How to apply the sign of the cross. With what hand and how to be baptized correctly? Answered by priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of Sretensky Monastery
Sign of the Cross
Sign of the Cross(Church Orthodox “sign of the cross”) in Christianity is a prayer gesture, which is an image of a cross with the movement of the hand. The sign of the cross is performed on various occasions, for example, when entering and leaving a church, before or after saying a prayer, during worship, as a sign of confession of one’s faith, and in other cases; also when blessing someone or something. There are several phraseological phrases denoting the action of a person performing the sign of the cross: “to make the sign of the cross”, “to make the sign of the cross”, “to impose the sign of the cross”, “(re)baptize” (not to be confused with the meaning of “receive the sacrament of Baptism” ), as well as “to mark (sya)”. The sign of the cross is used in many Christian denominations, differing in the variants of the folding of the fingers (usually in this context the Church Slavonic word “fingers” is used: “folding of fingers”, “finger folding”) and the direction of movement of the hand.Orthodoxy
In modern Orthodoxy, two variants of the finger formation are generally recognized: three-fingered and nominal finger formation, which is used by priests (and bishops) when blessing. Old Believers, as well as fellow believers, use two-fingered fingers.
Three fingers
Hand folded into three fingers
Three fingers- to make the sign of the cross, fold the first three fingers of the right hand (thumb, index and middle), and bend the other two fingers to the palm; after which they successively touch the forehead, upper abdomen, right shoulder, then the left. If the sign of the cross is performed outside of public worship, it is customary to say “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen,” or other prayer.Three fingers folded together symbolize the Holy Trinity; the symbolic meaning of the other two fingers could be different at different times. So, initially among the Greeks they did not mean anything at all. Later, in Rus', under the influence of polemics with the Old Believers (who argued that “the Nikonians abolished Christ from the cross of Christ”) these two fingers were reinterpreted as a symbol of the two natures of Christ: Divine and human. This interpretation is now the most common, although there are others (for example, in the Romanian Church these two fingers are interpreted as a symbol of Adam and Eve falling to the Trinity).
The hand, depicting a cross, touches first the right shoulder, then the left, which symbolizes the traditional Christian opposition between the right side as the place of the saved and the left as the place of the lost (see Matt., 25, 31-46). Thus, raising his hand first to the right, then to the left shoulder, the Christian asks to be included in the fate of the saved and to be delivered from the fate of the perishing.
An Orthodox priest, when blessing people or objects, puts his fingers into a special formation called a nomenclature. It is believed that fingers folded in this way represent the letters IC XC, that is, the initials of the name Jesus Christ in Greek-Byzantine writing. When blessing, the hand, when drawing the transverse line of the cross, is led first to the left (relative to the one giving the blessing), then to the right, that is, the person being blessed in this way is blessed first with his right shoulder, then his left. The bishop has the right to teach blessing with both hands at once.
Sign yourself with the sign of the cross more often. Remember: “The cross rises, and the ranks of the airy spirits fall”; “Lord, give us Your cross as a weapon against the devil.” To my regret, I saw that some simply wave their hands, without even touching their foreheads and shoulders. This is a direct mockery of the sign of the cross. Remember what St. Seraphim said about the correct sign of the cross. Read this instruction of his.
My children, this is how it should be applied, with prayer, which is an appeal to the Most Holy Trinity. We say: In the name of the Father, placing three fingers together, showing by this that the Lord is one in three persons. By placing the folded three fingers to our forehead, we sanctify our mind, lifting up in prayer to God the Father, Almighty, Creator of angels, heaven, earth, people, Creator of everything visible and invisible. And then, touching the lower part of the chest with these same fingers, we remember all the torments of the Savior, who suffered for us, His crucifixion, our Redeemer, the only begotten Son, born of the Father, uncreated. And we sanctify our heart and all our feelings, lifting them up to the earthly life of the Savior, for our sake and for our salvation, who came down from heaven and became incarnate, and we say: and the Son. Then, raising our fingers to our shoulders, we say: and the Holy Spirit. We ask the third person of the Most Holy Trinity not to abandon us, to sanctify our will and to graciously help us: to direct all our strength, all our actions towards acquiring the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And finally, humbly, reverently, with the fear of God and hope, and with deep love for the Most Holy Trinity, we finish this great prayer, saying: Amen, that is, truly, so be it.
This prayer is forever connected with the cross. Think about it.
How many times have I felt with pain that many pronounce this great prayer completely mechanically, as if it were not a prayer, but something that is customary to say before the beginning of prayer. You should never do this. It is a sin.
Schema-Archimandrite Zacharias (1850–1936)
Dual fingers
Double-fingered (also double-fingered) prevailed until the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the middle of the 17th century and was officially recognized in Moscow Rus' by the Stoglavy Council. It was practiced until the 13th century in the Greek East (Constantinople), and was later replaced by triplicate. Double-fingering was officially condemned in the Russian Church at Councils in the 1660s; At the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971, all pre-Nikon Russian rites, including the two-fingered sign of the cross, were recognized as legitimate.
When performing double-fingering, two fingers of the right hand - the index and middle - are joined together, symbolizing the two natures of Christ, while the middle finger turns out to be slightly bent, which means Divine condescension and incarnation. The three remaining fingers are also joined together, symbolizing the Holy Trinity; Moreover, in modern practice, the end of the thumb rests on the pads of the other two, which cover it on top. After which, the tips of two fingers (and only them) touch the forehead, abdomen, right and left shoulders in succession. It is also emphasized that one cannot be baptized at the same time as bowing; a bow, if required, should be performed after the hand has been lowered (however, the same rule is followed in the new rite, although not so strictly).
In the West, unlike the Orthodox Church, there have never been such conflicts regarding the folding of fingers during the sign of the cross, as in the Russian Church, and to this day there are various versions of it. Thus, Catholic prayer books, speaking about the sign of the cross, usually cite only the prayer pronounced at the same time (In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti), without saying anything about the combination of fingers. Even traditionalist Catholics, who are usually quite strict about the ritual and its symbolism, admit the existence of various options here. In the Polish Catholic community, it is customary to make the sign of the cross with five fingers, with an open palm, in memory of the five wounds on the body of Christ.
When a Catholic makes the sign of the cross for the first time upon entering a church, he first dips his fingertips in a special bowl of holy water. This gesture, which is apparently an echo of the ancient custom of washing hands before celebrating the Eucharist, was later reinterpreted as a rite performed in memory of the sacrament of Baptism. Some Catholics perform this ritual at home, before starting home prayer.
The priest, when blessing, uses the same finger formation as with the sign of the cross, and leads his hand in the same way as an Orthodox priest, that is, from left to right. In addition to the usual, large cross, the so-called cross was preserved in the Latin rite as a remnant of ancient practice. small cross. It is performed during Mass, before the reading of the Gospel, when the clergy and those praying with the thumb of their right hand depict three small crosses on the forehead, lips and heart.
The Latin cross is the emblem of the intersection of the lines of Spirit (Alpha) and Matter (Omega), marking the place where Christ is born and from where the energies of the Logos pour out onto the planet.
Touching the forehead - the upper (northern) end of the cross, we say: “In the name of the Father.”
Touching the heart - the lower (southern) end, we say: “... and the Mother.”
Touching the left shoulder as the eastern end, we say: “...and the Son.”
And touching the right shoulder as the western end of the cross, we say: “...and the Holy Spirit. Amen!".
By including the name of the Mother in our invocation of the Trinity, we invoke the consciousness of the Cosmic Virgin, who makes every aspect of the sacred Trinity significant to our evolving consciousness. Truly, Mary is the Daughter of God, the Mother of Christ and the Bride of the Holy Spirit. Playing the intimate role of the feminine complement to every aspect of the masculine principle of God, she, like no one, is able to reflect the nature of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
By making the sign of the cross, we maintain awareness of these aspects in the body, soul, mind and heart.
Performing the Sign of the Cross requires a deep, thoughtful and reverent attitude from the believer. Many centuries ago, John Chrysostom exhorted us to think about this with the following words: “You should not just draw a cross with your fingers,” he wrote. “You have to do it in faith.”
The sign of the cross plays an exceptional role 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, a Christian places on himself the sign of the Honest and Life-giving Cross of Christ.
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.”
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.
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:
“Our houses, our doors, our lips, our breasts, all our members are overshadowed by the life-giving cross. 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 Monophysitism in the Middle East and Egypt. Then the Orthodox 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.
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, St. John of Damascus also wrote about double-fingered 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 of the Most Holy Trinity. In Rus', as already noted, triplicate was introduced in the 17th century during the reforms of Patriarch Nikon.
Hegumen Pavel, inspector of the MinDAiS
Which hand is the correct one to cross yourself and how to cross yourself correctly - from left to right or from right to left? How to fold your fingers correctly? Why do you need to be baptized and is it necessary to do this before entering the temple?
The essence of the sign of the cross, why is it necessary to be baptized?
The sign of the cross for a believer combines several essences: religious, spiritual-mystical and psychological.
Religious essence consists in the fact that, by crossing himself with the sign of the cross, a person shows that he is a Christian and lives with Christ; that he is part of the Christian community, appreciates its traditions and values them. That he remembers and keeps in his heart the entire earthly life of Christ - from His first to his last day - and tries to the best of his ability to correspond to it. That he honors and tries to live according to the commandments that were given by Christ.
Spiritual and mystical essence is that the sign of the cross itself has life-giving power - protecting the one who is baptized and sanctifying him. The cross is a spiritual image that a person puts on himself, “overshadows” himself with it - making himself, according to the degree of his faith, similar to Christ. Therefore, Christians have a reverent attitude toward the sign of the cross and they try to be baptized not hastily, “fusily,” but with accountability.
Moreover, when it is said that the sign of the cross has a certain “mystical” essence, it does not mean that the cross is a “mathematical” formula - such as the Indian mantra, or the rituals of magicians - which begins to “act” from a simple repetition of a set of actions or words. In a way inexplicable to human understanding, the cross sanctifies everyone who is baptized, but at the same time, everyone is “rewarded according to his faith”...
The sign of the cross is a prayer and the attitude towards it should be appropriate.
Emotional and psychological essence The sign of the cross is that a believer unconsciously begins to be baptized when he is “used to it” (at certain moments of the service), or at those moments when he wants to collect himself internally (before an important matter, before a secret step), or simply when he experiences psychological fear of something. Or vice versa - we are filled with joy and gratitude to God. Then the hand “begins to be baptized itself.”
With what hand and how correctly should Orthodox Christians be baptized?
In the Orthodox tradition, you need to be baptized with your right hand - regardless of whether you are right-handed or left-handed.
The order is as follows: forehead - stomach - right - then left shoulder.
You can “shrink” the sign of the cross (not the stomach, but the chest) - for example, in situations when there are non-believers around you, you want to cross yourself, but you try to do it “invisibly.”
The main thing is not to trivialize the cross “within yourself”, to always remember its greatness, importance and strength.
How to fold your fingers correctly (photo)
The Orthodox tradition says that the fingers should be folded like this: the thumb, middle and index fingers are brought together - this symbolizes the Holy Trinity - and the ring finger and little finger are pressed against the palm.
Is it possible to cross yourself in some other way or, for example, with two fingers or from left to right? No - in the Orthodox Church it is customary to cross yourself with three fingers from right to left, and you need to do it this way - without reasoning. Even if we assume that the number of fingers is a convention and an earthly institution (referring to the fact that Old Believers still cross themselves with two, as all Orthodox Christians in Russia once did), the very violation of tradition brings more spiritual harm to a person than good.
A page from the pre-revolutionary book “The Law of God,” which tells about how to correctly fold your fingers when making the sign of the cross, and what all this symbolizes.
Do I need to be baptized before entering a temple or while passing through a temple?
When entering the temple it is customary to cross yourself. For a person who is just getting acquainted with religion, this may seem like an artificial rule (sort of like a “must”), but over time it becomes natural and even a need - to “gather” internally, to overshadow oneself with Christ’s symbol and power, to pay tribute to the temple in which the sacraments are performed.
As for the situation when you just see a temple and pass by it, then a person must rely on his feelings and there are no rules. There are people who overshadow themselves with a sign every time they see the domes of the temple. There are those who do not do this, but at the same time in life they will be no less an example of a Christian.
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Even a little enlightened person knows that Old Believers are baptized differently than Christians of other faiths. This sign of the cross is called " double-fingered”, because it contains not one, not three, not four or five fingers, but only two.
Why are Christians baptized?
The sign of the cross is made by Christians as a sign that we confess the Lord crucified on the cross. By making the sign of the cross at the beginning of every task, we testify that everything we do happens for the glory of the Crucified Christ.
The sign of the cross, i.e. The custom of drawing a cross on the body by placing fingers on the forehead, chest and shoulder (shoulders) is an ancient custom that appeared along with Christianity. The custom of Christians is to make the sign of the cross in the prayer of St. Basil the Great refers to the number of those that we have received from the apostolic tradition by succession.
How to fold your fingers during the sign of the cross?
To make the sign of the cross, we fold the fingers of our right hand like this: “great and two small.” This signifies, according to the teachings of the Greater Catechism, the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, not three gods, but One God in the Trinity, divided by names and persons, but the Divinity is one. The Father is not begotten, and the Son is begotten and not created; The Holy Spirit is neither begotten nor created, but originated (Great Cat.). Having joined together two fingers (index and great-middle), we have them outstretched and slightly inclined - this forms the two natures of Christ: Divinity and humanity; With one (index) finger we signify the Divine, with the other (middle), slightly bent, we signify humanity; the inclination of the fingers is interpreted by the holy fathers as an image of the incarnation of the Son of God, Who “bow down the heavens and come down to our earth for the sake of salvation”.
Having folded the fingers of the right hand in this way, we place two fingers on our forehead, i.e. forehead. By this we mean that " God the Father is the beginning of all Divinity, from Him before the ages the Son was born and in the last times bowed the heavens, came down to earth and became man" When we place our fingers on the stomach, we signify that in the womb of the Most Holy Theotokos, through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, there was a seedless conception of the Son of God; from her he was born and lived on earth with mankind, suffered in the flesh for our sins, was buried and on the third day was resurrected and raised from hell the righteous souls who were there. When we place our fingers on the right shoulder, it is interpreted as follows: first, that Christ ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father; second, that on the day of judgment the Lord will place the righteous at His right hand (right hand), and sinners at His left hand (left hand). The standing of sinners on the left hand also means the position of the hand when making the sign of the cross on the left shoulder (Great Catech., Chapter 2, sheets 5, 6).
Where did double fingers come from?
The custom of folding fingers in this manner was adopted by us from the Greeks and was preserved by them unchanged from the time of the apostles. Scientists, prof. Kapterev and Golubinsky collected a whole series of evidence that in the 11th-12th centuries the Church knew only the double-finger formation. We also find double fingers in all ancient icon images (mosaics and frescoes of the 11th-14th centuries).
Information about double fingers is also found in ancient Russian literature, including the works of St. Maxim the Greek and the famous book “Domostroy”.
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.
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On the left is the three-fingered sign; this sign of the cross was adopted by the New Believer tradition. On the right is two fingers, the Old Believers sign themselves with this sign of the cross
The following can be answered:
- Double-fingering was commanded to us by the apostles and fathers of the ancient Church, for which there is a lot of historical evidence. The three-fingered ritual is a newly invented ritual, the use of which has no historical justification;
- The keeping of two fingers is protected by a 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 bless with two fingers as Christ did, or does not imagine the sign of the cross, let him be damned”;
- Two-fingered displays 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, St. the 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. Nikola Mefonsky wrote, in particular, about unleavened bread: “ The one who 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 fingers to be a more accurate dogmatic symbol than three fingers. After all, it was not the Trinity that was crucified, but “one of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God» ».
Please tell us about the history of the sign of the cross in the early stages of 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, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, 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 encyclops. Dictionary, 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 that testify 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 emerge? 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.
Before starting a conversation about how Old Believers are baptized, we should dwell in more detail on who they are and what their role is in the development of Russian Orthodoxy. The fate of this religious movement, called the Old Believers, or Old Orthodoxy, became an integral part of the history of Russia and is full of drama and examples of spiritual greatness.
The reform that split Russian Orthodoxy
The Old Believers, like the entire Russian Church, consider the beginning of its history to be the year when the light of the Christian faith, brought to Rus' by Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, shone on the banks of the Dnieper. Having fallen on fertile soil, the seed of Orthodoxy sprouted abundantly. Until the fifties of the 17th century, faith in the country was united, and there was no talk of any religious schism.
The beginning of the great church unrest was the reform of Patriarch Nikon, which he began in 1653. It consisted in bringing the Russian liturgical order into conformity with that adopted in the Greek and Constantinople churches.
Reasons for church reform
Orthodoxy, as we know, came to us from Byzantium, and in the first years after, services in churches were performed exactly as was customary in Constantinople, but after more than six centuries, significant changes were made to it.
In addition, since during almost this entire period there was no printing, and liturgical books were copied by hand, they not only contained a significant number of errors, but also the meaning of many key phrases was distorted. To rectify the situation, I made a simple decision that seemed to have no complications.
The Patriarch's Good Intentions
He ordered to take samples of early books brought from Byzantium, and, having re-translated them, replicate them in print. He ordered the previous texts to be withdrawn from circulation. In addition, Patriarch Nikon introduced three fingers in the Greek manner - putting three fingers together when making the sign of the cross.
Such a harmless and completely reasonable decision nevertheless caused a reaction similar to an explosion, and the church reform carried out in accordance with it caused a schism. As a result, a significant part of the population that did not accept these innovations moved away from the official church, which was called Nikonian (named after Patriarch Nikon), and from it a large-scale religious movement emerged, the followers of which began to be called schismatics.
The split that resulted from the reform
As before, in pre-reform times, Old Believers crossed themselves with two fingers and refused to recognize new church books, as well as priests who tried to perform divine services using them. Having stood in opposition to church and secular authorities, they were subjected to severe persecution on their part for a long time. This began in 1656.
Already in the Soviet period, there was a final softening of the position of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the Old Believers, which was enshrined in relevant legal documents. However, this did not lead to the resumption of Eucharistic, that is, prayerful communication between local and Old Believers. The latter to this day consider only themselves to be carriers of the true faith.
With how many fingers do Old Believers cross themselves?
It is important to note that the schismatics never had canonical disagreements with the official church, and the conflict always arose only around the ritual side of the service. For example, the way Old Believers cross themselves, folding three fingers instead of two, has always become a reason for condemnation against them, while there were no complaints about their interpretation of Holy Scripture or the main provisions of the Orthodox doctrine.
By the way, the order of folding the fingers for the sign of the cross among both the Old Believers and supporters of the official church contains certain symbolism. Old Believers cross themselves with two fingers - the index and middle, symbolizing the two natures of Jesus Christ - divine and human. The remaining three fingers are kept pressed to the palm. They represent the image of the Holy Trinity.
A vivid illustration of how Old Believers are baptized can be seen in the famous painting by Vasily Ivanovich Surikov “Boyaryna Morozova”. In it, the disgraced inspirer of the Moscow Old Believer movement, being taken into exile, raises two fingers folded together to the sky - a symbol of schism and rejection of the reform of Patriarch Nikon.
As for their opponents, supporters of the Russian Orthodox Church, the folding of fingers adopted by them, in accordance with Nikon’s reform, and used to this day, also has a symbolic meaning. Nikonians cross themselves with three fingers - the thumb, index and middle fingers, folded in a pinch (the schismatics contemptuously called them “pinchers” for this). These three fingers also symbolize and the dual nature of Jesus Christ is depicted in this case by the ring finger and little finger pressed to the palm.
Symbolism contained in the sign of the cross
The schismatics always attached special meaning to the way in which they imposed on themselves. The direction of movement of the hand is the same for them as for all Orthodox Christians, but its explanation is unique. Old Believers cross themselves with their fingers, placing them first of all on their foreheads. By this they express the primacy of God the Father, who is the beginning of the Divine Trinity.
Further, by placing their fingers on their stomach, they thereby indicate that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was immaculately conceived in the womb of the Most Pure Virgin. Then raising his hand to his right shoulder, they indicate that in the Kingdom of God He is seated at the right hand - that is, to the right of His Father. And finally, the movement of the hand to the left shoulder reminds that at the Last Judgment, sinners sent to hell will have a place on the left (to the left) of the Judge.
The answer to this question can be the ancient tradition of the two-fingered sign of the cross, which dates back to apostolic times and was then adopted in Greece. She came to Rus' at the same time as her baptism. Researchers have convincing evidence that during the XI-XII centuries. There was simply no other form of the sign of the cross in the Slavic lands, and everyone was baptized the way the Old Believers do today.
An illustration of what has been said can be the well-known icon “Savior Pantocrator,” painted by Andrei Rublev in 1408 for the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. On it, Jesus Christ is depicted sitting on a throne and raising his right hand in a two-fingered blessing. It is characteristic that it was precisely two, and not three, fingers that the Creator of the world folded in this sacred gesture.
The true reason for the persecution of the Old Believers
Many historians are inclined to believe that the true cause of the persecution was not the ritual features practiced by the Old Believers. Whether followers of this movement cross themselves with two or three fingers is, in principle, not so important. Their main fault was that these people dared to openly go against the royal will, thereby creating a dangerous precedent for future times.
In this case, we are talking specifically about a conflict with the highest state power, since Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ruled at that time, supported the Nikon reform, and rejection of it by part of the population could be regarded as a rebellion and an insult inflicted on him personally. But the Russian rulers never forgave this.
Old Believers today
Concluding the conversation about how Old Believers are baptized and where this movement came from, it would be worth mentioning that today their communities are located in almost all developed countries of Europe, in South and North America, as well as in Australia. It has several organizations in Russia, the largest of which is the Belokrinitsky hierarchy, founded in 1848, whose representative offices are located abroad. In its ranks it unites more than a million parishioners and has its permanent centers in Moscow and the Romanian city of Braila.
The second largest Old Believer organization is considered to be the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church, which includes about two hundred official communities and a number of unregistered ones. Its central coordinating and advisory body is the Russian Council of the DPTs, located in Moscow since 2002.
