The ritual of immersion in water, washing with water, purification.

The rite of baptism was not established by John the Baptist, as many people think. This is an ancient Jewish rite, which was established by the Lord God Himself through Moses.

Pay attention to the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus:

“Among the Pharisees there was a certain man named Nicodemus, [one of] the leaders of the Jews.
He came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi! we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do such miracles as You do unless God is with him.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother’s womb another time and be born?
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again.
The Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes: this is what happens to everyone born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered Him: How can this be?
Jesus answered and said to him, “You are a teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” (John 3:1-10)

We see:
1) Nicodemus was a prominent, literate man, a Pharisee, a teacher, and an expert in the laws.
2) Nicodemus does not react in any way to the words of Jesus “no one is born of water,” but begins to argue about the instruction to be born of the Spirit.

It is obvious that the Pharisees understood the meaning of water baptism, which John the Baptist offered. They were very conservative people (religious fanatics) and would never perform a ritual that was not described in the Law of Moses or in the commentaries on it.

And this is what it all meant:

"According to the Torah, when a person was ritually defiled, he had to immerse himself in water as part of his purification (see Leviticus 15:16). By definition, Gentiles were defiled, and if they wanted to become Jewish proselytes, they had to undergo baptism. When a person does this, he or she is legally the same as a newborn child! Whatever the person did before converting to Judaism was not taken into account, and the son born after his conversion was considered. In other words, from the point of view of rabbinic halakha, this is a kind of twilah (washing), making a person like a newborn child, that is, born again, John the Baptist preached that not only the Gentiles, but also the Jews, are defiled - defiled by sin - and therefore. need twil. This is what Jesus was talking about.

Book of Leviticus, chapter 15:

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
2. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: If anyone has a discharge from his body, then because of his discharge he is unclean.
3. And this is the law regarding his uncleanness from his issue: when his issue flows out of his body, and when his issue is retained in his body, this is his uncleanness;
4. Every bed on which he who has a discharge lies is unclean, and every thing on which he sits is unclean;
5. And whoever touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening;
6. Whoever sits on any thing on which someone with a discharge has sat must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening;
7. And whoever touches the body of one who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening;
8. If he who has a discharge spits on a clean person, then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening;
9. And every cart in which he that had a discharge rode shall be unclean until the evening;
10. And whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until the evening; and whoever carries it must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening;
11. And anyone who has a discharge touches him without washing his hands in water must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening;
12. An earthen vessel that is touched by one with a discharge must be broken, and every wooden vessel must be washed with water.
13. And when he who has an issue is freed from his issue, then he must count seven days for himself for his cleansing and wash his clothes and wash his body with living water, and he will be clean;
14 And on the eighth day he will take for himself two turtle doves or two young doves, and will come before the Lord to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and will give them to the priest;
15. And the priest shall offer one of these birds, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make an atonement for it before the Lord for the issue thereof.
16. If anyone has an outpouring of semen, he must wash his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until the evening;
17. And every garment and every skin on which the seed falls shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until the evening;
18. If a man lies with a woman and he has an emission of semen, then they must wash themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.
19. If a woman has an issue of blood flowing from her body, then she must sit for seven days during her purification, and whoever touches her will be unclean until the evening;
20. And everything on which she lies to continue her purification is unclean; and whatever he sits on is unclean;
21. And whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening;
22. And whoever touches any thing on which she sat must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and he will be unclean until the evening;
23. And if anyone touches anything on the bed or on the thing on which she was sitting, he will be unclean until the evening;
24. If her husband sleeps with her, her uncleanness will be on him; he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed on which he lies will be unclean.
25. If a woman bleeds for many days not during her cleansing, or if she has a flow longer than her usual cleansing, then during the entire flow of her uncleanness, just as during the continuation of her cleansing, she is unclean;
26. Every bed on which she lies during the entire period of her expiration will be unclean, just like the bed during her purification; and every thing on which she sits will be unclean, just as it was unclean at the time of her cleansing;
27. And whoever touches them will be unclean, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and will be unclean until the evening.
28. And when she is freed from her discharge, then she must count out seven days for herself, and then she will be clean;
29. On the eighth day she will take for herself two turtle doves or two young doves and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting;
30. And the priest shall offer one of the birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall cleanse it before the Lord from the issue of its uncleanness.
31. So protect the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness, desecrating My habitation, which is among them:
32. This is the law about the one who has an issue and about the one who has an outpouring of semen, making him unclean,
33. And about the one who suffers from her purification, and about those who have a discharge, man or woman, and about the husband who sleeps with an unclean woman.

Based on materials from http://www.bible.com.

Valentina Kirikova

What does the history of the sign of the cross indicate?

Few even among the church-going Christians know what story sign of the cross. How were believers baptized in ancient times? How did this tradition develop?

Sign of the Cross, with which we overshadow ourselves was not always exactly the same as it is now. Already in the first century, when Christian communities were led by the apostles and their disciples, the basic elements of rituals were formed, which later received their development and further understanding. At the beginning of the 3rd century. Church teacher Tertullian wrote this: “Traveling and moving, entering and leaving a room, putting on shoes, taking a bath, at the table, lighting candles, lying down, sitting down - in everything we do, we must mark our forehead with a cross.”. Discouraging a Christian woman from marrying a pagan, he exhorts: “Can you secretly baptize your bed and your body?” These and similar references and written evidence shed light on the beginning history of the sign of the cross. There are no disputes on this topic in the monuments of ancient Christian writing. This suggests that the custom of overshadowing oneself with a sign and baptizing something was already widespread among Christians of that time, and is part of the Holy Tradition of the Church.

How exactly were they baptized in the ancient Church? Hieromartyr Hippolytus of Rome wrote in the 3rd century: “Always try to humbly sign the sign of the cross on your forehead.” At that time, Christians crossed their foreheads with one finger of their right hand. Around the 4th century. they began to make the sign of a wide cross over their entire body, as they do now. From the 9th century Orthodox Christians began to put two fingers together to emphasize their non-involvement in the widespread heresy of the Monophysites, who denied the second - human - nature in Christ and crossed themselves with one finger. For a similar motive, from the end of the 13th century. Eastern Orthodox Churches adopted three-fingeredness in order to distance themselves now from the heresy of Nestorianism (which in its own way interprets double-fingeredness) and to emphasize the main dogma of Christianity - faith in the One God, worshiped in Three Persons and the union of two natures in Christ (divine and human), which they remind two fingers bent to the palm. That's it in a nutshell history of the sign of the cross in the Orthodox Eastern Churches.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, which accepted faith from the Church of Constantinople, double-fingering persisted longer than in the Orthodox East. History of the Sign of the Cross in Rus' has a sad page. Started by Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century. reforms related to the urgent need to correct liturgical texts, as well as to bring ritual features into agreement with the practice of the Eastern Churches, provoked a church schism. As a result, the schismatic Old Believers who fell away from the Church retained two fingers, and the rest of the Orthodox since then began to cross themselves with three fingers.

Regarding history of the sign of the cross in the Western Church, then they used to be baptized there in almost the same way as in the Orthodox East. But after church schism 1054, Catholics' practice of making the sign of the cross began to gradually change. As a result, they came to the conclusion that, unlike the Orthodox, they began to cross themselves with all five and in the other direction - from left to right. At first, such a gesture was not considered obligatory, but since the 16th century it was approved by official documents of the Roman Curia. In the Catholic Church, baptism with all five fingers of the palm symbolizes the five wounds that Christ received during the crucifixion. This special attention to the wounds of Christ reflects the general prayer practice of modern Catholicism, alien to Orthodoxy, in which great value is given to focusing on the passion (suffering) of Jesus.

So here it is history of the sign of the cross illustrates the history of theological disputes related to understanding who the God-man Jesus Christ Himself is.

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

When people first come to church, the text of the services seems completely incomprehensible to them. “You catechumens, come forth,” the priest shouts. Who does he mean? Where to go? Where did this name even come from? Answers to these questions must be sought in the history of the Church.

On the issue of the sign of the cross

Recently, during the recording of one of the children's programs, they examined where the custom of imposing the sign of the cross on oneself came from. I wanted to write here then, but everything has already been said and much better)

Question:

Please tell us about the history of the sign of the cross on early stage Christianity. As I understand it, neither Christ nor the apostles made the sign of the cross. When did this tradition begin? When and why did the difference appear in the direction of the cross: from the right shoulder to the left and from the left to the right. Which sign of the cross is the oldest?

Priest Afanasy Gumerov answers:

We do not have liturgical texts of Christians of the apostolic age. Therefore, we cannot unambiguously resolve the issue of the use of the sign of the cross in the primal Church. Ignorance does not give us reason to deny the possibility of the appearance of the sign of the cross in the earliest Christian communities. Some researchers speak about this quite definitely: “The custom of making cr. I know originates from the times of the apostles" (Complete Orthodox Theological Theological Encyclopedia, St. Petersburg. Published by P.P. Soykin, b.g., p. 1485). During Tertullian's time, the sign of the cross had already deeply entered the lives of Christians of his day. In the treatise “On the Warrior's Crown” (about 211), he writes that we protect our forehead with the sign of the cross in all circumstances of life: entering and leaving the house, dressing, lighting lamps, going to bed, sitting down for any activity .

The sign of the cross is not just part of a religious ritual. First of all, it is a great weapon. The Patericon, Patericon and Lives of Saints contain many examples testifying to the real spiritual power that the image of the cross possesses. Did the divinely enlightened apostles really not know about this? We find interesting evidence in the “Spiritual Meadow” of Blessed. John Mosch. When the presbyter of the monastery of Pentukla Konon left the monastery, he was met by St. John the Baptist, who meekly told him: “Return to the monastery, and I will deliver you from the battle.” Avva Konon refused. Then St. John sat him on one of the hills and, opening his clothes, made the sign of the cross over him three times” (chapter 3). The Great Forerunner John is a celestial being. How could he have learned to make the sign of the cross from people? The above story indirectly indicates that the image of the cross has been used since the beginning of Christianity. Let me give you one more idea. St. John of Damascus writes about the Cross: “It was given to us as a sign on our foreheads, like circumcision to Israel” (An exact statement of the Orthodox faith, book 4, chapter XI). Given by whom? By God. Just as the Lord gave circumcision through Abraham (Gen. 17:10), so, apparently, He gave the sign of the cross through the apostles.

How and when did two different traditions in performing the sign of the cross arise? Due to the lack of historical data, it is impossible to answer. Orthodox Christians, making the sign of the blessing, move their hand from the right shoulder to the left. If an Orthodox person overshadows another person or space in front of him, then the hand moves from left to right. Catholics perform the signum crucis from left to right, and the space in front of them from right to left. There is no dogmatic teaching behind these features. Perhaps, during the formation of these traditions, differences in ideological orientations emerged. In the consciousness and life of a Western person, the individual-personal principle is more clearly manifested than in an Eastern person. The worldview of a Western person is anthropocentric, while that of an Orthodox person is theocentric. In the Orthodox tradition, when making the sign of the cross, the idea is expressed that the person praying does not overshadow himself, but receives this spiritual seal from God (from the outside). The Western Christian overshadows himself by calling on the name of God.

Here's an interesting study:

Sign of the Cross- is a ritual (visible expression of our faith). By doing it we confess our faith in Jesus Christ crucified for us. The veneration of the cross has been established since ancient times. Tertullian: “with every action... when we take on any task that we usually do, we imprint on our forehead a small sign of the cross.” However, the resolutions of the councils related to the very making of the sign of the cross, and did not indicate how the fingers should be folded when making it commission.

The sign of the cross in the ancient church was not clearly and uniformly established. Initially, only the forehead was baptized, as the above quotation from Tertullian indicates. There were several traditions of adding crosses: 1) folding fingers in any way when making the sign of the cross (this practice still remains in Catholicism) 2) making the sign of the cross with one finger - the index finger, thereby expressing the dogma of monotheism. (this practice remained in the ancient Coptic (African) church) 3) two - like the Old Believers, expressing faith in the two natures of Jesus Christ. 4) three, gathered together in confession of the Holy Trinity.

There is evidence in the sixth-century Syriac Codex Rabbula*, which contains miniatures depicting both the two- and three-fingered fingers. The three-fingered addition is also known in the miniature of the “Vienna Bible” of the 5th - 6th centuries. “The first three are extended upward, and the two crooked fingers are bent to the palm.”

They did not appear spontaneously and obviously have a basis. Thus, one-fingered and three-fingered people appear from the First Ecumenical Council, when the dogma of a single divine essence and trinity in persons was revealed. Double-fingering appears after the fourth ecumenical council, when the dogma of two natures in Christ was expressed.

Tripodism was first mentioned in the Western Undivided Church. Pope Leo the Fourth (847 - 855) says “Mark the cup with the correct cross, clasping two fingers and bending the thumb inward, with which the Trinity is depicted.” Vinogradov interprets it as two fingers. And then the future Pope Innocent III (12th century): “The sign of the cross should be depicted with three fingers, so that it descends from top to bottom and passes from the right side to the left.” In the Latin Church, double-fingering also existed - it originated not from Christological disputes, but from a practice borrowed from the pagans: among the Romans there was an oratorical sign of attention, by showing which the speaker began his speech. For this reason, K. Panagiot will later reproach the Latins: “because they do not bend three fingers for the sign of the cross, as the Greeks do, but make the cross with both fingers.”

In the East, many practices existed at the same time, as a rule, they appeared in response to dogmatic disputes, and served as a ritual expression of teaching according to the gesture, as shown above.

Evidence of two fingers in the east is as ancient as three fingers - according to Elijah (Damascus), the Nestorian Metropolitan, ordained in 893, two fingers are mentioned from use among the Nestorians.

“When the Nestorians and Melchites depict a cross with two fingers from the right side to the left, they show that on the cross humanity and divinity were united together.” Here two fingers mean two natures in Christ, just as it does now among the Old Believers. However, initially this spoke of the unity of two natures (for there are two fingers and one hand), and the Nestorians reinterpreted it as their visible separation. At the same time, triplicity also existed, as Konstantin Panagiot narrates.

Later there was a displacement of different practices in different traditions. This is how the Monophysites practiced single-fingered fingers and all other types were supplanted by them. The Nestorians mainly practiced two-fingered fingers. Orthodox Christians living among heretics were not baptized, since heretics were for polemical purposes and for visible difference from them. This is how the process of unification of the banner of the cross took place in churches.

The Russian Orthodox Church received from the Byzantine (Greek) tradition both two and three fingers, since they existed simultaneously in the Greek Church at that time.

Over time, by the 16th century, with the strengthening of ritualism and the decline of education (Byzantium was in decline, under the Turks), the importance of ritual began to be placed above confession. During this period, in Russia, triplicate was displaced as Latin, while in Greece, duality was displaced as Nestorian.

The Council of the Hundred Heads, out of ignorance, canonized double-fingering, pronouncing the anathema “if anyone is not baptized with two fingers, like Christ, let him be anathema.” Later, the anathema was canceled by the council of 1666.

Patriarch Nikon tried to harmonize the practices of the Russian and Greek Churches. A controversy began. The Old Believers pointed to existing images - icons, miniatures, where there were saints making the sign of the cross with two fingers. Theodorite's word was corrected by them in favor of two fingers.

On the other hand, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church pointed to other images of the three-fingered sign of the cross, of which there were also many. Since then there was nothing worse than calling a person a Catholic, both sides successfully argued that the practice of their opponents was Catholic. The solution to this misunderstanding is simple - both practices existed in Catholicism at the same time.

The Old Believers rejected the rituals and grace of the church hierarchy, and came to Protestantism

The Old Believers were excommunicated from the church for their disobedience to the hierarchy.

Currently, anathemas on old rituals have been lifted and they are recognized as equally saving.

List of additional literature on this issue.

1. Barsov N. “How the saint taught about the banner of the cross.” Job" St. Petersburg. 1890

2. Vinogradov N. “Theodorite’s Word” M 1866.

3. Vishnevsky In “On the folding of fingers for the banner of the cross” b.m. 1861

4. Zubarev E. “The Apostolic Tradition of the Banner of the Cross” Kostroma 1910.

5. Kutepov N “On making the sign of the cross” Novocherkassk 1910

6. Nikanor, Archbishop of Odessa. “On making the sign of the cross.” St. Petersburg, 1890

7. “Collection of various evidence in favor of double fingers” b.m b.g

8. “Testimony of the antiquity of the naming and triplicate fingers.” M.1884

9. Smirnov P “On making the sign of the cross” St. Petersburg. 1891

10. Cheltsov M. “Opinions of our scientists on the issue of new church-historical evidence of the antiquity of double fingers.” St. Petersburg 1900

We all know very well what an exceptional role the sign of the cross plays in the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian. Every day, during morning and evening prayers, during worship and before eating food, before the beginning of the teaching and at its end, we impose on ourselves the sign of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of Christ. And this is not accidental, because in Christianity there is no more ancient custom than the sign of the cross, i.e. overshadowing oneself with the sign of the cross. At the end of the third century, the famous Carthaginian church teacher Tertullian wrote: “When traveling and moving, entering and leaving a room, putting on shoes, taking a bath, at the table, lighting candles, lying down, sitting down, in everything we do - we must mark our forehead with a cross.”. A century after Tertullian, St. John Chrysostom wrote the following: “Never leave home without crossing yourself”.

As we see, the sign of the cross has come to us from time immemorial, and without it our daily worship of God is unthinkable. However, if we are honest with ourselves, it will become absolutely obvious that quite often we make the sign of the cross out of habit, mechanically, without thinking about the meaning of this great Christian symbol. I believe that a short historical and liturgical excursion will allow all of us subsequently to more consciously, thoughtfully and reverently apply the sign of the cross to ourselves.

So what does the sign of the cross symbolize and under what circumstances did it arise? The sign of the cross, which has become part of our daily life, arose quite late, and entered the liturgical life of the Russian Orthodox Church only in the 17th century, during the well-known reforms of Patriarch Nikon. In the Ancient Church, only the forehead was marked with a cross. Describing the liturgical life of the Roman Church in the 3rd century, Hieromartyr Hippolytus of Rome writes: “Always try to humbly sign the sign of the cross on your forehead”. The use of one finger in the sign of the cross is then spoken about by: St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus, church historian Sozomen, St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, St. John Moschos and in the first quarter of the 8th century Reverend Andrew Cretan. According to the conclusions of most modern researchers, marking the forehead (or face) with a cross arose during the time of the apostles and their successors. Moreover, this may seem incredible to you, but the appearance of the sign of the cross in the Christian Church was significantly influenced by Judaism. A fairly serious and competent study of this issue was carried out by the modern French theologian Jean Danielou. You all remember very well the Council in Jerusalem described in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which took place approximately in the 50th year of the Nativity of Christ. The main question that the apostles considered at the Council concerned the method of accepting into the Christian Church those people who had been converted from paganism. The essence of the problem was rooted in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ preached among the Jewish chosen people of God, for whom, even after the acceptance of the Gospel Message, all the religious and ritual instructions of the Old Testament remained binding. When the apostolic preaching reached the European continent and the early Christian Church began to be filled with newly converted Greeks and representatives of other nations, the question of the form of their acceptance quite naturally arose. First of all, this question concerned circumcision, i.e. necessity for converted Gentiles to accept first Old Testament and be circumcised, and only after that receive the Sacrament of Baptism. The Apostolic Council resolved this dispute with a very wise decision: for Jews, the Old Testament Law and circumcision remained mandatory, but for pagan Christians, Jewish ritual regulations were abolished. By virtue of this decree of the Apostolic Council, in the first centuries there were two most important traditions in the Christian Church: Judeo-Christian and linguistic-Christian. Thus, the Apostle Paul, who constantly emphasized that in Christ “there is neither Greek nor Jew,” remained deeply attached to his people, to his homeland, to Israel. Let us remember how he speaks about the election of the unbelievers: God chose them in order to awaken zeal in Israel, so that Israel would recognize in the person of Jesus the Messiah they were waiting for. Let us also remember that after the death and Resurrection of the Savior, the apostles regularly gathered in the Jerusalem Temple, and they always began their preaching outside Palestine from the synagogue. In this context, it becomes clear why the Jewish religion could have a certain influence on the development of external forms of worship of the young early Christian Church.

So, returning to the question of the origin of the custom of making the sign of the cross, we note that in the Jewish synagogue worship of the times of Christ and the apostles there was a ritual of inscribing the name of God on the forehead. What is this? The book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 9:4) speaks of a symbolic vision of a catastrophe that should befall a certain city. However, this destruction will not affect pious people, on whose foreheads the angel of the Lord will depict a certain sign. This is described in the following words: “And the Lord said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and on the foreheads people who are grieving, sighing over all the abominations that are being committed in their midst, make sign» . Following the prophet Ezekiel, the same mark of the name of God on the forehead is mentioned in the book of Revelation of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. Thus, in Rev. 14.1 says: “And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty-four thousand, who had Name His Father is written on the foreheads» . Elsewhere (Rev. 22.3-4) the following is said about the life of the future age: “And nothing will be cursed anymore; but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him. And they will see His face, and Name It will be on the foreheads their".

What is the name of God and how can it be depicted on the forehead? According to ancient Jewish tradition, the name of God was symbolically imprinted by the first and last letters of the Jewish alphabet, which were “alef” and “tav.” This meant that God is Infinite and Almighty, Omnipresent and Eternal. He is the completeness of all conceivable perfections. Since a person can describe the world around him with the help of words, and words consist of letters, the first and final letters of the alphabet in the writing of the name of God indicate that He contains the fullness of being, He embraces everything that can be described in human language. By the way, the symbolic inscription of the name of God using the first and last letters of the alphabet is also found in Christianity. Remember, in the book of the Apocalypse, the Lord says about himself: “I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.” Since the Apocalypse was originally written in Greek, it became obvious to the reader that the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet in the description of the name of God testify to the fullness of Divine perfections. Often we can see iconographic images of Christ, in whose hands is an open book with the inscription of only two letters: alpha and omega.

According to the passage from Ezekiel's prophecy quoted above, the elect will have the name of God inscribed on their foreheads, which is associated with the letters "aleph" and "tav." The meaning of this inscription is symbolic - a person who has the name of God on his forehead has completely given himself to God, dedicated himself to Him and lives according to the Law of God. Only such a person is worthy of salvation. Wanting to outwardly demonstrate their devotion to God, the Jews of Christ’s time already inscribed the letters “aleph” and “tav” on their foreheads. Over time, in order to simplify this symbolic action, they began to depict only the letter “tav”. It is quite remarkable that the study of manuscripts of that era showed that in Jewish writing at the turn of the era, the capital “tav” had the shape of a small cross. This small cross meant the name of God. In fact, for a Christian of that era, the image of a cross on his forehead meant, as in Judaism, dedicating his entire life to God. Moreover, placing a cross on the forehead was no longer reminiscent of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but rather the sacrifice of the Savior on the cross. When the Christian Church finally freed itself from Jewish influence, then the understanding of the sign of the cross as an image of the name of God through the letter “tav” was lost. The main semantic emphasis was placed on the display of the Cross of Christ. Having forgotten about the first meaning, Christians of later eras filled the sign of the Cross with new meaning and content.

Around the 4th century, Christians began to cross their entire body, i.e. the “wide cross” we know appeared. However, the imposition of the sign of the cross at this time still remained single-finger. Moreover, by the 4th century, Christians began to sign the cross not only on themselves, but also on surrounding objects. Thus, a contemporary of this era, the Monk Ephraim the Syrian writes: “The life-giving cross overshadows our houses, our doors, our lips, our breasts, all our members. You, Christians, do not leave this cross at any time, at any hour; may he be with you in all places. Do nothing without the cross; whether you go to bed or get up, work or rest, eat or drink, travel on land or sail on the sea - constantly adorn all your members with this life-giving cross.”.

In the 9th century, single-fingered fingers gradually began to be replaced by double-fingered fingers, which was due to the widespread spread of the heresy of Monophysitism in the Middle East and Egypt. When the heresy of the Monophysites appeared, it took advantage of the hitherto used form of finger formation - one-finger - to propagate its teachings, since it saw in one-finger a symbolic expression of its teaching about one nature in Christ. Then the Orthodox, contrary to the Monophysites, began to use two fingers in the sign of the cross, as a symbolic expression of the Orthodox teaching about two natures in Christ. It so happened that the one-fingered sign of the cross began to serve as an external, visual sign of Monophysitism, and the two-fingered sign of Orthodoxy. Thus, the Church again inserted deep doctrinal truths into the external forms of worship.

An earlier and very important evidence of the use of double fingers by the Greeks belongs to the Nestorian Metropolitan Elijah Geveri, who lived at the end of the 9th century. Wanting to reconcile the Monophysites with the Orthodox and the Nestorians, he wrote that the latter disagreed with the Monophysites in the depiction of the cross. Namely, some depict the sign of the cross with one finger, leading the hand from left to right; others with two fingers, leading, on the contrary, from right to left. Monophysites, crossing themselves with one finger from left to right, emphasize that they believe in one Christ. Nestorians and Orthodox Christians, depicting the cross in a sign with two fingers - from right to left, thereby profess their belief that on the cross humanity and divinity were united together, that this was the reason for our salvation.

In addition to Metropolitan Elijah Geveri, the well-known Venerable John of Damascus also wrote about double-fingering in his monumental systematization of Christian doctrine, known as “An Accurate Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.”

Around the 12th century, in the Greek-speaking Local Orthodox Churches (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus), two-fingered was replaced by three-fingered. The reason for this was seen as follows. Since by the 12th century the struggle with the Monophysites had already ended, double-fingering lost its demonstrative and polemical character. However, double-fingering made Orthodox Christians related to the Nestorians, who also used double-fingering. Wanting to make a change in the external form of their worship of God, the Orthodox Greeks began to sign themselves with the three-fingered sign of the cross, thereby emphasizing their veneration Holy Trinity. In Rus', as already noted, triplicate was introduced in the 17th century during the reforms of Patriarch Nikon.

Thus, to summarize this message, it can be noted that the sign of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord is not only the oldest, but also one of the most important Christian symbols. It requires a deep, thoughtful, and reverent attitude from us. Centuries ago, John Chrysostom admonished us to think about this with these words: “You must not just draw a cross with your fingers,” he wrote. “You have to do it in faith.”

REFERENCES USED:

1. Jean Daniel. Theology of Judeo-Christianity // Symbol. 1983. No. 9. P. 15-32.

2. Kapterev N.F. Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. St. Petersburg, 1995.

3. N. E. Pestov. Consecration of the situation. “...Your camp must be holy” (Deut. 23:14). M., 1998.

4. Skaballanovich Mikhail. Explanatory Typikon. M., 2004.

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We all know very well what an exceptional role the sign of the cross plays in the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian. Every day, during morning and evening prayers, during worship and before eating food, before the beginning of teaching and at its end, we place on ourselves the sign of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of Christ. And this is not accidental, because in Christianity there is no more ancient custom than the sign of the cross, i.e. overshadowing oneself with the sign of the cross. At the end of the third century, the famous Carthaginian church teacher Tertullian wrote: “When traveling and moving, entering and leaving a room, putting on shoes, taking a bath, at the table, lighting candles, lying down, sitting down, in everything we do - we must overshadow your forehead with a cross.” A century after Tertullian, St. John Chrysostom wrote the following: “Never leave home without crossing yourself.”

So what does the sign of the cross symbolize and under what circumstances did it arise? The sign of the cross, which has become part of our daily life, arose quite late, and entered the liturgical life of the Russian Orthodox Church only in the 17th century, during the well-known reforms of Patriarch Nikon. In the Ancient Church, only the forehead was marked with a cross. Describing the liturgical life of the Roman Church in the 3rd century, Hieromartyr Hippolytus of Rome writes: “Always try to humbly sign the sign of the cross on your forehead.” The use of one finger in the sign of the cross is then spoken about by: St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus, church historian Sozomen, St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, St. John Moschos, and in the first quarter of the 8th century, St. Andrew of Crete. According to the conclusions of most modern researchers, marking the forehead (or face) with a cross arose during the time of the apostles and their successors. Moreover, this may seem incredible to you, but the appearance of the sign of the cross in the Christian Church was significantly influenced by Judaism. A fairly serious and competent study of this issue was carried out by the modern French theologian Jean Danielou. You all remember very well the Council in Jerusalem described in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which took place approximately in the 50th year of the Nativity of Christ. The main question that the apostles considered at the Council concerned the method of accepting into the Christian Church those people who had been converted from paganism. The essence of the problem was rooted in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ preached his sermon among the Jewish chosen people of God, for whom even after acceptance of the Gospel Message, all religious and ritual prescriptions of the Old Testament remained binding. When the apostolic preaching reached the European continent and the early Christian Church began to be filled with newly converted Greeks and representatives of other nations, the question of the form of their acceptance quite naturally arose. First of all, this question concerned circumcision, i.e. the need for converted pagans to first accept the Old Testament and be circumcised, and only after that accept the Sacrament of Baptism. The Apostolic Council resolved this dispute with a very wise decision: for Jews, the Old Testament Law and circumcision remained mandatory, but for pagan Christians, Jewish ritual regulations were abolished. By virtue of this decree of the Apostolic Council, in the first centuries there were two most important traditions in the Christian Church: Judeo-Christian and linguistic-Christian. Thus, the Apostle Paul, who constantly emphasized that in Christ “there is neither Greek nor Jew,” remained deeply attached to his people, to his homeland, to Israel. Let us remember how he speaks about the election of the unbelievers: God chose them in order to awaken zeal in Israel, so that Israel would recognize in the person of Jesus the Messiah they were waiting for. Let us also remember that after the death and Resurrection of the Savior, the apostles regularly gathered in the Jerusalem Temple, and they always began their preaching outside Palestine from the synagogue. In this context, it becomes clear why the Jewish religion could have a certain influence on the development of external forms of worship of the young early Christian Church.

So, returning to the question of the origin of the custom of making the sign of the cross, we note that in the Jewish synagogue worship of the times of Christ and the apostles there was a ritual of inscribing the name of God on the forehead. What is this? The book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 9:4) speaks of a symbolic vision of a catastrophe that should befall a certain city. However, this destruction will not affect pious people, on whose foreheads the angel of the Lord will depict a certain sign. This is described in the following words: “And the Lord said to him: go through the middle of the city, in the middle of Jerusalem, and make a sign on the foreheads of the mourning people, who sigh over all the abominations that are being committed in its midst.” Following the prophet Ezekiel, the same mark of the name of God on the forehead is mentioned in the book of Revelation of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. Thus, in Rev. 14.1 says: “And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Elsewhere (Rev. 22.3-4) the following is said about the life of the next century: “And nothing will be cursed any more; but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him. And they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

According to the passage from Ezekiel's prophecy quoted above, the elect will have the name of God inscribed on their foreheads, which is associated with the letters "aleph" and "tav." The meaning of this inscription is symbolic - a person who has the name of God on his forehead has completely given himself to God, dedicated himself to Him and lives according to the Law of God. Only such a person is worthy of salvation. Wanting to outwardly demonstrate their devotion to God, the Jews of the time of Christ already inscribed the letters “alef” and “tav” on their foreheads. Over time, in order to simplify this symbolic action, they began to depict only the letter “tav”. It is quite remarkable that the study of manuscripts of that era showed that in Jewish writing at the turn of the era, the capital “tav” had the shape of a small cross. This small cross meant the name of God. In fact, for a Christian of that era, the image of a cross on his forehead meant, as in Judaism, dedicating his entire life to God. Moreover, placing a cross on the forehead was no longer reminiscent of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but rather the sacrifice of the Savior on the cross. When the Christian Church finally freed itself from Jewish influence, then the understanding of the sign of the cross as an image of the name of God through the letter “tav” was lost. The main semantic emphasis was placed on the display of the Cross of Christ. Having forgotten about the first meaning, Christians of later eras filled the sign of the Cross with new meaning and content.

Around the 4th century, Christians began to sign the cross over their entire body, i.e. the “wide cross” we know appeared. However, the imposition of the sign of the cross at this time still remained single-finger. Moreover, by the 4th century, Christians began to sign the cross not only on themselves, but also on surrounding objects. Thus, a contemporary of this era, the Monk Ephraim the Syrian writes: “The life-giving cross overshadows our houses, our doors, our lips, our breasts, all our members. You, Christians, do not leave this cross at any time, at any hour; may he be with you in all places. Do nothing without the cross; whether you go to bed or get up, work or rest, eat or drink, travel on land or sail on the sea - constantly adorn all your members with this life-giving cross.”

In the 9th century, single-fingered fingers gradually began to be replaced by double-fingered fingers, which was due to the widespread spread of the heresy of Monophysitism in the Middle East and Egypt. When the heresy of the Monophysites appeared, it took advantage of the hitherto used form of finger formation - single-fingered fingers - to propagate its teachings, since it saw in single-fingered fingers a symbolic expression of its teaching about the one nature in Christ. Then the Orthodox, contrary to the Monophysites, began to use two fingers in the sign of the cross, as a symbolic expression of the Orthodox teaching about two natures in Christ. It so happened that the one-fingered sign of the cross began to serve as an external, visual sign of Monophysitism, and the two-fingered sign of Orthodoxy. Thus, the Church again inserted deep doctrinal truths into the external forms of worship.

An earlier and very important evidence of the use of double fingers by the Greeks belongs to the Nestorian Metropolitan Elijah Geveri, who lived at the end of the 9th century. Wanting to reconcile the Monophysites with the Orthodox and the Nestorians, he wrote that the latter disagreed with the Monophysites in the depiction of the cross. Namely, some depict the sign of the cross with one finger, leading the hand from left to right; others with two fingers, leading, on the contrary, from right to left. Monophysites, crossing themselves with one finger from left to right, emphasize that they believe in one Christ. Nestorians and Orthodox Christians, depicting the cross in the sign with two fingers - from right to left, thereby profess their belief that on the cross humanity and divinity were united together, that this was the reason for our salvation.

Around the 12th century, in the Greek-speaking Local Orthodox Churches (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus), two-fingered was replaced by three-fingered. The reason for this was seen as follows. Since by the 12th century the struggle with the Monophysites had already ended, double-fingering lost its demonstrative and polemical character. However, double-fingering made Orthodox Christians related to the Nestorians, who also used double-fingering. Wanting to make a change in the external form of their worship of God, the Orthodox Greeks began to sign themselves with the three-fingered sign of the cross, thereby emphasizing their veneration of the Most Holy Trinity. In Rus', as already noted, triplicate was introduced in the 17th century during the reforms of Patriarch Nikon.

Thus, to summarize this message, it can be noted that the sign of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord is not only the oldest, but also one of the most important Christian symbols. It requires a deep, thoughtful, and reverent attitude from us. Centuries ago, John Chrysostom admonished us to think about this with the following words: “You must not just draw a cross with your fingers,” he wrote. “You have to do it in faith.”

Hegumen PAVEL, candidate of theology, inspector of the Ministry of Education and Science
minds.by

Why not three-fingered?

Usually believers of other faiths, for example, New Believers, ask why Old Believers do not cross themselves with three fingers, like members of other Eastern churches.

To this the Old Believers respond:

Double-fingering was commanded to us by the apostles and fathers of the ancient Church, for which there is a lot of historical evidence. Three fingers is a newly invented ritual, the use of which has no historical justification.

The keeping of two fingers is protected by the church oath, which is contained in the ancient rite of acceptance from heretics by Jacobite and the decrees of the Council of the Hundred Heads in 1551: “If anyone does not blesh with two fingers as Christ did, or does not imagine the sign of the cross, let him be damned.”

The two-fingered sign reflects the true dogma of the Christian Creed - the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, as well as the two natures in Christ - human and Divine. Other types of the sign of the cross do not have such dogmatic content, but the three-fingered sign distorts this content, showing that the Trinity was crucified on the cross. And although the New Believers do not contain the doctrine of the crucifixion of the Trinity, the Holy Fathers categorically prohibited the use of signs and symbols that have heretical and non-Orthodox meaning.

Thus, polemicizing with Catholics, the holy fathers also pointed out that the mere change in the creation of a species, the use of customs similar to heretical ones, is in itself a heresy. Ep. Nikolai Mefonsky wrote, in particular, about unleavened bread: “Whoever consumes unleavened bread is already suspected of communicating with these heresies because of some similarity.” The truth of the dogmatics of two fingers is recognized today, although not publicly, by various New Believer hierarchs and theologians. So oh. Andrey Kuraev in his book “Why the Orthodox are like this” points out: “I consider two-fingered to be a more accurate dogmatic symbol than three-fingered. After all, it was not the Trinity that was crucified, but “one of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God.”

Source: ruvera.ru

So how to be baptized correctly? Compare several photographs presented. They are taken from various open sources.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' and Bishop Anthony of Slutsk and Soligorsk clearly use two fingers. And the rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Healer” in the city of Slutsk, Archpriest Alexander Shklyarevsky and parishioner Boris Kleshchukevich folded three fingers of their right hand.

Probably, the question still remains open and different sources answer it differently. Saint Basil the Great also wrote: “In the Church, everything is in order and in order.” The sign of the cross is a visible evidence of our faith. To find out whether the person in front of you is Orthodox or not, you just need to ask him to cross himself, and by how he does it and whether he does it at all, everything will become clear. And let us remember the Gospel: “He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10).

The sign of the cross is a visible evidence of our faith, so it must be performed carefully and with reverence.

The power of the Sign of the Cross is unusually great. In the Lives of the Saints there are stories about how demonic spells were dispelled after the overshadowing of the Cross. Therefore, those who are baptized carelessly, fussily and inattentively simply please the demons.

How to make the Sign of the Cross correctly?

1) You need to put three fingers of your right hand (thumb, index and middle) together, which symbolizes the three faces of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. By joining these fingers together, we testify to the unity of the Holy Indivisible Trinity.

2) The other two fingers (little finger and ring finger) are bent tightly to the palm, thereby symbolizing the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ: Divine and human.

3) First, folded fingers are placed on the forehead to sanctify the mind; then on the stomach (but not lower) - to sanctify internal abilities (will, mind and feelings); after that - on the right and then on the left shoulder - to sanctify our bodily strength, because the shoulder symbolizes activity (“to lend a shoulder” - to provide assistance).

4) Only after lowering the hand, we perform bow from the waist so as not to “break the Cross”. This is a common mistake - bowing at the same time as the Sign of the Cross. This should not be done.

The bow after the Sign of the Cross is performed because we have just depicted (overshadowed ourselves) the Calvary Cross, and we worship it.

In general, at present, on the question “How to be baptized?” Many people don't pay attention. For example, in one of his blogs, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov writes that “... the truth of the Church is not tested by how a person feels in its church: good or bad... being baptized with two or three fingers no longer plays any role, because these two rites are recognized Church of equal honor." Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky also confirms there: “Be baptized as you like.”

This illustration was posted on the website of the Church of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Lyubimovka, Sevastopol, Crimea.

Here is a reminder for those who are just getting started Orthodox Church and still doesn’t know much. A kind of alphabet.

When should you be baptized?

In the temple:

It is imperative to be baptized at the moment the priest reads the Six Psalms and when the Creed begins to be chanted.

It is also necessary to make the sign of the cross at those moments when the clergyman pronounces the words: “By the power of the Honest and Life-giving Cross.”

You need to be baptized when the paremias begin.

It is necessary to be baptized not only before entering the church, but also after you leave its walls. Even when passing by any temple, you must cross yourself once.

After a parishioner venerates an icon or cross, he must also cross himself.

On the street:

Passing by anyone Orthodox church, one should be baptized for the reason that in every church in the altar, on the throne, Christ himself dwells, the Body and Blood of the Lord in the chalice, which have all the fullness of Jesus Christ.

If you do not cross yourself when passing by the temple, you should remember the words of Christ: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark. 8:38).

But, you should understand the reason why you did not cross yourself, if it is embarrassment, then you should cross yourself, if this is impossible, for example, you are driving and your hands are busy, then you should cross yourself mentally, also you should not cross yourself, if for This can become a reason for others to ridicule the church, so you should understand the reason.

At home:

Immediately after waking up and immediately before going to bed;

At the beginning of reading any prayer and after its completion;

Before and after meals;

Before starting any work.

Selected and prepared materials
Vladimir KHVOROV