Orthodox
cross themselves from right to left. First, we will describe the mechanics of
making the sign of the Cross, then explain why it is indeed important that we make the sign
of the cross correctly.
Placing
the cross on oneself
1) We place
our thumb and first two fingers together in a point, and our last we fingers
flat against our palm. The three fingers together represent the Holy Trinity -
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the two fingers in the palm represent the two
natures of Christ.
2) We touch
our forehead, then our belly, tracing the vertical part of the cross.
3) From our
belly, we bring our hand up to our right shoulder, touching it.
4) We finish
placing the cross on ourself by touching our left shoulder.
The act
of "Placing the cross on oneself" is a request for a blessing from
God. We make if from right to left to mirror the actions of the priest when he
blesses us. The priest, looking at the parishioners, blesses from left to
right. Therefore, the parishioners, putting on the sign of the cross on
themselves, do it from right to left.
Because
the Lord separated the sheep from the goats, putting the faithful sheep on His
right side, and the goats on the left, the Church always treats the right side
as the preferred side. We only cross ourselves with our RIGHT hand. The priest,
when blessing a person, first touches or points to their RIGHT side, then their
left. Also the censing of the Holy Table in the Altar is always done from the
RIGHT side first; censing of the Ikonostasis, the Congregation and of the
Church itself always begins with the right side. The priest always gives
communion with his RIGHT hand, even if he is left handed. There are other
examples of this right side preference.
When a
parent makes the sign of the cross over a child, they will cross them from left
to right, just as the priest blesses. When they make the sign of the cross over
themselves, they would do it, logically, the other way.
The
Catholic Encyclopedia states that in the Roman Catholic Church, the faithful
crossed themselves from right to left, just as the Orthodox do, until the 15th
or 16th century. They must explain why they have changed an ancient and
apostolic tradition. We cannot answer as to their motivations.
Is it
important to cross ourselves a particular way? In a word, YES. We do not have
the authority to choose willy-nilly what parts of the Christian Tradition we
want to follow. Our fathers, and countless saints crossed themselves from right
to left. Ancient icons show Christ or bishops beginning a blessing from right
to left. the right side is referred to in a preferential way many times in
scripture and our sacred hymns What should we want to change?
Source: http://www.orthodox.net/articles/about-crossing-oneself.html
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