The record-union., 1899-08-21
SIGN OF THE CROSS.
CURIOUS CONTENTION IN THE
GREEK CHURCH.
Dispute Over the Manner in Which
the Sign Should be
Given.

The points at issue are, first, what I'm
gers, or rather, what joints of what
/ fingers shall be brought into play in
making the sign of the cross; and sec
ond, whether infants shall be carried
around the baptismai font to the right
or to the left.
These may seem trifling matters Of
detail to the Anglo-Saxo mind, but to
/ the subt1er and more caSuiStical Greek
intellect they loom large as issues of
/ immortal life and death. To the stud
ent of comparative religion, myth and
folklore they are as interesting in their
revelations of mental processes as they
are to the theologian in their ecclesias-
tical aspect.
For the benefit of Protestant or nom
churchgoing readers it will be neces-
sary to begin at the beginning. In the
Greek as we'll as in the Roman Cath
Ollie Church it is customary for the
faithful to make the sign of the cross
| by manual gesture on various public
and private occasions, as before and
after prayer and in comforting bap-
| tism, blessing, etc. Among Roman
Catholics the most usual form of this
rite, practiced by the clergy and laity
| alike, is to place the thumb or the fore
| finger on the forehead, saying, In the
name of the Father on the breast,
saying, "and of the Son." on the left
| breast saying .'and of the Holy Ghost" !"
on the right shoulder, with the conclud-
/ ing word Amen The sign is also
made in the air by the officiating cler-
gyman at baptisms. at the conservation
] of the emblems in the mass and at
blessings, always in the direction OF
the object of the ceremonial. st. Basil
refers the custom to apostolic times,
/ and it is certain that it was a. familiar
one by the beginning of the third CEN
tury, for Tertullian mentions it.
/ GREEK SIGN OF THE CROSS.
/ In the Orthodox Greek Ch- rch, which
is the state religion of Russia, bishops
and priests make the sign of the cross
with the thumb, index finger and mid
die finger united. But a powerful sect
named the Raskoniks, who claim to be
more orthodox than the orthodox,
and who number some 25,0OO,000 a6-
| herents, priests in making it with the
thumb bent toward the little finger
while the index and middle finger close
ly united, are pointed heayenward. On
this point. and on the other point as to
/
how the baptismal font should be cir
| communicated, they have been con-
demned by the Russian Primate at St.
Petersburg. The Russian Primate,
however is himself subordinate to the
/ Greek Patriarch and the Holy Synod
at Constantinople, just as every Ro-
man Catholic Primate is subordinate to
the Pope and the Vatican. To Patri-
arch and Synod, accordingly, the Ras-
koniks have addressed themselves.
Hitherto the Greek Church has re-
Trained from interfering in local Rus
sian religious disputes. Now it can no
longer hesitate Should it decide that
the matters in dispute involve essen
tial questions of dogma, and not mere
| questions of discipline, then it must
condemn the Raskoniks This con-
demnation will result in the mightiest
religious convulsion ever known in
| Russia.
THE SUNWISE MOVEMENT.
| And this brings us to the second
point at issue, the circumambulation OF
the baptismal font. The members of
| the Orthodox Church. both in Greece
and in Russia, have always gone round
| the font to the left. The Raskoniks in
| sist in going around to the right, that
| is, in keeping the font always to the
right of the perambulating procession.
/ More is concealed here than meets
the eye of the careless observer. For
/ the Orthodox Greek perambulatlon is
contrary to the usage of all other Ar
| yam races. From the time of the sun
worshippers has come the practice OF
/ going around an object with the right
/ shoulder to the center. which is con-
sidered the sunwise direction.
| This custom is especially prevalent
! in all parts Of India, where it is known
as the padakshina. Towns and fields
and smaller objects are circumambu-
| lated in this manner, with blessing
/ both to the devotee and to the object
of .his devotion.
| To go round in the opposite direction,
as with the left hand to the center, is
the rule at death ceremonies 1t is on
other occasions productive of evil.
| Now. among the Semitic, both Mos
lens and Jews, the custom is generally
| that of going round with the left side
turned to the center. William Simp-
son, in his book on the Prayer Wheel" !"
gives the tentative explanation that as
| in India the left hand to the center is
/ the rule in connection with the dead,
the Semitic custom may have become
the stereotyped rule from the practice
/ of worshipping at tombs, which is
| known to be still marked feature Of
Moslem faith. The I<aaba, at Mecca,
| for example, is built in the semblance
of huge tomb, and the Moslem per-
forms his pradakshina around it in the
reverse direction.
THE SCOTCH DEISUL.
/ From the East Mr.. Simpson turned
/ his attention to the West. He found
an extraordinary parallel to the pra-
dakshina in the Scotch highlands,
where a custom now well nigh extinct
was once extremely prevalent 1t was
called the deisul. 1t consisted in going
three times around person or an OBJ
ject in a rightwise direction-that is,
keeping that person or object always
on the right side This was considered,
as it is considered all over the world
as the sunwise direction. To perform
the circuit in this manner was to bring
| down a blessing: to perform 1t in the
/ opposite manner. or as the Celtic word
ran. widdershins, or withershins, was
! to invoke a curse. Witches were said
| to approach sacred places and advance
/ toward the demons whom they served
/ in widdershins fashion. that is, in OPP
| position to what at one time must have
! been an established duty. e., to per-
| form all acts in accordance with the
/ SUMS apparent. motion.
It was sunwise that the Celts ap-
preached q consecrated place, and ali
1 their religious professions moved IN
thnt ,7;raa+;,v, Martin in his deScrip-