Types of crosses for wear. Orthodox cross: types, meaning of the crossbars

In the Catholic and Orthodox tradition, the cross is a great shrine to the extent that it was on it that the Most Pure Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, suffered torment and death for the salvation of the human race. In addition to the crosses crowning Orthodox churches and Catholic churches, there are also body crucifixes that believers wear on their chests.

There are several differences between pectoral Orthodox crosses and Catholic ones, which have been formed over the course of several centuries.

In the ancient Christian Church of the first centuries, the shape of the cross was predominantly four-pointed (with one central horizontal bar). Such forms of the cross and its images were in the catacombs during the persecution of Christians by the Roman pagan authorities. The four-pointed form of the cross still remains in the Catholic tradition. The Orthodox cross is most often an eight-pointed crucifix, on which the upper crossbar is a tablet on which the inscription was nailed: "Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews," and the lower beveled crossbar testifies to the repentance of the robber. Such a symbolic form of the Orthodox cross indicates the high spirituality of repentance, which makes a person worthy of the kingdom of heaven, as well as heart hardness and pride, which entails eternal death.

In addition, six-pointed forms of the cross can also be found in. In this type of crucifix, in addition to the main central horizontal, there is also a lower beveled crossbar (sometimes there are six-pointed crosses with an upper straight crossbar).

Other differences include images of the Savior on the cross. On Orthodox crucifixes, Jesus Christ is depicted as God who conquered death. Sometimes on the cross or icons of suffering on the Cross, Christ is depicted alive. Such an image of the Savior testifies to the Lord's victory over death and the salvation of mankind, speaks of the miracle of the resurrection that followed the bodily death of Christ.

Catholic crosses are more realistic. They depict Christ, who died after terrible agony. Often on Catholic crucifixes, the hands of the Savior sag under the weight of the body. Sometimes you can see that the fingers of the Lord are bent, as it were, into a fist, which is a plausible reflection of the consequences of nails driven into the hands (on Orthodox crosses, the palms of Christ are open). Often on Catholic crosses you can see the blood on the body of the Lord. All this focuses on the terrible torment and death that Christ endured for the salvation of man.

Other differences between Orthodox and Catholic crosses can be noted. So, on Orthodox crucifixes, Christ's feet are nailed with two nails, on Catholic ones - with one (although in some monastic Catholic orders until the 13th century there were crosses with four nails instead of three).

There are differences between Orthodox and Catholic crosses in the inscription on the top plate. "Jesus the Nazarene King of the Jews" on Catholic crosses with an abbreviation in the Latin manner - INRI. Orthodox crosses have an inscription - IHЦI. On Orthodox crosses on the halo of the Savior, the inscription of Greek letters denoting the word "Being":

Also on Orthodox crosses there are often inscriptions "NIKA" (denoting the victory of Jesus Christ), "King of Glory", "Son of God".

On the Cross we see God crucified. But Life Itself mysteriously abides in the Crucifixion, just as many future ears are hidden in a grain of wheat. Therefore, the Cross of the Lord is revered by Christians as a "life-giving tree", that is, a tree that gives life. Without the Crucifixion, there would be no Resurrection of Christ, and therefore the Cross turned from an instrument of execution into a shrine in which the Grace of God operates.

Orthodox icon painters depict near the Cross those who relentlessly accompanied the Lord during His Crucifixion: and the Apostle John the Theologian, the beloved disciple of the Savior.

And the skull at the foot of the Cross is a symbol of death that entered the world through the crime of the forefathers Adam and Eve. According to legend, Adam was buried on Golgotha, on a hill in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where Christ was crucified many centuries later. By God's providence, the Cross of Christ was installed just above the grave of Adam. The Holy Blood of the Lord, shed on the ground, reached the remains of the progenitor. She destroyed the original sin of Adam and freed his descendants from slavery to the sin.

The Church Cross (in the form of an image, object or sign of the cross) is a symbol (image) of human salvation consecrated by Divine grace, leading us to its Prototype - to the crucified God-Man, who accepted death on the cross for the sake of redeeming the human race from the power of sin and death.

The veneration of the cross of the Lord is inextricably linked with the Redemptive Sacrifice of the God-Man Jesus Christ. Honoring the cross, the Orthodox Christian pays homage to God the Word Himself, who deigned to incarnate and choose the cross as a sign of victory over sin and death, reconciliation and union of man with God, the gift of a new life transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the image of the Cross is filled with a special grace-filled power, for through the crucifixion of the Savior, the fullness of the grace of the Holy Spirit is revealed, which is communicated to all people who truly believe in the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ.

“The crucifixion of Christ is an act of free Divine love, it is an act of the free will of the Savior Christ, who gives Himself to death so that others can live – live eternal life, live with God.
And the Cross is a sign of all this, because, in the end, love, fidelity, devotion are tested not with words, not even with life, but with the giving of one's life; not only death, but a renunciation of oneself so complete, so perfect, that only love remains from a person: love of the cross, sacrificial, self-giving love, dying and death to oneself in order for another to live.

“The image of the Cross shows the reconciliation and fellowship that man has entered into with God. Therefore, the demons are also afraid of the image of the Cross, and do not tolerate seeing the sign of the Cross depicted even in the air, but flee from this immediately, knowing that the Cross is a sign of the community of people with God and that they, as apostates and enemies of God, are removed from His Divine face. have no more freedom to approach those who have been reconciled to God and united with Him, and can no longer tempt them. If it seems that they are tempting some Christians, let everyone know that they are fighting those who have not properly known the high mystery of the Cross.

“... We must turn Special attention that each person is on his own life path must raise his own cross. There are countless crosses, but only mine heals my ulcers, only mine will be my salvation, and only mine I will bear with the help of God, for it was given to me by the Lord Himself. How not to make a mistake, how not to take up the cross according to one's own arbitrariness, that arbitrariness, which, first of all, must be crucified on the cross of self-denial?! Unauthorized feat is a self-made cross and the bearing of such a cross always ends in a great fall.
What does your cross mean? It means to go through life along your own path, inscribed for everyone by the Providence of God, and on this path to raise precisely those sorrows that the Lord will allow (He gave monastic vows - do not look for marriage, is family bound - do not strive for freedom from children and spouses.) Do not look for greater sorrows and deeds than those that are on your life path - this pride leads astray. Do not seek liberation from those sorrows and labors that have been sent to you - this self-pity removes you from the cross.
Your own cross means being content with what is within your bodily strength. The spirit of conceit and self-delusion will call you to the unbearable. Don't trust the flatterer.
How diverse in life are the sorrows and temptations that the Lord sends to us for our healing, what a difference there is in people and in the very bodily strengths and health, how diverse are our sinful infirmities.
Yes, each person has his own cross. And every Christian is commanded to accept this cross with selflessness and follow Christ. And to follow Christ is to study the Holy Gospel in such a way that it alone becomes an active leader in our carrying our life's cross. The mind, heart and body, with all their movements and deeds, open and secret, must serve and express the saving truths of Christ's teachings. And all this means that I deeply and sincerely realize the healing power of the cross and justify God's judgment on me. And then my cross becomes the Cross of the Lord.”

“One should worship and honor not only that one Life-Giving Cross on which Christ was crucified, but also any Cross created in the image and likeness of that Life-Giving Cross of Christ. It should be worshiped as the one on which Christ was nailed. After all, where the Cross is depicted, from any substance, there comes Grace and Sanctification from the Nailed on the Cross of Christ our God.

“The Cross without love cannot be thought and imagined: where the Cross is, there is love; in church you see crosses everywhere and on everything, so that everything reminds you that you are in the temple of the God of love, in the temple of Love crucified for us.

There were three crosses on Golgotha. All people in their lives carry some kind of cross, the symbol of which is one of the Calvary crosses. A few saints, chosen friends of God, carry the Cross of Christ. Some were honored with the cross of the repentant thief, the cross of repentance that led to salvation. And many, unfortunately, carry the cross of that thief who was and remains the prodigal son, because he did not want to repent. Whether we like it or not, we are all “robbers”. Let us at least try to become "prudent robbers."

Archimandrite Nectarios (Antanopoulos)

Church Services of the Holy Cross

Understand the meaning of this "should" and you will see that it contains precisely something that does not allow any other kind of death than the Cross. What is the reason for this? Only Paul, caught up in the porches of paradise and hearing inexpressible words in them, can explain it ... can interpret this mystery of the Cross, as he did in part in his letter to the Ephesians: “so that you ... can comprehend with all the saints what is the latitude and longitude, and depth and height, and to understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Not arbitrarily, of course, the divine gaze of the apostle contemplates and draws here the image of the Cross, but this already shows that miraculously cleansed from the darkness of ignorance, his gaze clearly saw into the very essence. For in the outline, consisting of four opposite crossbars, emerging from a common center, he sees the all-embracing power and wondrous providence of Him Who deigned to appear in it to the world. Therefore, the apostle of each of the parts of this outline acquires a special name, namely: that which descends from the middle, he calls depth, going up - height, and both transverse - latitude and longitude. By this, it seems to me, he clearly wants to express that everything that is in the universe, whether it is higher than heaven, or in the underworld, or on earth from one end of it to the other, - all this lives and abides according to the Divine Will - under the overshadowing godfather.

You can still contemplate the divine in the ideas of your soul: look at the sky and embrace the underworld with your mind, stretch your mental gaze from one end of the earth to the other, think at the same time about that mighty center that binds and contains all this, and then in your soul the outline of the Cross will itself be imagined, stretching its ends from top to bottom and from one end of the earth to the other. The great David also imagined this outline when he said about himself: “Where can I go from Your Spirit, and where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven (this is the height) - You are there; If I go down to the underworld (this is the depth) - and there you are. Will I take the wings of the dawn (that is, from the east of the sun - this is latitude) and move to the edge of the sea (and the sea among the Jews was called the west - this is longitude), and there Your hand will lead me ”(). Do you see how David depicts the mark of the Cross here? “You,” he says to God, “exist everywhere, bind everything with Yourself and contain everything in Yourself. You are above and You are below, Your hand is on the right hand and Your hand is on the outside. For the same reason the divine apostle says that at this time all will be full of faith and knowledge. He who is above every name will be called and worshiped in the name of Jesus Christ from heaven, earth and hell (;). In my opinion, the mystery of the Cross is also hidden in another “iota” (if we consider it with the upper transverse line), which is stronger than the heavens and harder than the earth and stronger than all things and about which the Savior speaks: “until heaven and earth pass, not one an iota or not a single line will pass from the law ”(). It seems to me that these divine words mean mysteriously and ordainedly () to show that in the image of the Cross everything is contained in the world and that it is more eternal than all its contents.
For these reasons, the Lord did not simply say: “The Son of Man must die,” but “be crucified,” in order, that is, to show to the most contemplative of theologians that in the image of the Cross is hidden the almighty power of Him who rested on it and deigned so that the Cross becomes all in all!

If the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the redemption of all, if the mediastinum of the barrier is destroyed by His death and the calling of the nations is completed, then how would He have called us if He had not been crucified? For on one Cross death is endured with outstretched arms. And therefore the Lord had to endure this kind of death, to stretch out His hands in order to attract with one hand ancient people and the other the Gentiles, and gather them both together. For He Himself, showing by what death He would redeem everyone, predicted: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Himself” ()

Jesus Christ did not endure either the death of John by cutting off his head, or the death of Isaiah by sawing with a saw, so that even in death his Body would be preserved uncut, in order to take away the reason for those who would dare to divide it into parts.

Just as the four ends of the Cross are connected and united in the center, so the power of God contains both height, and depth, and longitude, and breadth, that is, all visible and invisible creation.

All parts of the world have been brought to salvation by the parts of the Cross.

Who will not be touched, looking at the Wanderer, returning so poorly to His home! He was our guest; we gave him the first lodging for the night in a stall among the animals, then we sent him out to Egypt to the idolatrous people. With us, He did not have where to lay His head, “he came to his own, and his own did not receive Him” (). Now they sent Him on the road with a heavy Cross: they laid on His shoulders the heavy burden of our sins. “And, bearing His Cross, He went out to a place called the Skull” (), holding “everything with the word of His power” (). The true Isaac carries the Cross - the tree on which he must be sacrificed. Heavy Cross! Under the weight of the Cross, strong in battle falls on the road, “who created power with His arm” (). Many wept, but Christ says: “Do not cry for Me” (): this Cross on the shoulders is power, there is the key with which I will unlock and lead out of the imprisoned doors of hellish Adam, “do not cry.” “Issachar is a strong donkey, lying between the channels of the waters; and he saw that rest was good, and that the land was pleasant: and he bowed his shoulders to bear the burden ”(). “A man goes out to his work” (). The Bishop carries His throne to bless from it with outstretched hands all parts of the world. Esau enters the field, taking a bow and arrows to get and bring game, to “catch a catch” to his father (). Christ the Savior comes out, taking the Cross instead of a bow in order to “catch a fish” in order to draw all of us to Himself. “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (). Mental Moses comes out, takes the rod. His Cross, stretches out his hands, divides the Red Sea of ​​passions, takes us from death to life, and the devil. like a pharaoh, drowns in the abyss of hell.

The cross is a sign of truth

The cross is a sign of spiritual, Christian, cross and strong wisdom, like a strong weapon, for spiritual wisdom, the cross, is a weapon against those who oppose the church, as the apostle says: “For the word about the cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are saved, it is strength God's. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will put away the understanding of the prudent,” and further: “The Greeks seek wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified ... God's power and God's wisdom ”().

In the under heaven there lives a double wisdom among people: the wisdom of this world, which was, for example, among the Hellenic philosophers who did not know God, and spiritual wisdom, as it is among Christians. Worldly wisdom is foolishness before God: “Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness?” - says the apostle (); spiritual wisdom is revered as madness by the world: “for the Jews it is a stumbling block, but for the Greeks it is madness” (). worldly wisdom - weak weapon, impotent militancy, feeble courage. But what a weapon spiritual wisdom is, this is evident from the words of the apostle: the weapons of our warfare ... mighty in God for the destruction of strongholds ”(; and also “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” ().

The image and sign of the worldly Hellenic wisdom are the Sodomogomorrian apples, about which it is said that from the outside they are beautiful, but inside their dust is stinking. The Cross serves as the image and sign of Christian spiritual wisdom, for by it the treasures of the wisdom and mind of God are revealed and, as it were, opened to us by a key. Wisdom of the world is dust, but by the word of the cross we received all the blessings: “Behold, the joy of the whole world has come by the Cross” ...

The cross is a sign of future immortality

The cross is a sign of future immortality.

All that happened on the tree of the cross was the healing of our infirmity, returning the old Adam to where he fell from, and leading to the tree of life, from which the fruit of the tree of knowledge, untimely and imprudently eaten, removed us. Therefore, wood for wood, and hands for a hand, hands courageously outstretched for a hand stretched out intemperately, nailed hands for the hand that cast out Adam. Therefore, the ascension to the Cross is for a fall, gall is for eating, the crown of thorns is for evil dominion, death is for death, darkness is for burial and returning to the earth for light.

Just as sin entered the world through the fruit of the tree, so salvation through the tree of the cross.

Jesus Christ, destroying that disobedience of Adam, which was first accomplished through the tree, was "obedient even to death, and death on the cross" (). Or in other words: the disobedience that was done through the tree, he healed by the obedience done on the tree.

You have an honest tree - the Cross of the Lord, with which, if you wish, you can sweeten the bitter water of your temper.

The cross is the facet of Divine care for our salvation, it is a great victory, it is a trophy erected by suffering, it is the crown of feasts.

“But I don’t want to boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, with which the world is crucified for me, and I for the world” (). When the Son of God appeared on earth and when the corrupted world could not bear His sinlessness, unparalleled virtue and accusatory freedom, and condemning this most holy Person to a shameful death, nailed him to the Cross, then the Cross became a new sign. It became an altar, for on it the great Sacrifice of our deliverance was offered. It became a divine altar, for it was sprinkled with the priceless Blood of the immaculate Lamb. He became a throne, for on it the great Messenger of God rested from all his deeds. He became a bright sign of the Lord of hosts, for "they will look at the one who was pierced" (). And those who have pierced Him by nothing else will recognize Him as soon as they see this sign of the Son of Man. In this sense, we should look with reverence not only at the very tree that was sanctified by the touch of the Most Pure Body, but also at every other tree that shows us the same image, not tying our reverence to the substance of wood or gold and silver, but referring it to Himself. the Savior, on him who accomplished our salvation. And this Cross was not so much burdensome for Him as it was relieving and saving for us. His burden is our comfort; His deeds are our reward; His sweat is our relief; His tears are our cleansing; His wounds are our healing; His suffering is our comfort; His Blood is our redemption; His Cross is our entrance to paradise; His death is our life.

Platon, Metropolitan of Moscow (105, 335-341).

There is no other key that would open the gates to the Kingdom of God, except for the Cross of Christ

Outside the Cross of Christ there is no Christian prosperity

Alas, my Lord! You are on the Cross - I am drowning in pleasures and bliss. You are striving for me on the Cross... I lie in laziness, in relaxation, looking everywhere and in everything for peace

My Lord! My Lord! Grant me to comprehend the meaning of Your Cross, draw me to Your Cross by Your destinies...

About the worship of the Cross

Prayer to the Cross is a poetic form of address to the One who is crucified on the Cross.

“The word about the cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (). For “a spiritual person judges everything, but a natural person does not accept what is from the Spirit of God” (). For this is foolishness for those who do not accept with faith and do not think about the Goodness and Omnipotence of God, but investigate divine things through human and natural reasoning, for everything that belongs to God is higher than nature and reason and thought. And if someone begins to weigh: how God brought everything out of non-existence into being and for what purpose, and if he wanted to comprehend this through natural reasoning, then he would not comprehend. For this knowledge is spiritual and demonic. But if anyone, guided by faith, takes into account that the Godhead is good and omnipotent, and true, and wise, and righteous, then he will find everything smooth and even, and the path straight. For it is impossible to be saved outside of faith, because everything, both human and spiritual, is based on faith. For without faith, neither the farmer cuts the furrows of the earth, nor the merchant on a small tree entrusts his soul to the raging abyss of the sea; there are no marriages or anything else in life. By faith we understand that everything is brought from non-existence into being by the power of God; by faith we rightly do all the works, both divine and human. Faith, further, is uncurious approval.

Every, of course, the deed and wonderworking of Christ is very great and divine, and amazing, but most amazing of all is His Honest Cross. For death has been overthrown, the ancestral sin has been destroyed, hell has been plundered, the Resurrection has been granted, the power has been given to us to despise the present and even death itself, the original bliss has been restored, the gates of paradise have been opened, our nature has sat at the right hand of God, we have become children of God and heirs not through something else, but through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For all this is arranged through the Cross: “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus,” says the apostle, “were baptized into His death” (). “All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (). And further: Christ is God's power and God's wisdom (). Here is the death of Christ, or the Cross, clothed us in God's hypostatic Wisdom and Power. The power of God is the word of the cross, either because through it the power of God was revealed to us, that is, victory over death, or because, just as the four ends of the Cross, uniting in the center, hold firmly and are tightly bound, so also through the mediation of power God's contains both height, and depth, and length, and breadth, that is, all visible and invisible creation.

The cross was given to us as a sign on the forehead, as to Israel - circumcision. For through him we, the faithful, are distinguished from the unbelievers and are recognized. He is a shield and weapon, and a monument of victory over the devil. He is a seal so that the Destroyer does not touch us, as Scripture says (). He is the lying rebellion, the standing support, the weak staff, the grazing rod, the returning guide, the prosperous path to perfection, the salvation of souls and bodies, the deviation from all evils, the culprit of all good, the destruction of sin, the sprout of resurrection, the tree of Eternal Life.

Therefore, the tree itself, precious in truth and venerable, on which Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, as sanctified by the touch of both the Holy Body and the Holy Blood, should naturally be worshipped; in the same way - and nails, a spear, clothes and His holy dwellings - a manger, a den, Golgotha, a saving life-giving tomb, Zion - the head of the Churches, and the like, as the God-father David says: "Let us go to His dwelling, let us worship at the footstool of His." And what he understands the Cross shows what is said: “Stand, Lord, in the place of Your rest” (). For the Cross is followed by the Resurrection. For if the house and bed and clothing of those whom we love are desirable, how much more is that which belongs to God and the Savior, through which we are saved!

We also worship the image of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, even if it were made of a different substance; we worship, honoring not the substance (let it not be!), but the image, as a symbol of Christ. For He, making a testament to His disciples, said: “then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (), meaning the Cross. Therefore, the Angel of the Resurrection said to the wives: “You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, crucified” (). And the apostle: "We preach Christ crucified" (). Although there are many Christs and Jesuses, but one is the Crucified. He did not say "pierced with a spear", but "crucified". Therefore, the sign of Christ must be worshiped. For where there is a sign, there He Himself will be. The substance of which the image of the Cross consists, even if it be gold or precious stones, after the destruction of the image, if this happens, should not be worshiped. So, everything that is dedicated to God, we worship, referring respect to Himself.

The tree of life, planted by God in paradise, foreshadowed this Holy Cross. For since death entered through the medium of the tree, it was necessary that Life and Resurrection be bestowed through the tree. The first Jacob, bowing to the end of Joseph's rod, designated by means of an image, and, blessing his sons with changed hands (), he very clearly outlined the sign of the Cross. The rod of Moses, which crosswise struck the sea and saved Israel, and drowned Pharaoh, also denoted the same; hands stretched out crosswise and putting Amalek to flight; bitter water, sweetened by the tree, and rock, torn and pouring out springs; a rod, acquiring to Aaron the dignity of a hierarchy; the serpent on the tree, lifted up as a trophy, as if it had been slain, when the tree healed those who looked with faith at the dead enemy, just as Christ the Flesh, who knew no sin, was nailed for sin. Great Moses says: you will see that your life will hang on a tree before you (). Isaiah: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient people, walking in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts” (). Oh, that we who worship him (that is, the Cross) would receive a portion in Christ, Who was crucified!

Saint John of Damascus. Exact presentation of the Orthodox faith.

The cross is a very ancient symbol. What did he symbolize before the death of the Savior on the cross? Which cross is considered more correct - Orthodox or Catholic four-pointed ("kryzh"). What is the reason for the image of Jesus Christ on the cross with crossed feet among Catholics and separate feet in the Orthodox tradition.

Hieromonk Adrian (Pashin) answers:

In different religious traditions, the cross symbolized different concepts. One of the most common is the meeting of our world with the spiritual world. For the Jewish people, from the moment of Roman domination, the cross, crucifixion was a method of shameful, cruel execution and caused overwhelming fear and horror, but, thanks to Christ the Victor, it became a welcome trophy that evoked joyful feelings. Therefore, St. Hippolytus of Rome, the Apostolic man, exclaimed: “And the Church has her own trophy over death - this is the Cross of Christ, which she bears on herself,” and St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, wrote in his Epistle: “I want to boast ... only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).

In the West, the most common now is the four-pointed cross (Fig. 1), which the Old Believers call (for some reason in Polish) “Kryzh Latin” or “Rymsky”, which means the Roman cross. According to the Gospel, the execution of the cross was distributed throughout the Empire by the Romans and, of course, was considered Roman. “And not according to the number of trees, not according to the number of ends, the Cross of Christ is revered by us, but according to Christ Himself, Whose holy blood was stained with,” says St. Dmitry of Rostov. “And manifesting miraculous power, any cross does not act by itself, but by the power of Christ crucified on it and the invocation of His most holy name.”

Starting from the III century, when such crosses first appeared in the Roman catacombs, the entire Orthodox East still uses this form of the cross as equal to all others.

The eight-pointed Orthodox cross (Fig. 2) most closely matches the historically reliable form of the cross on which Christ was already crucified, as Tertullian, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Justin the Philosopher and others testify. “And when Christ the Lord carried a cross on His shoulders, then the cross was still four-pointed; because there was still no title or footstool on it. There was no footstool, because Christ had not yet been lifted up on the cross, and the soldiers, not knowing where Christ's feet would reach, did not attach footstools, finishing it already at Golgotha" (St. Dimitry of Rostov). Also, there was no title on the cross before the crucifixion of Christ, because, as the Gospel reports, first they “crucified Him” (John 19, 18), and then only “Pilate wrote an inscription and placed it on the cross” (John 19, 19 ). It was at first that the soldiers “crucified Him” (Mt. 27:35) divided “His clothes” by lot, and only then “they placed an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Mt. 27, 37).

Since ancient times, images of the crucifixion of the Savior have also been known. Until the 9th century inclusive, Christ was depicted on the cross not only alive, resurrected, but also triumphant (Fig. 3), and only in the 10th century did images of the dead Christ appear (Fig. 4).

From ancient times, crucifixion crosses, both in the East and in the West, had a crossbar to support the feet of the Crucified, and His feet were depicted as nailed each separately with their own nail (Fig. 3). The image of Christ with crossed feet, nailed with one nail (Fig. 4), first appeared as an innovation in the West in the second half of the 13th century.

From the Orthodox dogma of the Cross (or Atonement), the idea undoubtedly follows that the death of the Lord is the ransom of all, the calling of all peoples. Only the cross, unlike other executions, gave Jesus Christ the opportunity to die with outstretched arms calling "to all the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22).

Therefore, in the tradition of Orthodoxy, it is to portray the Savior Almighty precisely as the Resurrected Crusader, holding and calling the whole universe into His arms and bearing the New Testament altar - the Cross.

And the traditionally Catholic image of the crucifixion, with Christ sagging in his arms, on the contrary, has the task of showing how it all happened, depicting the suffering and death before death, and not at all what is essentially the eternal Fruit of the Cross - His triumph.

Orthodoxy invariably teaches that suffering is necessary for all sinners for their humble assimilation of the Fruit of Redemption - the Holy Spirit sent by the sinless Redeemer, which, out of pride, Catholics do not understand, who, with their sinful sufferings, seek participation in the sinless, and therefore redemptive Passion of Christ and thereby fall into the heresy of the Crusades. "self-rescue".

In the Old Testament church, which consisted mainly of Jews, crucifixion, as is known, was not used, and, according to custom, they were executed in three ways: stoned, burned alive, and hung on a tree. Therefore, “they write about the gallows: “Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree” (Deut. 21:23),” explains St. Demetrius of Rostov (Search, part 2, ch. 24). The fourth punishment - beheading with a sword - was added to them in the era of the Kings.

And the execution of the cross was then a pagan Greco-Roman tradition, and the Jewish people knew it only a few decades before the birth of Christ, when the Romans crucified their last legitimate king, Antigonus. Therefore, in the Old Testament texts there are not and cannot even be any similarities of the cross as an instrument of execution: both from the side of the name, and from the side of the form; but, on the contrary, there is a lot of evidence there: 1) about human deeds, prophetically foreshadowing the image of the Lord's cross, 2) about known objects, mysteriously denoting the power and tree of the cross, and 3) about visions and revelations, foreshadowing the very suffering of the Lord.

The cross itself, as a terrible instrument of shameful execution, chosen by Satan as the banner of lethality, caused overwhelming fear and horror, but, thanks to Christ the Victorious, it became a coveted trophy that evoked joyful feelings. Therefore, Saint Hippolytus of Rome, the Apostolic husband, exclaimed: “And the Church has her own trophy over death - this is the Cross of Christ, which she bears on herself,” and Saint Paul, the Apostle of tongues, wrote in his Epistle: “I want to boast (…) only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”(Gal. 6:14). “Look how longed and cherished this so terrible and reproachful (shameful - Slavs.) Sign of the most cruel executions in ancient times has become,” testified St. John Chrysostom. And the Apostolic husband - St. Justin the Philosopher - argued: "The Cross, as the prophet foretold, is the greatest symbol of the power and authority of Christ" (Apology, § 55).

In general, the “symbol” is in Greek “connection”, and means either a means that implements connection, or the detection of an invisible reality through visible naturalness, or the expressibility of a concept by an image.

In the New Testament Church, which arose in Palestine mainly from former Jews, at first the instillation of symbolic images was difficult due to their adherence to their former traditions, which strictly forbade images and thereby protected the Old Testament church from the influence of pagan idolatry. However, as you know, the Providence of God already then gave her many lessons in symbolic and iconographic language. For example: God, forbidding the prophet Ezekiel to speak, commanded him to draw on a brick an image of the siege of Jerusalem as a “sign to the sons of Israel” (Ezek. 4:3). And it is clear that over time, with an increase in the number of Christians from other nations, where images were traditionally allowed, such a one-sided influence of the Jewish element, of course, weakened and gradually disappeared altogether.

Already from the first centuries of Christianity, due to the persecution of the followers of the crucified Redeemer, Christians were forced to hide, performing their rituals in secret. And the absence of Christian statehood - the external fence of the Church and the duration of such an oppressed situation were reflected in the development of worship and symbolism.

And to this day, precautionary measures have been preserved in the Church for the protection of the teaching itself and even the shrines from the harmful curiosity of the enemies of Christ. For example, the Iconostasis is a product of the Sacrament of Communion, subject to protective measures; or the diaconal exclamation: “Come out, ye catechumens,” between the liturgies of the catechumens and the faithful, undoubtedly reminds us that “we celebrate the Sacrament, having closed the doors, and forbid the uninitiated to be with him,” writes Chrysostom (Conversation 24, Matt.).

Let us recall how the famous Roman actor and mime Genesius, on the orders of Emperor Diocletian in 268, exhibited the Sacrament of Baptism in the circus as a mockery. What a miraculous effect the spoken words had on him, we see from the life of the blessed martyr Genesius: having repented, he was baptized and, together with the Christians prepared for public execution, "was the first to be beheaded." This is far from the only fact of desecration of the shrine - an example of the fact that many of the Christian mysteries have become known to the pagans for a long time.

"This world- according to the words of the Seer John, - all lying in evil"(1 John 5:19), and there is that aggressive environment in which the Church fights for the salvation of people and which forced Christians from the first centuries to use conditional symbolic language: abbreviations, monograms, symbolic images and signs.

This new language of the Church helps to initiate the new believer into the mystery of the Cross gradually, of course, taking into account his spiritual age. After all, the necessity (as a voluntary condition) of gradual disclosure of dogmas to the catechumens preparing to receive baptism is based on the words of the Savior Himself (see Matt. 7;6 and 1 Cor. 3:1). That is why St. Cyril of Jerusalem divided his sermons into two parts: the first of the 18 catechumens, where there is not a word about the Sacraments, and the second of the 5 sacraments, explaining to the faithful all the Church Sacraments. In the preface, he urges the catechumens not to pass on what they heard to outsiders: “when you experience the height of the taught, then you will know that the catechumens are not worthy to hear him.” And Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “I would like to speak openly about this, but I am afraid of the uninitiated. For they impede our conversation, forcing us to speak indistinctly and covertly.(Conversation 40, 1 Cor.). Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Kirr, speaks of the same thing: after removing those who were worthy of secret knowledge, we teach them clearly ”(Question 15 Num.).

Thus, the pictorial symbols that enclose the verbal formulas of the dogmas and Sacraments not only improved the way of expression, but, being a new sacred language, even more reliably protected the church teaching from aggressive profanation. To this day we, as the Apostle Paul taught, “we preach the wisdom of God, secret, hidden”(1 Corinthians 2:7).

Cross T-shaped "Antonievskiy"

In the southern and eastern parts The Roman Empire used a tool to execute criminals, called the “Egyptian” cross since the time of Moses and resembling the letter “T” in European languages. “The Greek letter T,” wrote Count A.S. Uvarov, “is one of the forms of the cross used for crucifixions” (Christian symbolism, M., 1908, p. 76)

“The number 300, expressed in Greek through the letter T, also served from the time of the Apostles to designate the cross,” says the well-known liturgist, Archimandrite Gabriel. - This Greek letter T is found in the inscription of the tomb of the III century, discovered in the catacombs of St. Callistus. (...) Such an image of the letter T is found on one carnelian engraved in the 2nd century ”(Guide to Liturgy, Tver, 1886, p. 344)

St. Demetrius of Rostov also argues about the same: “The Greek image, “Tav”, called, which the Angel of the Lord made "sign on forehead"(Ezek. 9:4) Saint Ezekiel the prophet saw in the revelation the holy people in Jerusalem, in order to protect them from impending slaughter. (…)

If we apply the title of Christ to this image at the top in this way, we will immediately see the four-pointed cross of Christ. Therefore, there Ezekiel saw a prototype of a four-pointed cross” (Search, M., 1855, book 2, ch. 24, p. 458).

Tertullian asserts the same: "The Greek letter Tav and our Latin T constitute the true form of the cross, which, according to prophecy, should be depicted on our foreheads in true Jerusalem."

“If the letter T is found in Christian monograms, then this letter is located in such a way as to stand out more clearly in front of all others, since T was considered not only a symbol, but even the very image of the cross. An example of such a monogram is found on a sarcophagus of the 3rd century” (Gr. Uvarov, p. 81). According to Church Tradition, Saint Anthony the Great wore a cross-Tau on his clothes. Or, for example, Saint Zeno, bishop of the city of Verona, placed a cross in the shape of T on the roof of the basilica he built in 362.

Cross "Egyptian hieroglyph Ankh"

Jesus Christ - the Conqueror of death - through the mouth of the king-prophet Solomon announced: "Whoever finds me finds life"(Prov. 8:35), and after His incarnation he repeated: "I am seven risen and life"(John 11:25). Already from the first centuries of Christianity, the Egyptian hieroglyph "anch", denoting the concept of "life", was used to symbolize the life-giving cross, resembling it in shape.

Cross "letter"

And other letters (from different languages), given below, were also used by the first Christians as symbols of the cross. Such an image of the cross did not scare away the pagans, being familiar to them. “And indeed, as can be seen from the Sinai inscriptions,” reports Count A.S. Uvarov, “the letter was taken as a symbol and for a real image of the cross” (Christian symbolism, part 1, p. 81). In the first centuries of Christianity, of course, it was not the artistic side of the symbolic image that was important, but the convenience of its application to a hidden concept.

Cross "anchor-shaped"

Initially, this symbol was found by archaeologists on the Thessalonica inscription of the 3rd century, in Rome - in 230, and in Gaul - in 474. And from the “Christian Symbols” we learn that “in the caves of Pretextatus, slabs were found without any inscriptions, with one image of an “anchor”" (Gr. Uvarov, p. 114).

In his Epistle, the Apostle Paul teaches that Christians have the opportunity "take hold of the hope that lies ahead(i.e. Cross), which for the soul is, as it were, a safe and strong anchor.(Heb. 6:18-19). This one, according to the Apostle, "anchor", symbolically covering the cross from the reproach of the unfaithful, and revealing its true meaning to the faithful, as deliverance from the consequences of sin, is our strong hope.

The church ship, figuratively speaking, along the waves of a turbulent temporal life, delivers everyone to the quiet harbor of eternal life. Therefore, the “anchor”, being cruciform, became among Christians a symbol of hope for the strongest fruit of the Cross of Christ - the Kingdom of Heaven, although the Greeks and Romans, also using this sign, assimilated to it the meaning of “strength” only earthly affairs.

Cross monogram "pre-Konstantinovsky"

A well-known specialist in liturgical theology, Archimandrite Gabriel, writes that “in the monogram inscribed on the tombstone (3rd century) and in the form of the St. Andrew's Cross, vertically crossed by a line (Fig. 8), there is a cover image of the cross” (Rukov. p. 343) .
This monogram was composed of the Greek initial letters of the name of Jesus Christ, by combining them crosswise: namely the letter "1" (yot) and the letter "X" (chi).

This monogram is often found in the post-Konstantinov period; for example, we can see her image in mosaic on the vaults of the Archbishop's Chapel of the end of the 5th century in Ravenna.

Cross-monogram "shepherd's staff"

Representing Christ the Shepherd, the Lord imparted miraculous power to the staff of Moses (Ex. 4:2-5) as a sign of pastoral power over the verbal sheep of the Old Testament church, then to the staff of Aaron (Ex. 2:8-10). The Divine Father, through the mouth of the prophet Micah, says to the Only Begotten Son: "Feed Your people with Your rod, the sheep of Your inheritance"(Micah 7:14). "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"(John 10:11), the beloved Son answers the Heavenly Father.

Count A. S. Uvarov, describing the finds of the Catacomb period, reported that: “A clay lamp found in Roman caves shows us very clearly how a bent staff was painted instead of the entire symbol of the shepherd. On the lower part of this lamp, the staff is depicted crossing the letter X, the first letter of the name of Christ, which together forms the monogram of the Savior ”(Christ. symbol. p. 184).

At first, the shape of the Egyptian rod was similar to the shepherd's staff, top part which is bent down. All the bishops of Byzantium were awarded the "shepherd's staff" only from the hands of the emperors, and in the 17th century all Russian patriarchs received their primatial staff from the hands of the reigning autocrats.

Cross "Burgundy", or "Andreevsky"

The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher, explaining the question of how the pagans knew cruciform symbols even before the birth of Christ, argued: “What Plato says in Timaeus (...) about the Son of God (...) that God placed Him in the universe like a letter X, he also borrowed from Moses!. For in the Mosaic writings it is said that (...) Moses, by the inspiration and action of God, took brass and made the image of the cross (...) and said to the people: if you look at this image and believe, you will be saved through it (Numbers 21:8) ( John 3:14). (...) Plato read this and, not knowing exactly and not realizing that it was the image of a (vertical) cross, and seeing only the figure of the letter X, he said that the power closest to the first God was in the universe like the letter X ”(Apology 1, § 60).

The letter "X" of the Greek alphabet has already served as the basis for monogram symbols since the 2nd century, and not only because it hid the name of Christ; after all, as you know, “ancient writers find the shape of a cross in the letter X, which is called Andreevsky, because, according to legend, the Apostle Andrew ended his life on such a cross,” Archimandrite Gabriel wrote (Rukov. p. 345).

Around 1700, God's anointed Peter the Great, wishing to express the religious difference between Orthodox Russia and the heretical West, placed the image of the St. Andrew's Cross on the State Emblem, on his hand seal, on the naval flag, etc. His own explanation says that: "the cross of St. Andrew (accepted) for the sake of that from this Apostle Russia received holy baptism."

Cross "Monogram of Constantine"

To the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles King Constantine “Christ the Son of God appeared in a dream with a sign seen in heaven and commanded, having made a banner similar to this one seen in heaven, to use it to protect against attacks by enemies,” narrates the church historian Eusebius Pamphilus in his “Book One on the Life of the Blessed King Constantine" (ch. 29). “This banner happened to be seen by us with our own eyes,” continues Eusebius (ch. 30). - It had the following appearance: on a long, gold-covered spear there was a transverse rail, which formed the sign of the cross (...) with the spear, and on it was a symbol of the saving name: two letters showed the name of Christ (...), from the middle of which came the letter "R". Subsequently, the Tsar had the custom to wear these letters on his helmet” (ch. 31).

“A combination of (combined) letters, known as the monogram of Constantine, composed of the first two letters of the word Christ - “Chi” and “Rho,” writes the liturgist Archimandrite Gabriel, “this Constantinian monogram is found on the coins of the Emperor Constantine” (p. 344) .

As is known, this monogram has become quite widespread: it was minted for the first time on the well-known bronze coin of Emperor Trajan Decius (249-251) in the Lydian city of Maeonia; was depicted on a vessel of 397; was carved on tombstones of the first five centuries or, for example, frescoed on plaster in the caves of St. Sixtus (Gr. Uvarov, p. 85).

Cross monogram "Post-Konstantinovsky"

“Sometimes the letter T,” writes Archimandrite Gabriel, “is found in conjunction with the letter R, which can be seen in the tomb of St. Callistus in the epitaph” (p. 344). This monogram is also found on the Greek plates found in the city of Megara, and on the tombstones of the cemetery of St. Matthew in the city of Tire.

words "Behold, your King"(John 19:14) Pilate first of all pointed out the noble origin of Jesus from the royal dynasty of David, in contrast to the rootless self-proclaimed tetrarchs, and this idea was stated in writing "over his head"(Matt. 27:37), which, of course, caused discontent among the power-hungry high priests, who stole power over the people of God from the kings. And that is why the Apostles, preaching the Resurrection of the crucified Christ and openly “venerating, as is evident from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus as king” (Acts 17:7), endured severe persecution from the clergy through the deceived people.

The Greek letter "R" (ro) - the first in the word in Latin "Pax", in Roman "Rex", in Russian Tsar, - symbolizing King Jesus, is above the letter "T" (tav), meaning His cross; and together they recall the words from the Apostolic gospel that all our strength and wisdom is in the Crucified King (1 Cor. 1:23-24).

Thus, “and this monogram, according to the interpretation of St. Justin, served as a sign of the Cross of Christ (...), received such an extensive meaning in symbolism only after the first monogram. (...) In Rome (...) it became commonplace not before 355, and in Gaul - not before the 5th century ”(Gr. Uvarov, p. 77).

Cross monogram "sun-shaped"

Already on the coins of the 4th century there is a monogram "I" of Jesus "XP" is "sun-shaped", "For the Lord God- as the Holy Scripture teaches - there is a sun"(Ps. 84:12).

The most famous, “Konstantinovskaya”, “monogram was subjected to some changes: a line or the letter “I” was added, crossing the monogram across” (Archim. Gabriel, p. 344).

This "sun-shaped" cross symbolizes the fulfillment of the prophecy about the all-enlightening and all-conquering power of the Cross of Christ: “But for you who revere my name, the sun will rise righteousness and healing by His rays,- proclaimed by the Holy Spirit the prophet Malachi, - and you will trample the wicked; for they will be dust under your feet." (4:2-3).

Cross monogram "trident"

When the Savior passed near the Sea of ​​Galilee, He saw fishermen throwing nets into the water, His future disciples. “And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”(Matthew 4:19). And later, sitting by the sea, He taught the people with His parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea and seizing every kind of fish”(Matthew 13:47). "Recognizing in shells for fishing symbolic meaning Kingdom of Heaven, - says the "Christian Symbolism", - we can assume that all the formulas related to the same concept were iconically expressed by these common symbols. The trident, which was used to catch fish, as they now fish with hooks, should be attributed to the same shells ”(Gr. Uvarov, 147).

Thus, the trident monogram of Christ has long meant participation in the Sacrament of Baptism, as being caught in the net of the Kingdom of God. For example, on an ancient monument of the sculptor Eutropius, an inscription is carved, which speaks of his acceptance of baptism and ends with a trident monogram (Gr. Uvarov, p. 99).

Cross monogram "Konstantinovsky"It is known from church archeology and history that on ancient monuments of writing and architecture there is often a variant of combining the letters "Chi" and "Rho" in the monogram of the holy King Constantine, the God-chosen successor of Christ the Lord on the throne of David.

Only from the 4th century did the constantly depicted cross begin to free itself from the monogram shell, lose its symbolic coloring, approaching its real form, resembling either the letter “I” or the letter “X”.

These changes in the image of the cross occurred due to the emergence of Christian statehood, based on its open veneration and glorification.

Cross round "nahlebnaya"

According to an ancient custom, as Horace and Martial testify, Christians cut the baked bread crosswise to make it easier to break it. But long before Jesus Christ, this was a symbolic transformation in the East: the incised cross, dividing the whole into parts, unites those who used them, heals separation.

Such round loaves are depicted, for example, on the inscription of Sintrophion divided into four parts by a cross, and on the tombstone from the cave of St. Lukina divided into six parts by a monogram of the 3rd century.

In direct connection with the Sacrament of Communion, chalices, phelonions and other things depicted bread as a symbol of the Body of Christ, broken for our sins.

The circle itself, before the birth of Christ, was depicted as the idea of ​​immortality and eternity, not yet personified. Now, by faith, we understand that “the Son of God Himself is an endless circle,” according to the words of St. Clement of Alexandria, “in which all forces converge.”

Catacomb cross, or "sign of victory"

“In the catacombs and in general on ancient monuments, four-pointed crosses are incomparably more common than any other form,” Archimandrite Gabriel notes. This image of the cross has become especially important for Christians since God Himself showed in heaven the sign of the four-pointed cross ”(Rukov. p. 345).

The well-known historian Eusebius Pamphal narrates in detail how all this happened in his Book One on the Life of the Blessed Tsar Constantine.

“Once, at noon, when the sun was already beginning to lean toward the west,” the Tsar said, “I saw with my own eyes the sign of the cross, composed of light and lying on the sun, with the inscription “Conquer this!” This spectacle seized with horror both himself and the whole army that followed him and continued to contemplate the miracle that had appeared (ch. 28).

It was on the 28th day of October 312, when Constantine marched with his army against Maxentius, who was imprisoned in Rome. This miraculous appearance of the cross among white day witnessed by many modern writers from the words of eyewitnesses.

Particularly important is the testimony of the confessor Artemius before Julian the Apostate, to whom Artemius said during interrogation:

“Christ called Constantine from above when he waged war against Maxentius, showing him at noon the sign of the cross, shining radiantly over the sun and star-shaped Roman letters predicting victory in the war for him. Being there ourselves, we saw His sign and read the letters, saw him and the whole army: there are many witnesses to this in your army, if you only want to ask them ”(ch. 29).

“By the power of God, the holy Emperor Constantine won a brilliant victory over the tyrant Maxentius, who did impious and villainous deeds in Rome” (ch. 39).

Thus, the cross, which used to be an instrument of shameful execution among the pagans, became under Emperor Constantine the Great a sign of victory - the triumph of Christianity over paganism and the subject of the deepest reverence.

For example, according to the short stories of the holy Emperor Justinian, such crosses were supposed to be placed on contracts and meant a signature “worthy of all trust” (book 73, ch. 8). The acts (decisions) of the Councils were also fastened with the image of the cross. One of the imperial decrees says: “we command every conciliar act, which is approved by the sign of the holy Cross of Christ, to be preserved and so be as it is.”

In general, this form of the cross is most often used in ornaments.

for decorating temples, icons, priestly vestments and other church utensils.

The cross in Russia is "patriarchal", or in the West "Lorensky"The fact proving the use of the so-called "patriarchal cross" since the middle of the last millennium is confirmed by numerous data from the field of church archeology. It was this form of the six-pointed cross that was depicted on the seal of the governor of the Byzantine Emperor in the city of Korsun.

The same type of cross was widespread in the West under the name of "Lorensky".
For an example from the Russian tradition, let us point out at least the large copper cross of St. Avraamy of Rostov of the 18th century, stored in the Andrei Rublev Museum of Old Russian Art, cast according to iconographic samples of the 11th century.

Four-pointed cross, or Latin "immissa"

The textbook “The Temple of God and Church Services” reports that “a strong motivation for honoring the direct image of the cross, and not the monogram, was the acquisition of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross by the mother of the holy Tsar Constantine, Equal-to-the-Apostles Elena. As the direct image of the cross spreads, it gradually acquires the form of the Crucifixion ”(SP., 1912, p. 46).

In the West, the most common now is the "immiss" cross, which the schismatics - admirers of imaginary antiquity - scornfully call (for some reason in Polish) "roof in Latin" or "Rymsky", which means - the Roman cross. These detractors of the four-pointed cross and devout admirers of the osmikonomy, apparently, need to be reminded that, according to the Gospel, the execution of the cross was spread throughout the Empire precisely by the Romans and, of course, was considered Roman.

And not according to the number of trees, not according to the number of ends, the Cross of Christ is revered by us, but according to Christ Himself, Whose holy blood was stained with, - St. Dimitry of Rostov denounced the schismatic philosophies. - And, showing miraculous power, any cross does not act by itself, but by the power of Christ crucified on it and by invoking His most holy name ”(Search, book 2, ch. 24).

accepted universal church in use “The Canon of the Holy Cross” - the work of St. Gregory of Sinai - sings of the Divine power of the Cross, containing everything heavenly, earthly and underworld: “The all-honorable Cross, four-pointed power, splendor of the Apostle” (song 1), “Behold the four-pointed Cross, having height, depth and breadth” (song 4).

Starting from the 3rd century, when such crosses first appeared in the Roman catacombs, the entire Orthodox East still uses this form of the cross as equal to all others.

Papal CrossThis form of the cross was most often used in the hierarchal and papal services of the Roman Church in the 13th-15th centuries and therefore was called the "papal cross".

To the question about the foot, depicted at right angles to the cross, we will answer with the words of St. Demetrius of Rostov, who said: “I kiss the foot of the cross, if it is oblique, if not oblique, and the custom of the cross-makers and cross-writers, as consistent with the church, I do not dispute, I condescend” (Search, book 2, chapter 24).

Six-pointed cross "Russian Orthodox"The question of the reason for the inscription of the lower crossbar tilted is quite convincingly explained by the liturgical text of the 9th hour of the service to the Cross of the Lord:“In the midst of two thieves, the measure of righteousness, having found Your Cross: the first I am brought down to hell with the burden of blasphemy, while the other I am relieved from sins to the knowledge of theology”. In other words, both on Golgotha ​​for two thieves, and in life for each person, the cross serves as a measure, as if the scales of his inner state.

To one thief who is brought down to hell "burden of blasphemy", pronounced by him on Christ, he became, as it were, the crossbar of the scales, bowed down under this terrible weight; another thief, freed by repentance and the words of the Savior: "today you will be with me in paradise"(Luke 23:43), the cross elevates to the Kingdom of Heaven.
This form of the cross in Russia has been used since ancient times: for example, the worship cross, arranged in 1161 by the Monk Euphrosyne, Princess of Polotsk, was six-pointed.

The six-pointed Orthodox cross, along with others, was used in Russian heraldry: for example, on the coat of arms of the Kherson province, as explained in the Russian Heraldry (p. 193), a “silver Russian cross” is depicted.

Orthodox octagonal cross

Eight-pointedness - most corresponds to the historically reliable form of the cross on which Christ was already crucified, as Tertullian, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, St. Justin the Philosopher and others testify. “And when Christ the Lord carried a cross on His shoulders, then the cross was still four-pointed; because there was still no title or footstool on it. (...) There was no footstool, because Christ had not yet been raised on the cross and the soldiers, not knowing where Christ's feet would reach, did not attach footstools, having finished it already at Golgotha, ”St. Dimitry of Rostov denounced the schismatics (Search, Prince 2, chapter 24). There was also no title on the cross before the crucifixion of Christ, because, as the Gospel reports, at first "Crucified Him"(John 19:18), and then only "Pilate wrote the inscription and placed(by your order) on the cross"(John 19:19). It was at first divided by lot "His clothes" warriors, "they crucified him"(Matthew 27:35), and only then “They put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”(Matthew 27:3.7).

So, the four-pointed Cross of Christ, carried to Golgotha, which everyone who has fallen into the demonic schism calls the seal of the Antichrist, is still called in the Holy Gospel "His cross" (Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26 , John 19:17), that is, the same as with the tablet and footstool after the crucifixion (John 19:25). In Russia, the cross of this form was used more often than others.

Seven-pointed cross

This form of the cross is quite often found on the icons of northern painting, for example, the Pskov school of the 15th century: the image of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa with life is from the Historical Museum, or the image of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica - from the Russian; or the Moscow school: "Crucifixion" by Dionysius - from the Tretyakov Gallery, dated 1500.
We see the seven-pointed cross on the domes of Russian churches: for example, we will cite the wooden Ilyinsky Church of 1786 in the village of Vazentsy (Holy Rus, St. Petersburg, 1993, ill. 129), or we can see it above the entrance to the Cathedral of the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery, built by Patriarch Nikon .

At one time, theologians heatedly discussed the question of what kind of mystical and dogmatic meaning does the footstool have as part of the redemptive Cross?

The fact is that the Old Testament priesthood received, so to speak, the opportunity to make sacrifices (as one of the conditions) thanks to "golden footstool attached to the throne"(Par. 9:18), which, as it is still with us Christians, according to God's ordinance, was sanctified through chrismation: “And anoint them,” said the Lord, “the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, (…) and its base. And sanctify them, and there will be great holiness: everything that touches them will be sanctified.”(Ex. 30:26-29).

Thus, the foot of the cross is that part of the New Testament altar, which mystically points to the priestly service of the Savior of the world, who voluntarily paid with His death for the sins of others: for the Son of God "Our sins He Himself bore in His body on the tree"(1 Pet. 2:24) Cross, "sacrifice himself"(Heb. 7:27) and thus "being made high priest forever"(Heb. 6:20), established in His person "The priesthood is eternal"(Heb. 7:24).

And so it is stated in the "Orthodox Confession of the Eastern Patriarchs": "On the cross, He fulfilled the office of the Priest, offering Himself as a sacrifice to God and the Father for the redemption of the human race" (M., 1900, p. 38).
But let's not confuse the foot of the Holy Cross, which reveals to us one of its mysterious sides, with the other two foots from the Holy Scriptures. - explains St. Dmitry Rostovsky.

“David says, “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; holy It"(Ps. 99:5). And Isaiah says on behalf of Christ: (Isaiah 60:13), explains Saint Demetrius of Rostov. There is a footstool that is commanded to worship, and there is a footstool that is not commanded to be worshiped. God says in Isaiah's prophecy: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool"(Is. 66:1): no one should worship this footstool - the earth, but only God, its Creator. And it is also written in the psalms: "The Lord (Father) said to my Lord (Son), Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool"(Pis. 109:1). And this footstool of God, the enemies of God, who wants to worship? What footstool does David command to worship?” (Search, book 2, chapter 24).

To this question the very word of God on behalf of the Savior answers: "and when I am lifted up from the earth"(John 12:32) - “from my footstool” (Is. 66:1), then "I will glorify my footstool"(Isaiah 60:13)- "foot of the altar"(Ex. 30:28) of the New Testament - the Holy Cross, which casts down, as we confess, Lord, "Your enemies for Your footstool"(Ps. 109:1), and therefore "worship the foot(Cross) His; holy It!(Ps. 99:5), "a footstool attached to a throne"(2 Chr. 9:18).

Cross "crown of thorns"The image of a cross with a crown of thorns has been used for many centuries by various peoples who have adopted Christianity. But instead of numerous examples from the ancient Greco-Roman tradition, we will give several cases of its use in later times according to the sources that were at hand. A cross with a crown of thorns can be seen on the pages of an ancient Armenian manuscriptbooksthe period of the Cilician kingdom (Matenadaran, M., 1991, p. 100);on the icon“Glorification of the Cross” of the 12th century from the Tretyakov Gallery (V. N. Lazarev, Novgorod icon painting, M., 1976, p. 11); on Staritsky copper-castcross- vest of the XIV century; on thecover"Golgotha" - the monastic contribution of Tsarina Anastasia Romanova in 1557; on silverplatterXVI century (Novodevichy Convent, M., 1968, ill. 37), etc.

God told sinning Adam that “Cursed be the earth for you. Thorns and thistles she will grow for you"(Gen. 3:17-18). And the new sinless Adam - Jesus Christ - voluntarily took on other people's sins, and death as a consequence of them, and thorny suffering, leading to it along a thorny path.

Christ's Apostles Matthew (27:29), Mark (15:17) and John (19:2) tell that "The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head", "and by his stripes we are healed"(Isaiah 53:5). From this it is clear why the wreath has since symbolized victory and reward, starting with the books of the New Testament: "crown of truth"(2 Tim. 4:8), "crown of glory"(1 Pet. 5:4), "crown of life"(James 1:12 and Rep. 2:10).

Cross "gallows"This form of the cross is very widely used in the decoration of churches, liturgical objects, hierarchal vestments, and in particular, as we see, bishops' omophorions on the icons of the "three ecumenical teachers".

“If someone tells you, do you worship the Crucified One? You answer with a bright voice and with a cheerful face: I worship and will not stop worshiping. If he laughs, you shed tears about him, because he is raging,” teaches us, the ecumenical teacher St. John Chrysostom himself, decorated on images with this cross (Conversation 54, on Matt.).

The cross of any form has an unearthly beauty and life-giving power, and everyone who knows this God's wisdom exclaims with the Apostle: "I (…) I wish to boast (…) only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"(Gal. 6:14)!

Cross "vine"

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”(John 15:1). This is how Jesus Christ called himself, the Head of the Church planted by Himself, the only source and conductor of spiritual, holy life for all Orthodox believers, who are members of His body.

“I am the vine and you are the branches; Whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit."(John 15:5). “These words of the Savior Himself laid the foundation for the symbolism of the vine,” wrote Count A.S. Uvarov in his work “Christian Symbolism”; the main meaning of the vine for Christians was in a symbolic connection with the sacrament of communion” (pp. 172 - 173).

Cross "petal"The variety of forms of the cross has always been recognized by the Church as quite natural. According to the expression of St. Theodore the Studite - "a cross of any form is a true cross." Very common in church fine arts“petal” cross, which, for example, is seen on the omophorion of St. Gregory the Wonderworker of the 11th-century mosaic of the Hagia Sophia of Kyiv.

“By a variety of sensory signs, we are hierarchically elevated to a uniform union with God,” explains the famous teacher of the Church, St. John of Damascus. From the visible to the invisible, from the temporal to eternity - such is the path of a person led by the Church to God through the comprehension of grace-filled symbols. The history of their diversity is inseparable from the history of the salvation of mankind.

Cross "Greek", or Old Russian "korsunchik"

Traditional for Byzantium and the most frequently and widely used form of the so-called "Greek cross". The same cross is considered, as you know, to be the most ancient "Russian cross", since, according to the Church Devotion, the holy prince Vladimir took out from Korsun, where he was baptized, just such a cross and installed it on the banks of the Dnieper in Kyiv. A similar four-pointed cross has survived to this day in the Kiev Sophia Cathedral, carved on the marble board of the tomb of Prince Yaroslav, son of St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles.

Often, to indicate the universal significance of the Cross of Christ as a microuniverse, the cross is depicted as inscribed in a circle, symbolizing the cosmological sphere of heaven.

Cross "dome" with a crescent

It is not surprising that the question about the cross with a crescent is often asked, since the "dome" is located in the most prominent place of the temple. For example, the domes of the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Vologda, built in 1570, are decorated with such crosses.

Typical of the pre-Mongol period, this form of a domed cross is often found in the Pskov region, once on the dome of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in the village of Meletovo, erected in 1461.

Actually, the symbolism Orthodox church inexplicable from the point of view of aesthetic (and therefore static) perception, but, on the contrary, it is quite open for understanding precisely in liturgical dynamics, since almost all elements of temple symbolism, in different places of worship, acquire different meanings.

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,- says in the Revelation of John the Theologian, - the moon under her feet(Apoc. 12:1), and patristic wisdom explains: this moon marks the font in which the Church, baptized into Christ, is clothed in Him, in the Sun of righteousness. The crescent is also the cradle of Bethlehem, which received the Divine Infant Christ; the crescent is the Eucharistic cup in which the Body of Christ is located; the crescent is a church ship, led by the Pilot Christ; the crescent is also the anchor of hope, the gift of the cross of Christ; the crescent moon is also the ancient serpent trampled down by the Cross and placed as an enemy of God under the feet of Christ.

Cross "trefoil"

In Russia, this form of the cross is used more often than others for the manufacture of altar crosses. But, however, we can see it on state symbols. “A golden Russian trifoliate cross standing on a silver overturned crescent”, as reported in the Russian Heraldry, was depicted on the coat of arms of the Tiflis province

The golden “shamrock” (Fig. 39) is also on the coat of arms of the Orenburg province, on the coat of arms of the city of Troitsk, Penza province, the city of Akhtyrka, Kharkov and the city of Spassk, Tambov provinces, on the coat of arms of the provincial city of Chernigov, etc.

Cross "Maltese", or "St. George"

Patriarch Jacob prophetically honored the Cross when "bowed down in faith, As the Apostle Paul says, on top of his rod"(Heb. 11:21), “a rod,” explains St. John of Damascus, “which served as an image of the cross” (On holy icons, 3 verses). That is why today there is a cross above the handle of the episcopal baton, “for by the cross,” writes St. Simeon of Thessalonica, “we are guided and grazed, we are sealed, we are born, and, having mortified passions, we are drawn to Christ” (ch. 80).

In addition to the usual and widespread church use, this form of the cross, for example, was officially adopted by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, formed on the island of Malta and openly fought against Freemasonry, which, as you know, organized the murder Russian Emperor Pavel Petrovich - the patron saint of the Maltese. So the name appeared - "Maltese cross".

According to Russian heraldry, some cities had golden "Maltese" crosses on their coats of arms, for example: Zolotonosha, Mirgorod and Zenkov of the Poltava province; Pogar, Bonza and Konotop of the Chernihiv province; Kovel Volynskoy,

Perm and Elizavetpol provinces and others. Pavlovsk St. Petersburg, Vindava Courland, Belozersk Novgorod provinces,

Perm and Elizavetpol provinces and others.

All those who were awarded the crosses of St. George the Victorious of all four degrees, were called, as you know, "cavaliers of St. George."

Cross "Prosphora-Konstantinovsky"

For the first time, these words in Greek "IC.XP.NIKA", which means "Jesus Christ the Conqueror", were written in gold on three large crosses in Constantinople by the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine himself.

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”(Rev. 3:21), says the Savior, the Conqueror of hell and death.

According to ancient tradition, an image of a cross is printed on the prosphora with the addition of words meaning this victory of the cross of Christ: "IC.XC.NIKA". This "prosphora" seal means the redemption of sinners from sinful captivity, or, in other words, the great price of our Redemption.

Old-printed cross "wicker"

“This weaving was obtained from ancient Christian art,” Professor V. N. Shchepkin authoritatively reports, “where it is known in carving and mosaics. Byzantine weaving, in turn, passes to the Slavs, among whom it was especially common in the most ancient era in Glagolitic manuscripts ”(Textbook of Russian Paleography, M., 1920, p. 51).

Most often, images of "wicker" crosses are found as decorations in Bulgarian and Russian old printed books.

Cross four-pointed "drop-shaped"

Having sprinkled the cross tree, the drops of the Blood of Christ forever informed the cross of His power.

The Greek Gospel of the 2nd century from the State Public Library opens with a sheet depicting a beautiful “drop-shaped” four-pointed cross (Byzantine miniature, M., 1977, pl. 30).

And also, for example, we recall that among the copper pectoral crosses cast in the first centuries of the second millennium, as is known, there are often “drop-shaped” encolpions (in Greek- "on the chest").
At the beginning of Christ"drops of blood falling to the ground"(Luke 22:44), became a lesson in the fight against sin even"till blood"(Heb. 12:4); when on the cross from Him"blood and water flowed out"(John 19:34), then by example they were taught to fight evil even to death.

"To him(Savior) who loved us and washed us from our sins with his own blood."(Apoc. 1:5), who saved us "by the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20), - Glory forever!

Cross "crucifixion"

One of the first images of the crucified Jesus Christ that has come down to us dates back only to the 5th century, on the doors of the church of St. Sabina in Rome. From the 5th century, the Savior began to be depicted in a long robe of a collobia - as if leaning against a cross. It is this image of Christ that can be seen on the early bronze and silver crosses of Byzantine and Syrian origin of the 7th-9th centuries.

The 6th century saint Anastasius of Sinai wrote an apologetic ( in Greek- “protection”) the composition “Against the acephalus” - a heretical sect that denies the unity of two natures in Christ. To this work he attached an image of the crucifixion of the Savior as an argument against Monophysitism. He conjures the copyists of his work, together with the text, to transfer inviolably the image attached to it, as, by the way, we can see on the manuscript of the Vienna Library.

Another, even more ancient surviving image of the crucifixion is on the miniature of the Ravvula Gospel from the Zagba monastery. This 586 manuscript belongs to the Saint Lawrence Library in Florence.

Until the 9th century inclusive, Christ was depicted on the cross not only alive, resurrected, but also triumphant, and only in the 10th century did images of the dead Christ appear (Fig. 54).

From ancient times, crucifixion crosses, both in the East and in the West, had a crossbar to support the feet of the Crucified, and His feet were depicted as nailed each separately with their own nail. The image of Christ with crossed feet, nailed with one nail, first appeared as an innovation in the West in the second half of the 13th century.

On the cross-shaped halo of the Savior, the Greek letters UN were necessarily written, meaning "truly Existing", because "God said to Moses: I am who I am"(Ex. 3:14), thereby revealing His name, expressing the self-existence, eternity and immutability of the being of God.

From the Orthodox dogma of the Cross (or Atonement), the idea undoubtedly follows that the death of the Lord is the ransom of all, the calling of all peoples. Only the cross, unlike other executions, made it possible for Jesus Christ to die with outstretched arms calling "all ends of the earth"(Isaiah 45:22).

Therefore, in the tradition of Orthodoxy, it is to portray the Savior Almighty precisely as the Resurrected Crusader, holding and calling the whole universe into His arms and bearing the New Testament altar - the Cross. The prophet Jeremiah also spoke about this on behalf of the haters of Christ: "Let us put wood into His bread"(11:19), that is, we will put the tree of the cross on the body of Christ, which is called heavenly bread (St. Demetrius Rost. cit. op.).

And the traditionally Catholic image of the crucifixion, with Christ sagging in his arms, on the contrary, has the task of showing how it all happened, depicting the suffering and death before death, and not at all what is essentially the eternal Fruit of the Cross - His triumph.

Schema Cross, or "Golgotha"

The inscriptions and cryptograms on Russian crosses have always been much more diverse than on Greek ones.
Since the 11th century, under the lower oblique crossbar of the eight-pointed cross, a symbolic image of the head of Adam appears, who, according to legend, was buried on Golgotha ​​( in Hebrew- “frontal place”), where Christ was crucified. These words of his clarify the tradition that had developed in Russia by the 16th century to produce the following designations near the image of "Golgotha": "M.L.R.B." - the place of the frontal was crucified, "G.G." - Mount Golgotha, "G.A." - the head of Adamov; moreover, the bones of the hands lying in front of the head are depicted: right on the left, as during burial or communion.

The letters "K" and "T" mean a spear of a warrior and a cane with a sponge, depicted along the cross.

The inscriptions are placed above the middle crossbar: "IC" "XC" - the name of Jesus Christ; and under it: "NIKA" - the Winner; on the title or near it there is an inscription: "SN" "BZHIY" - the Son of God sometimes - but more often there is no "I.N.Ts.I" - Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews; the inscription above the title: "ЦРЪ" "СЛАВЫ" - the King of Glory.

Such crosses are supposed to be embroidered on the vestments of the great and angelic schema; three crosses on the paraman and five on the kukul: on the forehead, on the chest, on both shoulders and on the back.

The Calvary cross is also depicted on the funeral shroud, which marks the preservation of the vows given at baptism, like the white shroud of the newly baptized, meaning cleansing from sin. During the consecration of temples and houses depicted on the four walls of the building.

Unlike the image of the cross, which directly depicts the Crucified Christ Himself, the sign of the cross conveys its spiritual meaning, depicts its real meaning, but does not reveal the Cross itself.

“The cross is the guardian of the whole universe. Cross of the beauty of the Church, Cross of kings orb, Cross true statement, the Cross is an angel of glory, the Cross is an ulcer of a demon, "- affirms the absolute Truth of the luminaries of the feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross.

The motives for the outrageous desecration and blasphemy of the Holy Cross by conscious crusaders and crusaders are quite understandable. But when we see Christians involved in this heinous deed, it is all the more impossible to be silent, for - according to the words of St. Basil the Great - "God is given up in silence"!

The so-called "playing cards", which are, unfortunately, in many homes, are a tool of demon-communication, through which a person certainly comes into contact with demons - the enemies of God. All four card "suits" mean nothing more than the cross of Christ, along with other sacred objects equally revered by Christians: a spear, a sponge and nails, that is, everything that was the instruments of suffering and death of the Divine Redeemer.

And out of ignorance, many people, turning “into a fool”, allow themselves to blaspheme the Lord, taking, for example, a card with the image of the “shamrock” cross, that is, the cross of Christ, which half the world worships, and, throwing it carelessly with the words (forgive me, Lord !) "club", which in Yiddish means "nasty" or "evil spirits"! Moreover, these daredevils, who played suicide, essentially believe that this cross is “beaten” by some lousy “trump six”, not at all knowing that “trump card” and “kosher” are written, for example, in Latin, the same.

It would be high time to clarify the true rules of all card games, in which all players remain “in the fools”: they consist in the fact that ritual sacrifices, in Hebrew called by the Talmudists “kosher” (that is, “clean”), supposedly have power over Life-Giving Cross!

If you know that playing cards cannot be used for other purposes than defiling Christian shrines to the delight of demons, then the role of cards in "fortune-telling" - these nasty searches for demonic revelations - will become extremely clear. In this regard, is it necessary to prove that anyone who has touched a deck of cards and has not brought sincere repentance in confession for the sins of blasphemy and blasphemy has a guaranteed registration in hell?

So, if “clubs” are the blasphemy of raging gamblers on specially depicted crosses, which they also call “crosses”, then what do “blame”, “hearts” and “tambourines” mean? We won't bother translating these curses into Russian either, since we don't have a Yiddish textbook; better to open New Testament to shed on the demonic tribe the unbearable Light of God for them.

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov edifies in an imperative mood: “get acquainted with the spirit of the times, study it, so as to avoid its influence as far as possible.”

The card suit “blame”, or otherwise “spade”, blasphemes the gospel peak, then As the Lord predicted about His perforation, through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah, that "They will look at the one they pierced"(12:10), so it happened: one of the warriors(longin) pierced his side with a spear"(John 19:34).

The card suit "worms" blasphemes the gospel sponge on a cane. As Christ warned about His poisoning, through the mouth of the king-prophet David, that the soldiers “They gave me bile for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”(Ps. 69:22), and so it came to pass: “one of them took a sponge, gave it vinegar to drink, and put it on a reed, gave it to Him to drink”(Matthew 27:48).

The card suit of “tambourine” blasphemes the gospel forged tetrahedral jagged nails with which the hands and feet of the Savior were nailed to the tree of the Cross. As the Lord prophesied about his clove cross, through the mouth of the psalmist David, that"pierced my hands and my feet"(Ps. 22:17), and so it came to pass: the Apostle Thomas, who said“Unless I see in His hands the wounds from the nails, and I do not put my finger in the wound from the nails, and I do not put my hand in His side, I will not believe”(John 20:25), "I believed because I saw"(John 20:29); and the Apostle Peter, addressing his fellow tribesmen, testified:"Men of Israel! he said, Jesus of the Nazarene (…) you took and nailed(to the cross) hands(Romans) lawless, killed; but God raised him up"(Acts 2:22, 24).

The unrepentant thief crucified with Christ, like today's gamblers, blasphemed the sufferings of the Son of God on the Cross and, out of arrogance, out of impenitence, went forever to fullness; but the prudent thief, setting an example for all, repented on the cross and thereby inherited eternal life with God. Therefore, let us firmly remember that for us Christians there can be no other object of hope and hope, no other support in life, no other banner that unites and inspires us, except for the only saving sign of the invincible Cross of the Lord!

Cross gammatic

This cross is called "Gammatic" because it consists of the Greek letter "Gamma". Already the first Christians in the Roman catacombs depicted a gamma cross. In Byzantium, this form was often used to decorate the Gospels, church utensils, temples, and was embroidered on the vestments of Byzantine saints. In the 9th century, by order of the Empress Theodora, a Gospel was made, decorated with gold ornaments from gamma crosses.

The gamma cross is very similar to the ancient Indian sign of the swastika. The Sanskrit word swastika or su-asti-ka means supreme being or perfect bliss. This is an ancient solar symbol, that is, associated with the sun, which appears already in the Upper Paleolithic era, is widely used in the cultures of the Aryans, ancient Iranians, and is found in Egypt and China. Of course, the swastika was known and revered in many areas of the Roman Empire during the era of the spread of Christianity. The ancient pagan Slavs were also familiar with this symbol; images of the swastika are found on rings, temporal rings and other jewelry, as a sign of the sun or fire, says Priest Mikhail Vorobyov. The Christian Church, which has a powerful spiritual potential, was able to rethink and church many cultural traditions of pagan antiquity: from ancient philosophy to everyday rituals. Perhaps the gamma cross entered Christian culture as a churched swastika.

And in Russia, the form of this cross has long been used. It is depicted on many church objects of the pre-Mongolian period, in the form of a mosaic under the dome of the Hagia Sophia of Kyiv, in the ornament of the doors of the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral. Gamma crosses are embroidered on the phelonion of the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Pyzhy.

During Baptism, each person wears a pectoral cross. For the rest of your life, it must be worn on your chest. Believers note that the cross is not a mascot or dyeing. It is a symbol of commitment to Orthodox faith and God. It helps in difficulties and troubles, strengthens the spirit. When wearing a cross, the main thing is to remember its meaning. Putting it on, a person promises to endure all trials and live according to God's commandments.

It is worth noting that the pectoral cross is considered a sign that a person is a believer. Those who did not join the church, that is, were not baptized, should not wear it. Also, according to church tradition, only priests can wear it over clothes (they put it on over a cassock). All other believers are not allowed to do this and it is believed that those who wear it over their clothes show off their faith and put it on display. A Christian is not befitting such a display of pride. Also, believers are not allowed to wear a cross in their ear, on a bracelet, in a pocket or on a bag. Some people argue that only Catholics can wear four-pointed crosses, allegedly Orthodox are forbidden. In fact, this statement is false. The Orthodox Church today recognizes different types of crosses (photo 1).

This means that the Orthodox can wear a four-pointed, eight-pointed cross. It may or may not show the crucifixion of the Savior. But what to avoid Orthodox Christian, so this is an image of the crucifixion with a very extreme realism. That is, the details of the sufferings on the cross, the sagging body of Christ. Such an image is typical for Catholicism (photo 2).

It is also worth noting that the material from which the cross is made can be absolutely any. It all depends on the wishes of the person. For example, silver is not suitable for some people, because it does not immediately blacken the body. Then it is better for them to refuse such material and make a choice in favor of, for example, gold. In addition, the church does not prohibit wearing large crosses inlaid with expensive stones. But, conversely, some believers believe that such a demonstration of luxury is not at all compatible with faith (photo 3).

The cross must be consecrated in the church if it was bought in a jewelry store. Usually the consecration takes a couple of minutes. If he is bought in a shop that works at the church, then you should not worry about this, he will already be consecrated. Also, the church does not prohibit wearing crosses that were inherited from a deceased relative. There is no need to be afraid that in this way he will "inherit" the fate of his relative. In the Christian faith, there is no idea of ​​an inevitable fate (photo 4).

So, as already said, Catholic Church recognizes only the four-pointed form of the cross. Orthodox, in turn, is more lenient and recognizes the six-pointed, four-pointed and eight-pointed forms. At the same time, it is considered that the more correct form, nevertheless, is eight-pointed, with two additional partitions. One should be at the head, and the second for the legs (photo 5).

It is better for small children not to buy pectoral crosses with stones. At this age, they all try to try, they can bite off a pebble and swallow it. We have already noted that the Savior does not have to be on the cross. Also, the Orthodox cross differs from the Catholic one in the number of nails for the legs and arms. So, in the Catholic creed there are three, and in the Orthodox - four (photo 6).

Note that in addition to the crucified Savior, the face of the Virgin Mary, the image of Christ the Almighty, can be depicted on the cross. Various ornaments can also be depicted. All this does not contradict faith (photo 7).