. I was out for a day to attend to my sick daughter.

You asked: " Could you tell us with how many fingers do you make the sign of the cross in Philipines, I think that in Spain nobody makes the sign of the cross with the whole hand (in the french way), but with the three fingers (if I am right most people in Spain put the thumb under the two last fingers). I suppose that this position of the fingers could be explained allegorically like the representation of the Mistery of the Holy Trinity and the Coming of the Holy Spirit (the Son seated at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit descending over the Church)."

Yes, I have seen also this practice with our old folks who have been educated in the Hispanic era. My grandfather himself had Spanish as their medium of instruction in school. I lived with the generation that was still confused with the transition from the Mass of St. Pius V to the Paul IV's Novo Ordo Missae (late 60's - early 70's). Hence, making the sign of the cross with the three fingers inter-twined is a dwindling practice in the Philippines. So, the new generation now makes the sign of the cross with their whole hand. What is pitiable is that the young generation has picked up the practice of kissing the cross but they either do not know what it means or do not know how to do it properly. Sometimes that whole hand or thumb just touches the chin to end the sign. What a pity: we are losing a very meaningful, though unofficial practice. And speaking of unofficial practice, I have observed that people here have also adapted the practice of holding hands in the Mass during the " Pater Noster ". Essentially, there is Nothing bad in this practice, but this is certainly not in the rubrics, hence not sanctioned by the Church at large. Yes there is nothing bad about practices like these, but these differences can grow into proportions and multiply when the difference can altogether affect the external unity that the common liturgy of the Church wishes to express. I have seen also this phenomenon in several Papal Masses done by some minority groups in the US & Europe, even in Poland. Has anyone seen this in his/her own place?

God be with you all!
Antonio

Dear Ung-Certez,

Yes, my Babtsia did that as well!

And I do it frequently!

It is important for all of us to make the Sign of the Cross over our bed before we retire for the night. We may use Holy Water as well.

And we may bless anything and everything. The Carpathian tradition is to make the Sign of the Cross over our food with a spoon or other utensil.

And we should bless ourselves before drinking water - the material sign of Baptism.

We should cut a new loaf of bread cross-wise.

And if a piece should fall on the ground, we should pick it up, kiss it and cross ourselves.

In our new house, we recently heard loud knocking for the first few nights. I counted exactly ten knocks each time!

I then used some Lourdes Holy Water that Angela kindly sent me and marked the doorposts of all the rooms.

No more knocking. But it is just so wonderful to be able to make the Sign of the Cross over everything!

My old employer lived near a park where a girl had been murdered.

Every time he passed by that park, he would stop and make a large Sign of the Cross over it (ROCOR Orthodox).

The Cross of Christ is our weapon, as the troparia sing, and we should make the Sign of the Cross frequently, especially in temptations. We could also have a small Cross with us, to be used like a real weapon against evil, that it is, and even sign ourselves with it.

Alex

Dear Stefan-Ivan,

Yes, the Old Believer Sign of the Cross is also from right to left.

The Old Believers use it more frequently than we Nikonians do .

For example, they use it with the Jesus Prayer, ending either with "me a sinner" or "us. Amen."

They use it when saying the Prayer of the Publican and at the end of Dostoyno Yest at the end of which is a prostration to the ground.

They begin the Prayer to the Holy Spirit, Heavenly King, with the Sign of the Cross and also the Creed.

They end the Our Father with the Jesus Prayer and the Sign of the Cross.

The end the Hail Mary with the Sign of the Cross "+ Khrysta +Spasa +Izbavytelya +Dush +Nashykh" and then a bow.

They end each Psalm with the Jesus Prayer, the Sign of the Cross and a bow.

They also teach that on waking up, one should begin saying the Jesus Prayer with the Sign of the Cross frequently and throughout - to keep bad thoughts out etc.

And they teach that we must almost "hit" ourselves when we make the Sign of the Cross, we have to really feel our fingers against our head and body as we make it!

Alex

I understand blessing ourselves with the Sign of the Cross to keep away evil thoughts, etc. but I must say that I don't completely understand (like most Protestants) why crossing objects like beds, doors, etc. is necessary. I'm sure it's necessary, but could anyone explain why for me please?

ChristTeen287

Dear ChristTeen,

You are a Protestant, are you?

Christ's Incarnation sanctifies not only our souls, but our bodies and the entire material world.

For example, under the Old Testament, it was forbidden to even touch a dead person.

To do so would make one unclean. But in the New, Christ's Resurrection has transfigured all creation, enabling us to become Temples of the Holy Spirit, sanctifying us to our very core as composite persons with souls, spirits and bodies.

In the services for the Feast of Christ's Baptism in the River Jordan (that's "Theophany" for you Protestant types ), mention is made of how Christ sanctified the water and how the evil lurking in it was made powerless etc.

As Christians, we are empowered in the Priestly life of Christ to call down God's blessings on the universe, so transfiguring it by the power of God's Word and the Spirit to become media of salvation and holiness, expunging from it all trace of lurking evil.

Everything is sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer, St Paul reminds us.

We are to bless everything in the Holy Spirit, calling down a real Epiclesis that transfigures us, our society and all of creation in Christ.

If anything else comes to mind, I'll let you know.

Alex

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Glory to Him Forever!

Nice discussion on the sign of the cross! I like to see us "crossing ourselves" as like the Jewish men did when they wanted to pray. The Jewish men would pull down their head covering (their portable tabernacle ) when they wanted to pray and back up when they were done. This was done (and still is by Orthodox Jews) to fulfill the commandment of God to always pray in his presence in the tabernacle. Our tabernacle of refuge is the cross of Christ.

Adam