How Orthodox Christians fold 3 fingers when making the sign of the cross. Why do Old Believers cross themselves with two fingers?

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 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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Differences in the application of the sign of the cross by different religions/

Religion - each person puts his own meaning into this word and understands it differently. Today there are a huge number of religions that are similar or different from each other.

The most widespread and professed are perhaps Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Despite the fact that in the age of information technology, every person has access to almost any information, many people do not know what the essence of each religion is, what they have in common and how they actually differ from each other. Today we propose to talk about the differences in applying the sign of the cross in different religions.

How Catholics cross themselves, with which hand, how they fold their fingers: a diagram of how to cross yourself correctly

Before we talk about the issue of imposing the sign of the cross, let's talk a little about religion itself.

Catholicism or Catholicism is a Christian denomination that today has a huge number of adherents.
The very word “Catholicism” means nothing more than “universal”, “all-encompassing”.
It is also worth saying that it was the Catholic Church, which was formed during the 1st millennium BC. in the Western Roman Empire had a huge influence on the development of Western civilization.
Regarding the sign of the cross. Most people don’t know what it is, and all because we are used to calling this process a little differently - “to be baptized”, “to cross”.
The sign of the cross is nothing more than a prayer gesture, during which people make movements with their hands and, as it were, draw a cross with them.
It should also be noted that the sign of the cross is present in almost all areas of Christianity.

So, how do Catholics apply the sign of the cross?

It must be said right away that Catholicism does not have a single correct version of this action. There are many options for how to cross yourself and all of them are considered correct. This is because Catholics pay more attention not to the method by which it is done, but to the goal. By crossing themselves, they seem to once again prove that they believe in Christ.
Catholics are baptized with the same hand that Orthodox Christians use, that is, with the right hand. The difference lies in something else - in the direction of movement of the hand, and not always.
Initially, both Catholics of the West and Catholics of the East performed the cross on themselves in almost the same way. They crossed themselves from the right shoulder to the left, using 3 fingers of the right hand. A little later, the procedure changed, and people began to cross themselves from the left shoulder to the right, using the entire hand.
The so-called "Byzantine Catholics" perform the action in the traditional way. To do this, the first 3 fingers of the hand are connected together, and the remaining 2 are pressed against the palm. In this case, baptism is carried out with the right hand, from right to left. The 3 fingers that are joined together are nothing more than the Trinity, and the other 2 fingers mean the dual origin of Christ. By dual origin is meant his divine and human essence.

If we show the general classification of options that Catholics use when making the sign of the cross, it looks something like this:

The first and fourth fingers of the right hand are connected in a bun, while the index and middle fingers are also held together. The index and middle fingers in this case mean the dual essence of Christ, which was mentioned a little earlier. This option is typical for Western Catholics.
Another addition option is to connect the 1st and 2nd fingers.
Eastern Catholics most often use this option. The thumb, index and middle fingers are connected together, and the last 2 are pressed to the hand. In this case, 3 joined fingers mean the Holy Trinity, and 2 pressed fingers mean the dual nature of Christ.
Also, Catholics very often make the sign of the cross with their entire palm. To do this, you need to keep your right hand completely open, all fingers except 1 are straightened. You can bend your arm a little and press your thumb slightly against your palm. This version of baptism means the wounds of Christ, of which there were 5.

Why do Catholics cross themselves from left to right, with two fingers or with the palm of their hand?

To answer the question, perhaps let’s go a little deeper into history:

In ancient times, left and right most often carried associations regarding different kinds of gods who were on different sides.
If we talk about Christianity, then the understanding of left and right is slightly different. Left and right are something completely different, something that has clearly opposite meanings. For example, as the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, sinful and righteous. In Christianity, it is generally accepted that the right side is the territory of God, and the left is the territory of Evil.
Another fact is that the Orthodox make the cross from the right shoulder to the left, but when they baptize someone, they do it in reverse. In any of these cases, initially the hand of the one who baptizes is on the right side. Why is that? The sign of the cross, which is carried out from left to right, means something coming from man to God, but from right to left - just the opposite, from God to man.
Catholics, regardless of whether they baptize themselves or someone else, always do it only from left to right.
In both the first and second cases, believers turn to God, but they attach different meanings to their appeal and communication with him.
That is, the question: “Why do Catholics cross themselves from left to right?” can be considered closed. They are baptized in this way, because by applying the sign of the cross it is important for them to communicate with Christ, and they themselves cry out to him. This is exactly the meaning that is put into this action.
It would also not be amiss to say that moving the hand from left to right can mean the path from darkness to light, from evil to good, from hatred of the world, from sin to repentance.
Movement from right to left can be interpreted as victory over everything sinful, in particular the Devil. Since ancient times, it has been generally accepted that the unclean one “sits” on our left side. Therefore, such movements from right to left indicate the neutralization of evil force.

Now a few words as to why Catholics cross themselves with two fingers or with the whole palm:

As mentioned earlier, Catholics do not have one correct option for folding their fingers or hands when crossing themselves. This is why you can sometimes see the sign of the cross applied with two fingers, and even with the entire palm.
When Catholics cross themselves with two fingers, they once again confirm that they believe in the dual essence of Christ. That is, they realize and acknowledge the fact that Christ had both divine and human principles in himself.
The open palm symbolizes the wounds of Christ. To be more precise, it is not the palm itself, but the fingers of the hand, which with this option of drawing a cross are in a straightened position.

How are Greek Catholics and Jews baptized?

Speaking about Catholics, it is necessary to note the fact that there are Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics. Both of them have something in common and something different.

Greek Catholics recognize the Pope as the visible head of the Church and consider themselves to be part of the Roman Catholic Church.
It is worth saying that Greek Catholics have many things in common with Orthodox Christians, including the method of drawing the cross.
They cross themselves with their right hand, and with their hand they draw the cross in this way: from top to bottom, from right to left.
Also, Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians have a common finger shape. When baptizing, the fingers are folded in this way: the first 3 fingers are joined together, and the little finger and ring finger are pressed to the palm.
Representatives of this movement living in Western Ukraine often perform other movements during baptism. For example, a hand movement is made that marks the pierced side of Christ.
If we take Roman Catholics for comparison, they apply the sign of the cross differently. The movements proceed from the head to the belly, and then from the left shoulder to the right. In this case, the fingers fold differently. This is both a two-finger and a three-finger addition.

Now let's talk about the Jews:

Let's start with the fact that the traditional religion professed by this people is Judaism.
The words “Jew” and “Jew” are very similar and today have the same meaning in many languages of the world. However, in our country it is generally accepted that “Jew” is still a nationality, and “Jew” is a professed religion.
Before answering the question “How are Jews baptized?” Let’s talk a little about what the “cross” symbol itself means to them. By the way, it would be more appropriate to ask the question “Are Jews baptized at all?”
So, in ancient times, the cross was associated among the Jews with fear, punishment and death itself. While for Christians, the cross is the main symbol that can protect and protect from misfortune and troubles.
Today, Jews recognize the holy cross, but they attach a slightly different meaning to it. For them, this is a symbol of the rebirth of the Savior. By and large, the cross does not carry such importance (as it does for Christians), therefore, accordingly, there is no need to impose a sign on oneself. This suggests the conclusion that Jews are not baptized at all.

Why do Orthodox and Catholics cross themselves differently: Orthodox from right to left, and Catholics from left to right?

We touched on this issue a little earlier. The thing is that Catholics and Orthodox believe the sign of the cross to have slightly different meanings, and accordingly, the implementation of the procedure is different.

Let us also clarify that for a long time Catholics could be baptized in different ways, that is, from left to right and from right to left. However, in 1570 such freedom of choice was suppressed. Since then, Catholics have been banned from using one of the options. The option left to right remained allowed.
By moving their hand from right to left when drawing a cross, Orthodox Christians ask for God's blessing. Movements in this direction always mean something that comes from the Savior. Since the right side of man is taken to be the side of God, movements on this side are considered victorious over evil and the unclean.
Catholics, making movements from left to right, seem to express their appeal to God. Moreover, their drawing of the cross according to this scheme means nothing more than a movement from everything sinful, dark and evil to light, good and moral.
Both versions of the procedure carry only a positive message, but are interpreted slightly differently.

What is the difference between how Catholics and Orthodox are baptized?

Based on the information presented earlier, the answer to this question can be quite simple.

Both of them are Christians. Despite this, there are many similarities and differences between them. One of the things that is different between the two beliefs is the way the sign of the cross is made.
When raising the cross, the Orthodox always do it only from the right shoulder to the left, while representatives of other beliefs do it the other way around. We figured out why this happens a little earlier.
Further, if the Orthodox fold their fingers mainly in one way - three fingers are connected in a bunch and two are pressed to the inside of the palm, then Catholics can do this in completely different ways. We also discussed options for similar folds of fingers and hands earlier.
That is, the only difference is in what trajectory the hand moves and in what way the fingers are folded.

This topic is very relevant and interesting; you can talk about the differences in laying a cross for a very long time, just as you can argue about the correctness of this process. However, we would like to draw attention to another point, which in our opinion is no less important: remember, it is important not only how you are baptized, but also what meaning you put into this action.

Video: Why do Orthodox and Catholics baptize differently?

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.

Why do they cross themselves with three fingers, and Old Believers with two?

In the beginning there was a word... it was so sad))) it was and passed. In the uncorrected, the word will always remain...! Oh, this is already reasonable: the process of creation is always going on, stars are born, planets, people....
The process “Always abide” also operates in two-fingered baptism: two fingers towards oneself means that at the moment of contact you are the third - this is a Divine act, a sacrament here and now.
There are churches with golden domes, there are churches with blue ones and stars on blue)))) Previously, the sun = this is Christ, the golden dome, the blue dome is the Church of the Virgin Mary - the night sky with stars, which gives birth to what?))) The sun!
Where there are just a hundred angels! Where it’s difficult, you can break your leg on the devil!
Look at the root, the clues are everywhere.
Traditionally...
Three - this means father, son and holy spirit.
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/answers/050202084237
The three-fingered sign is the most common version of the sign of the cross, used in most Orthodox Churches. To perform it, 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, stomach, right shoulder, then the left. If the sign of the cross is performed outside of worship, it is customary to speak in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen, or another prayer.
Three fingers placed together symbolize the Holy Trinity. The 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 had 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. When blessing, the hand is led first to the left, then to the right, that is, for a person being blessed in this way, the right shoulder is still blessed first, then the left.

Double-fingering was used in Rus' until the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century. It was previously practiced in Byzantium, and was later replaced by triplicate. In our time, the double-finger formation is used (among Orthodox Christians) almost exclusively by Old Believers.

Old Believer icon, where Christ blesses with the sign of the cross with two fingers

When performing double-fingering, the two fingers of the right hand, the index and middle ones, 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. After which, the tips of two fingers (and only them) touch the forehead, abdomen, right and left shoulders in succession. At the same time, in the Stoic ritual literature it is specially emphasized that one should be baptized earnestly, and in such a way that the touch of the fingers is felt through the clothes. It is also emphasized that one cannot be baptized at the same time as bowing; a bow, if required, should be done after the hand has been lowered (however, the same rule is followed in the new rite, although not so strictly).

Old Believers do not recognize triplicity, believing that the image of a cross with three fingers in honor of the Holy Trinity denotes the heresy according to which the entire Trinity, and not just the Son, suffered on the Cross. For the same reason, it is not customary to say the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; instead, they usually say the Jesus Prayer.

The priest, when blessing, does not use any special finger formation, but folds his hand into the same two-fingered one.
The two-fingered cross opens the chakras, and the three-fingered cross closes. When entering the temple - open, when leaving - close. The sign of the cross is a pre-Christian ritual. Its meaning is many times broader than described by Christians.
Nikon replaced two-fingered with three-fingered fingers SINGLELY in violation of the 34th canonical rule: Bishops of every nation should know the first in them, and recognize him as the head, and not do anything that exceeds their authority without his reasoning: to do for each only what concerns him diocese, and to places belonging to it. But the FIRST DOES NOT DO ANYTHING WITHOUT THE CONSIDERATION OF EVERYONE. For in this way there will be one mind, and God will be glorified in the Lord in the Holy Spirit, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The trifinger itself originated in the Roman episcopate.

ABOUT THE CATHOLIC ORIGIN OF TRIPENDUS.

The initiator of the three-finger was the Roman Catholic Church. In the 13th century, the executioner and child killer Pope Innocent III, who occupied the Roman see from 1198 to 1216, wrote: One should be baptized with THREE FINGERS, for this is done with the invocation of the Trinity (De sacro altaris misterio, II, 45).

Pope Innocent III is known for establishing the notorious ecclesiastical tribunal, the Holy Inquisition, in 1215, and a little earlier, in 1212, for organizing the so-called Children's Crusade, which claimed thousands of children's lives. It was also Pope Innocent III who organized the 4th Crusade against the Orthodox Christians of the East. After a long siege in 1204, the Crusaders occupied the stronghold of Eastern Orthodoxy Constantinople and, as a result of three days of robbery and murder, almost completely destroyed the city. The Robber Knights created the Latin Empire, and the Pope ordained the Catholic Patriarch of Constantinople. With the heretical crusaders, the three-fingered sign of the cross also came to the East, gradually spreading among Eastern Christians, it ultimately completely supplanted and replaced the ancient apostolic custom of the two-fingered sign of the cross.

The folding of the fingers (glorified finger folding) when making the sign of the cross, recommended by Pope Innocent III in the 12th century instead of the previously usual two-finger (= two fingers) folding. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in the 13th century, the three-finger began to spread in the Greek East and by the 15th century. almost completely replaced ancient two-fingered fingers among the Greeks. Subsequently, the Roman Catholics moved on to the next stage of desemantization of finger formation - refusing to form the fingers in general and performing it with the whole hand without confessing dogmas with the help of the fingers.

wiki-linki.ru/Page/1102078

Secular researchers also write about three fingers among Catholics. For example, B. Uspensky

We continue: thus, in the charter of the Benedictine monastery of St. Augustine in Canterbury, according to a manuscript of the first half of the 15th century, we read: Then let him teach each novice to make the sign of the cross WITH THE FIRST THREE fingers of his right hand, drawing straight lines from the top of the head almost to the feet and from the edge of the left shoulder to the right shoulder (Deinde doceat singulos facere crucis consignacionem, quae scilicet tribus primis digitis dextrae manus a summo capitis quasi ad pedes et a summitate sinistri humeri usque in dextrum humerum protrahatur directe)
Thompson, I, p. 402; cf.: Thurston, 1911/1953, p. 13.

Depicted in the famous painting by Surikov, with her hand raised high, making the sign of the cross over people.

I wonder why in those years thousands of people gave their lives for what seemed to be such a narrow ritual understanding of Orthodoxy? What difference does it make whether you cross yourself with two or three fingers? After all, the teaching of Christ is much higher and broader than these ritual trifles. It is impossible to answer this question and such reasoning without a deep and thoughtful study of the problem, and yet, let’s try to do it.

Blissful Theodorite, Bishop of Cyrus (393-466), participant in the III and IV Ecumenical Councils, writes how to be baptized and blessed: “ Having three fingers together, the great one, and the last two, confesses the mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. There are not three Gods, but one God Trinity. The names are divided, but the Divinity is one. The Father is not begotten, and the Son is begotten of the Father, and not created; the Holy Spirit is not begotten, not created, but comes from the Father. Three in one Divinity, one power, one honor, one worship from all creation, from angels and from people. This is the decree with that three finger. And put two fingers, the upper one (index) and the middle one, together and stretch them out (keep them straight). Holding the great finger slightly inclined, it forms the two natures of Christ, Divinity and humanity. God by divinity, and man by incarnation, is perfect in both. The upper finger forms the Divinity, and the lower one forms humanity, since it came down from the highest to save the lower one. The inclination of the finger is interpreted: bow down, for the heavens came down to earth for our salvation. Thus it is appropriate to be baptized and bless. This is indicated by the holy fathers. Such is the power of the sign of the honorable cross, by which we are protected when we pray, confessing the mysterious gaze of salvation (when we place our outstretched fingers on our foreheads) born from God and the Father before all creation, (lowering our fingers on our belly) and from above on His earth descent and crucifixion, (raising his hand and placing fingers on the right shoulder, then on the left) resurrection, ascension and again His second coming" This evidence clearly shows that already at the beginning of the fifth century, by the Third Ecumenical Council, the two-fingered sign of the cross was widespread and had a clear theological interpretation.

And yet, the thoughtful reader will ask, is double-fingering a rite that can change, or the unchanging basis of the Orthodox Church? To further consider the issue, I propose to turn to the basis of the foundations of Christianity - Holy Gospel.

Evangelist Matthew describes what happened at the Last Supper, which marked the beginning of the sacrament of the Eucharist:

And to those who ate, Jesus took the bread, and having blessed, broke it and gave it to the disciples... (Matthew 108)

And the evangelist Luke tells about what happened after the resurrection of the Lord, when the apostles Luke and Cleopas walked to Emmaus. And Jesus joined them in the guise of a traveler and asked them what they were talking about. They told him about those who had happened in these days... And that traveler said to them:

Oh, foolish and inert at heart, you do not believe what the prophets spoke about. Is it not right now for Christ to suffer and enter into his glory? And they began from Moses and from all the prophets to tell them from all the scriptures that spoke of him...

In the evening they came to the village and invited the traveler to share a meal and overnight stay with them.

And it came to pass that, as we reclined with him, we took the bread and blessed him, and broke it with him. Their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he was invisible to him. (Luke 113)

And only after the blessing of the bread did the apostles recognize Jesus, who had previously taken him for a simple fellow traveler. And further in beginning 114:

You are a witness to this. And now I will send the promise of my Father to you... So I brought them out as far as Bethany, and lifted up my hands, and blessed them. And when he blessed them, he departed from them, and ascended to heaven, and bowed down to him.

Blessing was not taught by Christ in different ways: with one finger, two fingers, three fingers, palm, one way or another... These words of the Holy Gospel, in my deep conviction, clearly indicate that Christ showed and commanded us the custom of blessing, a certain secret sign. Oral, secret, not described in all details action. To reveal this secret, it is logical to turn to the witness of everything that happened, the Evangelist Luke. According to church tradition, preserved in almost all Christian countries, the first icon painter to paint a large number of icons is considered to be the Evangelist Luke. On the icons painted by the Evangelist Luke, including the image of the Tikhvin Mother of God, the right hand of Jesus Christ is depicted blessing with two fingers.

Also, the holy apostle speaks about the need for faith not only in written laws, but also in oral institutions in his letter to the Thessalonians:

Brothers, stand and keep the traditions; you will learn them either by word or by our message.

He is echoed by St. , famous preacher of Orthodoxy of the 4th century:

Of the preserved dogmas and sermons, some we have from written instruction, and some we have received from apostolic tradition, by reception in secret, both of them have the same power for piety. And no one will contradict this, although he has little knowledge of church institutions. For if we undertake to reject unwritten customs, or even great powers, we will imperceptibly damage the Gospel in the main subjects, or, moreover, we will reduce the sermon into a single name without the actual thing. For example, first of all I will mention the first and most general thing, so that those who trust in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ are marked by the image of the cross. Who taught this in Scripture? (“Full Translation”, right. 91st).

And a modern historian Alexander Dvorkin in the preface to his work " Essays on the history of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church" writes:

It was the students who were entrusted with preserving in memory and recording what happened. But all this was written down several decades after the death and resurrection of the Savior. And here we are already entering the area of Sacred Tradition. Tradition (in Latin traditio) means that which is passed from hand to hand, from mouth to mouth (3rd ed. Nizhny Novgorod, 2006, p. 20). And in the 21st century we are also reminded of the need for Faith in tradition.

And many other material monuments of Christian art, which, according to St. John of Damascus, « are a kind of memorable history even for those who cannot read and write"(John of Damascus " An accurate statement of the Orthodox faith", 1885 p. 266), reflect the universality of two fingers until the 13th century. This is the statue of the Apostle Peter in the Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, which is “ transitional"from paganism to Christianity, converted by Christians of the first centuries from a statue of Jupiter, where the apostle blesses with two fingers. And a mosaic image " Descent of St. Spirit on the apostles", located in one of the domes of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople. This image was discovered in the 50s. last century, where Jesus is also depicted blessing with two fingers, etc.

The absence of disputes and disagreements between Christians of the first centuries on this matter, which would inevitably be submitted for consideration to Ecumenical Councils, only confirms the above. And now an interesting situation occurs: we unshakably believe the words of the Gospel written by the Evangelist Luke, and do not dare to change them! And we treat his testimony about his constitution with disdain, as something unimportant and capable of changing over time.

Another striking example is described in the life of the archbishop Antiochian Meletius, which tells about the miracle that happened at the Second Ecumenical Council. During the dispute with the Arians, who even after the First Ecumenical Council continued to unorthodoxly philosophize that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, is not Consubstantial with God the Father, but was created and is, although higher than people, but a creation, “ Saint Meletios stood up and showed three fingers to the people, and there was no sign. Then the two copulated, and the one bent down, and blessed the people. At that time, fire overshadowed him, like lightning, and the saint exclaimed loudly: we mean three Hypostases, and we are talking about one being».

Famous historian N. F. Kapterev in his work " The time of Joseph's patriarchate" concludes:

Theodorite, Bishop of Cyrus, who was at the time of the Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils, having encountered the Monophysite heresy, condemned at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, strongly opposed it. But since this heresy came up with the idea of depicting a cross with one finger to signify one nature in Christ, then, without any doubt, the theological explanation of the image of the folded finger was set out against this heresy from Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, which was cited as testimony by the Council of the Hundred Heads.

Here I would like to add that all societies that distort the basic tenets of Orthodoxy also invented their own physically visible symbol.

In the rite of the Divine Liturgy, compiled by a disciple of the holy Archbishop Meletius, blessing is spoken of in many places. And this implies a specific movement (action) of a priest or bishop - those who are given the power to bless in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the beginning of the liturgy, at forgiveness, the deacon says: “ Time to serve the Lord, bless the master" The priest, marking the cross with his hand on its head, says: “ Blessed be our God, always and now and ever and forever and ever" The deacon says " Amen"... And at the very presentation of the holy gifts: "... and having fulfilled all the care for us: in the night, having given himself up in it, and even more so, giving himself up for the worldly life, receiving the bread with his holy and most pure and immaculate hands, thanking and blessing, consecrating the refractor, he will give to the saints his disciples and the apostle, the river" Exclamation. " Take and eat, this is my body, broken for you, for the remission of sins" The priest, saying this, points his hand to the holy diskos. The deacon shows with his ular and says: “ Amen».

Over the course of many centuries of Orthodox Christianity, the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament of ordination of the priesthood and simply blessing people have been continuously performed. And in all centuries it has been passed down from generation to generation in the form of an oral and visual, concrete action - the blessing of the Lord. In the time of Stoglav, when in Rus' " creeped“three fingers from the Catholic West, and then from Byzantium, which signed a union with Catholics in 1439, the holy fathers again had to remind the church children how and why it is appropriate to bless and make the sign of the cross:

If anyone does not bless two fingers, as Christ did, or does not imagine the sign of the cross, let him be anathema.

Just a hundred years later, during the patriarchate Nikon, at the councils of 1666 and 1667. Ancient rituals were cursed, including the two-fingered sign of the cross, and the Russian Church was split with these curses. And those who remained faithful to the Orthodox (which had become old) rite again began to explain and prove the truth in their works. According to N.F. Kapterev in his work “ Patriarch Nikon and his opponents»:

The Russians borrowed from the Greeks the two-fingered sign of the cross, the alleluia, etc., which from the Greeks underwent modifications over time. Double-fingered was finally supplanted by triplicate, which, probably, from the middle of the 15th century became predominant among the Greeks, just as the former indifferent doubling or tripling of alleluia was replaced exclusively by tripling. The Russians, regarding the formation of the finger for the sign of the cross, remained with its oldest form - the two-finger one” (ed. 2nd art. 24).

Here it should be added that, most likely, the beginning of triplicity was laid by the Pope of Rome Innocent III, occupied the Roman see from 1198 to 1216.

One should be baptized with three fingers, for this is done with the invocation of the Trinity (“De sacro altaris misterio”, II, 45).

Archpriest Avvakum in his life calls Pope Farmoz, who occupied the Roman throne from 891-896, the ancestor of triplicate. Although the division of the Church into Eastern and Western that occurred in 1054 was still far away, and Pope Stephen VII (896-897) professed two fingers. In the gospel of Brand it says:

Is your heart still hardened, and with your eyes you do not see, and with your ears, you do not hear (Part 33).

Whoever wants to believe, believes, whoever wants to see, sees Divine wisdom in everything, from the smallest wildflowers to the wise course of the planets in the universe according to the law given by God. And not just whoever wants... or whatever he comes up with. The sign of the cross was not invented by people and should not be considered as something evolving from a less dogmatically saturated to a more saturated form. The two-fingered sign of the cross, commanded to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, is a true and accurate expression of the basic tenets of the Orthodox faith.

Used Books:

1. Holy Gospel.
2. Apostle.
3. Life of Archbishop Meletius.
4. Life of Archpriest Avvakum. St. Petersburg: " VERB", 1994
5. Bishop Anthony of Perm and Tobolsk. Patristic collection. Novosibirsk: Slovo, 2005.
6. Bishop Arseny of Ural. Justification of the Old Believer Church of Christ. Moscow: Kitezh, 1999
7. S. I. Bystrov. Duality in monuments of Christian art. Barnaul: AKOOH “Support Fund...”, 2001.
8. F. E. Melnikov. A brief history of the Ancient Orthodox Church. Barnaul: BSPU, 1999.
9. N. F. Kapterev. The time of Joseph's patriarchate. issue 1. Art. 83.
Patriarch Nikon and his opponents. Ed. 2. Art. 24.
10. A. L. Dvorkin. Essays on the history of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church. N. Novgorod. "Christian Library" 2006