The question is a very common one, and misinformation about the origins of the
three-barred Orthodox Cross abounds even in scholarly studies. This Cross is
not Russian in origin, but comes from the Early Church. In its traditional
form, it is a standard Cross with a bar on top, representing the mocking title
given to Christ at the Crucifixion (which, in proper iconographic tradition, is
replaced with the words: "The King of Glory"), and a bottom bar, on
which Christs feet were affixed (twisted, according to one — and only
one — tradition, by Christs suffering on the Cross, one side pointing up to
Heaven and representing the Good Thief on Christs right, the other pointing
down to Hades, representing the unrepentant thief at Christs left).
Wishing to save both the Cross of St. Constantine and
a famous Icon of the Mother of God (The Theotokos Vimatarissa or Ktitorissa)
from Arab invaders, during an attack on the monastery in the tenth century, a
certain Hierodeacon Sabbas, the Brotherhoods sacristan (Vimataris; hence, one
of the names given to the Icon in question), hid them in a well and placed a
lighted candle in front of them. Father Sabbas, however, was subsequently
captured and taken as a prisoner to Crete. Seventy years later, when he won his
freedom and returned to the monastery, the old monk informed the younger monks
of his actions and instructed them to open the well where he had hidden the
Icon and Cross. When they did this, they found standing upright, the candle
which Father Sabbas had placed before them still burning.
From
Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XIV, No. 4, pp. 25-26.
CONVERSATION