How Orthodox Christians are baptized
The first three, folded together, fingers of the right palm denote the cross of the Lord, namely, faith in God the Father, in God the Son and in the Holy Spirit. The other two fingers of the right palm are the two natures of Christ: human and Divine (Christ is the Man-God). If we describe how the Orthodox are baptized in more detail, then it happens like this: we fold the fingers of the right palm: the thumb, index and middle ends to each other, symbolizing the one Holy Trinity. We press the other two fingers: the ring finger and the little finger as tightly as possible to the palm, personifying the descent of the Son of God from heaven to earth. When we overshadow ourselves with the banner of the cross, we press our folded fingers to four points on our body. To sanctify our mind, we put the cross of the Lord (three fingers) to the forehead, to sanctify the heart and feelings - to the womb, to sanctify the bodily forces - to the right, and then to the left shoulder.
Let's consider how the Orthodox are baptized outside of public worship. In this case, in the process of performing the sign of the cross, it is imperative to pronounce the words, while consecrating a certain area of \u200b\u200bour body (as mentioned above): “In the name of the Father (bless the forehead) and the Son (bless the stomach), and the Holy One (bless the right shoulder) Spirit (we consecrate the left shoulder). Amen,” we lower our right hand and bow.
Why Orthodox Christians are baptized from right to left
The fact is that our right shoulder is a paradise with saved souls, and the left is the place of the perishing, hell and purgatory for demons and sinners. That is, when we are baptized, we ask God to include us in the fate of saved souls, delivering us from the fate of those burning in hell.
Orthodox Cross
Jesus Christ was once executed on this main symbol of Christianity. He was crucified to atone for the sins of the world. Church strength and power is concentrated in the Orthodox cross, it is an all-conquering spiritual tool. It is believed that it is the cross that scares away all kinds of evil spirits (for example, vampires), and if it is applied to the unclean, then it, like a brand, will burn through his skin.
People who are far from the church call the Orthodox cross the instrument of execution of Jesus Christ, reproaching Christians for worshiping this instrument. But this is nothing more than philistine talk. Orthodox Christians do not worship the instrument of execution, but the Life-Giving Cross (the symbol of Eternal Life), for Jesus Christ, crucified on it, atoned for our sins with his suffering.
EternalLife
Jesus crucified on the cross. We see it. Paradoxically, but in the crucified Christ, Eternal Life is exactly the same. That is why the Orthodox cross is a tree that gives life. It is not for nothing that each of us receives the pectoral cross of Christ at baptism, wearing it around our neck all our lives.
This is the personification of the weapon of spiritual struggle, the symbol of our salvation and confession. Praying and turning to the Lord, an Orthodox Christian asks God to protect him and his loved ones from illness, from enemies, from unclean people, and so on.
So, in this article we briefly tried to describe how Orthodox Christians are baptized, and also told you about the Orthodox cross and the Eternal Life that it represents. We hope you found our article helpful.
