What is the sign of the cross?
The sign of the cross is a grace-filled sacred act (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; Phil. 2:13), performed by every Christian in the name of the Holy Life-Originating Trinity, tracing with the hand the sign of the Lord's cross. The sign of the cross destroys the power and action of demons and grace-fully strengthens Christians in virtue.
Were there prophecies about the sign of the cross in the Old Testament?
Yes. The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, said: "For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them" (Is. 66:18-19). And to the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said: "go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it" (Ezek. 9:3-4). In the Greek and Hebrew Bibles, it is said: mark with a "tav," that is, the letter, which in Hebrew was written like a cross.
And the Psalmist asked the Lord: "Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed" (Ps. 86:17).
Did believers indeed receive the sign of the cross, about which it was prophesied?
Yes. In the Revelation of John the Theologian we read: "Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed" (Rev. 7:2-4).
In another place, the Seer says: "Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). It is clear that the children of God have the name of the Holy Trinity on their foreheads, and these children are those who Orthodoxly guard themselves with the sign of the cross.
Do sectarians recognize the sign of the cross?
No, they do not. They are minions and disciples of the devil, and therefore they hate the sign of the cross and fear it. And for their justification, they refer to Scripture and say with the words of the Apostle Paul: God "does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshiped with men's hands" (Acts 17:24-25, paraphrased). Therefore, the sectarians conclude, one should not pray with one's hands.
What should be explained to the sectarians?
If one understands Scripture as the sectarians do, then the Gospel would also be unnecessary, because it was written by hands. In Acts 17, it is only said that man with his hands adds nothing to God, because God is in need of nothing. But we cross ourselves, of course, not for God's benefit, but for our own, and specifically, in order to be worthy before God, glorifying the Holy Trinity also with our hands. If one cannot glorify God with hands, then why did the Apostle Paul write: "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Tim. 2:8)?! If hands are not to participate in Christian prayer, the Apostle Paul would not have written thus.
Is there evidence that the sign of the cross has been with Christians since hoary antiquity?
Yes. On the most ancient icons from the first centuries, found in the Roman catacombs, the Apostles and the Savior are depicted with fingers folded for the sign of the cross and blessing.
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