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Posted on February 22, 2010 in Orthodoxy - 3 COMMENTS
Sealing oneself with the sign of the Cross
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
“Listen, my brethren, how the sign of the Cross is made and what it means. First, just as the Holy Trinity is glorified in heaven by the angels, so should you join your three fingers of your right hand. And being unable to ascend into heaven to worship, raise your hand to your head (because the head means heaven) and say: ‘Just as the angels glorify the Holy Trinity in heaven, so do I, as a servant glorify and worship the Holy Trinity. And as the fingers are three separate, and are together, so is the Holy Trinity three persons but one God.’ Lowering your hand to your stomach, say: ‘I worship you and adore you, my Lord, because you condescended and took on flesh in the womb of the Theotokos for my sins.’ Place your hand on your right shoulder and say: ‘I beg you, my God, to forgive me and to put me on your right with the just.’ Placing your hand again on your left shoulder say: ‘I beg you, my Lord, do not put me on the left with the sinners.’ This is what the Cross means.”
Saint Kosmas Aitolos offered the faithful this explanation of the symbolism contained in the sign of the Cross. Although as St Paul writes, we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, the Cross is our symbol of victory as it was through His Cross and voluntary death that the devil and death was destroyed. It is for this reason that holy men and women throughout the centuries have not only venerated the Cross of Christ, but also sealed themselves and blessed one another through the sign of the Cross.
As early as 200 AD, Tertullian, a priest in Rome writes of the ancient practice and significance of sealing oneself with the sign of the Cross. “At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign of the Cross.” In 348 AD, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, mentions the importance of the faithful making the sign of the Cross. “Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act” (Lecture IV.14).
In more recent years, Elder Cleopa of Romania reminded the faithful: “Satan hates the Cross for it is Christ’s invincible weapon through which Hades has been vanquished and “swallowed up” and the deceived [are led] to the truth. Satan counsels his followers to blaspheme and to spurn the Cross of Christ for by it his dominion has been overthrown and his power crushed.”
This power is testified to in the life of Saint Anthony, the founder of monasticism. “We, calling on the name of Christ crucified, chase away all demons… where the sign of the Cross occurs, magic is weakened and sorcery has no effect.” (Life of Anthony, Chapter 78) When faced with demonic apparitions, he tells his disciples to: “Sign yourselves and your dwelling. And pray, and you will watch even as they become invisible. The truth is, they are cowards, and they are utterly terrified by the sign of the Lord’s Cross” (Life of Anthony, Chapter 35).
If the power of the Cross can weaken and or drive away evil, we should then as St. Ephraim of Syria suggests, “Mark all your actions with the sign of the life-giving Cross. Do not go out from the door of your house till you have signed yourself with the Cross. Do not neglect that sign whether in eating or drinking or going to sleep, or in the home or going on a journey. There is no habit to be compared with it. Let it be a protecting wall round all your conduct, and teach it to your children that they may earnestly learn the custom.”
When contemplating the sheer power of the sign of the Cross, Bishop Nikolai explains: “The mysterious power of the Cross, however inexplicable, is true and indisputable. The sign of the cross has been the most powerful weapon against great temptation from demons, from the early ascetics down to the present day.” Likewise, St. John of Kronstadt writes:
It passes understanding how Jesus Christ unites himself to the sign of the cross, giving it the wonderful power of driving out vices and driving away demons, and of calming the troubled soul. And in order that the unbelieving heart should not think that the sign of the cross and the name of Christ act miraculously by themselves, apart from, and independently of, Christ himself, this same cross and name perform no miracles, unless and until I see Jesus Christ with the eyes of my heart – that is, by faith – and believe with my whole heart all that he has accomplished for our salvation.
To seal ourselves with the Cross, Elder Cleopa directs us to:
…unite the three fingers (thumb and two closest fingers) of the right hand and bring them to our forehead saying “In the name of the Father,” honoring God the Father, the Master of all. Next, in the mid to the lower section of the chest we say, “and of the Son,” which denotes the descent of the Son of God to earth via His conception and gestation in the spotless womb of the Theotokos for our salvation. Afterward we place our hand on our right shoulder [and finish by crossing over to our left] saying, “and of the Holy Spirit,” which expresses our reconciliation and unification with God via the grace of the Holy Spirit.
When we make this sign of the Cross, St. John reminds us to “…believe and constantly remember that your sins are nailed to the cross. When you fall into sin, at once judge yourself sincerely, and make the sign of the cross upon yourself, saying, Lord, You that nailed our sins to the cross, nail also this my sin to your cross, and have mercy on me after your great goodness, and you will be cleansed from your sin.” Realizing
We are not however just to bless ourselves with the Cross of Christ. By God’s Grace, we bless one another as well. When the priest blesses the faithful for instance, it is ultimately not the priest who is blessing but Christ. His five fingers, express the very name Jesus Christ, which is why St. John would teach that, “Our Lord is present in the priest’s blessing by the sign of the cross, for in this sign he himself appears and blesses.”
Each of you has the right and dare I say obligation to bless one another as well. Although we may not be familiar with this custom, St. Theodoret writes:
“This is how to bless someone with your hand and make the sign of the cross over them. Hold three fingers, as equals, together, to represent the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These are not three gods, but one God in Trinity. The names are separate, but the divinity one. The Father was never incarnate; the Son incarnate, but not created; the Holy Spirit neither incarnate nor created, but issued from the Godhead: three in a single divinity. Divinity is one force and has one honor. They receive one obeisance from all creation, both angels and people. This is the decree for those three fingers. You should hold the other two fingers slightly bent, not completely straight. This is because these represent the dual nature of Christ, divine and man. God in His divinity, and manhood in His incarnation, yet perfect in both. The upper finger represents divinity, and the lower His manhood; this way salvation goes from the higher finger to the lower. So is the bending of the fingers interpreted, for the worship of Heaven comes down for our salvation. This is how you must cross yourselves and give a blessing, as the holy fathers have commanded.”
I close with the most poetic and theologically sound admonition of St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
The Cross is – the resurrection of the dead.
The Cross is – the hope of Christians.
The Cross is – the staff of the lame.
The Cross is – the consolation of the poor.
The Cross is – the dethronement of the proud.
The Cross is – the hope of the hopeless.
The Cross is – the helm of those who sail.
The Cross is – the harbor of the storm-tossed.
The Cross is – the father of orphans.
The Cross is – the comfort of the afflicted.
The Cross is – the protector of the youth.
The Cross is – the glory of men.
The Cross is – the crown of the aged.
The Cross is – the purity of virgins.
The Cross is – the bread of the hungry and the fountain of mercy.
…Therefore, let us make the sign of the Life-Giving Cross on our forehead, lips and breast…Let us not leave the Cross even for one hour, even for one moment, and let us not do anything without it, but whether we are going to sleep, or getting up; whether we are eating or drinking, whether we are traveling on land, sailing the sea, or crossing rivers, we should adorn all the members of our body with the sign of the Life-Giving Cross.”
Marci 02/23
One of your best yet Father Christopher. But can you please explain why the Western Church crosses from the left to the right? Especially if we are asking God to put us on his right.
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Marci 02/23
OOPS, HIS refering to God in the above post, should have been capitalized.
SLT-A65 11/17
Igazából a tervek szerint megvitatják a blogbejegyzést hihetetlenül realisztikus. Én opt hallani valami teljesen új, ezzel miatt igazán biztosítja az azonos oldalon belül a United államokba ebben a kérdésben, így ebben a konkrét segítséget? S mindenkit sok. Tudtam, hogy jól nézz körül a témát, valamint észrevette, nagy számos blog, de ellentétben a. Köszönjük, hogy feltárja oly sok benne a honlapon.