On Tuesday Fast Sundayi.e. in the middle great postintends for our churches in worship the crosshence Sunday of the Crossto refresh and sweeten the kekmekots from the fast of the faithful, as explained by the Synaxarion of Triodion. On the occasion of this day, which passed two weeks ago, I want to say a few words not about the theology of the cross, which has no beginning and end, but about a simple, everyday gesture, about the sign of the cross, in cross section. Anyone who wants to think about the theological meaning of the cross can refer to Jürgen Moltmann’s book Crucified God. The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Judgment of Christian Theology” (Artos Zois, 2023). For the humble gesture of crucifixion, in this short note, I will be assisted by a book by the French liturgist, priest and church composer Michel Wackenheim. [Μισέλ Βακενέμ] “Le signe de croix Un geste pascal dans la vie liturgique”, Cerf/Patrimoines, 2021. I will only talk about the sign of the cross that the faithful mark on their body, and I will not refer to its liturgical use by bishops and priests in worship and the sacraments of the temple.

Since the end of the 2nd century, and perhaps even earlier, Christians have been erecting their cross. Two thousand years the same gesture! This was the first gesture that all Christian mothers taught their children until yesterday. In our country, this gesture is still preserved not only in churches and houses, but also on the streets. Countless are those who make their cross by passing outside the church, even if they do not often enter it. The moments of the crucifixion are numerous. Much of what Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 315-387) wrote in his Catechisms did not change in the middle of the 4th century: let the demons see the sign of the basilica far away trembling. He sings of this sign, about hearths and drinks, sitting, looking, standing, talking, walking; however, in everything” (IV, 14, PG 33, 472 BC, and identically XIII, 36, PG 33, 816 AB).

In this world of power, crucifixion is a confession of weakness and a call for help from Christ’s suffering.

This simple gesture goes a long way. Initially, its meaning was apotropaic, to protect the Christian from any demonic influence, a meaning he never relinquished, at least in popular religion. Beginning in the 4th century, it will be strongly associated with the ritual and theology of baptism. By the sign of the cross, Christians baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity physically proclaim their trinitarian faith and, above all, their faith in the redemptive character of the cross. The sign of the cross really becomes a symbol of victory, but not of war, as it was tragically distorted in the history of Christianity, but of the victory of Love, Love reaching the sacrifice on the cross. This gesture is mentioned in many texts. I will only mention, as a parallel to Cyril of Jerusalem, a wonderful passage from the speech of John Chrysostom in Matthew, where he presents the cross as an outstanding symbol of freedom and calls on Christians with the same verb not to be ashamed to be sealed publicly even after avarice with the sign of the cross. I quote a little: “It seems that no one puts to shame the modest symbols of our salvation […] and as the crown, so we go around the cross of Christ. […] For this reason, on the house, and on the walls, and on the doors, and on the forehead, and on the mind, after a long time we will inscribe what the teachings are. For salvation in our favor, and the freedom of a commoner, and the indulgence of a despot, that’s the point. […] Understand, Fisi, that honor has been given for you, and none of the people is a slave, honor the cross, you say. For he does not simply thank him with his finger, but first chooses her after great faith” (PG 58, 537).

If in the first centuries the sign of the cross was applied on the forehead, which has been preserved in the Catholic Church to this day, until the reading of the Gospel, then later – when the estimates differ – it was extended to the entire body. What also differed over time, in various Christian traditions, was the number of fingers, their manner and direction (the Orthodox, for example, have three, connected, from right to left, and the Catholics have five, extended or slightly bent, from left to right). It is unfortunate that Protestant Christians have excluded this gesture from their lives, because it can turn into superstition. The risk is real, but not inevitable and unavoidable. And among the Catholics of Europe, the age-old gesture is today removed from public space. But we turn to God (also) with our body! The body, the vulnerable human body, is the place where the covenant between God and man is made.

This gesture touches me very much, I confess, and I do not want it to be absent from our lives. In this world of power, crucifixion is a confession of weakness and a call for help from Christ’s suffering. The strong and haughty don’t need it. When a person makes his cross to ask or give thanks, he does not think about doctrines and symbols, but silently demonstrates with his body that he is a vulnerable, vulnerable being, a being that has a deficit. The recognition of this scarcity is the beginning of liberation from the tyranny of the desire for power.