page_title: Sign of the cross
section_title: Eastern Orthodoxy
hierarchical_section_title: Sign of the cross / Use / Eastern Orthodoxy
caption_attribution_description: English: To symbolize the trinity, the first three finger are brought to a point and, to symbolize the two natures of Jesus Christ, the remaining two fingers are pressed close together in the palm.
context_page_description: Making the sign of the cross, or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with the right hand, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of the trinitarian formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
  The movement is the tracing of the shape of a cross in the air or on one's own body, echoing the traditional shape of the cross of the Christian crucifixion narrative. Where this is done with fingers joined, there are two principal forms: one—three fingers, right to left—is exclusively used by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Church of the East and the Eastern Rite churches in the Byzantine, Assyrian and Chaldean traditions; the other—left to right to middle, other than three fingers—sometimes used in the Latin Rite churches, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and in Oriental Orthodoxy. The sign of the cross is used in some branches of Methodism. The ritual is rare within the Reformed tradition and in other branches of Protestantism.
context_section_description: In the Eastern traditions, both celebrant and congregation make the sign of the cross quite frequently. It is customary in some Eastern traditions to cross oneself at each petition in a litany and to closely associate oneself with a particular intention being prayed for or with a saint being named. The sign of the cross is also made upon entering or leaving a church building, at the start and end of personal prayer, when passing the main altar (which represents Christ), whenever all three persons of the Trinity are addressed, and when approaching an icon.
caption: Position of an Eastern Orthodox person's fingers when making the sign of the cross
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