About the Cross of Christ

Contents Introduction About the form of the holy cross Composition and division of the essay About the prototypes of the holy cross in the Old Testament A. About the material cross B. About crosses preserved from the first three centuries of Christianity I. About the cross attributed to St. Nicodemus II. About the crosses found in the Roman catacombs B. About the crosses that were in the 4th century I. About the sign of the cross that appeared in heaven to Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine II. On the acquisition of the Holy Cross by Saint Helena III. About the crosses made at the command of Saint Constantine and planted in different places, also about the embossed images of the cross on the coins of Constantine and the sovereigns who followed him in the 4th century, about the symbol of peace episcopal letters of the 4th century and about the baptismal robes of Saints Gregory the Theologian and Epiphanius of Cyprus. About crosses and various images of the cross in the V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X centuries About the image of the cross on the coins of Emperor Leo the Great (acceded to the throne on February 7, 457) and in written business documents under the same emperor About the images of the cross on the coins of the emperors Justin the Thracian and Justinian About the four-pointed cross on the orb in the hands of the cast statue of Justinian, placed on column About the images of the cross on the coins of Emperor Tiberius About the images of the cross on the coins of the emperor About the images of the cross on the coins of the emperors Nikephoros Augustus, Michael Rangabi, Michael Balba and Basil the Macedonian About the images of the cross on the coins of Emperor John Tzimiskes D. About crosses and images of the cross from the 11th to the 18th century inclusive, preserved in the monuments of Russian antiquity About the ancient Russian monuments of the cross and its images, I. About the monuments of the cross and its images, II. About ancient monuments of the cross and its image, borrowed from Moscow antiquities III. About the most ancient images of the cross, borrowed from the “Collection of State Charters and Treaties” IV. About the oldest monuments of the cross, taken from the book entitled “Readings in the Imperial Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities"* V. About the oldest monument of the cross, mentioned in the February book of “Christian Readings” for 1854* E. About the monuments of the cross and its images, borrowed from the oldest old written and ancient old printed books before Nikon, the Patriarch About images of the cross in the most ancient old written books * II. About images of the cross in old printed books III. About the involuntary and seemingly unconscious indications of the schismatics themselves on the four-pointed cross as the true cross J. About the sign of the cross as a permanent monument to the true form of the Holy Cross What is more familiar to Christians than the cross of Christ, which, meeting our entry into the world, accompanies us everywhere throughout our journey on earth - to our humble bed in the earthly womb, over which it is hoisted for the last time as a testimony to the faith and hope of the deceased? What is more famous than this sacred, terrible for demons and saving for Christians, four-pointed form of the Life-giving Cross, which we so often depict on ourselves and even more often see in the Holy Church on the top of churches, in various sacred actions, on holy icons, on sacred vessels and clothes? Who does not know and does not honor St. cross with four ends from the elder to the youth? And this well-known form of the cross, this most ancient shrine of the faith, the seal of all the sacraments, like something new, unknown to our ancestors, which appeared yesterday, our imaginary Old Believers suspected, humiliated, and trampled underfoot in broad daylight. Spewing blasphemy against that which from the very beginning of Christianity has served and still serves as a source of sanctification and salvation for everyone, honoring only the eight-pointed or three-part cross. that is, a straight shaft and on it three cross-sections arranged in a certain way, they call the so-called four-pointed cross the seal of the Antichrist and the abomination of desolation, which is the true and most common form of the cross (for only over time it became customary to use an eight-pointed cross), as if after the destruction of the two cross-sections - the title with the foot - the cross ceases to be a cross and the figure about four ends cannot in any way be called by him. Source of wisdom and reason! Enlighten my mind so that I can happily begin, continue and complete this work for the glory of Your Cross! “And bearing His cross, He went out to the place that is said to be a forehead.” In. 19, 17 We will devote this discussion to research about the cross of Christ, and specifically we will present an archaeological study about its form, with the goal of showing schismatics from the very antiquity and universality of the use of the four-pointed cross, that this form of it is the true form and that all other types of the cross are only modifications of this true type of cross, and in the essence of the matter they constitute one and the same cross of Christ. This will naturally refute the blasphemies of the schismatics against the four-pointed cross as absurd and without any basis. As for the reasons put forward by the alleged Old Believers to support their beliefs in the eight-pointed cross, we proposed to briefly analyze and refute them at the very end of the argument. Composition and division of the essay Since ancient times, in the church and in the private family life of believers, two types of the same cross have been very sharply distinguished and almost equally widely used: one is material, made of substance or matter, or depicted on some thing so that it remains on it permanently or only for a while and can be touched with the hands and constantly visible with the eyes; the other is immaterial, depicted by a hand or something else in the air or on a person and on various consecrated things - this is the sign of the cross. The first type of cross, as a material one, for that very reason did not always have and has the same shape and often varies according to the variety of craftsmen who make it, retaining, however, their fundamental compositions; the second, as a sign, which from a certain time has been accepted forever to be depicted in a certain form according to a certain form, which is why it always happens almost constantly and in the same way, only perhaps more or less. It is to these two types of cross, considered by their form, that we will turn all our attention in this essay. It is thus divided into two parts. In the first part, in which we will begin to follow the shape of the cross at all times, it will be said about the material cross, and namely, first of all, about the original Cross, actually the Lord: about its form and composition; then, if possible, in chronological order, mainly from Russian antiquity, a number of numerous material monuments and images of St. cross, preserved from ancient times to recent times. Here, by the way, a story will be placed about the discovery of the Cross in the 4th century, since the history of this discovery can very well serve as an indication of the true form of the cross in other places. In the second part it will be said about how the imaginary Old Believers, who rise up on the four-pointed cross, themselves, as it were, unconsciously use it in the sign of the cross; further - about the apostolic origin of the sign of the cross, about its use in the performance of all sacraments and about its frequent and fruitful use by Christians of the first centuries. But before we begin to talk about the thing itself, let’s turn to its canopy - and give several testimonies from Sts. Fathers about the types of the cross in the Old Testament. Note. So that the Old Testament prototypes of the four-pointed cross, which we want to cite, have the full force of proof, let us cite in advance several testimonies of Sts. fathers that images of something must have and do have a resemblance to what they form, and that is why they are called images. The schismatics say that the four-pointed cross is the image and shadow of the cross, and not the true and life-giving Cross of the Lord, and by this they express the idea that the image or the shadow has nothing to do with the thing itself or the prototype (Spis. Solov. man.). Let us therefore listen to what the holy fathers say about this. Clement of Alexandria in his “Treasures” says 1: “Images always have a resemblance to the prototype.” In the book where he proves that in all the writings of Moses the mystery of Christ is revealed, he says this about Abraham and Melchizedek (chapter 6): “Images must necessarily represent the prototype.” Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (in his second word about the Son) testifies: “Such is the property of the image that it expresses the prototype, of which there is an image.” St. Chrysostom in the 3rd homily on the Epistle to the Colossians says the following about the image: “An image, since it is an image, must be completely similar to the original, which it depicts in its features.” (Also see the interpretation of the Gospel in the 3rd week of Lent.) This evidence of the similarity of the image with the image being formed is sufficient for the Old Testament prototypes to serve for us as proof of the authenticity or fidelity of a known thing or event in the New Testament. But since images do not pre-depict a known object from all sides, but only from one side - the internal one, or together with the internal and external ones, it should be noted that the similarity of the image with the prototype occurs precisely in those aspects that are prefigured. Yes, St. the cross was typified in the Old Testament either by its strength, properties and actions, or by its external form and strength. For example, the pillar of cloud served as a prototype of the cross 2, but only in its strength and actions. We, of course, will not give such prototypes, but will deal only with prototypes of the cross, indicating its form and actions. On the Types of the Holy Cross in the Old Testament Before the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross was planted on earth by Jesus Christ, in the law of the canopy and the scriptures from time to time the Lord showed people its shadow, or image, accompanied by signs and wonders. This shadow, or this image, looked like either a four-pointed cross, or a simple staff, a piece of wood, etc., which prefigured the cross not in form, but in its internal properties. But she never imagined the shape of an eight-pointed cross. Meanwhile, as we said above, a shadow or image of something, and according to the testimony of St. fathers, and according to common sense, have a perfect resemblance in a certain respect to that which they serve as a shadow or image. Otherwise, they would not be the shadow of a known object and would not have its properties and power; so, for example, the shadow of the Apostle Paul, who healed the sick, could not be called the shadow of the apostle and it would not have healing properties if it were not an exact reflection of the holy, grace-filled body of the apostle. This means that the images of the four-pointed cross in the Old Testament were a shadow or images of the Life-Giving Cross itself. We will present here images of the four-pointed cross as indicated by St. church fathers and teachers. In the Book of Genesis, the image of the victorious cross of Sts. the fathers found, first of all, in the three hundred number of Abraham's household (318), with whom he went out against the people who captured Lot and defeated them, since this number is written through the Hebrew and Greek letter t, which is similar to the shape of a four-pointed cross 3. Clement of Alexandria says: “When Abraham heard that Lot had been taken into captivity, he gathered three hundred and eighteen members of his household and marched against the enemies, defeating them in far superior numbers.” Therefore, we say that the image of the sign of the Lord (in this number), considered in relation to the form, is a letter meaning three hundred, and iota and ita mean the saving name (Jesus) 4 . In the Book of Genesis, we also see the image of the cross in Patriarch Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s children, Ephraim and Manasseh. St. John of Damascus says that Jacob, placing his hands one over the other and making them like slingshots when blessing the children of Joseph, very clearly described the image of the cross 5. In the Book of Exodus, it was represented by a four-pointed cross: a) a lamb, which, after expiration, had to be eaten according to the command of God. St. Justin the Martyr says: “When lambs are roasted, then they represent the appearance of a cross” (speciem crucis praexerunt), since one - straight - rake comes from below to the head, and the other runs across the ridge, to which the legs of the lamb are tied” 6. b) The cruciform cutting of the sea by the rod of Moses also prefigured the four-pointed cross: “The rod of Moses,” says St. John of Damascus, cut the sea into the likeness of a cross, and saved Israel, and immersed Pharaoh” 7. “Moses drew the cross...” is also sung in the church song 8. Further - c) the four-pointed cross was prototyped by the hands of Moses praying on the mountain, folded in a cross shape. “Hands outstretched like a cross,” says St. John of Damascus, - they drove away Amalek" 9. d) The arrangement of the Israeli regiments in the desert into four parts also served as a prototype of the four-pointed cross as follows: in the middle of the army there was a canopy of the meeting with the ark of the Covenant, and right there was the tribe of Levi, who served the tabernacle. In front, from the east, were three regiments: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; behind, from the west, there are also three regiments: Efremov, Manasseh and Veniaminov. On the right side, from the south, there are three regiments: Reuben, Simeonov and Gadov. On the left side, from the north, there are three: Dan, Assur and Naphtali. Thus, the Israeli militia in the desert was cruciform 10. This foreshadowing is also mentioned in the canon of the Vozdvizhensky, in the fourth hymn, the third stichera: “People are sacredly enlisted in four parts, passing by the image of the testimony of the tabernacle, glorified by the cruciform rites.” In the Book of Numbers (Num. 20:11), the four-pointed cross symbolizes: a) Moses striking a stone with a rod, which as a result brought out water for the thirsty people of Israel in the desert. Blazh. Augustine says: “Moses struck the stone twice, because there are two trees in the cross.” 11 Severian of Gabala in the fourth word about the cross says: “Moses struck the stone twice. Why twice? If he obeys the power of God, then what need is there for a second blow? And if it strikes without the assistance of the power of God, then neither the second, nor the tenth, nor the hundredth blow will be able to make barren nature fruitful. So, truly, if this action was purely Divine and not mysterious, one blow, one wave, one word was enough. But two blows were made in order to outline the image of the cross. Moses, it is said, struck twice, not in the same way, but in the shape of a cross, so that even inanimate nature would revere the sign of the cross.” b) The copper serpent hung by Moses in the desert on a banner. The Savior Himself speaks about this foreshadowing: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness...” (John 3:14). Severian Gabalsky asks: “How did the image of a cursed animal bring health to a people who were in misfortune and struggling with illness? Wouldn’t it be more likely if he [Moses] said this: “If any of you is bitten, let him look to heaven or to the tabernacle of God and receive salvation.” But, considering this less, he put up only the image of the cross” 12. In the Book of Judges, the four-pointed cross was typified by Samson, who clasped both hands around the pillars in the Philistine church (Judges 16:26–30). “Note here too,” says the blessed one. Augustine is an image of the cross, since he stretched out both hands to two columns, stretched them out as if to two trees of the cross, but he killed his opponents by crushing them; also His [the Lord’s] suffering became the cause of death for the persecutors” 13. In the Book of Kings, the prototype of the Life-giving Cross was, according to the remark of the saints. fathers, those logs that the widow of Zarephath gathered to bake bread with (1 Kings 17:12). Blazh. Augustine says: “Here the sign of the cross is depicted not only by a tree, but even by the number of trees” 14. In another place he says: “This widow had nothing left to her, and it was over, and with her children she had to die. So she went out to collect two logs to bake bread for herself, and then Elijah saw her; Then the man of God saw her when she was looking for two logs. This woman prefigured the Church, and since the cross is made of two trees, she, threatened with death, was looking for something with which she could always exist” 15. Thus, the prototypes of St. the cross in the Old Testament had the likeness of a four-pointed cross, and not at all an eight-pointed one; This means that the Life-Giving Tree itself must be four-pointed. Turning from the images and the canopy to the thing itself, we actually find that the Cross of our Savior was in its form exactly the same as it was prototyped, that is, four-pointed. The crosses of the Romans, which alone were used during the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ for execution on the cross, were predominantly four-pointed. Various material monuments and images of St. of the cross, which reached one way or another from the first ten and subsequent centuries to the 17th century, when for the first time our imaginary Old Believers made the title and foot essential accessories of the cross, irrefutably confirm that the type of instrument of Christ’s death was four-pointed. So, with God’s help, let’s begin our conversation about the form of St. the cross and, above all, about the material cross. A) About the form of the original Cross, the First Life-Giving Cross, actually the Cross of the Lord. Having laid down His soul for the belly of the world, our Savior accepted suffering and death from the representatives of this sinful, corrupt, evil world - the Romans - the owners of light, to whom the Jews betrayed Him. In Rome at that time the most cruel, most painful execution was in use - the cross, 16 which passed there along with the morals and customs of the peoples he defeated. The Jews themselves, whose anger raised the coming Messiah to the tree, did not have the execution of the cross: for some crimes the law commanded that criminals be hanged on a tree, but they were not nailed down, and the corpses at nightfall had to be removed for burial 17 . From the gospel history it is clear that Jesus Christ, through the malice of the Jewish Sanhedrin, was presented to Pilate's praetorium as a disturber of public peace and a villain (John 18:30), and the Roman governor, who had the weakness to yield to the frantic cries of the high priests, scribes and people - to crucify Jesus, handed Him over to them, to be crucified, of course, on the same cross on which Roman laws usually executed criminals. And the very circumstances of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ show that He was crucified precisely on the cross that was in use at that time among the Romans, with the customs that they had at that time. These are the circumstances of the crucification of criminals by the Romans. The crucifixion was for the most part preceded by scourging 18 - and our Lord suffered the same thing before the crucifixion: “And having beaten Jesus,” it is said about Pilate, “he handed him over to them, so that they would crush him” (Matthew 27:26. Mark 15:15). Therefore St. Evangelist Matthew uses the very word expressing this action - scourging - (φραγελλι ó σας, (Latin fragellare - to scourge). Crucifixers were soldiers who carried out all executions among the Romans 19. The criminal himself had to carry his cross to the place of execution, while being subjected to ridicule and beatings 20 ; The cross was first put up 21, and then the criminal was nailed to it - hence the expression: to be raised, lifted up onto the cross 22. All clothes 23 were removed from the crucified person, which became the property of the soldiers 24. There was no burial for criminals who had already been crucified 25 . Sometimes, however, relatives were allowed to bury them 26. In case of need (at the onset of a holiday, celebration, etc.), the life of the crucified could be shortened by breaking their legs, as well as by smoke and heat from the brushwood burned under the cross, 27 and finally, by a blow to the head or heart. Comparing these circumstances of the execution on the cross with what is said in the Gospel story about the crucifixion of the Savior, together with previous and subsequent circumstances, we find that almost all of them were repeated over the Divine Sufferer; The Lord was scourged and crucified by Roman soldiers. He Himself carried His Cross to Golgotha, and, of course, He suffered, as usual, a lot of ridicule; They took off all His clothes before ascending to the cross, and since the clothes were very good and valuable, the soldiers cast lots to see who would take what from them; Because of the onset of the Easter holiday, they wanted to break the legs of Jesus Christ, but since they found Him already dead, they left His bones alone, and they broke them from the villains crucified with Him. That the Savior, before being executed in disgrace, was actually scourged, although this seems to us to be something new, which our ears, so familiar with all the expressions regarding both previous and subsequent circumstances surrounding the Passion of Christ, are not accustomed to accommodate - proof of this, as we noted above, is the very word of the Evangelist John - φραγέλλιον, from lat. fragellum - scourge. From everything that has gone before, it is certain that our Lord was crucified by Roman soldiers on a Roman cross. What kind of cross did the Romans use to crucify criminals? – Answering this question, we will enter, in accordance with the needs of our imaginary Old Believers, into a detailed discussion about the form and composition of the cross, as well as about the type of wood from which it was made, and, finally, about the fate of this tree after the Divine Dead was removed from it. The Romans mainly used three types of crosses: a) A three-pointed cross like the letter T (tav) 28. Its base was a straight post or board about fifteen feet long, fixed in the ground; at the very top of it, for nailing the hands, a crossbar 29 was made, seven or eight feet long 30. b) A cross with a protruding straight end over the diameter visible in the letter tav, which is why this end, according to Justin Martyr, resembled a horn 31. Finally, c) a cross like the Latin letter X or, as it is otherwise called, the cross of St. Andrew 32. But more than all the others, the cross whose diameter was below the upper end of the column, a cross like the letter t - with a protruding end, that is, four-pointed, was widely used. Now the question is, on which of the crosses we have indicated was the Lord Jesus Christ crucified? There is no doubt, first of all, that it was not on the cross of St. Andrew, otherwise he would not have been called by the name of this apostle. Consequently, the Savior was crucified on one of the other two crosses, and between them, with the existence of numerous evidence and material and immaterial monuments, it is easy to reliably point to one - four-pointed 33. There were no more complex crosses, besides those we have indicated, in Rome, and there should not have been, since for the purpose for which crosses existed then - namely, for the crucifixion of criminals on them - a four-pointed cross was needed. as the most convenient for this, since the person for whom it was invented, when crucifixed, is a four-pointed figure. There were no crosses with two, much less three, diameters, and there is not the slightest need or reason to assume their existence at that time. But, the imaginary Old Believers will object, the title and the foot constitute the second and third diameters in the Cross of Christ. To show them that the title does not relate to the essence of the cross at all, and the foot - and especially the oblique one - appeared in later centuries and is attached to the cross without a solid historical basis, solely according to ingrained custom, we will examine with detail: 1) what is titla, according to the Romans; what substance was it made of; how it is written, whether it was always necessary for the cross and whether it related to its essence, and 2) were there footstools on Roman crosses, were they needed for any fundamental purpose and, in particular, was there a footstool on the Cross of Christ and was it necessary? The word “titla” (in Greek τίτλος) is not Russian or Greek, but Roman, from titulus, and has many meanings. We'll go through all these values ​​here. The word titulus was used by the Romans not only when it came to execution - by the cross or some other kind, that is, not only in the sense of the well-known plank attached to the cross, but also in many other cases when there was no talk of it at all, as it is done now not only among the Romans, but also among other peoples into whose languages ​​this word has passed. Therefore, we will consider the meaning of the word titulus from two sides: what the word titla means - titulus 1) in cases where there is no talk of execution at all, and 2) in the case when we are talking about execution itself, so that, thus, the imaginary Old Believers would know what a titla of the cross is. 1) In the first case, titles or titles - tituli - were called: α) Warriors (milites) as defenders - tutuli, since they defend the fatherland - tueantur (they say, by the way, that this is where the nickname Titus came from). β) Titla means the same as a monument, because it seems to protect – tueatur – and preserve the memory of something; This is why the tombs are called tituli. Josephus mentioned in 1 Sam. 23, 17 the monument is called a tomb. "What is this titulus that I see?" asked King Josiah. “This is the tomb of the man of God,” answered the citizens of that city. Thus, statues, columns, pyramids erected in memory of something are also called titles - tituli. Further, - γ), according to Baronius, under the year 112 after the Nativity of Christ, titles or titles were called plates that signified royal power, with the image of emperors or with the inscription of their name (corresponding to the current flags or coats of arms). St. Ambrose, writing to Marcellina, calls such plates (cortinas) royal, and the royal fiscal, by imposing these coats of arms, usually adopted and dedicated a certain thing to the king. These titles or coats of arms were the property not only of rulers, but also of private people, even belonging to every rank and state; in this case, the title was δ) a simple sign that acquired something for someone and thus served as a seal of property. This is clear from the explanation of the blessed one. Augustine on the twenty-first psalm. From civil society this word also passed into the church: a well-known place or a well-known house with the erection of a cross on it, as if with the imposition of some kind of coat of arms, was designated for sacred use; Thus, the Greek emperor Theodosius, in his last book on the pagans, 34 ordered that pagan temples, after placing the sign of the venerable cross on them, should be appropriated to Christians. From here it happened that this very place, or church, began to be called a title - titulus - titla 35. Over time, only the main churches began to be called by titles. Thus, title ε) meant the same as church. Finally, ζ) the last meaning of the word “title” is a name, the name of something; for example, Suetonius in the life of Domitian says: “He restored (restituit) numerous and extensive creations destroyed by fire, but only under his own name (title), without any mention of the former creator” 36. In the same sense, the word “titla” is used in the Chetya Menea of ​​Makaryevskaya, in the life of St. Maximus the Confessor: “Pyrrhus (Patriarch of Constantinople) was preren. adheres to the faithful and is accepted quickly from the church kindly and honestly, along with the title of the patriarch” (Jan. 25). Here are all the meanings of the word “titla” in cases where there is no talk of the cross. 2) Now let’s see what “title” means when it comes to any execution. Let us give here an expression about it from a) external writers and b) the saints themselves. evangelists. Suetonius says about Caligula that in Rome, at a public feast, he suddenly handed over a servant to the executioner because he tore a silver tablet from the bed 37 . Now let’s listen to what the holy evangelists say about the title. Let us take here the passages of all four evangelists in which they talk about this title - and they all express themselves in different words about this subject - and then we will show what the title on the cross is according to the meaning of the Romans, since it was the custom only among them. The Holy Evangelist Matthew significantly says: “And having laid on the top of His [Jesus Christ’s] head His guilt [α ĭ τίαν] it was written: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37). The Holy Evangelist Mark narrates: “And the writing of His guilt was written: King of the Jews” (Mark 15:26). St. Luke says: “And it was written over Him in Greek and Roman and Jewish writings: This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38). The Holy Evangelist John says: “Pilate wrote the title and laid it on the cross: and it was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. This is a lot of title from the Jews, because near was the place of the city where Jesus was buried: and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman” (John 19:19-20). Thus, the Evangelist Matthew calls the title written wine; St. Mark - writing guilt, St. Luke - in written form, and St. John the Evangelist used here the very Roman word - titla: “Place also the title Pilate.” Since the inscription indicated the imaginary guilt of the Lord, for which He was crucified, the Evangelist Matthew calls the title written wine, and the Evangelist Mark combined both words, inscription and guilt, and said: “And the writing of His guilt was written”; Evangelist Luke, paying attention to one inscription, to some words, simply says that there was an inscription written on the cross. But the most significant thing about the title is spoken by St. John, calling the inscription on the cross itself the Latin 38 word τίτλος, since by this word he meant exactly what the Romans meant by it at that time, that is, the very inscription and the substance on which it was written, and the very guilt of death. From here we deduce the meaning of the word title, namely: title - the same as 1) guilt, the reason why someone is executed on the cross, 2) the crime for which they are executed, and 3) the very substance on which guilt was inscribed; Briefly, in one word, in Roman all this is called titlo - titulus, as St. called it. Evangelist John. Although he wrote his Gospel, according to the testimony of the fathers and teachers of the Church, in Greek, he used a Roman word here, among other things, because many Roman words, during the time of Christ the Savior and after, passed into the Greek language and became Greek; these include the words: τίτλος – titulus, φραγέλλον – fragcllum, πραιτώριον (John 6), λεγεών (Luke 8), λιβέρτινος ( Acts 6), σουδάριον, κουστοδία, λιντσον, σπεκουλάτωρ, etc. What was the substance on which the title was written? Sozomen, describing the discovery of the Holy Cross of St. Helena, says that in the cave in which three crosses were found, a white tablet was also found separately, similar to a tablet, on which not only Hebrew, but also Greek and Roman letters were inscribed - which words and letters expressed nothing more than the following: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews 39 . So, the imaginary guilt of Christ’s death was written on a tablet, which, for greater clarity and ease of reading, was whitened with white paint (λεύκωμαι); the words themselves were red in color, as can be seen on the remains of a titla kept in Rome 40, and were carved on wood with an iron tool (stylo ferreo) in the reverse order of the letters, as in the Hebrew language, since even at that time a method of writing was in great use, invented much earlier by carving on wood, metal or stone, and the Greek verb γραφεΐν, εγγράφειν, expressing precisely this ancient way of writing, has primarily this meaning, i.e. to cut with an iron tool, as Joachim Perionius notes in the second book on the affinity of the French language with Greek, because the French verb engraver (sculpere, insculpre), coming from the Greek εγγράφειν, means to cut out, to incise on something 41. According to Roman custom, a tablet with an inscription of guilt was sometimes carried in front of the criminal to the place of execution, or he himself carried it around his neck, or. finally she was nailed to the cross. But it was not an ever-present, integral part of the cross. Sometimes, instead of writing the name of the criminal and the crime on a tablet, hanging it around his neck or carrying it in front of the criminal and then nailing it to the cross, they acted in this case simpler: one of the soldiers in the hearing of the whole people had to shout: so-and-so is crucified for such-and-such a crime, and then the guilty person was crucified without nailing titles over him. For example, on the crosses of the thieves crucified with Jesus Christ, there was no title 42. From everything that has been said about the title, it is clear that it did not at all constitute an essential accessory to the cross and, therefore, was not part of the cross; she may or may not have been on the cross; everyone could write and sometimes wrote and nailed them to the cross, but they could not write, but simply proclaim that a famous criminal was being crucified for such and such; in both cases, that is, whether there was a title or inscription on the cross or not, it still remained a cross, just as, for example, the house of some person, whether there is an inscription on it with the name of the homeowner or not, will still remain a house. In order for even more imaginary Old Believers to be convinced that even without the title the cross is the same unchangeable cross of Christ, it is enough to look at the words of St. Evangelist John about the title laid down by Pilate. What words are these? We have already given them above, but here for this purpose we will present them again. St. John says: “Pilate wrote the title and laid it on the cross” (John 19:19). What did Pilate put on the title? – On the cross, on the same cross on which our Savior had already hung. This means that even before the title, the cross was already the Cross of Christ - and even then, when it was still being carried first by the Savior Himself, and then by Simon of Cyrene to Golgotha. Paying attention to the title as it is made on our crosses, we cannot help but say that it is difficult to recognize in it the title that was placed on the Cross of the Lord: pious custom attached it to the tree of the cross in such a way that it seems to form the most essential integral part of it, along with the diameter that accommodated the nailed hands of the Divine Sufferer: our title is cut into the cross, and is not placed or it is nailed to it lightly, in accordance with its purpose: or if it is made of metal, then in this case we see not some kind of device, but a real transverse yard. The Church allows such a composition of crosses, of course, because it does not in the least harm faith and piety, and none of the sane, of course, would stand for this or that type of cross. For Christians there is always only one cross - Christ's - whether it is with or without a title, with or without a foot. But if the schismatics so advocate for this title, then justice requires saying that the upper diameters of the cross should not be stated on it in the same way as it is stated with us, if they certainly want the title to be on the cross, but so that it can be seen that this is nothing more or less than an inscription of the cross, which in any case does not form part of the cross and when counting its ends should not be taken into account as something accidental, extra. Moreover, if the imaginary Old Believers certainly want to see the title on the cross and do not want to worship the cross without it, then why do they allow themselves not to depict on the cross or hammer into it the nails that pierced the Life-giving hands of the Savior, and not to count their ends along with the ends of the titles and foots, while the huge Roman nails used in this case were actually protruding over the nailed hands and legs, as shown by the most ancient monuments of the Crucifixion? 43 In order to be consistent and true to themselves, imaginary Old Believers would need to pay attention to this and drive nails into every cross and without them not consider a cross to be a cross: nails, in comparison with Pilate’s inscription, have an invaluable dignity, because they have passed through the Most Pure hands and feet and are stained with their blood. St. Chrysostom and John of Damascus, listing the venerable instruments of Christ’s suffering, speak among other things about nails, but not a word about the title 44. This means that titles should not be revered, except perhaps the one that was originally on the Cross of the Lord. True, schismatics can say that they do not depict nails in the cross or do not insert them because they mean them and, without seeing them with their eyes, they see them mentally and also worship mentally. But if so, then why not also include the titles or inscriptions of the godmother, which in the cross is much less important than the nails? Having shown the meaning, substance and degree of importance of titles during the executions of the cross and, in particular, on the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, now let’s talk about the stool on the crosses, and specifically about whether there were sockets on the Roman crosses, whether they were needed for any fundamental purpose, in particular about whether there was a stool on the Cross of the Lord and whether it was necessary on this Cross. As for the question of whether there were footstools on the Roman crosses, which usually served as an instrument of execution for some criminals, the answer can be decisively that there were none. Not a single Roman historian, not a single father or teacher of the Church, until Gregory of Tours, a writer of the 7th century, speaks of the foot of the cross. Seneca 45 has a place where he talks about a sharp cross, which, being driven into an ordinary cross, served as a seat for the crucified one, on which he, squatting, with the weight of his body pressed the wound resulting from such a sharp prick and hung in the most cramped position. This is exactly the same seat that, as we will see below, is mentioned by St. Justin and Irenaeus 46. Remarkable, by the way, is the expression of Seneca, who calls the sharp seat a cross (acuta crux). This, of course, is because the Romans called any tree that caused a painful, slow death a cross, and the very word “crux” comes from the word cruciatus - torment. But being sometimes placed on other Roman crosses, the seat was not made, as we will see below, on the Cross of the Savior. So, with some probability we can only say that on the Roman crosses there was only a seat, which, while providing very little peace to the body by supporting its weight, at the same time pricked and cut its back parts. As for the foot, it was not on Roman crosses, as can be seen from the following. When writers talk about crucifixion, they usually use the words either affixus, crucifixus, or appensus, suspensus, but never, for example, status, constitutus in cruce or in crucem - that is, they talk about either nailing, or hanging, but not about putting on a cross. This is also evident from the fact that some were hanged upside down, as, for example, Eusebius testifies about the Egyptian martyrs 47; in such cases, of course, they did not make a headboard for the head, because it is directly said that they hung upside down, and did not stand on the head 48 . St. Apostle Peter was also hanged upside down and nailed to his hands and feet. St. Chrysostom, speaking about this execution of the Apostle, adds: “Blessed nails that pierced these sacred members” 49. Now let's solve another question: was the stool of the cross necessary for any fundamental purpose? If it was necessary, then it was necessary for only two reasons: either 1) it was a direct necessity for the cross as a means to prevent the body, hanging on the cross, from tearing with its weight the arms nailed with nails, which alone supported the whole body, or 2) with the foot they wanted to provide the crucified with some relief, rest in the agony of hanging, and, therefore, it was suggested to the procurator who pronounced sentence to execution, and the perpetrators of the latter with a sense of compassion. But in the first case, we must assume that the connections of the arms are so weak and loose that the body is not able to hang on the latter, which, as we will see, is decidedly unfair. Is it now possible to assume a second reason, i.e., is it possible to assume a feeling of pity in the Roman commanders who pronounced the death sentence, due to which feeling they would allow a stool to be made on the cross for a little relief for the crucified? One can say positively that such a reason is not at all relevant here. The cross is an invention of inhumanity, and it is generally known about the Romans who lived during the time of Christ the Savior and after that they were too inhuman and loved to amuse themselves with bloody scenes in circuses. In particular, it is known about the soldiers that they were very inhuman and rude, which is why they carried out all the executions among the Romans. To be convinced of this, it is worth recalling here the story of the evangelists about the crucifixion of the Savior, about how the soldiers mocked Him more than others, beat Him with a cane on the head and with their hands on the cheeks. Moreover, the arrangement of a stool on the cross is also inappropriate because standing generally does not bring peace to the body and legs, especially when a person felt tired even before standing; Moreover, standing on legs nailed with nails cannot bring peace: here there is double suffering for the legs - one from the tension of the muscles of the outstretched legs, and the other from the burning, severe ulcers of the nails. In this case, the hanging position of the body is more pleasant - the position is not tense, we feel calm when we lie down and bend our legs slightly or when we sit with our legs lowered to the floor also bent. It is remarkable in this regard that all animals bend their legs when going to sleep. This means that it is not entirely easy to be in a standing position, especially when your legs are nailed down. Therefore, it is easiest and most thorough to imagine the crucifixion without a pedestal - with bent legs. The validity of our judgment also follows from the following considerations: if there was a footstool on the cross, then it, without a doubt, was either in the form of a wooden beam, or a plank, or some kind of stands - in a word, it was designed in such a way that both feet could fit on it and stand firmly. If a crucified person could, with his hands nailed to the cross, stand on the foot without his legs being nailed, if any almost impossible danger of escape in this case was prevented by the guards (Matthew 27:36). at the cross, then why, one might ask, still nail the very feet to the footstool, if the footstool is inspired by a feeling of some compassion? The Savior’s feet, according to the Gospel, were indeed nailed to the Cross by hard-hearted soldiers, and therefore one cannot think that they allowed the foot on the Cross out of a sense of compassion for the Crucified One. We can show that there was no need for a stool on the Cross as a means to prevent the hands from being torn from the wounds caused by the nails, and so that the Crucified One, having fallen from the Cross, would not leave. According to surgeons, the palms of the hands are so strong that even if they are nailed, they are able to support any body while it is alive, or, having died, has not yet begun to rot, and the closer to the hand the nail passes, the more secure the hanging on them. This is evident, among other things, from the fact that some of the apostles and martyrs were nailed to the cross upside down - and yet they hung without the danger of being torn away from the cross. If in such cases the legs could support the whole body, then why couldn’t the arms, when, according to the assurance of the same surgeons, they are no weaker than the legs? Moreover, it is known that martyrs sometimes hung by their hair alone; the same is known about Absalom. The Roman soldiers, who had previously practiced crucifying others, of course, knew from experience that a body hanging on a cross cannot tear apart hands pierced with nails, and therefore for this purpose the stool was, without a doubt, considered an unnecessary thing; Their whole concern here was to quickly carry out the orders of their superior and hang some slave, villain or troublemaker. To take care of the footstool, a completely unnecessary thing, what kind of need is that? Now let us decide the question of whether there was a footstool on the Cross of Our Lord? We answer in the same way as before - there was no. Christ the Savior was crucified by Roman soldiers, of course, in compliance with the customs used by the Romans, as we saw above. This means that His Cross was also Roman, and just as Roman crosses did not have a foot, the Cross of Christ was also without a foot. And St. The evangelists, speaking about the crucifixion of the Lord on the cross, do not mention the foot at all, although they speak about the title in very clear words. Further, none of the Sts. the fathers of the first centuries (until the 7th century), who spoke about the shape of the Cross and listed its parts, do not say a word about the foot. One writer of the 7th century, Gregory, Bishop of Tours (in Gaul), contains evidence of the foot of the Savior’s Cross; but Gregory himself, in addition to the fact that he gives evidence of the foot according to his own considerations, betrays himself by saying that in ancient images of the Cross the feet of Jesus Christ appear to be hanging, and not standing. But what kind of evidence is this, which, speaking of the foot, itself refutes itself? Meanwhile, if there really was a footstool on the Cross, then the evangelists, the fathers and writers of the Church would certainly have mentioned it when they described the appearance of the Cross: the footstool, as the place of the Most Pure feet of the Lord, pierced with nails along with them, irrigated with the Blood of the Lady, would have been known in the same way as the Cross itself, since it, together with the Cross, would constitute a treasure precious to Christians. Meanwhile, St. Evangelists and fathers and teachers of the Church, without speaking about it, talk about the unimportant accessory of the Cross - the title. Moreover, if there had been a footstool on the Cross, then it would have remained with him forever, since, in all likelihood, it was nailed to the Cross as firmly as the diameter to which the hands were nailed: it had to support the weight of the body, and as that diameter was preserved, so would it be preserved; however, when the Cross was found, the base was not found, while the title, which was probably nailed to the Cross lightly (placed, as the holy evangelists put it), was found in a special place. In all likelihood, the foot began to be depicted on crosses from the time of the Gallican bishop, who, as we saw, conveys an imaginary testimony about the foot - that is, from the 7th century, although, of course, this custom did not spread everywhere after that 50. And from that time until the most recent centuries, crosses were made and depicted for the most part without bases; Such, much before and after, were all the crosses on the churches of God, on sacred and secular faces (pectoral crosses (εγκολπίον) and crosses), clothes and vessels, on royal crowns, as we will see all this below; and on those crosses on which the foot was made, the Crucifixion of the Lord was always depicted along with it (from the 7th century), and without the Crucifixion this foot was never made or depicted anywhere until very late times. This is proven by the crosses that we have just mentioned. Moreover, when they wrote the foot of the cross, it was never made oblique, which is what our imaginary Old Believers want, but in the form of a beam or platform, somewhat vertical, so that the legs stood freely, evenly and firmly on it 51 . The likelihood of the opinion that footstools began to be depicted from the time of Gregory of Tours, not earlier, is confirmed by the following circumstance. In the Western Church there are two physical monuments to St. crosses belonging to the 8th century and belonging to Charlemagne, of which one already has a base, and the other does not, although both are with the Crucifixion of Christ. The oldest cross attributed to St. Nicodemus - without a footstool. This cross, which we will talk about later, obviously dates back to ancient times and serves as a silent witness to the fact that in the first centuries of our era there was no legend about the existence of a foot on the Cross of Christ. When did they start depicting slanting feet on crosses? The most ancient monuments of the cross - Greek, Roman, etc. - do not represent anything of this kind, which means that the oblique foot is a work of the most recent time, and, moreover, our Russian one. Determining approximately the time of its appearance, we can probably assume that this time was the 15th or 16th century 52 - a time of extreme ignorance in our fatherland and the appearance of many, sometimes the most absurd and absurd legends and stories concerning objects of faith and the Church. In fact, when you read the wisdom of our so-called Old Believers about what this position on the Cross with the oblique foot of our Lord meant, Who “lighten one foot on the right hand for the sake of this, so that the sins of those who believe in Him will be eased and at the second coming they will be troubled by grief at the meeting of Him, and for the sake of the burden of the neck, I will bow down to the foot of the valley, so that those who do not believe in Him will be aggravated and will descend to hell" 53 - then we involuntarily recalled this multitude of fictitious legends and stories, for which the dark imagination of our ancestors was so fertile 54. Of course, such wisdom did not contain anything contrary to true faith, but nothing can vouch for its truth, and it is harmful in that it strongly evokes novelty and arrogant and shameless daring to explain in one’s own way what none of the fathers and teachers of the Church explained. And who needed to make an oblique foot on the Cross of the Savior when it is so inconvenient, absurd and does not achieve its goal? Warriors? But they did only what was usually done in this case at any other time - and if, suppose, a footstool was absolutely required, then they would have placed under the feet something more appropriate to the purpose, and not our oblique one. Or did the Savior Himself express His will that His feet should be nailed to a slanted stool? But besides the fact that this is absurd (the Lord did not argue about anything: He gave full scope to the violent will of His enemies), which of the soldiers would listen to Him and dare to do something that had never happened on other crosses? And could this be expected from such warriors as, for example, the one who, as if in revenge for the fact that the Lord’s legs were not broken, like the robbers, was so cruel and insensitive that without thinking the least he raised a spear and pierced His side? What good could be expected from such people? 55 In addition to all this, it is necessary to confront the imaginary Old Believers with the fact that we have almost already proven that on the Cross of Christ there was no footstool, not only oblique, but also straight. The final evidence in favor of this is based on the following consideration. In describing the subsequent circumstances of the Lord’s crucifixion, the Evangelist Luke says, among other things: “But one of the evildoers who blasphemed Him ...” (Luke 23:39), i.e., he speaks of the hanging on the cross of a thief who blasphemed the Lord, and it is known that both the Lord and the other thief, a prudent one, were crucified in the same way as the evil thief, therefore, the Lord was also hanged, i.e. was in hanging position on the Cross, and not at all in a standing position. But how can we say that He hung on the Cross, if the Scripture says: “Let us give a stool for His feet”? Everyone will agree that the footstool exists for this reason; that is why it is called so, because the feet stand or are supported on it, and whoever stands on the foot does not hang. What do the words mean: hanging, hung on a cross? Of course, the fact that a person nailed to a cross with the palms of his hands and soles of his feet hangs with all other parts of his body, i.e., in a vertical position, gravitates toward the ground. We say: in a vertical position - because when the legs are nailed to the cross with the feet, then a bend is necessarily made in the knees and thus the body appears to be hanging in the proper sense. From all this it should be concluded that on the Cross of the Lord there was not only a footstool, but also a seat, which Seneca and even some of the fathers of the first centuries mention. Standing on the footstool is so incompatible with hanging that if the feet are placed on the foot, then at the same time a third of the body rests on the foot, and in this case the body does not hang, but stands on the foot. In addition to the evangelists, many church songs and canons also say that Christ the Savior hung on the cross, for example, in services on Great Friday. Let us now decide the last question: was it not necessary for our Savior to have a footstool on the Cross, that is, did He not need it because of the extreme exhaustion and complete exhaustion of strength that preceded the crucifixion? This, too, cannot be answered otherwise than that for the Savior, despite the exhaustion of His strength, the stool was not necessary. The weakening of bodily strength, according to surgeons, does not make the sinewy material of the hands weaker; it becomes even stronger as the soul leaves the body, and the veins of a dead body are the strongest. This explains the circumstance why Christians were so often flogged with animal sinews during persecution. Due to their sinewy, muscular and bony nature, the arms are in any case strong and strong enough to support a hanging body. In conclusion, let’s say: if human hands were so weak in general, if a stool were really needed, then, during the 18th century, anatomists and surgeons would not have noticed such an inconsistency in the depiction of Crucifixions with reality and would not have advised painters, carpenters, statue makers and the clergy themselves, who are in charge of this, to eliminate such an incongruity - to make a stool without fail, precisely for the reason that the body cannot hang on one hand? However, most of the oldest and newest Crucifixions do not have bases and no one noticed that this was wrong or absurd. Having determined, as much as possible, on the basis of reliable evidence, the type of that original Cross on which our Lord was crucified, and having said what seemed necessary about the title and foot on the cross, let us now, by the way, say a few words about what kind of wood this first Honest Cross was made of and what happened to it after the Most Pure Body was removed from it. According to the reliable information of ancient Roman writers, the cross, which for the most part bore the contemptuous name of the “unfortunate tree” (arbor infelix), was always made from the trees of the so-called unfortunate and damned (arbores infelices damnataeque religione), but never from the best trees, which for the most part among the Romans were dedicated to the gods (for example, oak - to Jupiter, laurel - to Apollo, olive - to Minerva, myrtle - Venus, poplar - Hercules) or were used to make idols (for example, wood: cedar, grape, etc.). To make a cross from a tree brought as gifts to the gods - a shameful instrument of death - meant, in the opinion of the pagan, to offend the gods. Among these unfortunate trees were some trees that were barren, wild, and thorny. In all likelihood, our Savior suffered on one of these trees, cursed in popular opinion. From the Gospel history we know that the soldiers, to whose disposal Pilate gave Jesus Christ in order, in order to satisfy the people, to dishonor the Lord more and mock Him, wove Him and placed it on His head, perhaps according to the custom of the Roman kings, who, as can be seen on the coins, wore laurel wreaths on their heads, not a laurel or oak or some other used wreath, but a thorny one, like a wreath made from a tree that was considered despicable due to its thorniness and sterility. If they did so in this case, then why would they have done differently in choosing the tree for the Cross itself? Both there and here, the Roman soldiers and the Jews had, of course, one goal, to the exclusion of any other: the disgrace and suffering of the person sentenced to death on the cross; therefore, if the wreath on the head of the Savior was made of thorns, instead of oak or laurel, as was usual, then why would they need to make the Cross itself from good wood, and not from bad and despicable? Moreover, if no ordinary wood had been used for the Cross of the Lord, if something special had happened when choosing it, then St. The evangelists would not have left this without comment, as, for example, they noticed that the body of Christ the Savior was laid in a new tomb. Not to mention the fact that the Roman soldiers had no incentive on their part to use a special, best tree for the Cross of the Lord. For some unknown reason, they were too bitter against the Savior: they said mocking greetings to Him, beat Him on the head with a cane, spat in His face and, kneeling before Him, bowed to Him. What good could one expect from them? When the Savior was sentenced to the cross as a criminal, the majority of the people who were at the crucifixion also looked at Him unfavorably: there were not many chosen ones here who either sincerely believed or only guessed that this was not an ordinary person, but the Son of God; the largest part saw in Him an ordinary person - and precisely a criminal worthy of a shameful execution. From the circumstances following the crucifixion, it is clear that even those passing along the path of Calvary boldly mocked the Savior, nodding their heads. The thieves hanging with Christ, it seems, were almost ignored by the frantic people; perhaps he even expressed a feeling of pity for them. The main attention of everyone was focused on the One who hung on the middle cross, so that even “one of the promised evildoers” together with the people blasphemed the Savior. Is it therefore even possible to think that on the cross of such a despicable person, in the opinion of the soldiers and the people, a special tree was used, better than others? Judging by the exorbitant anger and bitterness of the Jews, who, of course, set fire to the soldiers with fresh slander, one can quickly and more seriously ask whether they did not use the most damned, so to speak, tree on the Cross of the Lord, if only there was one - the worst and most despicable? Indeed, it was made of despised wood, the same kind of wood that the crosses of the villains crucified with Christ were made of. This is confirmed by the history of the discovery of the Cross of the Lord and the testimony of St. Gregory of Nyssa, who in turn bases it on the general opinion of the people. Upon the discovery of the Cross of the Lord, together with the two crosses of the villains crucified with Christ, the first, without the miraculous direction of God, could not be distinguished from the latter 56. This circumstance makes us think that either the Cross of the Savior was made from the same trees from which the crosses of villains were usually made, or the same best kinds of wood were used on the crosses of the villains crucified with Christ, which our imaginary Old Believers want to see in the composition of the Cross of the Lord (which will be discussed at the end). But the latter is impossible according to the customs of the Romans, and the first, for this very reason, while remaining true, is also confirmed by the fact that the found Cross of Christ in the eyes of eyewitnesses did not have those physical qualities that people of later times see in it. Christians of the 4th century saw for themselves and proclaimed in the hearing of everyone that the tree that is part of the Cross of the Lord belongs precisely to those kinds of trees that in the opinion of people are considered worthy of contempt. True, few of the fathers of the 4th century convey to us such an opinion of their contemporaries about the tree of the Cross of the Lord, but nevertheless it is reliable. Gregory of Nyssa, based on the general rumor that reached him, without doubt, classifies the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord as a despised tree. “Paying attention,” he says, “to many of the church objects, although you see something despicable in them. what is visible, but meanwhile, what they produce is great... And the tree of the Lord’s Cross is saving for all people, despite the fact that there is a part, as I hear, of a tree that is despicable and most dishonest” 57 . This testimony alone of the famous theologian and father of the Church of the 4th century, in all fairness, deserves complete confidence. As for the fate of the Cross of Christ itself, after Joseph of Arimathea removed the Most Pure Body of Christ the Savior from it, it is known from Jewish tradition that all the instruments with which the death of the guilty were inflicted were usually buried in the ground at the place of execution. Such a tradition was preserved by Moses of Cordub, the most famous rabbi among the Jews, in his extensive work - “Manus fortis” (Hand of the Brave), in the treatise Sanhedrin (chapter 15, art. IX) and in a commentary on “Miznayot” - the oldest book of the Jews, which serves as the basis of all their law and tradition. What usually happened with the instruments of execution over criminals, the same thing happened with the Cross of the Lord. Relying on the legend just mentioned, Christians later, at the command of Queen Helen Equal to the Apostles (as will be discussed below), from the place of the execution of the Lord on Golgotha, a large thickness of earth (poured here with intention) and found here what they were looking for. Let us now begin to describe, as briefly as possible, in order of time, the most ancient monuments of the cross, made in any way and preserved to our time in their original form or only in photographs, or, finally, described in books, from the first century of the Christian world to the 17th century. The imaginary Old Believers will see in the very, so to speak, faces, in the very things, the cross, which all Christians from the very beginning until later times depicted and honored under the name of the Cross of Christ. Whether they believe or not what we want to present to their eyes here is their business; but we will do our job in good faith, before the eyes of the All-Seeing God, from Whom no deception and no lie will be hidden. For the most convenient overview of the monuments of the Holy Cross and its images over the course of seventeen centuries, we can, not without reason, divide this vast space of time into four periods and in each period consider these monuments separately. It is the first part, or the first period of time, in the fate of the Cross of Christ that we will limit to the first three centuries, when initially the Cross was hidden from human eyes in the earth, and all crosses made in imitation of this Cross, due to persecution, were rare in the then Christian world. The second part should embrace the fourth Christian age, when the glory of the Cross of Christ shone like the sun, when the original Cross of the Lord arose, when heaven itself announced to people about its glory everywhere, and when all Christians - kings and subjects, masters and slaves, elders and children, husbands and wives - began to make and depict crosses everywhere, so that almost the entire universe was filled with crosses. The third part will cover the time from the 5th to the 11th centuries, i.e. until the time when monuments of the cross and images of it can already be found among our Russian antiquities. Finally, the fourth period lasts from the 11th to the 15th centuries or almost until the time of Patriarch Nikon, whose contemporaries, according to the imaginary Old Believers, introduced a two-part cross, but left the true cross, that is, the eight-pointed one. In the first three Christian centuries, the Holy Church was under the heavy burden of persecution, strengthening and prospering internally, but at the same time it was suppressed in its appearance: in worship and in the rites of faith. Therefore, under tight external circumstances, external church life could not fully develop: Christians had to perform their church services either at night, or just before dawn, in famous houses, sometimes in dungeons. Constantly hiding from the persecution of the pagans, they naturally had everything only with themselves, and therefore, by the way, the cross of Christ - the object of Christian veneration - in its material form was not used as often as it was later, three centuries later. The Cross of the Lord was in the ground, and for other crosses, as Christian shrines, there was also almost no place on earth: they were still the subject of persecution by the pagans along with the followers of the Crucified One. That is why almost all the monuments of the cross and its images from the first three centuries were preserved only in Roman dungeons, where Christians were mostly forced to take refuge from persecution. B. About crosses preserved from the first three centuries of Christianity In this section we will talk 1) about the cross, which the most ancient tradition attributes to St. Nicodemus - the secret disciple of Jesus Christ, and 2) about the images of the cross in the Roman dungeons, or catacombs. I. About the cross attributed to St. Nicodemus About the cross attributed to St. Nicodemus, the famous chronicler Baronius conveys the news in 1099, and a photograph of this cross is presented in the Latin work of Cornelius Curtius, called “De Clavis Dominicis”. Let us write down here the news of Baronius in the form in which it is found in the book of his Chronicles (vol. XI, p. 757): “Let us transfer the speech again to the East,” he says, “to tell about what happened memorable after the conquest of Jerusalem, and, among other things, about how the venerable image of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who was represented by the ancient painter in a royal form, became known (schemate regio) in His likeness. It was made (as evidenced by the ancient tradition, firmly preserved to posterity) through the efforts of Nicodemus, the night disciple of Christ; from Jerusalem he was carried out by a very pious husband named Stephen, a native of Lucania, who, out of pious motives, together with others in 1098 undertook a journey to the Holy Land; he received this image from some Gregory the Syrian and brought it to Lucca (in Turkey), where it has been kept with reverence to this day; The history of everything that happened with this image, written in antiquity, is also stored there. Why is the Savior represented on the cross in royal attire, and not naked?.. To abolish the temptation of the cross and to show the glory of Christ in a greater light.” In conclusion, Baronius says about him: “So, let the venerable sacred image of Christ the King hanging on the cross stand to denounce the most unfortunate iconoclasts, as an everlasting monument to the newly emerging Church, handed down to posterity.” We can add: and to the denunciation of our unfortunate brothers, the imaginary Old Believers, who blaspheme the four-pointed cross because it is four-pointed and not eight-pointed. Here is the very image of this cross 58: On this cross the Savior is represented in royal attire, crown, purple and shoes; the porphyry is anfrax, the crown is made of pure gold, the shoes are silver, tied with gold bands. He Himself is presented completely alive, as if He had just been nailed down. At the top of the cross are inscribed the Greek letters α and ω, showing who He really is, who was crucified on the Cross like the villains. This last circumstance alone speaks very much in favor of the very deep antiquity of this cross. In the Roman catacombs, on the tombs of martyrs, the name of Christ the Savior is very often found, which is written together through two Greek letters X and P with α and ω on either side in the following form: For example, at the cemetery of St. Clement, on one tombstone, under the inscription, there is the following image of the name of Christ the Savior: On a marble stone dug from Priscilla's cemetery, at the top, in front of the inscription, in a triangle, the name of the Savior is depicted, also with the letters α and ω on the sides of the name. After the signature there was an image of the palm of martyrdom. Christians of the primal Church loved to designate the Divine dignity of their Lord with the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, remembering His words: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 1:8, 21:6). This circumstance, as well as the fact that the Savior is represented on the cross in a royal headdress, which was never done subsequently, force us to believe that this cross, if it does not belong to Himself Nicodemus, then at least there is a cross, the oldest of all. II. About crosses found in Roman catacombs Crosses found in Roman dungeons, which constituted secret refuges and, at the same time, places of eternal rest for Christians of the first three centuries during times of strong persecution against them, are found on various things discovered in these catacombs: on grave stone slabs, on candlesticks, which illuminated these dark and deep caves, as well as the underground winding passages in the church of St. Sylvester, Pope of Rome, built in the underground baths of Domitian, and finally, on sarcophagi or marble arches, the outer sides of which are decorated with sculptural images from the history of the Old and New Testaments. Let's talk about all these things in order, bearing in mind mainly the very form of St. cross. At the beginning of the 17th century, when they were eagerly searching for and exploring various ancient monuments hidden in Roman dungeons (coemeterium), among other rarities, many tombstones with inscriptions were dug up, some of which indicated the time in which the famous martyr suffered; for example, together with the image of a cross, palm tree, brazier, etc. symbols of martyrdom, the name of the emperor or Roman consuls under whom the martyr suffered was also indicated. Let’s imagine three such stones, the first two of which are in the picture. The imaginary Old Believers must believe at least the ancient Orthodox underground Rome, if, out of contempt and prejudice, they do not believe the later Rome. Although the work entitled “Underground Rome” was written in modern times in the Roman language and by a Roman writer, this should not confuse our fellow believers: Aringus wrote his huge work and decorated it with many photographs from the ancient monuments of Christianity in order to show the whole world the most precious treasures of the first centuries of the Christian world, hidden unknown for more than a thousand years in the dungeons of Rome, and, of course, not so that, for example, In a photograph from the famous stone that was on the tomb of a martyr, one can imagine a four-pointed cross and thereby convince Russian imaginary Old Believers of the truth of the form of a four-pointed cross: such work is not undertaken for the sake of lies, but only in the name of truth and for the truth. Here is one of these 60 stones: It appears to read the name of Casta, a Roman martyr. That Kasta was a martyr, this, in addition to the acts of martyrdom in which her name is recorded, is proved by the palm tree, which is found only on the tombstones of martyrs. This wonderful stone was dug from the cemetery of St. Clement. Another tombstone has been preserved with an inscription, on top of which, in the middle of the longitudinal line, is a four-pointed cross, and on the sides - on the right side, the name of Christ the Savior, and on the left, the palm of valiant martyrdom. Since the Latin words of this inscription are almost ordinary printed capital letters of the Roman alphabet, we will not bother taking a picture of them and will present them in ordinary font. The shape of the stone is quadrangular and large. From the inscription on the stone it is clear that the martyr Alexander suffered under the emperor Antonin, and Antonin reigned in the first half of the 2nd century and at the very beginning of the second. This means that the monument dates back to the same time 61. Let our erring brothers look and be convinced that the four-pointed cross is the true cross of Christ, and not the seal of the Antichrist. The third stone 62 from the tomb of the martyr Martina and her companions in martyrdom - Concordia, Epiphanius and others, whose bodies were laid in one arch; Together with the clay tablet, this stone separated the body of the martyr from the bodies of the martyrs. It is not solid, but in the form of a fragment, on which, however, all the words of the inscription are visible. The honorable body of this martyr was found under Pope Urban VIII in 1634 under the altar of the ancient church dedicated to this martyr. Before and after the inscription carved on this stone, two four-pointed crosses + + are inscribed. At the place where this stone was found, the bones of three martyrs were also found, buried along with the body of the virtuous martyr. The stone does not indicate the time when the said martyrs and martyr suffered, but it is enough for us to know that this stone dates back to the first two centuries of Christianity. Already in these centuries of persecution we see Christians wearing a cross around their necks. Thus, the above-mentioned St. wore a cross around her neck. Martyr Martina. This cross was found in her coffin - it is small, wooden, skillfully made; there was a hole at the top, as is now always the case on neck crosses. This cross, preserved intact for so many centuries, was taken by Pope Urban VIII in memory of St. martyr. On the stone slabs that were pushed into the quadrangular cave-shaped tombs of the martyrs, one can often find the following inscriptions 63: i.e. cross, palm tree and the name of Christ the Savior along with St. cross. In addition to the grave stones, on which the image of St. cross, it is found very often on lamps 64, which were used by Christians hiding from persecution in the dungeons. These crosses can be found here in two forms: either they have the usual shape of a four-pointed cross, or from their upper end there is an arched line to the diameter of the cross, ending at its longitudinal line, near the diameter itself. Let's now talk about the cross in the vault of the Church of St. Sylvester, built in the Baths of Trajan. These baths are nothing more than underground galleries, going into the interior of the earth next to each other. In one of these vaults of the galleries we mentioned was visible in the former small church of St. Sylvester's huge mosaic cross made of different colors. St. settled in the baths of Trajan, or otherwise Domitian. Sylvester at a time when persecution against Christians was still continuing - namely under the tyrant Maxentius, who was still in power at that time, and under Constantine, still a pagan. The priest Equitius, a famous husband and friend of Sylvester, who had an estate in this place, settled here even before him. St. Sylvester, having settled with him, built himself a small church and, conducting high priestly services in it, taught the coming Christians the mysteries of the Holy Eucharist and consoled them in the misfortunes that were then weighing on them. In this church, until the 18th century, a marble altar was visible, on which St. the pope offered the Bloodless Sacrifice, and several images of saints. After Constantine the Great received baptism at his hands, Christians breathed more freely and Christian churches quickly began to be erected. Then St. Sylvester built a larger church at the Baths of Domitian. V. About the crosses that existed in the 4th century The Cross of Christ, buried in the ground after the Life-Giving Body of the Lord was removed from it, was found and shone like the sun three centuries later, under the pious Tsar Constantine. It was extracted from the soil of St. Queen Helena, mother of Tsar Constantine, for the adornment and glory of the entire Church. At the same time, Constantine made many crosses and their images, who now placed all his glory in the cross and, together with the apostle, boasted of nothing but the cross. In the 4th century, the glory of the Cross of Christ filled all Christian homes, various household and military decorations, and even places outside homes, so that St. Chrysostom already said: “The cross is everywhere in glory: on houses, in the square, in solitude, on roads, on mountains, on hills, on plains, on the sea, on ship masts, on islands, on beds, on clothes, on weapons, at feasts, on silver and gold vessels, on precious stones, on wall paintings... so everyone vying with each other admires this amazing gift.” Without a doubt, St. Chrysostom speaks here of a four-pointed cross, for no other type of cross was known at that time. Here we will only talk about more remarkable crosses and their images, namely: 1) about the appearance of the cross in heaven to Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, 2) about the discovery of the Cross of Christ by St. Helena and 3) about crosses made at the command of Constantine and planted in different places and on different things: in addition, about minted images of the cross on the coins of Constantine, his son Crispus and the emperors of the 4th century who followed him; about the conventional sign of peace episcopal charters of the 4th century and about the so-called historical Theodosian Column with the image of a four-pointed cross on its base, which stood in Constantinople even after its capture by the Turks. I. About the sign of the cross that appeared in heaven to Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine The biography of St. tells about this event. Constantine, Eusebius, his contemporary and interlocutor 65. It happened before the discovery of the original Cross of Christ by Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen, the mother of Constantine, which is evident, among other things, from the fact that, upon the return of St. Helena from Jerusalem, her Equal-to-the-Apostles son has already built three large crosses in memory of the three successive appearances of the cross in heaven. This is how Eusebius describes this miraculous appearance of the cross in the sky and the shape of the military banner, arranged in the image of this cross: “Diligently offering up his prayers and petitions (to God that He would enlighten him about Himself and turn him from error to the light of truth), the king received the most amazing sign sent from God, so that it would not have been easy to believe if someone else had spoken. Once, at midday, when the sun began to decline to the west, the king said, I saw with my own eyes the sign of the cross made of light and playing on the sun, with the inscription: “By this conquer.” This sight filled with horror both himself and the entire army, which, without knowing where, followed him and continued to contemplate the miracle that had appeared.” Thus, from Eusebius’s description of the military banner, arranged in the image of the cross seen by Constantine in the sky, it is clear that the sign of a four-pointed cross appeared in the sky and that Christians at that time called the cross of Christ precisely a figure made up of only two trees or lines, longitudinal and transverse. This military banner, originally known under the name labarum, later became the property of the Church as a banner of its victory over the devil, its fierce enemy, and death. At the present time, as in all times after Constantine, church banners with a four-pointed cross served and serve as a silent visual monument to the appearance of the sign of the cross of St. Constantine in heaven and his construction of a military banner with a cross, or labarum. Real banners have only this difference from the labarum of Constantine, that on them, at the very top, there is no crown, and in it - the name of Christ the Savior, and that above the transverse yard, to which the sacred plate was hung and which, together with the longitudinal shaft, formed the figure of a cross, we make another, very small cross from the top of the longitudinal shaft and a small diameter. But in any case, the design of a four-pointed cross on church banners was in accordance with the actual cross that St. wanted to see in them. Constantine, it should be preferred to the eight-pointed device: the first type was clearly depicted in the sky. The eight-pointed cross, sometimes visible on banners, is already a Russian invention: this did not exist in Greece and does not exist now. II. About the acquisition of the Honest Cross by Saint Helena At the same time, to complete the great gifts of His Holy Church, the Lord vouchsafed the most pious mother of Constantine to find in the earth that original Cross on which the Blood of our Divine Redeemer was shed. According to the testimony of Sozomen 66, this happened after the Council of Nicaea, which restored the perfect truth in the Church of God. History and tradition tell us the following details about this event. In 326, the pious Empress Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, went to Palestine to venerate St. places, having at the same time the intention of finding, if possible, the Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The fulfillment of her desire at the very beginning faced a great difficulty: the place where the Tree of the Holy Cross was hidden remained unknown to Christians of that time and was a deep secret of the enemies of Christ. It was necessary to uproot this secret by the power of royal power. On the advice of the patriarch, the oldest Jews in age were gathered by Helena. To the question: where the crucifiers of the God-man hid His Cross, the elders, forced by threats of cruel torment, answered by pointing to a certain Judas, who, according to the legend coming from their ancestors, could definitely know the sought-after place. The stubborn Jew for a long time did not want to reveal the secret he kept: only a six-day hunger at the bottom of a deep waterless spring forced him to confess. “On the north-eastern side of the mountain,” said the exhausted Jew to the queen and patriarch, “in the very place where the church of Venus is, you will find the Cross you are looking for.” The church was razed, they began to dig the ground and after much labor they finally actually found three crosses. It remained to find out which of them was the Cross of the Lord - a sign that the Cross of the Savior did not differ in appearance from the crosses of robbers. The title that was on the Cross of the Lord lay in a special place 67. According to the patriarch's faith, the Lord revealed this through a miracle. While three crosses were being opened, the body of the dead man was being carried for burial. Then the patriarch commands the bearers to stop and, in the undoubted hope that the weapon with which the Redeemer of the world crushed hell and death will now break the bonds of death, he places all the crosses on the lifeless body, one after the other. The first two crosses did not raise the dead man from the grave; from the touch of the third, the dead man suddenly came to life, and then everyone recognized this cross as the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. St. Helena was the first to prostrate herself in reverence before the Honest Tree and kissed it; The nobles who accompanied her followed her example. The fame of the miracles performed by the power of the Cross of Christ quickly spread throughout the city and attracted such a great crowd of people to Golgotha ​​that the crowd did not allow everyone to approach and kiss the revered Tree, and many began to ask the patriarch to have it shown to them even from afar. Macarius, standing on an elevated place and erecting the Honorable Cross, showed it to distant people, and the people, overwhelmed with sacred delight and awe, cried out: Lord, have mercy! From here the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Life-Giving Cross began in the Church, the foundation of which was laid from the time of its discovery, that is, from the year 326. The history of the discovery of the Holy Cross, as well as the establishment on the occasion of this sacred festival with well-known rituals still observed, serve for everyone as the strongest confirmation that the appearance of the Holy Cross was precisely four-pointed. The priest or bishop, according to the rules, at the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, makes four addresses, holding a cross on his forehead: first to the east, then to the west, then to the south and finally to the north. When they sing “Lord, have mercy” for the first hundred times, then the priest or bishop marks the people with a cross three times in the form of a cross, that is, in the image of a four-pointed cross. The same thing happens when the next hundreds sing. III. About the crosses made by order of Saint Constantine and planted in different places, also about the embossed images of the cross on the coins of Constantine and the sovereigns who followed him in the 4th century, about the symbol of peace episcopal letters of the 4th century and about the baptismal robes of Saints Gregory the Theologian and Epiphanius of Cyprus a) About the three crosses erected by St. Constantine in memory of three crosses that he saw at different times in the sky, and about the origin of the cross with the inscription: IС. XC. Nika. Upon the return of Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen from Jerusalem, says Nikephoros 68, by order of Constantine, three very large crosses were forged from copper, of which on each he inscribed separately the following words: on one cross - Ἰησούς, on the other - Χριστός, on the third - Νικά. The cross with the name “Jesus” was all gilded and placed on the triumphal gate - in the square; the other, who had the name “Christ” on him, the emperor, according to Nicephorus, placed on a Roman purple column, in a place called φιλαδέλφιον, that is, brotherly love. The third, with the inscription Νικά, which Constantine called Νίκος, i.e. victory, and Heraclius - ανίκητος, i.e. invincible, placed on a high marble pillar, in a place that bore the name αρτοπώλιον, i.e. grain area Here lies the beginning of the four-pointed cross with the inscription: IS, which is still used in the Greek and our Churches almost exclusively for printing prosphoras. HS. Nika. It is not known exactly from what time these three inscriptions were transferred from three separate crosses to one cross and they began to use it for printing prosphoras. On the Constantinople column, which still existed after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks and which was attributed to Emperor Theodosius, one four-pointed cross with the indicated inscription is already visible on the base. In the 10th century, such a cross was already depicted on coins, as we will see below. In any case, our imaginary Old Believers cannot help but admit that the three crosses erected by St. Constantine in three different places of the capital were four-pointed, because they were made in the likeness and in memory of those seen in heaven; and the sign of the eight-pointed cross did not appear in the sky. b) Let's now talk about other crosses erected by Constantine and also having a four-pointed appearance. Kedrin says 69 that in the military square (εν τώ στρατεγιώ), in addition to other statues, Constantine the Great was represented in the form of a horseman with a cross. According to the testimony of the same Kedrin, Constantine ordered another cross to be erected in the main square, between the statues of Minerva, Lindia and Amphitride, and in Rome he ordered his statue to be erected also with a cross in his hand, as evidenced by Gelasius and Eusebius 70. The book “On the Beginning of Constantinople” says, among other things: on the vault of the forum chamber there are two statues - Helena and Constantine, and in the middle (between them) there is a cross, above which is the inscription: Εις άγιος, εις Κύριος, Ἰησούς Χριστός, εις, δόξαν Θεού Πατρός, αμήν 71 . It also says that on the northern side of the forum there was a cross, similar to that seen by Constantine the Great himself in the sun, on the ends of which round apples are visible, and on them are represented his children, dressed in golden headdresses. Again, no one can contradict the fact that all these crosses were four-pointed: Constantine the Great did not know any other cross than the one shown to him in heaven. Crosses with apples on the ends have come to us and are still very often visible, especially in churches - and these crosses are not eight-pointed, but four-pointed, like those of the Greeks. c) About the image of victory (Victoria) with a cross 72. On the coins of Roman emperors from the most ancient times - before Constantine, as well as under him, Victoria was often depicted, by the way, in the form of a winged human figure. She was mostly represented with a laurel wreath in her hand, which she either gives to the emperor depicted next to her, or places it on his head, or simply holds it in her hand when she is depicted alone. This is obviously a pagan custom, which testified to the faith of the Roman emperors and the Roman people in the goddess of war. Constantine the Great was the first to put a cross in the hands of this imaginary goddess, and from that time subsequent Roman emperors began to depict her more often, and no longer with a laurel wreath, but with a true sign of victory. But Constantine despised the very goddess of this name. On the coins of subsequent Roman emperors, the most numerous and varied, a winged Victoria with a cross is often visible. This cross in the hands of victory, as can be seen from the photographs of the coins, is four-pointed - it consists of a long cane and a small diameter. Constantine was the first to introduce 73 the custom of minting the image of a cross on coins and simply without victory. d) About the beginning of the four-pointed cross on the orb, or imperial ball, and diadem. The ball or ball is the oldest sign on the power of the emperors. Isidore 74 the beginning and its use dates back to the time of Augustus, who, as they say, ordered a ball to be marked on banners to indicate that the peoples of the entire globe were subordinate to him. And the balls depicted the figure of a ball. A silver coin of Emperor Antoninus (2nd century) has an image of a ball with the inscription: Rector orbis 75. Emperor Constantine gave a cross to this ball, as Nicephorus, among others, testifies to, saying that Constantine placed a cross on top of the apple or ball that was in the hands of his statue. The example of Constantine in this regard was followed by other Christian sovereigns in Greece and Russia to this day, as we will have the opportunity to see below. We still see four crosses of a certain shape on royal crowns. This custom of placing a cross on the crown also dates back to the time of Constantine the Great. First of all, it is at least certain that he wears an image of a cross on his helmet 76 . Lipsy says that Constantine was the first to place the cross on the diadem, or royal crown. But it is undoubtedly known that the cross was used on the diadem and after it, throughout the entire 4th century, and most often it was usually made of precious stones. Blazh. Jerome 77, who lived at this time, expresses this custom in this way: “The burning precious stones of the diadems are decorated with the image of the Savior’s cross.” Thus, the four-pointed crosses visible on orbs and crowns are very ancient in origin and indisputably indicate that the most ancient Christians honored nothing other than a four-pointed cross. e) About the labarum on the surviving coin of Emperor Crispus (d. 326). These labarums (later banners) were not always made in the same way: sometimes at the very top of the labarum the name of the Lord was depicted with the first letters of the name of Christ, sometimes it was lowered, and sometimes a cross was issued above the board or banner; This last species is the labarum of Emperor Crispus. This labarum is already very similar to our current banners, because at the top of it a cross is already visible, but this cross is not eight-pointed, but four-pointed, like on our banners. f) About the appearance of the cross in heaven under the emperor Constantius. In Jerusalem, during the reign of Constantius and the bishopric of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, an image of a cross made of light appeared in the sky. This phenomenon is evidenced by: St. Cyril of Jerusalem is an eyewitness. Sozomen, Socrates, Gelasius Knzicheskiy, Theophanes Glyka, Kedrin, Metaphrastus, Nikephoros, Alexander the Monk and others. 78 Describing the image, place, time and duration of this phenomenon, St. Kirill points out that the cross in it had the shape of a four-pointed cross. g) About the image of the cross on the surviving coin of Emperor Constantine the Younger. This coin represents two warriors holding a spear and a military banner; between them in the middle there is a cross, and below the line below are the words: AQS. At the very circumference of the coin, from the feet of the first figure to the feet of the other, there is an inscription: gloria exercitus. The cross depicted on the coin is four-pointed. h) About the image of the cross on the coin of Emperor Jovinian. The coin represents on one side the Emperor Jovinian wearing a diadem, or headband, studded with two rows of pearls, and on the other the return of Augustus, who is seated on a horse with his hand extended; in front of him is a warrior with a labarum, and behind him is Victoria, presenting a laurel wreath. There is an inscription at the bottom of the coin. Labarum is also a four-pointed cross. i) About the image of the cross on two coins of Emperor Valentinian. One coin represents the walking winged Victory, who holds a wide, long four-pointed cross in her right hand; at the bottom of it is the signature: CONOB. Another coin represents the emperor, dressed in a military cloak and in a standing position; in his right hand he holds a labarum, and in his left a ball on which stands Victory with a laurel wreath. There is a cross on the right side of the coin. Below the line: ANTT. j) About the image of the cross on the coin of Emperor Theodosius the Great. This coin has the inscription around it: Salus Reipublicae; it depicts Victory coming; in her right hand she holds a trophy, and with her left she drags the prisoner by the hair; on the left side there is a cross; Signed below: ANTB. This coin has the inscription around its circumference: Gloria Romanorum. It shows the emperor in a helmet standing on a ship controlled by Victory. At the top of the coin, right next to the emperor’s face, in front of the letter M (anorum), there is a cross. Signed below: ANIB. The coin of Emperor Arcadius is especially noteworthy for us, because the images of the cross on this coin, according to Prosper, are made in the likeness of the miraculous image of the cross that appeared on the clothes of soldiers during the battle of the Greeks and Romans with the Persians. But the crosses on the coin of Emperor Arcadius (who died at the very beginning of the 5th century), as well as on the coins of other emperors, are also four-pointed. k) About the conventional sign of peace episcopal letters, preserved in the photograph to our time from the 4th century. In the 4th century, the bishops gave the poor the so-called small letters of peace with the following round sign, in which, among other things, two images of four-pointed crosses are visible. Sozomen calls these signs conventional signs of episcopal charters - συνθήματα επισκοπικών γραμμάτων, and St. Gregory the Theologian in the homily on Julian (κατά Ιουλιανόν – Επιστολιμαία συνθήματα – conventional signs found in the letters. They were called peaceful because, as stated in the interpretation of the 11th rule IV Council of Chalcedon, which saved the poor from anger and unfair suspicion (από τής όργής καί αδικών) on the part of superiors (αρχόντων) and owners (δυναμών). Who is Pope Gregory mentioned in this sign - is it Saint Gregory the Theologian or Gregory of Nyssa? Both of them lived and died at almost the same time. (Gregory the Theologian + around 390, and Gregory of Nyssa between 390 and the first years of the 5th century). Judging by the fact that Gregory mentioned here is called pope, one might think that this is St. Gregory the Theologian, since at this time the name of popes was adopted by the bishops of the most important cities. In any case, there is no doubt that this sign is very ancient - it was from the 4th century that it belonged to one of the Greek saints of that time. And for us this is enough, since in this sign we have clear evidence from the 4th century about the four-pointed shape of the cross of Christ. l) About the baptized home clothes of St. Gregory the Theologian and about the ecclesiastical felonies of Epiphanius of Cyprus. That even the home clothes of St. Gregory were decorated with crosses (of course, the kind that are now visible on priestly robes, that is, four-pointed), one can rightly conclude from his following words to the devil: “Away, lest I strike you with the cross, before which everything trembles; I wear the cross on my members, the cross on my feet, the cross on my chest, in a word, all my glory lies in the cross.” To this day, the phelonion of St. Epiphany of Cyprus. This phelonion is all decorated with four-pointed crosses. In ancient times such felonies were usually called πολυστάυριον - polycross. They came to us too. Our Sovereigns still often give baptismal vestments to newly installed bishops. At the same time we see churches built in the image of a four-pointed cross. This is the church of St. Apostles in Constantinople. m) About the four-pointed cross with the inscription: IС ХС HIKA. On the so-called historical column, which stood in Constantinople even after its capture by the Turks and was called, according to legend, the Theodosian Column, the triumph of the emperor, or his solemn entry into the city, is depicted in relief; on a cube-shaped base, the emperor is represented sitting on a throne, and in front of him stand several Romans in headdresses, personifying different provinces of the state. Above the emperor’s head, on the shield, is an image of a four-pointed cross with the inscription: IC XC HIKA, which is held on both sides by two angels floating in the air. The image of the mentioned column was delivered to the author of Byzantine history by the French scientist Claudius Molinet, a regular canon of the monastery of St. Genevieve in Paris, from the library of the same monastery. Thus, the image of a cross with the inscription: IС ХС HIKA, made on prosphora, is very ancient in origin: having received its origin from Constantine the Great, at least according to its inscription, it was already used under Theodosius the Great and, as we will see below, under the following emperors. G. About crosses and various images of the cross in the V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X centuries Nikephoros reports about Theodosius the Younger (born 401, +450), among other things, the following: “He (Theodosius) wrote with his own hand very beautifully, and much of what he wrote has survived to this day, having triumphed over it (time) - I mean the Gospels and others, written entirely in gold letters and representing with their pages the appearance of a cross” 79 . Everyone will agree that these pages resembled a four-pointed cross. About the image of the cross on the coins of Emperor Leo the Great (acceded to the throne on February 7, 457) and in written business documents under the same emperor Many coins remained from Emperor Leo the Great and survived until later times; Between them there are many who have on one side a four-pointed cross in an oak or laurel wreath, or a victory with a long, also four-pointed cross, or two warriors holding an orb with the same, i.e., four-pointed cross with two joined left hands, or, finally, the emperor himself with a cross in his hand, lowered onto his shoulder, like a scepter. The cross on sceptres (or the scepters themselves) most likely dates back to these ancient times of Christianity. This idea is all the more likely since among the Greek sovereigns of later times, the hand cross actually had the shape of a real scepter. From Emperor Zeno (who ascended the throne in 474) there are also quite a few coins left with the image of crosses, which are all four-pointed, or in a laurel wreath, or simple, long. Here is a cross of the first kind: About the image of the cross in the camps set up during wartime, Emperor Leo himself says this: “In the middle of the tents there is a platform, cut like a cross.” There are also coins left from Emperor Anastasius (crowned in 491) with images of four-pointed crosses. The peculiarity in the setting of the image of the cross on these coins is that, in comparison with others, the cross is visible in many places inscribed in the middle of the letter M, before and after which asterisks are depicted: or in front of the letter K, and on both sides of the cross there are the letters N and I On the images of the cross on the coins of the emperors Justin the Thracian and Justinian All coins surviving from these two emperors depict four-pointed crosses. They are visible either above the letter M and together on its sides, or on the orb in the right hand of the emperor, or on the letter P, or on the uppermost of the four proportionally decreasing steps, or above the letter K, or in front of the letter itself, or in a semicircle enclosed in a circle: either on the head and together on the toes, or on the ball between two letters, such as: or between I and B, above the numbers, for example, above XX. There is not a single coin without a cross, or even without two or three together, and every single cross is four-pointed. About the four-pointed cross on the orb in the hands of the cast statue of Justinian, placed on a column Svida says the following about this column and its accessories: “Justinian placed his image on the column, this statue holds in his left hand a ball with a cross placed on it, meaning that by faith in the cross he became the ruler of the earth. For the ball signifies the earth because of its round shape, and the cross means faith because of God nailed to it in the flesh” 80 . In Svida’s legend about the cross on the orb of the statue of Justinian, as we see, it is not said what exactly the shape of the cross was on it, but, on the one hand, the universality of the custom of these times to depict a cross everywhere only four-pointed and numerous images of this particular cross on the coins of this emperor, on the other hand, a clear indication of another, later eyewitness writer forces us to undoubtedly accept this cross as a four-pointed one. When this statue, cracked from time to time, was renewed, Nikephoros Gregoras climbed onto the column and, having measured the size of the statue with its accessories, described, among other things, the size of the cross in the following words: “The length of the cross mounted on the ball is equal to four spans, and the width is three... the thickness is equal to five spans.” It is clear that Nikephoros Gregoras is describing a four-pointed cross here. The emperor himself recounts a story about a case of testimony (through the drawing of a four-pointed cross), which happened in his time in Bithynia: “When one witness, not having time to finish her testimony, gave up her soul, some other witnesses, taking the hand of the deceased and drawing lines with it along and across, did (by this) the fact that the deceased herself, as it were, drew the sign of the venerable cross” 81. About the images of the cross on the coins of Emperor Tiberius On the coins of this emperor (crowned in 578) there are crosses above the usual letter M, and more often above this: under the numbers XXX, XX, between two X (namely: X+X), also on the top of the four steps. The crosses are also all four-pointed. The Emperor of Mauritius (acceded to the throne in 582) has almost all coins with four-pointed crosses visible on the diadem, on the orb, above the letters: M, K, I, on top of the ball and simply at the top of the coin. Images of the cross on the coins of Emperor Phocas (crowned in 602) are visible in various positions, above the number X, between the letters above and below the numbers, From the Emperor Heraclius (acceded to the throne in 610) a large coin (copper) came down, depicting his triumph, on one side of it he is represented in a diadem with a four-pointed cross made of precious stones on top of it and in purple with his eyes turned slightly upward, in a prayer position, with an inscription around the circumference: + ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΣ + EN + ΧΨ + ΤΨΘΨ + ΠΙΣΤΟΣ +; from the rays to the bottom: ΒΑΣΙ + KAI + AGTO + ΡΨ + ΝΙΚΙΤΗΣ + KAI + ΛΟΓΟΘΤΗΣ + AEI + ΑΓΙΟΓΓΣΤΟΣ +; and against the mouth and lower in two lines: illumina + vultum + tuum + Deus, and behind ΑΠΟΛΙΝΙΣ, on the sickle: super tenebras nostras militabor in gentibus. On the other side, the emperor is depicted in a ceremonial train on a chariot with a cross in his left hand in the following shape: At the entrance to the magnificent indoor room, on top of the chariot in four rows and a little there is a signature: ΔΟΞΑ + EN + ΓΨΙΣΙΣ + ΧΨ + ΙΟ ΡΑΣ + ΓΗΛΑΣ + KAI + ΕΛΕΓΟΣ Above this signature there is an image of a pole on which four cups are hung, in which fire seems to be visible; and all around, starting from the top of the chariot (from the left hand) and to its wheels (the chariot is represented on the left side of the coin, it is driven by three horses), the inscription: + super + aspidem + et + basiliscum + ambulavit + et + conculcavit + leonem + et + draconem +. And here the emperor is also represented in a crown, above which there is a four-pointed cross, and in purple. On all other coins of this emperor and his children there are four-pointed crosses; Sometimes, however, you come across this form: About the images of the cross on the coins of Emperor Leo the Isaurian (crowned on March 25, 717, +741) On the coins of this emperor, for the first time, a cross meets two diameters. For example, one coin represents the image of two emperors and has the inscription: DN LEO et Constantinus PP Aug. Both images of the emperor cling to the longitudinal tree of the cross. But the addition of this other diameter to the image of a cross held by two emperors is explained very simply: such an image serves instead of two crosses and is called in the book from which we borrow this information a double cross. That is why such an image of a cross is found only on those coins on which two sovereign persons are represented. On the images of the cross on the coins of the emperors Nikephoros Augustus, Michael Rangabi, Michael Balba and Basil the Macedonian Nikephoros delighted the imperial dignity on October 30, 802, and died on June 25, 811. On the images of the two coins that have survived from him there are crosses - a four-pointed type. Michael Rangabi was proclaimed emperor in October 811; On June 22, 813, he retired to a monastery and became a monk. On his orb, which is held in his hand by his image represented on the coin, there is a four-pointed cross. Michael Balba became emperor after the assassination of Emperor Leo the Armenian in 813, and died in October 829. On the diadems and under the letter M, which appears several times on coins preserved from this emperor, there are four-pointed crosses. On one power there is also a six-pointed cross; in the hands, six-pointed crosses are also visible on three circles, again for the same reason as on the coins of Leo the Isaurian. Basil the Macedonian was proclaimed emperor and crowned on May 26, 866, and died on March 1, 886. In the photographs from his coins, the crosses are all four-pointed. On one of them, for example, Emperor Vasily is presented with a thick beard, wearing a cap with a cross; in his right hand he holds a book, and in his left - an orb with a cross; Around the coin there is an inscription: DN Basilius PF PERPETUUS. Long four-pointed crosses are visible in the hands of two emperors; visible here in three coins is a six-pointed, or double, cross; on one of them are holding the double cross of Constantine the Porphyrogenitus and his mother Empress Zoe; this is on one side of the coin, and on the other there is an inscription, in front of which there is a four-pointed cross. About the images of the cross on the coins of Emperor John Tzimiskes John Tzimiskes ascended the throne in 969 and died on December 4, 975. The 7th figure, depicting one side of the coin of this emperor, shows a six-pointed cross of this type: On the 10th figure, on one side of the coin, there is a four-pointed cross with the inscription: IC XC HIKA; on the other side of the same coin - Jesus Christ in a crown, in which a four-pointed cross is visible; All around there is an inscription: EMMANOYHL. The 16th figure also represents an image of a four-pointed cross with the inscription: IC XC NIKA. Thus, almost all of the crosses and their images that we have counted so far are four-pointed, and only a very few are six-pointed. From the first Christian century we have seen the cross of St. Nicodemus. as the oldest monument to St. cross - this cross is four-pointed. We then reviewed the images of the cross in the Roman dungeons - on the tombs of martyrs, on lamps, on the walls, in the underground church of St. Sylvester, Pope of Rome - and everywhere they saw only four-pointed crosses; then they saw Eusebius’s description of the miraculous image in the sky of the cross that appeared to Constantine the Great, a military banner modeled after this heavenly sign, they saw the circumstances of the discovery of St. Helena of the First Life-Giving Cross, various crosses made by Constantine the Great and erected in different places, as well as images of the cross on coins of Greek emperors of the 4th century not from the surname of Constantine, a drawing of the symbol of episcopal peace documents of the 4th century, we read about the baptized clothes of Gregory the Theologian, we saw the clothes of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, learned about the structure of churches in ancient times in the image of a four-pointed cross, saw an image of a cross with the inscription: IC XC HIKA on the Theodosian Column - and all the mentioned crosses and images of the cross had no other shape than a four-pointed one. Next we saw images of the cross on the coins of Constantine and his children; read legends about the appearance of the cross in heaven under Constantine’s son Constantius; we further saw images of the cross on the coins of other Greek sovereigns up to and including John Tzimisces, and everywhere we saw almost only four-pointed crosses; if you have encountered crosses of other shapes, for example, six-pointed ones, then these images of the cross do not at all mean that the Cross of Christ had this exact shape, but they mean precisely a double cross, i.e. if you cut the straight line on which these two diameters are located, slightly higher than the lower diameter, then two four-pointed crosses will come out. That is why such crosses are found on such coins, where two royal faces are depicted. Consequently, all Greco-Roman antiquity of this kind speaks in favor of our Orthodox custom, and the imaginary Old Believers, having so many clouds of silent witnesses of antiquity surrounding them, must, putting aside all pride, humbly submit to the obvious truth. We consider it unnecessary to cite other Greek monuments of the cross or images of it - there are too many of those that we have cited so far - and since from the 11th century we can already present our own Russian monuments of this kind, we now turn to monuments of the cross from Russian antiquity. D. About crosses and images of the cross from the 11th to the 18th centuries inclusive, preserved in monuments of Russian antiquity Since we borrowed the most ancient Russian monuments of the cross and its images from a variety of sources: from books, both newly published, and old printed and old written, of which the latter belong either to us, the Orthodox, or to imaginary Old Believers, then for greater convenience in describing these monuments we will divide the sources themselves into classes and then, in the order of these classes, we will begin to describe the very monuments of the cross and its images, adhering to the chronological sequence as much as possible. We divide our sources into three classes: to the first we include newly published books, to the second – the oldest old written and ancient old printed books before Patriarch Nikon, and to the third, finally, the handwritten books of the schismatics themselves. So, we will first say I) about the most ancient monuments of the cross of Kyiv, Moscow, Rostov and all-Russian state antiquity; II) then about images of the cross and its monuments in the oldest old written and ancient old printed books before Patriarch Nikon, and finally III) about the indications of the schismatics themselves in their handwritten works on four-pointed crosses as true. About ancient Russian monuments of the cross and its images, borrowed from newly published books We include these books: 1) “Description of Kyiv Antiquities”, ed. Hazelnut glue; 2) “Monuments of Moscow Antiquities” and 3) “Collection of State Charters and Treaties”, “Readings in the Imperial Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities” and “Christian Reading” for 1854. I. About the monuments of the cross and its images, borrowed from Kyiv antiquity Here these monuments are described out of order: the author described the antiquities of Kyiv in general; We will try, however, when describing them, to maintain the order of time as much as possible and make the necessary additions, namely we will say: 1) about the images of the cross on the two most ancient tombs - Yaroslav and the unknown one; 2) about mosaic images of the cross on the mosaic wall paintings of the Kiev-Sophia Cathedral and on the frescoes discovered in the same cathedral; 3) about the cross with the Crucifix found in the ruins of the Church of the Tithes; 4) about the cross of St. Mark of the Cave; 5) about six crosses kept in the Museum of Antiquities at the University of St. Vladimir: 6) about the cross of St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Kyiv, whose memory we celebrate on May 1; 7) about two crosses of the Epiphany Church of the Brotherhood Monastery, dating back to the 17th century; 8) about the cross of Peter Mogila on Berestov in the Church of the Transfiguration and 9) about the cross of Peter Mogila in the Vydubitsky Monastery. 1. On the marble tomb of Yaroslav, located in the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, in the altar chapel of St. Vladimir, on the white marble slabs from which the tomb is constructed, one can see, among other things, convex sculptures of crosses on the top board, enclosed in five quadrangles. In the three middle quadrangles, between the crosses, there is a Greek inscription: IC XC HIKA. All the crosses, of which there are nine visible here, are four-pointed. In 1824, when the Kiev Metropolitan Eugene examined the ancient foundation of the Church of the Tithes, two valuable slate tombs located inside the church were found in its ruins; on the slabs of one of them there are carved images of crosses and trees, similar to those on the tomb of Yaroslav. These crosses are also four-pointed. 2. In the altar of the ancient Kiev-Sophia Cathedral, above the high place, a sacred meal is depicted in mosaic, under a white canopy, supported on three pillars and covered with a crimson cover speckled with golden flowers. On this meal, in the middle, there is an image of a golden four-pointed cross. In front of the Greek words, on top of the heads of the apostles approaching the Savior, standing at the right side of the meal to receive the bread taught, there is also a four-pointed cross. This is in the middle mosaic strip, or middle row of images. In the bottom row, under the mosaic images of saints of the 3rd and 4th centuries - St. Clement, Pope, Gregory the Wonderworker, St. Epiphany, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom - four-pointed crosses are depicted in the quadrangles. In the same Kiev-Sophia Cathedral below, due to the lime whitewash on the walls of the church and the quadrangular columns, frescoes were discovered in 1843 by Academician Solntsev - namely, the faces of saints, martyrs and martyrs. On the omophorions of the saints, presented in a semi-giant form, with an uncovered head, in phelonions, four-pointed crosses are depicted. The martyrs and martyrs, represented in tunics, also have four-pointed crosses in their right hands. But here, above, above the semicircle of the vault formed by the columns, in the circle, images of two six-pointed crosses are also visible. 3. A four-pointed cross with a Crucifix was also recently found in the ruins of the Church of the Tithes. 4. In the Pechersk Lavra there is an ancient cross of St. Mark of Pechersk, who labored in this monastery at the end of the 11th century and died incorrupt in the Near Cave. The cross is still kept in this cave. The monk himself drank from it, and now the pilgrims will be given holy water in it. He is four-pointed. 5. In the Museum of Antiquities at the University of St. Vladimir in Kyiv there are six very ancient crosses: one of them is small gold; three are much larger, made of Corinthian copper. All of them were found in old Kyiv, in the ruins of the Theodosius Church; a copper cross found near the St. Michael's Monastery, and, finally, a silver cross with enamel - on the banks of the Dnieper River. They are all four-pointed. 6. In the St. Sophia Church, a cypress cross in a silver frame that belonged to St. Macarius. who was installed as metropolitan of Kyiv in 1495. His memory is celebrated on May 1, 82. This cross contains carved images divided into four tiers: in the first tier the Transfiguration of the Lord is presented, in the second - the Crucifixion, in the third - the removal of the Lord from the Cross and, finally, in the fourth - the Resurrection of Christ. Both the entire cross and the two images of the cross carved into it have a four-pointed shape. 7. In the Epiphany Church of the Brotherly Monastery, two ancient crosses of remarkable appearance are kept, one of which was donated to the cathedral by Metropolitan Feofan in 1620, and the other, a silver one, by Hetman Sagaidachny in 1622. The first cross is six-pointed, with ears bent at the end in front of the hand; its upper transverse plank is longer than the lower one, and not vice versa, as is usually done now and as it should be; the cross itself contains many images, divided into six tiers. In the second tier, counting from the top, the Crucifixion of the Lord is presented. The cross on which it is depicted is without a top or foot and is four-pointed. Another cross, donated to the Brotherly Monastery by Sagaidachny, is seven-pointed, with an oblique foot and two upper panels, but the uppermost panel completely covers the upper end of the straight tree of the cross, representing with it the semblance of the letter T. 8. The Church of the Transfiguration on Berestovo houses a cross donated by Metropolitan Peter Mogila in 1640. This cross is silver, eight-pointed. 9 . The Vydubitsky Monastery keeps a large hand-made silver cross, donated in 1642 (May 27) by the Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mogila. This cross is four-pointed, with three semicircles at each of the three ends. Inside the cross there is a depiction of the Crucifixion on a cross with an oblique foot and with a title (INCI), written on a charter folded at the ends like a scroll. At the very top of the cross the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is represented. The Risen Savior holds in his hand a four-pointed cross of an elongated shape. Thus, from a review of these monuments it is clear that in ancient times in the Russian Church a four-pointed cross was used and was revered for the most part and only occasionally a six-pointed one, and in times closer to our time - both four-pointed, and six-pointed, and eight-pointed, but one cannot help but notice that four-pointed crosses were in much greater use. II. About ancient monuments of the cross and its image, borrowed from Moscow antiquities We will describe these monuments, presented in Moscow antiquities in their own order, in the same way as the previous ones, in order of time, with our own abbreviations and additions necessary for our purpose. Here we will say 1) about the Korsun crosses in the Assumption Cathedral and 2) about images of the cross: a) on the frame of the Gospel of the 12th century, b) on Anthony's vessels, c) on the ancient leather paramand and the same belt, found in 1836 at the Savior on Bor, d) about pearl images of the cross on three ancient airs and a lectern shroud in the Assumption cathedral 1. In the Assumption Cathedral, in the altar, behind the throne, between the Korsun icons of the All-Merciful Savior and the Mother of God, there are two Korsun crosses, one of which is bound in silver and has five enamel images. These crosses are four-pointed. Patriarch Joachim, speaking in his “Revelation” about this cross, addresses the imaginary Old Believers with the following words: “See, O perishing people, still this holy cross, precious in its setting, priceless in its image, most venerable in antiquity, called Korsun, which in the cathedral church, in the Mother of all churches, illuminates the altar of the Lord like the sun, and in every move we are honored with divine veneration by all the people.” 2. a) In the monuments of Moscow antiquities, among other drawings, an exact drawing of the setting of the Gospel of the 12th century is presented. At the very top of this frame, in the middle, there is a six-pointed cross with a cane and a copy of this type: But right there, along the edges, images of saints are painted with four-pointed crosses in their hands, like this: b) About the image of the cross on Anthony's vessels. One of these vessels is made of jasper and studded with golden burdocks and leaves, into which jahonts and emeralds are inserted. One of the two gold hallmarks on the sides of the bowl depicts in mosaic a four-pointed cross with a spear, a cane and the usual abbreviations: IC XC HIKA. On the rim of the bowl, before and after the golden inscription - πίετε έξ αυτού πάντες - there are also two four-pointed crosses. On a saucer made of green jasper, mounted in gold, in the middle of it, on the four sides of the musiy image of the Lamb, four four-pointed crosses are depicted. On another vessel, consisting of an onyx upper bowl with four gold rims, and a silver sleeve and tray on the rim, after the inscription: “Drink of it, all of you: this is my blood of the new testament, shed for you and for many,” there is a four-pointed cross. Both of these vessels with the device belonged to St. Anthony the Roman, abbot of the most ancient Novgorod monastery. According to the legend of the Prologue, Anthony, putting them in a barrel, threw them into the sea (in Rome), and they sailed to Volkhov, where fishermen pulled them out with a net near the place where the monastery of this saint now stands. Tsar John Vasilyevich took these ancient vessels from Novgorod to Moscow. c) The most ancient and precious monuments of the sacristy at the Savior on Bor, in Moscow, include two antiquities stored in it, discovered in 1836 in a church refectory under the flaked floors, in a stone tomb with the remains of a body dressed in silk, slightly damaged clothing, namely: a leather paramand and the same belt with images of the Lord's feasts embossed on them and with inscriptions of the 14th or early 15th century: Annunciation, Transfiguration of Khvo, Nativity of Khvo, Welcoming of Khvo, Crucifixion of Khvo, Sunday, Epiphany of Khvo, Ascension of Gsne, Sunday of Lzvo, Shstvie Dha stgo, Entrance to Iersm, Dormition Art. Btsi. The holidays are depicted in small quadrangular figures, just as the inscriptions for them are also printed in quadrangles, although a little narrower compared to the first ones. What is remarkable for us here is that the Crucifixion of Christ is depicted on a four-pointed or five-pointed cross and that in the image of the Resurrection of the Lord the Savior is presented with a cross in hand, also four-pointed. Whose remains are these? “Perhaps they are from the tomb of the wife of Grand Duke Simeon Ioannovich, or the son of Demetrius Donskoy - John (monastically Joasaph), or Mary (monastically Fetinia), who, according to the chronicle, in 1399 on March 31 was laid in the monastery of the Savior in Moscow, but in 1473 “was found in the body unharmed by anything, so much of the robe has decayed.” Be that as it may, the extreme antiquity of this paramand and belt is beyond doubt. And for us this is enough. This paramand proves that in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries our forefathers used a four-pointed cross as the true cross of Christ and even depicted the Crucifixion itself on a four-pointed cross without a title or foot. d) In the Assumption Cathedral there are three large pearls strung on an air altabas with eight-pointed crosses, into which 47 gold fuses with precious stones are inserted, as well as a lectern shroud made of scaly altabas, on which herbs and flowers are strung with pearls and decorated with 48 golden fuses with stones. In the middle there is a four-pointed cross lined with pearls. The inscription indicates that this veil was made after the boyar Ilya Morozov. From this description of the ancient Moscow monuments of the cross and its images, it is clear that in ancient times a four-pointed cross was used for the most part, and only very rarely a six-pointed cross, of which the latter, in our opinion, is a double cross, and not one, as we saw when examining Greek images of the cross, and that only in later times did an eight-pointed cross begin to be used. This means that both types of cross were equally used and equally respected. How come the imaginary Old Believers do not now venerate the four-pointed cross? III. About the oldest images of the cross, borrowed from the “Collection of State Charters and Treaties” In this collection, on the seals of the grand dukes and bishops, also before the beginning of very many contractual documents and before the bishop's inscriptions, we see almost everywhere images of four-pointed crosses. Six-pointed ones occur no more than two or three times; eight-pointed - and even less often, namely - only once, on the large state seal of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. It is very remarkable that on the latter, more than usual, for the first time two eight-pointed crosses are found at once - on the royal crown and above it, behind the rim, between the coats of arms of the cities, with the inscription: “the tree bestows ancient worth.” One of them, the top one, with all the accessories that the imaginary Old Believers certainly want to see at the cross: with a copy, a cane, steps and ordinary word abbreviations: TsR SLA IS HS NIKA KO TP ML RB. Let us trace several grand-ducal and bishop's seals for a visual presentation to our erring brothers. 1. At the end of the contract between Novgorod and the Grand Duke of Tver Mikhail Yaroslavich, on what conditions the latter would own Novgorod (written between 1305 and 1308), there is a double-sided lead seal of the Novgorod Archbishop Theoktistus. On one side of it is depicted the Mother of God with the Eternal Child in Her bosom. On the head of the Divine Child there is a four-pointed cross of the following type: +. On the other side of the seal is the name of its owner, inscribed in ancient, statutory letters: Theoktist, Archbishop of Novgorodisk; Before the beginning of this letter there is also a four-pointed cross. 2. At the end of the spiritual letter of Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich (1st) about the establishment of his son Ivan Vasilyevich as the heir to the great reign and about the division of his movable and immovable estate between Prince Ivan and Princess Sofia Vitovtovna (written around 1406), a gilded silver seal is hung on a red silk cord; on one side of it is depicted the angel of Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich - the Saint of Caesarea in bishop's vestments, without a miter, with a book in his hand. On the omophorion you can see three large four-pointed crosses. The book shows a white cross like this: On the other side of the seal the charter depicts: the seal of the Great Prince Vasiliev Dmitriev of the Ves of Rus'. 3. At the end of the document “On the establishment in Russia of the patriarchal throne, four metropolitans, six archbishops and eight bishops; about the consecration of the first Russian Patriarch Job by the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah, who was in Russia, and about the installation of patriarchs in Moscow henceforth, with the permission of the tsar, upon the election of the entire sacred Russian Council" (written in May 1589) ten seals are attached, of which the first four, including the large state one, two patriarchal and one metropolitan, are made of red wax on red silk cords, and the last six - three metropolitan, two archbishop's and one episcopal - made of black wax, on black silk cords. On the state seal between the heads of the eagle there is a six-pointed cross of the following type: above this image, behind the border of the circle in which the eagle is depicted, between the words of the royal title, a four-pointed cross is visible. On one side of the seal of Patriarch Job, precisely on the one on which his name, title and blessing hand are inscribed, at the top, between the two rims, there is also a four-pointed cross. On the seal of Archbishop Job of Suzdal and Toruz, on one side there is an image of the Mother of God seated with the Eternal Child on the throne. In the hand of the Divine Infant there is a four-pointed cross of this type: 4. In the letter of the sovereign Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, sent “to Lubeck to the burgomasters, ratmans and palatniks: about the return, at their request, to the mayor Grigory Mundinus of the goods taken to the treasury from his clerk Baingart for malicious intent and dishonest behavior in the mountains. Arkhangelsk" (written in 1618, in August), a seal is attached under the custodia on red wax, on which a six-pointed cross is depicted between the heads of the eagle, and above the rim, one above the other, three four-pointed crosses at the beginning of each of the three lines of the full royal title. 5. Before the beginning of the letter from Patriarch Gerasim of Alexandria to the sovereign Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, in which the high priest, thanking for the gifts sent to him with Ivan Korovyanny and Hierodeacon Sergius, expresses his regret about the death of the parent of the sovereign Patriarch Philaret and confirms Patriarch Joasaph elected in his place (written in October 1635), the following image of a four-pointed cross with a Greek inscription is inscribed: And at the end, before the patriarch’s signature, there is a figure of a cross inscribed in cursive: What again follows from everything that has been said about the images of the cross in state documents and contracts? The fact that crosses of a four-pointed shape were used here, in Russia, if not more often than crosses of any other shape, then on an equal basis with them. As for the reverence paid to a cross of one form or another, it was, of course, the same, because every cross was looked upon as one cross of Christ and they did not know the difference between four-pointed, six-pointed and eight-pointed crosses. And in Greece they did not know any other cross except the four-pointed one, and they allowed themselves freedom in its design, writing it either in the form of the Roman letter f, or similar to the Greek letter ψ, and in some other way, and everyone called it the cross of Christ, without arguing about the ends or straightness of the cross’s components. IV. About the most ancient monuments of the cross, taken from the book entitled “Readings in the Imperial Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities” We want to talk about the cross of St. Abraham of Rostov, the founder of the monastery named after him, a contemporary of Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125). The relics of Abraham were found under the grandson of Monomakh, Grand Duke Vsevolod (1176 - 1212) 83. Imaginary Old Believers also refer to this cross as proof that Pilate’s titles should not be written on the cross - I N C I. Here is what they say about this: “The Apostle of Christ and Evangelist John the Theologian gave a rod with a crucifix to the Monk Abraham of Rostov, the Wonderworker, who commanded him to destroy the Vles idol, causing many misfortunes to passing people, hedgehogs and It turns out that the crucifix bears Pilate’s writing on it. It is imagined: IC XC HIKA. This crucifix is ​​in the monastery of St. Abraham, and it is written about the giving of the rod and the breaking of the idol in the life of Abraham.” To this we must first of all say that their reference is not entirely fair: in the life of Abraham it is said that St. John the Theologian gave the monk a rod not with a Crucifix, but a simple, ordinary rod, or stick, without a Crucifix, which can be seen, among other things, on this very rod, which, it seems, was taken from the monastery by John IV, and now, they say, is in the Moscow Armory. Old Believers confuse the rod with the cross of Abraham, which is not the same thing. We do not argue about the inscription, but we must say about it that it is not exactly in the form in which the Old Believers find it: on the image of the cross only three letters are visible: HIK, and there are no words: IC XC; there are only two words: tsa, running along the cross. As for the shape of the cross and the shape of the various smaller images made in it, the cross itself is six-pointed; its two diameters, of which one is shorter and the other is longer, are at a great distance from each other, so that if the cross were cut in the middle between the two diameters, then two regular crosses would come out - and, in all likelihood, that is why it is two connected crosses, and not one. At the upper end of the cross and partly in the upper diameter there is a figure of a four-pointed cross, not large, but wide in the middle and ends; in this image of the cross there is another, six-pointed one; Below it there is again a cross - four-pointed; with it the letters tsa are inscribed even lower, in diameter, and an eight-pointed cross with a title and a straight foot is represented. But the title is not represented as embedded in the cross, but attached to the cross from above, like a tablet for an inscription; there is again a small four-pointed cross in it. The foot is also not embedded in the cross, like the middle diameter of the cross, but is attached or nailed to it on top. At the upper end of the cross and at the ends of the upper diameter, the archangels are depicted - Michael, Gabriel and another without a name, reverently contemplating the Sacrament of the Redemptive Sacrifice; at the ends of the other diameter, on the right side, is the Mother of God, and on the left, St. John the Theologian, compassionate with the Crucified; Adam's head is represented below the lower end of the crucifixion. Thus, the same cross teaches the imaginary Old Believers that there should be no dispute about the shape of the cross and that there should be no distinction between one form and another regarding veneration, but that every cross should be venerated equally, whether it be eight-pointed, six-pointed, four-pointed, or even some other shape, and venerate it as the Cross of the Lord, because we do not and should not honor any other cross - not The Lord: in fact, only one Lord suffered for us on the Cross, and no one else, and therefore there is only one cross, and although it is often presented in different forms, all these types belong to one Cross of the Lord: there is no special Russian, Greek, Roman, etc. cross, but all the countless crosses, no matter what type they are, depict one cross - the Cross of the Lord. V. About the oldest monument of the cross, mentioned in the February book of “Christian Readings” for 1854 The sacristy of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra houses the crown, or cap, of St. Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. In its shape it is similar to the current skufia; it is sewn from crimson velvet; on all four sides, from bottom to top, covered with gold braid; at the very top of it, from the same braid, a small apple is made, and a silver, gilded four-pointed cross is fixed on it. The crown with all the accessories, excluding the edges at the bottom and the lining made of blue Chinese fabric, made not so long ago, undoubtedly belongs to ancient times, being the property of St. noble prince: both its form and its antiquity, obvious to those who saw it, vouch for this. E. About the monuments of the cross and its images, borrowed from the most ancient old written and ancient old printed books before Nikon the Patriarch About images of the cross in the most ancient ancient books Here we will say a) about the depiction of the cross in cinnabar and ink at the beginning of the Greek handwritten Gospel of the 12th century and the Apostle of the 13th century, which belong to the monuments of Russian antiquity, and b) about the most ancient monuments of the cross, presented in photographs in the Degree Face Book of the Blessed Princes (for the years 887 - 1379) in ancient writing and from this book borrowed into the handwritten book, written in 1723 and owned by Archbishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory Barsanuphius. a) At the beginning of the Greek handwritten Gospel of 84 1144 (before the Greek words: αγία καί μεγάλη κυρακή τού πάσχα), according to the oldest Christian custom, it is depicted with cinnabar and together with cabbage roll (cinnabar around the edges, and blue paint in the middle) the following cross: In addition, after each verse, small four-pointed crosses are inscribed in ink, and at the beginning of the Apostle, before the same words, there is the following outline of a cross: +, and after each verse written in cursive, this is: b) The most ancient crosses, which we should now describe, for the most part are nothing more than external crosses, which previously stood and now usually stand in the altar behind the altar and are worn in religious processions or during the consecration of the church. Their form is mostly the same everywhere; namely, they represent four ends of the cross equal in length to one another, on which balls or circles are made, a form that, as we saw above, originates from Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine; handles were attached to the lower end of such crosses, which, however, were sometimes made from the same wood as the cross. Between these crosses there is also the cross of Philotheus, Patriarch of Constantinople, sent by him as a gift to St. Sergius of Radonezh. Since the extracts from the Degree Book are taken in an excerpt - from the middle, they begin as if they were a continuation of something that was said earlier. Let's present them as they are: “That same summer, by order of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, the Venerable Abbot Sergius created a monastery on the river on the Dubenka in Stromyn, and erected the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in it. And you brought the abbot from your monastery from the Holy Trinity in the name of Leontius, and the church of the month of December was consecrated on the 30th day and the monks gathered together and the monastery was completely built, the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich enriched it and satisfied it with all the needs for the glory of God and the Most Pure Mother of God for salvation and for the preservation of his power; and at this sacred ceremony, the church circle was wearing a cross from a crusader, and this is what we see: “In the summer of 6889, the cursed Tsar Mamai came to the Russian land during the days of the Radonezh miracle worker. His graceful novice, the monk Psresvet, and so, at the command of the venerable abbot Serius, place on yourself the holy schema of the angelic image and the banner of his holy cross and sprinkle it with sacred water and say goodbye to your spiritual father, also to the Grand Duke and all the princes and the entire Christian army and your brother Weaken.” And with which it was marked with a cross, its shape was six-pointed. “In the summer of August 6890, on the 23rd day, there was a Tatar attack on Moscow, and the citizens were ordered to come out to meet and open the gates of the city, but the people of the Christian faith were told with words and these thoughts and deceptions. For the Tatar malice blinded them: neither did they know, nor remember the gnawing one: nor did you have faith in every spirit, and you opened the gates of the city and went from the cross and with your prince and with many gifts to the king and with the best people. So the archimandrite and the abbots and the priests from the crosses, and on them the boyars and the greater people, and then the people and the black people, and in that hour the Tatars began to slaughter in vain. And at one exit with icons there was a calico cross - an ordinary cross, only the end of the handle was pointed.” “In the summer of 6897, those who came to us to the city of Persiaslavl and brought us down from the crosses. Having come to the metropolitan in the cathedral church and having performed a prayer service and a feast at the Grand Duke, he received many honors and you continually honored us with your bishop Eremiy Grechin. And in this acceptance and meeting he has a cross with the appearance of a calico (the same).” “In the summer of 6890 about the compilation of a general life. After this, the Greeks came from the city of Constantine to St. Sergius to the monastery from the philophia of the patriarch Tsar of Gradsk and gave him a blessing from the patriarch of the crete and paramont and the schema and the charter... And this same cross was brought for blessing, having the appearance of a sits: “In the summer of 6913, the church was consecrated on Simonov’s Dormition of the Most Pure Theotokos, its foundation was Theodore Archimandrite, and it was accomplished by the Great Prince Vasily Dmitreevich, and it was consecrated on the right basis in the 24th year. And at this consecration he has the appearance of a calico cross: “In the summer of January 6917, on the 25th day, the Great Prince Ivan Mikhailovich of Tver came from the horde from Tsar Bulat Saltan to Tver, and with him the ambassador of the Tsars and slain the Grand Duke with crosses honestly. And all the citizens came out against him with great joy." We limit our extracts from the manuscript to this. The imaginary Old Believers see that nothing favors them; No matter what church antiquity they take on, each will silently denounce their rudeness, madness and blindness, which is why they so stubbornly refuse to recognize the four-pointed cross as the cross of the Lord and honor only the eight-pointed cross. Let us also turn to the books that they respected in the old days printed before Patriarch Nikon and look there at images of the cross, although here we will find not only an eight-pointed cross, but also a four-pointed one, and much more often the latter than the first. II. About images of the cross in early printed books Here we will talk about the images of the cross a) in the Apostle of the first Lviv edition of 1573 - 1574, b) in two service books of Peter Mohyla, one of which was printed in the Pechersk Lavra in 1529, and the other in Lviv in 1637, and c) in the book of Prayer Book or Trebnik, published in Vilna in 1617. a) In the Apostle of the first Lviv edition of 1573 - 1574, before the Apostle of each day, a four-pointed cross is depicted on the field on the following figure, which also has the appearance of a four-pointed cross: In other places, these crosses come closer to their usual design, for example, at the very end of the Epistle to Philemon, the cross on the same figure stands like this: +. b) In the service book of Peter Mogila, printed in the Pechersk Lavra in 1629, almost everywhere where there are images of a cross, there are four-pointed crosses, and precisely on the title page, on the omophorions of the saints: Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, St. Peter the Metropolitan, Alexy the Metropolitan, depicted on the sides of the large sheet, all four-pointed crosses. However, on the reverse of the same sheet, the Crucifixion of Christ is presented in a large form on an eight-pointed cross. In front of the letter of Job Boretsky, Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and All Russia, there is a four-pointed cross in the middle. On the reverse of the same sheet, on the first page of which the said letter is printed, the coat of arms of the Principality of Lithuania is depicted, and above it are two crowns with four-pointed crosses at the top. Inside the coat of arms there is, among other things, an image of a bird, which with its beak holds a four-pointed cross by the lower end. On page 125 in the “Proskomedia Liturgiam” in the circle where the position of St. bread and parts of saints for St. In the diskos, in the middle, there is a six-pointed cross (without title). Before the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, in a large form, on the entire sheet, depicts this saint in bishop's vestments (without a miter, in a crown). On the omophorion there are three large (on the right and left frames and on the toes) four-pointed crosses: On page 79 of the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom's table of contents is printed: “On the fragmentation of St. Lamb,” - on the sides of this line two hands are depicted in cinnabar, holding a four-pointed cross. Further, believe St. parts on the paten are commanded in the form of a cross: “For this reason, place St. in the outer country. paten; HS from the ground; and from St. chalice “HI”, KA from the left country.” Before the Liturgy of Basil the Great, this saint is also depicted in a large form, covering the entire page, in a baptismal robe and an omophorion. The crosses on the chasuble are all four-pointed, as is usually done on a polystavion; on the omophorion - also. Before the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts there is depicted a cross of medium size (far from the leaf) with a title and a foot. On the top tablet of the title there is IHCI, and on the sides of this tablet at a distance there are the words Ts and S; then, lower than the tablet, but closer to it - the letters IC - XC. This is above the large transverse part of the cross; under this diameter, very close to the longitudinal part of the cross, the words: HI - KA. In the “Liturgiarion and Eats Service Book” by Peter Mohyla, printed in Lvov in 1637, on the title page, on the sides, the saints are depicted - Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory Dvoeslov in hierarchal robes; on their omophorions they all have four-pointed crosses, numbering: the first has four (two at the end of the omophorion and two on the ramens), the second has five (three at the lower end and two on the ramens), the third has three; In addition, four-pointed crosses are also found on the bishop's hats of Sts. Basil and John Chrysostom. Before the Liturgy of Chrysostom follows, this saint is depicted on a separate sheet in a large form and in bishop’s vestments (without a miter, but in a crown). His omophorions depict three large, also four-pointed, crosses. Before the Liturgy of the Presanctified, on a special sheet, St. Gregory Dvoeslov in bishop's vestments. On his omophorion the crosses - three in number - are also four-pointed, and the baptismal chasuble is also all studded with four-pointed crosses (there are 155 sheets on the back). c) In the book “Prayer Book or Trebnik” (published in Vilna in 1617), before the beginning of many rites - baptism, betrothal, prayer canon to Jesus Christ, the honorable paraklis, the Most Holy Theotokos, before the “farewell prayer over the deceased”, before the “rite of the new year” - at the top of the page Jesus Christ is depicted in bishop’s robes (however, without a bishop's cap, instead of which His head is surrounded by a crown, with the word “ο ών” located inside it in three quadrangles representing a cross. On the omophorion, four-pointed crosses are represented everywhere. Here we also need to say about the images of the cross with oil and myrrh during the celebration of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. In the same Trebnik, following the baptism of children, it is said that the priest, having read the prayer - “Sovereign Lord God our father, who are in Noah’s ark,” and having taken the oil, makes crosses for them three times on the water. What crosses? Without a doubt, not eight-pointed. Immediately, after the exclamation, it is said further: “And the baptized person is brought to the priest. He, taking some of the holy oil with his finger, creates an image of the cross on the baby’s forehead and chest and face..., saying: “The servant of God will be anointed with the oil of joy,” and so on. In the sequence of anointing with myrrh, after the first prayer and exclamation, it is printed in red letters: “Let us anoint the baptized one with holy myrrh, creating an image of the cross (What kind of cross? Is it really eight-pointed? Multiple images of such a cross would require too much time), on the forehead, on the toes, on the lips, on the ears, on the toes, on the hands and feet, saying: the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen". At the end of the last prayer for the tonsure of the newly baptized and anointed one, following the exclamation it is said: “And he tonsured him crosswise, saying: the servant of God is tonsured... in the name... Amen.” So the old printed books, respected by the supposed Old Believers, speak against them and silently convince them to abandon their madness. III. About the involuntary and seemingly unconscious indications of the schismatics themselves on the four-pointed cross as the true cross In the handwritten book of the imaginary Old Believers, which contains eight articles, of which the first represents an admonishing conversation to Christians who preserve the ancient Orthodoxy, this is what is said, among other things, about the title (see article two, page 108 on the reverse): “Equal to the Apostles Prince Constantine built three crosses from pure copper (we saw this when we talked about monuments of the cross in the 4th century) in the image shown in heaven from Christ himself, even in the month of September in the 14th it was written, and the holy names are called: Jesus Christ conquers.” Let us analyze these words of the imaginary Old Believers: they say that Tsar Constantine, Equal to the Apostles, made three crosses of pure copper according to the model shown in heaven from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and wrote on them: “Jesus Christ conquers.” Absolutely right: the same thing is conveyed by Greek writers. Let us repeat here what has already been said, so that we can more conveniently compare the words of the imaginary Old Believers with the story of the Greek historian. Upon the return of Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen from Jerusalem, says the Greek writer Nikephoros, by order of Constantine, three very large crosses were forged from copper, of which on each he inscribed separately the following words: on one cross - And ησούσ, on the other - Χριστός, on the third - Νικά. Further, the Greek historian continues: the cross with the name “Jesus” was all gilded and placed on the triumphal gate - in the square. And Constantine placed another venerable and holy cross, which had the name “Christ” on it, on a Roman purple column, in a place called φιλαδέλφον, that is, brotherly love. The third, with the inscription νικά, which Constantine called Νίκος, i.e. victory, and Heraclius - ανίκητον - invincible, he placed on a high marble pillar, in a place that bore the name αρτοπώλιον, i.e. grain square. Let us now compare both legends: those of our imaginary Old Believers, and those of Nicephorus, and we will draw the necessary consequence from here. Old Believers talk about three crosses made by Constantine from copper - Nikephoros too; they say that the crosses were built according to the model shown in heaven from Jesus Christ Himself - Nicephorus says exactly the same; they say that Constantine made an inscription on them: “Jesus Christ conquers.” Here we need to ask a question to the imaginary Old Believers: in what language did Constantine make such an inscription: Russian, Greek or Roman? Of course, they are aware of the obvious absurdity of the first answer, i.e. that the inscription was made in Russian. To answer that the inscription was made in Greek, they should be convinced by the fact that Greek and Roman historians convey the inscription in this language, and by the fact that the most common language in the East at that time was Greek. This means that on the crosses it was written: Ιησούς Χριστός Νικά. Nikifor says exactly the same thing. This inscription is known and revered by the imaginary Old Believers themselves. But here they did not want to present it in Greek due to a cunning subterfuge: the Greek inscription would expose their madness; They, of course, saw more ancient four-pointed crosses with this inscription than other forms. What follows from this comparison of the two legends about the three crosses of Constantine? But here’s what: if the three crosses were built according to the model shown in heaven to Constantine from Christ himself, then these crosses were necessarily four-pointed: all the narrators about the miraculous appearances of St. Constantine of the cross in heaven describes this cross as four-pointed; for example, Eusebius, the biography of Constantine, talks about a military banner built by the same Constantine in the image of a cross seen in the sky: this banner is described by him as four-pointed, consisting of a long pole and a transverse yard. So, from what has been said it indisputably follows that the three crosses built by Constantine, about which the imaginary Old Believers speak, had a four-pointed figure. If, further, the inscription on the crosses was Greek, then it follows that the crosses even in subsequent times in Greece were four-pointed. Three words: Ιησούς Χσ Νικά from three crosses were subsequently transferred, as we already know, to one cross and were written with such an adaptation, which, obviously, was made for a four-pointed cross - they wrote, as they still write, this inscription as follows: If you draw straight lines along and across the spaces, then you will get a four-pointed cross, that is, the words: IC XC are adapted to be written above the diameter, on both sides of the longitudinal part of the cross, and HI-KA - below the diameter in the same way. The second consequence: if the inscription was Greek, then it follows that the crosses in subsequent times, at least in Greece, were mostly four-pointed with or without the indicated signature. What will the Old Believers tell us about this? There is absolutely nothing to be said against this: the truth must necessarily triumph. In another handwritten schismatic book, written in cursive not very long ago (belonging to the Arkhangelsk Seminary Library), in chapter eight - “On the beginning of the Fedoseevs’ discord with the Vygoretsky hostel; about the reasons for the sake of which it happened,” at the end, there is a reference by the imaginary Old Believers to one four-pointed cross, which they recognize as the true, real cross. Someone, the schismatic Ignatius Trofimov, argued that on the cross it is necessary to write a title of four letters - IНЦI and, among other things, reproached the Pomeranians for not accepting this title. Arriving on occasion in Moscow, where there were also Pomeranians, he proved to them the correctness of his opinion by the fact that on the cross of St. Constantine Equal to the Apostles, located in the Assumption Cathedral (in Moscow), there is such an inscription. The Pomeranians - Daniil Matfeich, Fyodor Kalinich, Fyodor Fyodorovich Yarov, Mikhailo Grigorievich and some others from their side, “gathered together, went to the Assumption Cathedral, ate also the teacher Ignatius and gave the guards silver pieces, so that before those eyes they would bring out the cross of Konstantinov, which was taken out of the altar and placed on the letter, which the fathers approached, diligently looking at what Ignatius preached, but was by no means able to discern it, only this mark: I hereby conquer Christ, just as he personally saw that pious monarch in heaven depicted by the stars and was quickly attested to by history.” – Is it necessary after this to prove to the imaginary Old Believers that the four-pointed cross is the true cross of Christ, when their very teachers recognize it, as if involuntarily, as the true cross? Who among the lovers of antiquity does not know that in the Assumption Cathedral there is a cross of Constantine, brought from Mount Athos - a four-pointed cross, and that in the sky this monarch saw a four-pointed image of a cross? But schismatics very often themselves recognize the four-pointed cross as the true cross, when, for example, they warn their co-religionists not to dare to step on the figure of a cross with four points that has formed accidentally or deliberately on the ground or on the floor, and also when they condemn the Orthodox for neglecting the four-pointed figure. So far we have listed and described many ancient monuments and images of the cross, scattered over seventeen centuries in different places - near and far. Why, however, did we do this? Of course, to convince our erring brethren - Russian commoners, who, having alienated themselves from their native Orthodox Church, blaspheme its shrines, including the true, venerable, Life-giving Cross of the Lord, thinking, out of some extreme, insane bitterness and blindness, that they are not blaspheming the true Cross of the Lord, but some kind of Latin cross, as if The Latins are not the same Cross of Christ, and it is as if someone else, not Christ, was crucified for the Latins. Blasphemy is the most terrible: what could be more terrible than to blaspheme that by which we are saved and are constantly being saved and which serves as a source of blessing for every Christian? To blaspheme the Cross of Christ means to condemn oneself to those endless, terrible torments in hell, from which our Lord delivered us through the Cross, - to condemn oneself to that eternal curse from the Heavenly Father, which He removed from the earth and people for the suffering on the cross of His Only Begotten Son, who sacrificed Himself to Heavenly justice for us sinners - to condemn, finally, to eternal death, to eternal disappearance, because Having been revived by the Cross, we live and are preserved only by it. However, those who are mistaken can justify themselves by saying that they do this out of ignorance. But aren’t they presented with the clearest evidence at almost every step that the four-pointed Cross of the Lord is true? Do they not wear a four-pointed cross? Don't they make the sign of the cross with four points? Doesn’t all church antiquity testify to them that this cross is the Life-giving Cross of Christ? What answer will they give after this? Only conversion and repentance can help evil. And because of what and how did they stop honoring the four-pointed cross, when, as we have seen, at all times Christians, not excluding Russians, have and still honor this cross divinely and do not know at all any difference between the eight-pointed and four-pointed crosses? Why is such attention paid to the ends of the cross? Crosses from the beginning of the Christian faith to Patriarch Nikon were mostly four-pointed. After this, what justification will they have, what excuse will they have if they do not turn to the path of truth and do not begin to honor the four-pointed cross? And wasn’t it only on the four ends that the Lord Himself spread His Most Pure Flesh? Was He nailed to the title? Is it at the foot, which, as every sane person saw, was not there? And if it really existed, then without it the cross would no longer be a cross? Oh, if God would enlighten these rude and pitiful people! Listen, erring brothers! This is where your disrespect for the true Cross of the Lord began. You were led astray from the straight path by your blind leader Nikita Pustosvyat. It was like this: Nikita noticed that in his time they began to print on prosphora, instead of the previous eight-pointed cross with a spear and a cane, a four-pointed one, and began to cry out loudly that the true eight-pointed cross of Christ on prosphora was abolished and hated. Solovetsky petitioners followed him, who began to shout that the true cross had been abolished not only on prosphora, but completely, although in reality the eight-pointed cross on prosphora was replaced by a four-pointed cross only because the latter had been used on them since ancient times and was considered more convenient; in all other places the cross of the first type was left untouched. At the same time, the Solovetsky monks began to complain about the reintroduction of a two-part or four-pointed cross, although this in no case could be called news. A four-pointed cross with the inscription: IC XC HIKA has been used since ancient times in the Greek Church. In addition to the evidence already known to us about the use of such a cross on prosphora, the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverg mentions it in the act of the council sent to Metropolitan Constantine of Kyiv on the case of Martin. “The Latins,” he says here casually, “serve on unleavened bread and print the Crucifixion on them, and not a two-part cross, but Martin teaches to serve on unleavened bread and print the Crucifixion.” The four-pointed cross was also used in the printing of prosphoras in the Russian Church, which is confirmed by the charatean breviary, signed by the hand of Theognostus, Metropolitan of Moscow. The latter writes in it among other things: “Every priest would command his prosphora to be made according to St. Epiphany, a purely round and quadrangular prosphora would be itself, and the seal would be four-pointed and quadrangular in a chinese shape: and more, nothing changing, adding something below, taking away something below, but every calico commandment must be firmly observed in them, since the Eastern Church, from the beginning of the faith, began to put a calico image on prosphora.” If the four-pointed cross with the inscription: IC XC HIKA is not a new, but the most ancient, venerable cross, and the eight-pointed cross on the prosphora was replaced by a four-pointed one only as it was more convenient, but in all other places it remained untouched and was revered on an equal basis with the four-pointed one, then the imaginary Old Believers have no reason at all to remain in their dangerous delusion. May everyone give due honor to the Life-Giving Cross! In conclusion, here is another striking modern proof that the four-pointed cross is the cross of Christ. The orders of all Christian states on the globe certainly have crosses as their affiliation; Likewise, in the coats of arms of most Christian powers there are images of crosses, and everywhere, everywhere these crosses have a four-pointed shape. What does this unity mean, this ubiquity of one form of the cross? This is a sign of undoubted truth. In the East, only four-pointed crosses are still used everywhere, and in general throughout the Christian world, in almost all cases, four-pointed crosses are also used. Only among us, the form of an eight-pointed cross with a title and an oblique foot was introduced not so long ago, and now it is spreading more and more, in which, however, a Christian foreigner can hardly recognize the title that was placed, according to the legend of the Evangelist John, on the cross, and not cut into the cross, and the foot that Gregory of Tours mentions. Every sensible Christian, of course, honors such a cross as a true cross, because he pays attention not to the number of ends or their position, but to the Lord, who prostrated himself on the Cross for the sake of our salvation, and the cross is not honorable to him at the ends, but for the sake of the Lord; That’s why, if he even began to list the ends of the cross, he would have found no more than four of them, since the Lord was on a four-pointed cross. In the title he would have seen one inscription of the lawless procurator of Judea, Pilate of Pontus, which in itself is in no way worthy of respect, and at the foot - he would not argue whether it was oblique or straight, and whether it existed at all or not - he would have seen a small accessory to the cross, no more than one end, in the form of a beam or platform on which the feet of the crucified Lord could be established. Oh, if only this reckless, fruitless and soul-harming dispute about ends would stop and due respect would be given to the Life-Giving Cross in action itself, and not in empty words that disappear into the air and bring no benefit! The devil groaned for a long time, trembling at the power of the Cross of Christ, before which our ancestors were so in awe, and now he found an opportunity to deprive, so to speak, the due honor of the true Cross of the Lord: he entangled the souls of ordinary people with his hellish nets and forced them to pervert the godly and saving work of veneration of the Cross of the Lord: these people turned the silent, reverent, intelligent veneration of the Cross into talkative, daring and a reckless dispute about the ends of it, moreover, terrible and absurd blasphemies against him. God! You alone know how great this evil is! You are the only one who can convert those who go astray, enlighten the eyes of the minds and hearts of these who were once children of Your Holy Church, but are now alien to it! Unite them with Your Cross into the single body of the Church, teaching them to reverently delve into the mystery of Your Cross and worship it rationally and with fear, as Your holy altar, on which You sacrificed your will for us sinners. Having said everything that seemed necessary about the material cross, let us now move on to the immaterial cross or the sign of the cross. G. On the sign of the cross as a permanent monument to the true form of the Holy Cross Such is the property of lies and delusions that for the most part they contradict themselves, expose and overthrow themselves without any refutation or denunciation from others. You don’t have to look far for an example of this. Here our imaginary zealots of church antiquity reject and blaspheme the four-pointed material cross, not recognizing it as the true cross of the Lord and calling it various defamatory names; and yet they themselves constantly use the same four-pointed cross, only immaterial, when depicting the sign of the cross on themselves. Or maybe they blaspheme the material cross because it has four visible and tangible ends, but this one has invisible and intangible ends and disappears when the hand is removed from a certain place? Why is it that there the lack of a title and an oblique foot immediately catches the eye, but here they cannot notice it? But who is to blame for the fact that they recognize the sign of the cross, depicted without two extra diameters, as the sign of the true cross of the Lord, but do not want to recognize a real, four-pointed cross, unless two more diameters are added to it, as Christ’s? Is it not ignorance, is it not rudeness, is it not the dark meaning of the common people? And because of this ignorance, like a stream, blasphemies against the Christian shrine flow from the lips of the unfortunate. Here we will use our opponents’ own weapons and turn them against them - not, however, to defeat them, but to reason and correct them, to encourage them to use the sacred sign of the cross wisely and consciously, as an exact likeness of the true, material Cross of Christ, and not unconsciously, without any meaning and significance. So, in this part we will prove to our imaginary Old Believers that the sign of the cross is an exact likeness of the Cross of Christ, by the fact that in ancient times of the Christian Church it was held in the same respect and had the same extensive use as an ordinary, material cross, and was often called either simply the cross, or the cross of the Lord - and namely, that the sign of the cross was used and passed on to the believers by the saints themselves. the apostles, which, of course, they would not have done if the sign of the cross was not an exact likeness of the Cross of the Lord, but was a likeness of some other cross. I. From the numerous evidence of the use of St. the apostles of the sign of the cross, we present the testimonies of two famous fathers and one church historian. a) St. Cyprian, bishop. Carthaginian, without directly saying that the apostles used the sign of the cross, speaks of the very beginning and origin of it from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and at the same time, although not directly, testifies that the apostles also used it. “You, Lord, Holy Priest,” he says, “established for us an endless supply of life-giving drink, the sign of the cross and an example of self-mortification” 85 . b) St. Chrysostom speaks directly and positively about the use of the sign of the cross of St. the apostle Paul. Explaining a verse from the Epistle of St. Apostle Paul to Timothy: “every good creature of God... is sanctified by the word of God and prayer,” he says (1 Tim. 4:4-5) that this action of sanctification, according to the meaning of the words of the apostle, was carried out through the sign of the cross. “(St. Paul) believes two main thoughts,” he says, “one is that no creature is unclean (every creature is immaculately pure), the other is that if it (for some reason) seems unclean, then there is a cure ready (against this); print the sign of the cross on it, give thanks, give glory to God - and immediately all uncleanness will disappear. Is pork flesh unclean? No, (pure) if it is received with thanksgiving and the sign of the cross; and everything else is also not unclean” 86. From these words of St. Chrysostom shows that, in his opinion, Christians during the ap. Paul marked food with the sign of the cross, having been taught this by the apostle. In addition to these testimonies of St. fathers on the use of St. apostles of the sign of the cross, you can read them in the Four Menaions, for example, under the 14th and 16th of November and 24th and 26th September. Nicephorus gives clear testimony about St. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, that just before his departure from this life to eternal life he protected himself with a cross. Here are the words of Nicephorus: “John, who had long foreseen his departure to God, the day and hour of it, taking with him the elders and bishops of the church and, in addition, those brethren who had ardent faith, goes outside the city of Ephesus and enters with them into one close cave, where he usually often retired to pray, and here, having prayed with special zeal, he entrusts the Church to God; then he immediately orders them to hastily dig their coffin (grave) with spades, then teaches those who were with him at that time, after secret prayer to God, the wonderful rules of faith, hope and especially love and, having strengthened their hearts, entrusts them to the Savior - the Word; finally, wishing them salvation and health in the Lord, he protected himself with the sign of the cross - and went down into the tomb” 87. Using the sign of the honorable cross themselves, the apostles passed on its use to all Christians, and thus the sign of the cross is the tradition of the apostles. St. Basil the Great says: “We have the dogmas, previously defined and stored in the Church, partly from written teaching, partly received from the apostolic tradition that came to us in the sacrament; both have the same power for piety, and no one contradicts this, even if they have only mediocre experience in church affairs.” And after that, in addition to other unwritten traditions, he mentions the sign of the cross as universal, according to him, well-known and in common use 88. Thus, after a long series of centuries, the sign of the cross has reached our time, and what the whole Church contains, says the blessed one. Augustine, and, not having been established at the Council, was always retained, then in all fairness it must be recognized as apostolic tradition 89. In addition to these two testimonies, many other fathers and writers of the Church, for example, St. Ignatius the God-Bearer, Dionysius the Areopagite, Tertullian, Justin, Lactantius. both Cyril, Athanasius of Alexandria, Ephraim the Syrian, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, etc. We will present some of these testimonies in their own place, but here it is enough to say only about one thing, namely Tertullian. The latter about the Christians of his age (after listing some other traditions, except for the tradition of the sign of the cross) says: “At every departure (progressus) and movement, at every entrance and exit, when dressing and putting on shoes, on washbasins, on tables, on lamps, on beds, on seats, every time, no matter what we do, we carry out the sign of the cross on our foreheads.” To these words he adds: “If you were to ask about the written law according to which these and other similar teachings exist, you would not find any: you will only find that the tradition of all this has been established by custom.” II. The sign of the cross was used, according to apostolic tradition, by Sts. fathers as an exact likeness of the Cross of Christ: a) during the performance of all sacraments and b) in blessing. A. All expressions of St. fathers about the sign of the cross show that it is an exact likeness of the Cross of Christ. On the use of the sign of the cross by St. Fathers in general, when performing the sacraments, testify first of all to St. Cyprian 90, who calls the sign of the cross a sign of the sacrament in the general sense. “One sign of the sacrament. “he says, “drives away the demonic intrigues.” Then he adds: “No matter how many ministers of the sacraments there are, no matter how many hands there are that either immerse those who come in the waters of baptism or anoint them (with chrism), no matter how many throats there are from which sacred words come out: the authority (power) of action in all the sacraments communicates the gift with the image of the cross.” In another place he says: “We glory in the Cross of the Lord; by the power of him alone all the sacraments are performed; without it nothing is holy and no other sanctification has any power. From here comes the sublimity and depth of all sacred rites and the fullness of grace spreads far and wide" 91 . St. Chrysostom 92 says: “Everything that relates to our salvation is accomplished through baptism.” The Creator of the Word says about the presentation of the Symbol: “By this sign of the cross the Body of the Lord, the water of baptism, is consecrated, the elders and other church ranks are also consecrated, and everything that is consecrated is consecrated by this sign of the cross of the Lord with the invocation of the name of Christ” 93. In another place the same St. the father says: “The cross is called a sign because we seal with it all our covenants and Divine institutions, received as if by some kind of royal sign and ring, so that no evil dares to approach. If we entrust someone with leadership over the people or elevate someone to the dignity of a priest, we mark it with a cross, as if confining the gift received in a strong and reliable place. This is how it is used in sacred rites. For the cross of Christ is a sword and a tree on which Christ was killed by the murderers of God and the works of the devil were destroyed. That is why in sacred rites it is used as a kind of sword and royal scourge, which overthrows every devilish attack. Therefore, the divine bishops, like some kind of guides, when the royal scourge is offered, overthrow and put to flight the entire enemy army, distributing divine and royal gifts to those who are still new to the faith” 94. St. the fathers testify to the use of the sign of the cross when performing each sacrament separately. 1. α) When performing baptism, the catechumens were marked with the sign of the cross before baptism. St. Dionysius speaks about it this way: “And he (the high priest), beginning the anointing through the threefold sign of the cross, to complete the rest - the anointing of the whole body, transfers the person (having to receive the Sacrament of Baptism) to the priests, and he himself goes to the mother of communion, i.e. to the baptismal sanctuary" 95 . St. Gregory the Great, or Double-Speaker, writes: “On the Sabbath day, in the morning, reading the Symbol and the Lord’s Prayer, first read them out, placing your hands on their heads... Then anoint your nostrils and ears (with a finger wet) with saliva and when you touch the ear, say: epheta. Then St. Make a cross between your shoulders with oil, saying: Flee, unclean spirit, give honor to the living and true God. In a similar way, making a cross on your chest, say: come out, unclean spirit, give place to the Holy Spirit" 96 . Severus, Patriarch of Alexandria, speaks about the custom of marking catechumens with the sign of the cross: “He marks on the forehead three crosses without oil and says: such and such is signified in the name of the Father, Amen, and the Son, Amen, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”97 β) Water for baptism was blessed with the sign of the cross. St. Dionysius the Areopagite says: “The primate himself, sanctifying the waters with holy prayer and invocation, pours into the water the ointment in the form of the holy cross” 98 . St. Gregory the Great: “Taking a golden vessel with ointment, he pours the ointment into the water in a cross pattern.” Before pouring the ointment into the water, the water was usually marked with the sign of the cross or cut with the hand in a cross shape - according to the testimony of St. Gregory: “With the hand (the priest) divides the water in the form of a cross” 99. Severus, Patriarch of Alexandria, says: “The priest blows on the water three times in the shape of a cross and bends down and says: let it be broken. Lord, the head of this man-killing dragon under the sign of Your cross, etc. With each invocation, he makes four crosses on the water, and his finger leads three times from the east, then from the west, north and south, saying: but You, Lord, bring these crosses into these waters. And the priest himself takes the horn with the ointment and pours it on the water in three changes in the shape of a cross” 100. γ) Those who were baptized themselves were imprinted with the sign of the cross: St. Fathers, inviting people to baptism, usually invited them to the sign of the cross. “The poor and those suffering hardships,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, “hurry to the distribution of royal gifts, sheep to the sign of the cross, which provides help and medicine in misfortunes” 101. Blazh. Augustine says: “So that they (the baptized) do not die forever, they are marked by the very cross on which He died” 102 . δ) After immersion in water, the person being baptized was immediately again marked with the sign of the cross. St. Gregory the Great says: “And when he rises from the water, he. whoever receives it (from the font), let him present it to one elder, who will make the sign of the cross with chrism (de chrismate) with a finger on his head, saying: God, etc.” 103. 2. The sign of the cross was also used in the Sacrament of Confirmation. St. Cyprian says: “This is now done even among us, since those who are baptized in the church are brought to the representatives of the Church and through our prayer and laying on of hands receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and are marked by the sign of the Lord” 104 . St. Gregory the Great: “Let the presbyters not take it upon themselves to mark the foreheads of newly baptized infants with sacred chrism, but let the presbyters anoint the baptized on the chest, as bishops should then anoint on the forehead” 105. 3. The sign of the cross was also used in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. St. Chrysostom says: “When we eat the most sacred food, the cross of the Lord is present” 106. Herman, Patriarch of Constantinople, testifies: “Let the priest exalt God’s bread and create the threefold sign of the cross in the air with the venerable and life-giving bread” 107 . 4. In the Sacrament of the Priesthood the sign of the cross was also used. St. Chrysostom says: “The cross is found when we are appointed to the rank of priesthood” 108. Blazh. Augustine testifies: “Priests and Levites are elevated to the priestly degree through the sign of the cross” 109. St. Dionysius the Areopagite: “On each of those ordained, the sign of the cross is imprinted by the ordaining bishop. In the same place he makes the sign of the cross for the general degree of bishops, priests and deacons" 110. We are not talking about the use of the sign of the cross during other sacraments: this should be certain when it is known that it was used during the above-mentioned ones, and when it was so common in ordinary affairs, outside the church. C) Now let's talk about the use of the sign of the cross in blessing. Blazh. Jerome says that to St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis (in Cyprus), when he came to Jerusalem, little children were brought by their parents for blessing 111. The same St. father says that St. Anthony the Hermit blessed the lions who dug the coffin for the body of St. Paul 112. And the Saracens came out in large numbers to meet Hilarion with their wives and children, bowing their heads and exclaiming in the Syrian dialect - Bavach, that is, bless, as the same author says. “Eudokia, the wife of Emperor Arcadius, calls us,” writes Mark of Gaza, “and meets us at the door of the lodge, carrying in his arms a baby (Theodosius) in purple. She bowed her head, saying: “Bless, fathers, me and the son whom the Lord gave through your holy prayers,” and (with these words) she handed over to Theodosius to bless him. And the holy bishops marked both her and the baby with the sign of the cross” 113. All expressions of St. fathers about the sign of the cross, which they call either a sign, or even just a cross, show very clearly that they recognized in it the exact likeness of the Cross of the Lord. III. In ancient times, the sign of the cross was also used by ordinary believers, as an exact likeness of the Life-giving Cross, in almost every, even sometimes unimportant, matter, for example, Christians marked their drink with a cross when they consumed it. St. Gregory the Theologian and behind him Blessed. Theodoret testifies that when the apostate Julian distributed gifts to the soldiers, he tricked some into throwing some incense on an altar full of burning coals. After this, Theodoret continues: “After this disastrous distribution of money, some, having received gold, shamelessly feasted together (with the pagans) at the same feast; one of them, taking the cup in his hands, drank it no sooner than he had protected it with the sign of the cross, and when one of the soloists began to reproach him (for this) and say that this was completely contrary to what he himself had done a little earlier, this one asks what was in his act, as he claims, contradictory? And he reminds him about the altar, about the incense and about the rejection of the Christian faith and says that this act of his is completely contrary to the Christian confession. Hearing this, many of the soloists began to weep tearfully, tear out their hair and, leaving the feast, run around the square, confessing in a loud voice that they were Christians, that they were involved in deception by the emperor’s cunning, and expressed their hatred (for the pagans) by saying that they wanted to atone for the reckless defeat they received when the battle was resumed.”114 In ancient times they marked the forehead with a cross: “From the place of execution,” says the blessed one. Augustine. - the cross passed onto the forehead of the emperors" 115. Eusebius says about Constantine the Great: “He marked his forehead with this sign of saving passions and was especially exalted with this victorious trophy” 116. By means of the sign of the cross, by the way, the catechumens in ancient times expressed their confession of the Christian faith. This can be seen from the following words of blessedness. Augustine: “If we ask the catechumen: do you believe in Christ? - he answers: I believe - and marks himself with the cross of Christ: he wears it on his forehead and is not ashamed of the cross of his Lord" 117. Having heard some harmful, ungodly advice, Christians sometimes protected their very hearing with the sign of the cross. St. Ephraim the Syrian addresses the evil adviser with the following words: “I despise your obscene advice out of reverence for my father and for the sake of saving my soul and my hearing I sign with the sign of the dear cross, so that the poison of your words will no longer penetrate my ears.” 118 In ancient times, when others spoke defamatory words, they were also marked with a cross. St. Chrysostom says: “Whoever persecutes you with reproach, immediately protect your chest with the sign of the cross; remember everything that was done then (during the suffering of Christ), and immediately everything will disappear!” 119. When they were frightened, they also marked themselves with a cross: “If anyone becomes very frightened for any reason,” says the blessed one. Augustine, “then he is marked by a cross” 120. They marked themselves and objects in contact with the cross against demonic ghosts. Rev. Anthony, according to St. Athanasius, usually advised his monks that they should go towards the devil, armed with a cross. “The demons who wander at night,” he says, “have the habit of posing as the angels of God, praising diligence (in virtue), marveling at constancy, promising future rewards. When you see them, protect both yourself and your houses with the sign of the cross, and immediately they will disappear: because they are afraid of this trophy, on which the Savior, destroying the powers of the air, made them a disgrace" 121. The sign of the cross was also used in cases where passions or evil thoughts troubled the soul; St. Chrysostom urges, when anger or some other passion flares up in the heart, to turn to the power of the sign of the cross: “If you feel,” he says, “that your heart is on fire, constantly mark your chest with the sign of the cross - and anger will immediately dissipate like dust” 122. The same father strongly denounced his contemporaries who, not relying on the miraculous power of the sign of the cross, in illnesses and other misfortunes instead used amulets or various savings tokens - the fruit of magic, especially coins with the image of Alexander the Great. Against those who used these coins, he says: “What would anyone say about those who use (as magic) verses and headbands or tie the gold coins of Alexander the Great to their heads or to their feet? Tell me, is this what we expect, that after the Cross and the death of the Lord we place the hope of salvation in the form of a pagan king?” 123 Finally, IV. Countless miracles were performed with the sign of the cross: by its power, idols were crushed 124, demons were driven away, even sometimes by those people who did not believe in Christ 125; the sign of the cross healed illnesses and delivered from other evils that befell 126; the power of the sign of the cross drove away or killed snakes and dragons, took away the power of poison 127, restored sight to the blind, and tongue to the dumb: thus, Theodore. Archimandrite of Sychaea, healed a mute girl with the sign of the cross; for those who had withered or paralyzed members, this sign breathed life into their members, even resurrected the dead 128; with the sign of the cross, ferocious beasts were tamed 129, flames were extinguished 130; by the power of the sign of the cross, exorbitant weights were transferred from one place to another, buildings that threatened to be destroyed were affirmed, locked doors were opened; the sign of the cross was sometimes even applied to animals to protect them from illness and death 131 . All things on which it was placed were consecrated with the sign of the cross; the blessed bread and oil produced miracles 132. After this, is it necessary to say anything else to prove that the sign of the cross was used in the most ancient times of Christianity (as it is still used today) with such respect as befits the Life-giving Cross of Christ, that it is precisely the exact likeness of the Cross of the Lord? We saw that the apostles themselves used it, commanding the believers to use it as an exact sign of the true cross of Christ; further indicated several examples of the use of the sign of the cross when performing certain sacraments. Here it served as the seal and power of the sacrament, and without it the sacrament could not be accomplished. Why was such importance attributed to the sign of the cross if it was not an exact likeness and perfect image of the Cross of Christ? They further saw that ordinary believers resorted to him in very many circumstances of their lives and gave him the reverence that befits the true Cross of Christ. Finally, they listed many miracles that occurred from the sign of the cross. This last circumstance again indisputably testifies that the sign of the cross works miracles as a perfect likeness of the Life-giving, miraculous Cross of the Lord Jesus. And our imaginary Old Believers dare after this to call the four-pointed cross and the four-pointed sign of the cross (which is the same thing), this seal of all the sacraments of the Church of Christ - the seal of the Antichrist and the abomination of desolation! Unhappy, they do not understand, they do not know what they are saying: the enemy of the cross has blinded the eyes of their minds. Let them listen to the testimony of the saints. fathers that the cross is not and will never be the seal of the Antichrist; on the contrary, the Antichrist gives his followers his special sign, and not the cross of the Lord. The Apocalypse speaks of the sign of the Antichrist in chapter 13. Explaining this passage, St. Ambrose says among other things: “Just as we have the sign of Christ, that is, the cross with which we are marked, so the Antichrist will have his own sign with which those who believe in him will be marked. The Antichrist will give his sign to his followers in order to oppose the sign of the cross of Christ with his own sign and in order, through this slavish imitation, to ridicule the sacred sign of the cross, since he will inscribe his sign on the right hand and on the foreheads of his followers.” “Everyone will fall away from the holy God,” says St. Hippolytus the martyr - and they will believe in this seducer, having accepted the sign of this unclean and enemy of God instead of the Life-giving Cross of Christ, in order to completely destroy the memory of Him Crucified on the Cross and put the sign of the cross out of use” 133. St. Ephraim the Syrian says 134: “The dragon will try by all means to draw his sign, instead of the sign of the cross of our Savior, so that in no way is the name of our Lord and Savior pronounced in his time, in order to deprive people of the opportunity to depict the sign of the cross; That’s why he will give his sign on the right hand, which is used to mark Christians: from the time someone receives the sign of the Antichrist on his right hand, he will no longer be able to depict the sign of Christ or mark any member with a cross.” According to the testimony of Hippolytus 135: “He will be worshiped by those to whom he gives a sign on his right hand and on his forehead, so that no one depicts this dear cross with his right hand. From that time on, no one will be allowed to mark his members, but everyone will stick to the seducer and serve him, and will not repent, but he will perish, as far as God and people are concerned.” In order to distinguish his followers, who have the sign of the Antichrist, from Christians, St. Ambrose says: “God has placed His mark on everyone’s forehead. In due time, the Antichrist will also put down his signs to recognize his minions. During the Antichrist, no one will be able to buy or sell anything without the sign of the Antichrist, as they say in the Apocalypse” 136. St. Ephraim the Syrian says: “This tyrant will force everyone to accept the mark of the beast when he comes, intending to captivate the whole world with his signs and imaginary miracles in due time, that is, at the end of the ages, and in this way, having finally accepted his sign first, they will be able to acquire food for themselves and whatever it is. He will put commanders in charge of this crime, who will oversee the execution of his commands. Note, brethren, the pride of the beast and the devices of unrighteousness: he will begin from the womb, so that when someone is tormented by hunger, then he will be forced to accept his sign.” St. Andrew of Caesarea, explaining the words of the Apocalypse (Rev. 7:2): “I saw another angel rising from the east of the sun, having the sign of the living God,” says: “These (faithful) will fearlessly and without any shame bear in sight of the wicked the sign of the cross, and therefore this angel immediately adds: do not harm either the earth or sea, until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads” 137. After this, let the imaginary Old Believers tell us: what is the seal of the Antichrist - a four-pointed cross, or the sign of a four-pointed cross, or something else? We call on their good conscience and common sense to be the judges of this case, if they are not completely corrupted by a stubborn inclination to resist the Holy Church, which is maternally jealous of their eternal salvation and calls them to unity with itself! Doesn’t the truth shine brighter than daylight on the side of the Orthodox, don’t they themselves see clearly that they are in darkness and the darkness has blinded their eyes, so that they do not see the clear truth? Out of brotherly, Christian love, we ask the imaginary zealots of antiquity to conscientiously analyze all our also conscientious, with God, in daylight, openly, and not secretly, not with guile or cunning, testimonies made about the form of the material cross, which was used mainly in a known form at all times, and about the sign of the cross, and give an answer: are they solid or not, are they convincing enough to admit their power and believe them. Of course, they cannot say that these testimonies were unfounded or unconvincing: we brought, so to speak, into confrontation the monuments of the cross and its images from seventeen Christian centuries, starting with the first, and whoever read all this description of the crosses saw what form of the cross was at all times the most commonly used, namely, he saw that such a form was a four-pointed form. And what could be more convincing than the things themselves, when the dispute is decided by the very things they are arguing about? We later saw the use of the sign of the cross in ancient times of the Christian Church and noticed more than once that it was even called simply a cross or the cross of the Lord, and this sign is four-pointed. We, for our part, are right and pure, following the obvious truth. We now ask the imaginary unreasonable zealots of antiquity to pay attention to their reasons for which they consider only the eight-pointed cross to be the true cross. Blaspheming the four-pointed cross, they themselves, having carefully considered the matter, will find that their foundations are weak, because they are either completely false or strained. We will take the trouble, at the conclusion of our work, to analyze their reasons for which they honor only the eight-pointed cross and despise the four-pointed one, so that there is no longer any pretext for contradiction and stubbornness and so that, by taking away the supports on which they rely, we can finally overthrow their errors. These grounds are of two kinds: some are such that cannot at all serve as a basis for their teaching, as if the true cross is only an eight-pointed three-part one - made of pine, cedar and cypress; others may indeed serve as some basis, but if we delve more closely into these reasons, then they will not have sufficient significance. 1. The story of the prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter about the three trees of Lebanon: cedar, pine and cypress. Imaginary Old Believers attribute these words to St. Isaiah to the cross and they think that the prophet predicted in them about three trees, i.e. about three compositions of godparents. But who gave them the right to understand the words of the prophet in a way that the saints did not understand them? fathers? This is an arbitrary stretch. This is the true meaning of these words, blessedly. Theodorit. Explaining himself, as usual, briefly, he says: “In cypress and pine and cedar it is believed that this was in the first church, and these, that is, the Jews, took down trees from Lebanon” 138. This is the explanation according to which the trees: cedar, pine tree and cypress are attached to the Jewish church, and not to the cross, say, together with the Reverend. Nicephorus, exactly, in accordance with the matter itself, because it was borrowed from Holy Scripture itself. Cyril of Alexandria 139 clearly pointed out the meaning of these words not about the trees of the godfather. 2. The story is about a wonderful tree that grew and seemed to combine three different trees: pine tree, cedar and cypress. This tree, miraculously preserved for many centuries, was finally used for the Cross of the Savior. You can read about this story in detail from St. Dimitri Rostovsky in his "Wanted". But without forcing the Lord God to perform miracles whenever we please, let us bring to mind the words of the writer of everyday life: “And God said: Let the earth sprout... a fruitful tree that produces fruit, whose seed is in it according to its kind on the earth” (Gen. 1:11). Were these words spoken in vain? Without any doubt, no: the word of the Lord does not return to Him later, and Moses adds after this: “It came to pass,” that is, the earth at the same time began to grow every kind of grass and every tree, not otherwise than according to its kind and likeness, that is, the seed of a grass and a tree of a certain kind brought forth the same grass or tree, but only that grass or that tree that was contained in the nature of the seed. And what kind of tree is this that combines three trees - pine tree, cedar and cypress? This is a chimera, just as it would be a chimera if someone said that there is an animal that, according to its constituent parts, belongs to three different species of animals, for example, the lion, the dragon and the goat. Will they point to God's omnipotence? But it does not perform miracles without need, it does not violate the operation of its laws when there are no special incentives to do so from His wisdom, goodness and love. And what was the need to grow such a wonderful tree according to special laws? And to force God to preserve it on earth for several thousand years so that later people would nail His Only Begotten Son on it—isn’t this more wonderful than the growth itself? Again, there is not the slightest doubt that the omnipotence of God, who created everything and contains everything with his powerful word, can very easily do this: but is this necessary, is this worthy of the Lord God? And why is the Bible silent about such a wonderful, God-produced and God-protected tree? Why didn't we read the prophecies about him? Do we not hear praise for such a tree from the men of the Old Testament, who could penetrate into the mystery of the humiliation and suffering of the future Messiah? No, let this pious story, not written down anywhere in the sacred books, remain only an oral story, without moving to the level of historical, reliable truth. In Christianity, of course, there have been and may continue to be many great miracles, but it is impossible to accept indiscriminately all the current legends about them, not attested by God-enlightened men. The grounds of the second kind include the direct words of some church hymnals that the Cross of Christ was actually made of cedar, pinewood and cypress. Here, for example, are these words from two sedals on Wednesday and Friday at Matins 140: “Thou art exalted on cypress and tree and cedar, the Lamb of God, that thou mayest save those who worship Thy free crucifixion.” “The Church cries out to you, Christ God, on the cedar and tree and cypress that worship you” 141. How can we reconcile these words of church hymn writers with what the entire Christian church antiquity conveys to us in the very things, about which there is so much evidence from the most ancient and respected church fathers and writers? Rev. Nikephoros, attributing the said two sedals, to which the imaginary Old Believers refer, to Joseph, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (died in the 9th century in exile), says: “It is likely, as it seems to us, that one of the writers of the later century, and perhaps the aforementioned Joseph himself, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, was the first to think that the prophet Isaiah, prophesying about the cross, he said the said text and therefore wanted to apply the said text to the cross; according to him, others, whoever they pleased, repeated the same thing.” In addition to Joseph, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, the Right Reverend Nikephoros, following the instructions of our so-called Old Believers, also names Herman, Patriarch of Constantinople, nicknamed the Younger (died in 1254), and Gregory the monk of Sinaite (of even later times) and says that “these people of later centuries are the first, whose writings convey this meaning (of the words of the prophet Isaiah about three trees) explained,” because, he says, neither the most ancient fathers nor the most ancient church historians found anything similar to the words of these three men. This means that the opinion about the three trees of the cross was introduced into church songs in a later time, not so distant from us, and precisely from an incorrect interpretation of the words of the prophet Isaiah 142. Further, this opinion of the church hymn writers themselves about the three trees is also derived from the special veneration of the Cross of Christ. For when Christians, according to the most pious Tsar Constantine, began to have great due respect for the image of the Cross, “they took great care to add it to the honor, so that it would not be made of bad substance, but of the best, namely, if not from silver and gold and other precious substances, then at least from the most honorable trees, and since the most honorable trees are cedar, pine and cypress, Because they were incense and did not rot, I especially made crosses from those and filled churches, houses and other famous places with those crosses. Others later saw images of crosses made from these trees and on themselves in churches, and thought by their simplicity, without any testing, that the Cross itself, on which our Lord suffered, was made up of these three trees. And the church hymn writers, seeing such a popular opinion about the trees of the Cross of the Lord, and not testing about it, took pains to decorate their troparia, writing as if our Lord was crucified on cedar and pine and cypress. This is the beginning of the opinion about the trees of the cross and from it the guilt of the church hymnographers: since it is impossible to find any other basis for this in the Divine Scripture and in the ancient fathers and in church history” 143. There is no need to talk about other reasons for the imaginary Old Believers. For example, they also say that not one of the saints. the fathers did not even remember the two-part cross of Christ; but this is nonsense chatter - nothing more, which is not worth answering. These are all the reasons on which the imaginary zealots of the faith recognize as true and honor only the eight-pointed cross and no other. We briefly refuted them, using the grounds given by the zealots of Orthodoxy already known to them, and we think that there is nothing more left for us to say in defense of the four-pointed cross. Let us just remind them again and again that we honor the eight-pointed cross as the true cross and never argue about the ends, because we honor it for the sake of the Lord, and not for the sake of the number of ends. We will always boast and be adorned with the Cross of the Lord, hope in it, resort to it for sanctification, protection and protection. We wish the same for our erring brothers - to honor the Life-giving, Savior and Sanctifying Cross of the Lord, because outside the Church there is no shrine. Invincible, incomprehensible, Divine power of the Honest and Life-giving Cross, do not forsake us sinners! That the ancient Hebrew letter Tav was similar to the Latin. and Greek t, testifies the blessed one. Jerome (in p. 9 Ezechiel.): “Between the ancient Hebrew letters, which the Samaritans still use, the last, tav. has the likeness of a cross, drawn on the foreheads of Christians and indicated by frequent movements of the hand.” Klim. Alex, “Strom.”, book. 6. art. 4. Life 48. - I'll give it. book 4, ch. 12. Ref. 12. – Justin dialog. cum Triph. Ref. 14. - I'll give it. book 4, ch. 12. On the Exaltation of the Cross, tone 8, song 1. Ref. 17. - I'll give it. book 4, ch. 12. The graphical arrangement of the Israelite regiments around the tabernacle can be depicted in this way. S.Aug. Tract. 28 in Johan. Severianus de dedicatione Ecclesiae Salvatoris, seu crucis, ut legit, Billius Annot. 1 in lib. 1 Damask. de imag. lib. 1. Aug. lib. 12 contra Faustum, C. 34 et hom. 18 lib. 50. Hom. et serm. 201 de temp. Crudelissimum et teterrimum supplicium. Cic. Verr. v. 64. Deut.21:22–23. V . Barmitii dissertatio de cruce, num Hebraeorum fuerit. 1894. Plut. de tar. Dei – vind. volume 11. Opp. p. 544. Artemis. 2, 61. Ioseph. bell. Jud. 7, 10. Cic. Verr. V. Insilire, tolli, agi, levari in crucem. Aug. Civ. Dei, 16. 2. Amtr. lib. 10 in Luc. Senec. de tranga. P. 1. Meryl, not. in pass. Dom. num. 31 in Ioh. Plaut. Mil. glov. 11, 4. 19. Flavius says that the Roman commander Titus, at the urgent request, allowed three people he knew, still alive, to be taken down from the cross, two of whom later died from their wounds, and the third was healed. Contr. Arr. r. 1031. Cic. ad Quint. S. de cruce. Tert. cont. Marc. 1. III, p. XI. Dictionary. August. Calmet, snb voce Crux. There are many testimonies about this type of cross from St. fathers and teachers of the Church, for example Tert., Marcion, Jerome. in the explanation of Chapter 9. Ezek. See our Chet. Min. in the life of St. Andrey. Justin testifies to the four-pointed cross in his second Apology and others. Dialog. cum Triph. Lib. ult. de pag. Cod. Theod., p. 18 and 19. Prudent, hymn. VI de passionibus Apostolorum. Suet. in Domit. X, in Calig. XXXVIII. That “titla” is a Latin word is evidenced by the Greek poet Nonnus: the inscription that in Latin is called titla (in cap. XIX). Lips, de cruce cap. XVI pag. 164. Corn. Curt. Hist. tit. S. cruc. With. V. pp. 46 and 47. Gnetz. de cruce lib. I cap. XXVIII. Corn. Curt, de Clav. Domin. S.V.p. 44, 50, 58. Ioh. Chrys. de cruce. Damask. de imag. or. 3. Bart. Nib. de cruce pag. 115. Dialogue cum Triph. cap. XIX Iren. adv. haereses, I. II, cap. XLII. Seneca says about those who were executed on the cross: others hung to the ground upside down. Consolat. ad Mart p. XX. They speak about the acquisition of the Holy Cross: Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, Peacock, Rufinus, Prince. 10, ch. 8, Socrates, book. 1, ch. 13, Sozomen, book. 2, ch. 1, Theodoret, book. 1, ch. 18 and others, yet not a word is said about the footstool. A cross with such a base and a Crucifix can be seen on Greek coins of the 12th century. On the cross of Abraham of Rostov (12th century) the foot is presented straight. Crete. very good ist. Russian rask. lane 1853. Ch. 11, pp. 17, 18. Sulpicii Sever. Hist. sacra, S. II. With. LXVII. Greg. Nyss. E. III. Serm. in Bapt. Christi. Corn. Curt. With. v. r. 39 and 40. First edition decree. composition came out in the 1st half. XVII century. Rom. Subter. t. 1, I. III. cap. XXI. Roma Subterr., t. 1. lib.IIl. cap. XXII. pag. 307. Tom. II lib. IV. c. XLII. pp. 167–169. Tom. I lib. I. cap. XXVIII. pag. 94 and 95. Rom. Subt. t. I. 1. III. cap. XXII. pp. 301 and 303. Chrys. Com. quod Christus sit Deus, apud Gretz. cit. lib. II. cap. VI. p. 189. Sozom. Hist. Eccl. lib. II. With. I. Gretz. lib. I. cap. 17. Gretz. des. cr. lib. II. cap. XXV. pp. 256 and 257. Cedren. Comp. hist. ubi de Theodosio magno imp. Gel. 1. 1. de Aet. Syn. Nycaen. c. 6. Euseb. III. de vita Const. c. 33. Codin. de Origine Constantinople. Rar. t. 6.fol. 218; ibid. fol. 302; Ibid. fol. 255; Ibid. fol. 112.vol. 7. fol. 131, 126. Lips. de Cr. 1. 3. cap. 16. Gretz. des. cr. lib. II. cap. Liv. L1I. Sozom. lib. 1.cap. 8. Euseb. lib. 4. Vitae cap. 21. Lips. 1. 3 de cruce c. 16. Gretz. Lib. Sec. With. XXXVII, p. 245. C. East. Phil., Part III, pp. 9 and 10. East. Filar., part 1, page 32. See: Materials for the history of Eastern, Greek, Roman and Slavic writings. Moscow, 1855. Cypr. sermo de pass. Christi. Chr. in 1 Timothy. hom. 12. Basil. lib. de Spir. S. cap. 27. Aug. libr. 4 de bapt. contra Donat. c. 24. Cypr. de baptismo Christi. Apud Aug. Sermo 181 de tempore. Chrys. hom. de vener. Crucis. Dionys. de Eccles. hierarchy. Sever. lib. de vitibus Baptisti torn. 6 Biblioth. PP. Greg. lib. Sacram. de feria VI magnae hebdom. Sever, lib. baptismi, torn. 6 Biblioth. PP. Nyssen. oratio in eos, qui differunt baptisma. Aug. 20 de civitate Dei cap. 30. Surg. Epist. ad Subajanum. Greg. lib. Sacrament., feria VI magnae hebdomadis. Chrys. hom. 55 in. Math. Greg, in theory. ver. Eccles. Chrys. hom. 55 in Math. idem in cap. 3 ad Phil. Aug. sermo 19 de Sanctis. Marc, in vita s. Porphyria. Theod. lib. 3. hist. c. 16 Naz. oratio contra Julian. Euseb. lib. 3. de vit. Const, c. 2. Greg. Tur. lib. de glory. Confess, c. 77. Greg. lib. 3. Dial. c. 7; Cypr. sermo de puss. Christi. Theod. in. hist. ss. Patrum; Thed. in Petro. Greg. lib. 3, Dial. c. 5, lib. 2. Dial. c. 3. Paul. Diac. lib. 1. hist. Longor. c. 26. Fortune. in vita S. Germani c. 34. Euseb. lib. 8.hist. Eccl. c. 7. Sulp. Sever, epist. 1. ad Euseb. Presb. Y. Greg, turon. lib. de Glor. confess, c. 56 et lib. de vita ss. PP. c. 2. Theodorit. in hist, religiosa. Naz. de funere Patris. Theodorit. in religiosa hist. Hipp. orat. de consummatione mundi et antichristo. Hippol. orat. do consumm. mundi. Ambros. de interpellat. David, c. 8. Andr. Caes. cap. 38 comments, in Apoc. See answer. Rev. Nick. Feotok. Art. 97. Reproof of inaccurate Raek. Ch. 2 stories 2 l. 43 and 44. Oct. Ch. 8, on Friday in the morning sed. 2. Oct. Ch. 7, Wednesday morning. sed. Rep. Rev. Nikif. pp. 102 and 104. Words by Theophylact Lopatinsky. Oblich. Cont. Raek. You might be interested in: