March: Day 23: Holy Hieromartyr Nikon

March: Day 23:
Holy Hieromartyr Nikon
 
(On How To Make the Sign of the Cross)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Nikon, whose memory is celebrated today, served in his youth in the Roman army as a detachment commander. He was raised by his father in the pagan faith; but his mother was a Christian. She tried with all her might to dispose her son to the Christian faith, but all her efforts were in vain. Once, sending him off to war, she said to him at parting: “My son! If in war it happens that you are in danger, then protect yourself with the sign of the cross; then neither spear nor sword will strike you.” Nikon remembered the words of his mother, so when in the heat of battle he found himself in imminent trouble, surrounded by enemies, he made the sign of the cross and remained the victor. Later he converted to Christ and was ordained a priest, then a bishop. He labored in Thrace, from there he went to Sicily, where he suffered with his disciples, under Decius, in the middle of the third century.

II. From the time we learned to pray, and every time we pray, we have become accustomed to sign ourselves with the sign of the holy cross. This is a universal custom in the Orthodox Church, a custom that is constant and most ancient: it undoubtedly originates from the time of the Holy Apostles. However, using the sign of the cross always and everywhere in our prayer, have we ever thought about what idea lies at the basis of this pious custom and what is its proper use? Today, on the feast of Saint Nikon, who experienced the saving power of the sign of the cross, it is very appropriate for us, brethren, to reflect on how we should make the sign of the cross on ourselves so that it can have its saving effects for us.

a) First of all, we must do it with living faith. If we do not depict this sign on ourselves with faith in Christ the Savior, who died for us on the cross, with faith in the grace-filled power of the Lord's cross itself - the instrument of our salvation, then our sign of the cross, no matter how much we place it on ourselves, will be deprived of Christian meaning and will remain displeasing to God: "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6).

Here, for example, is the faith with which the Holy Fathers taught us to place upon ourselves the saving sign of the cross. “Depart,” says Saint Gregory the Theologian, “demons lest I smite you with the cross; the cross before which all things tremble. I bear the cross upon my limbs; the cross accompanies me on my journeys; the cross is my heart; the cross is my glory. So that anger may not be kindled within you, first of all, immediately turn to God and pray to Him to extinguish the fierce storm within you. And then at once impose upon yourself the sign of the cross, which all dread and tremble at, and by the protection of which I make use in every circumstance and against all” (“Poems Against the Evil One and Against Wrath.” See also in “First Invective Against Julian the Emperor”).

“Rather,” says Saint Ambrose of Milan, “our prayer is heard when our body imitates the Crucified Christ, with Whom the soul converses” (“Discourse on the Cross”).

Saint Ephraim the Syrian says: “Let us always and everywhere carry this victorious weapon (i.e. the cross of Christ) with us and never put it away from us, whether we go to sleep or wake up, whether we are engaged in our work, whether we eat food and drink, whether we are on a journey - or do anything else - let us protect ourselves everywhere with the saving and life-giving sign of the cross of the Lord. Then we will not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrows flying during the day, evil will not come to us, and no wound will come near our body” (“On the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord”).

Saint John Chrysostom teaches: "See how the Heavenly King armed the warrior who followed Him! He gave no shield, no helmet, no bow, no armor, no other such thing, but what is stronger than all this - the power of the cross, the sign of the victory over demons" ("On the Veneration of the Honorable Cross"). "If you," teaches the same Holy Teacher, "imagine the cross on yourself with great faith, then not one of the unclean spirits will be able to come near you, seeing the sword with which he received a cruel wound" ("54th Homily on Matthew").

b) Secondly, one must form the sign of the Holy Cross on oneself, according to the commandment of the Orthodox Church, by joining the first three fingers of the right hand in the name of the Holy Consubstantial Trinity. When we form the Holy Cross on ourselves with three fingers together, then by the very joining of the fingers we express the same thing that we often express with our lips when we cross ourselves, saying: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," - and consequently by the very joining of the fingers we confess the faith in the Triune God, which is required of us first of all, both in the matter of our salvation in general, and in particular when using the sign of the cross.

c) "Finally, we must make the sign of the Holy Cross in such a way that the Holy Cross is actually inscribed on us, and that this cross, according to the teaching of the Holy Church, touches our forehead with its upper end, our chest or breasts with its lower end, and our shoulders with its sides. Otherwise, if our sign of the cross does not actually contain a cross, how can we expect saving effects from it? By making the sign of the Holy Cross during prayer and inscribed our forehead, chest and shoulders with it, we thereby sanctify and, as it were, dedicate and offer as a sacrifice to the Lord our mind with its thoughts and knowledge, our heart with its feelings and desires, and our spiritual and physical powers with their activity. And therefore, how foolishly do those Christians, unfortunately, very many, act who make the sign of the cross on themselves with such inattention, haste and carelessness, that they do not inscribe the Holy Cross on themselves at all, but represent with a movement of their hand as if it were some kind of child's play, devoid of any meaning!” (Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow).

We will cite here in authentic words the teaching of the Church on the manner of making the sign of the cross. In the “Orthodox Confession” to the question: How should we depict the sign of the honorable and life-giving cross on ourselves? the following answer is given: "One should make the sign of the cross with the right hand. Placing three fingers on the forehead, say: 'In the name of the Father'; then, lowering the hand in the same manner onto the chest, say: 'And of the Son'; thereafter, transferring the hand to the right shoulder and bringing it across to the left, say: 'And of the Holy Spirit.' After making this holy sign of the cross, conclude with the word: 'Amen.' Alternatively, when making the sign of the cross, one may say: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.' ("Orthodox Confession," answer to Question 51, part I).

III. Let us learn from now on to be attentive to the sign of the cross which we place upon ourselves, and let us place it not only with living faith, but also with the greatest reverence, which befits the sacred rite - let us place it exactly as the Holy Church commands us, let us place it always with a clear image in our minds of that very cross on which the Lord of heaven and earth was crucified and offered Himself as a propitiatory sacrifice to the truth of God for our sins. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.