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Correcting logical typos
==How to==
'''''Greek, Slavic, Latin, West Armenian, Ethiopian, Coptic and New Antiochian Rites:'''''
In general Orthodox practice, the right hand is used. The thumb, index, and middle finger are brought to a point. They are then placed on the forehead after that moved down to the solar plexus (moving to the sternum as other denominations do forms an inverted cross). Finally the hand is moved to the right shoulder and horizontally across to the left. [[Oriental Orthodox]] and Western Christians, however, go in reverse order on this last step, from left to right. As one moves through the Sign, one recites, at the forehead, "In the name of the Father"; at the solar plexus, "and of the Son"; and across the shoulders, "and of the Holy Spirit, Amen." There are variations that occur. Some may say "and of the Holy ''Spirit''" across the shoulders. After moving the hand from one shoulder to the other, it may return to the sternum. It may be accompanied instead at times with the words of the [[Jesus Prayer]] in some form, or simply "[[Lord]], have mercy." The thumb, index and middle finger brought to a point symbolize the [[Trinity]], three persons sharing a single essence. The remaining two fingers are kept pressed close together and to the palm, representing the human and divine natures united together in [[Jesus Christ]].
[[Image:2finger.jpg|thumb|left|[[Old Believers|Old Russian]], [[Armenian Apostolic Church|East Armenian]], [[Ge'ez Rite]], and [[Church of Antioch| Old Antiochian Rites]]]]'''''Old Russian, East Armenian, Ge'ez Rite, and Old Antiochian Rites:''''' As one moves through the Sign, one recites, at the forehead, "Lord"; at the stomach, "Jesus Christ"; on the right shoulder, "Son of God"; and on the left shoulder, "have mercy on us." followed by a bow (to the ground during Great Lent). Joining two fingers together—the index and the middle finger—and extending them, with the middle finger slightly bent, represents the two natures of Christ: his divinity and his humanity. The index finger represents his divinity, while the middle finger represents his humanity. The bending of the middle finger may be interpreted that he bowed the heavens and came down upon the earth for our salvation.
[[Theodoret]] (393–457) gave the following instruction:
The use of the right hand betokens His infinite power and the fact that He sits at the right hand of the Father. That the sign begins with a downward movement from above signifies His descent to us from heaven. Again, the movement of the hand from the right side to the left drives away our enemies and declares that by His invincible power the Lord overcame the devil, who is on the left side, dark and lacking strength.
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[[Athanasius of Alexandria]](269-373 A.D.) and Peter of Damascus(12th Century), gave the following instructions:
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By the signing of the holy and life-giving cross, devils and various scourges are driven away. For it is without price and without cost and praises him who can say it. The holy fathers have, by their words, transmitted to us, and even to the unbelieving heretics, how the two raised fingers and the single hand reveal Christ our God in His dual nature but single substance. The right hand proclaims His immeasurable strength, His sitting on the right hand of the Father, and His coming down unto us from Heaven. Again, by the movement of the hands to our right the enemies of God will be driven out, as the Lord triumphs over the Devil with His inconquerable power, rendering him dismal and weak.
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In about 1000 A.D., Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham in England, who reposed in 1020 A.D., wrote the following: "A man may wave about wonderfully with his hands without creating any blessing unless he make the sign of the cross. But if he do the fiend will soon be frightened on account of the victorious token. With three fingers one must bless himself for the Holy Trinity" (Thorpe, "The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church" I, 462).
Over a century after the schism of 1054, the Frankish Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), made the following declaration: "The sign of the cross is made with three fingers, because the signing is done together with the invocation of the Trinity. ... This is how it is done: from above to below, and from the right to the left, because Christ descended from the heavens to the earth, and from the Jews (right) He passed to the Gentiles (left)."
The practice of making the sign of the cross with three fingers may or may not have originated in the West. Nevertheless, it existed in the West by at least the year 855, before the repose of the Orthodox Pope Leo IV, and thus was practiced in the Orthodox West before the schism of 1054, and even for several centuries after the schism. In the East, the practice of making the sign of the cross with three fingers was the common practice by at least the 12th century. Thus the Greek Church, the Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians, Georgians, Wallachians, Moldavians and even the Russians living under Polish rule all adopted the signing of the cross using three fingers representing the Holy Trinity. Interestingly, the use of three fingers also became the norm among the Monophysites Copts, Syrians, Armenians, and even the far off Ethiopians. However, all of the Monophysites make the sign of the cross from right to left, contrary similarly to the practice of the Orthodox. The Nestorians of Mesopotamia, Persia and India also use three fingers today. This is ironic because the Nestorians would want to emphasize the two natures of Christ. Yet they do not sign the cross with two fingers representing the two natures, but rather with three fingers representing the Holy Trinity. The Nestorians also sign the cross from right to left, thereby having the exact same practice as the Greeks.
Thus, the practice of making the sign with three fingers had reached the Italians, Spaniards, French, Germans, and English in the west. It had reached the Greeks, Bulgarians, Georgians, Albanians, Serbs, Wallachians, Moldavians and Poles. It had also reached the Egyptians, Syrians, Armenians, Mesopotamians, Persians, and even the far off Ethiopians and Indians. But it had not reached the Russians!
Canon 31 of the Stoglav Council reads as follows: "The sign of the cross must be made according to the rules, in the form of a cross; and the right hand, that is, the dextral hand, must be used in crossing oneself, with the thumb and the two lower fingers joined together, and the extended index finger joined to the middle finger, slightly bent; thus should prelates [and] priests give their blessing and thus should men cross themselves… It befits all Orthodox Christians to hold their hand thus, and to make the sign of the cross upon their face with two fingers, and to bow, as we said before. If anyone should fail to give his blessing with two fingers, as Christ did, or should fail to make the sign of the cross with two fingers, may he be accursed…"
In 1569, the Frankish Pope abolished the use of three fingers in the West, and ordered the sign of the cross to be made with five fingers, and from left to right to left, instead of right to left to right. However, this practice was not introduced in the East, neither among the Orthodox, nor among the Monophysites and Nestorians.
In 1589, Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II Tranus visited Russia and elevated the Metropolitan of Moscow to the rank of Patriarch. The Greek and Russian Churches thus maintained their unity without fail, despite the fact that the Greeks made the sign of the cross with three fingers, while the Russians made it with two.
