Why do we children get baptized? (By the cross we express our faith in Jesus Christ, Who died for us in terrible agony on the Cross.)
Tell me, how do you get baptized? What do you need to do to cross yourself? (Children are silent, leading questions follow).
What are you children baptized with? By hand. Right or left? Say the full answer: we cross ourselves with our right hand. How do you cross yourself with your right hand? How do you put your fingers together? You must be able to put your fingers together correctly: do as I tell you and show you. Extend the first three fingers of your right hand and put them together (watch that all children do); Place the other two on your palm and place this hand first on your forehead, then on your chest, then on your right shoulder and finally on your left. What have you identified? (You should put four dots on the chalkboard and connect them with lines so that you get a four-pointed cross.) What did I depict on the board? - Cross. And you also drew a cross on yourself, but you didn’t mark it with chalk or ink, which is why your cross is called the sign of the cross, or sign. Tell us how we need to be baptized correctly.
Why, children, did we put our fingers together like that? Is it possible to fold the fingers of your right hand differently and make the sign of the cross on yourself? No, children, otherwise you cannot be baptized, and here’s why: the first three fingers folded together mean our faith in the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - this is our God; the three fingers of the right hand are folded tightly together in order to at the same time show that we do not have three Gods, but One God in three Persons. The Triune God is also called the Most Holy Trinity. Now you know why we should put the first three fingers of our right hand together. Tell me why? (Ask everyone separately.)
What do we show when we put the three fingers of our right hand together? Name the Triune God in whom we believe. What is the name of the First Person? Second? Third?
When the children consciously and firmly answer all questions about the Persons of the Holy Trinity, then it will be possible to continue the conversation about making the sign of the cross.
Why, children, do we put the other two fingers to our palm? “By doing this we show faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.” -Who is Jesus Christ? — Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. When He was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, He was named Jesus Christ. Having become a man, similar to us in everything, Jesus Christ did not at the same time cease to be the Son of God. On earth, in the form of a man, the Son of God appeared in order to teach people a pious life, since people then lived badly: they forgot the True God and His law, everyone quarreled among themselves. People were so evil then, children, that the Son of God, who appeared on earth in the flesh, was nailed to the Cross, on which He accepted death. Since then, good, pious people remember their Savior, and not only pray in front of the cross, on which the dying Savior is depicted, but also depict the sign of the cross on themselves, and are called Christians by the name of Jesus Christ, because they always try to live according to the law of Christ.
With two fingers bent to the palm, we, children, show our faith in Jesus Christ, who, for the salvation of people, became the God-man when he was born from the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Who is called the Son of God? Isn't He called differently? Any other way? Does it matter: the Son of God or the Savior Jesus Christ? Why did the Son of God appear on earth? How did people receive Him? What did the evil people do to Him? How do we show our faith in Jesus Christ by putting our hands on the finger?
Now, children, now you know that by folding the fingers of our right hand to make the sign of the cross, we express our faith in the Triune God and in our Savior Jesus Christ.
Why do we then place our folded hand on our forehead, chest and shoulder? — To make the sign of the cross? Yes, but at the same time we also sanctify ourselves. How is this possible? Here's how: when we put our hand on our forehead, we sanctify our thoughts; when we put our hand on our chest, we sanctify our feelings, our desires; and when we put our hands on our shoulders, we will sanctify our deeds, since we do everything with our hands.
Why do we place our right hand on our forehead, chest and shoulders? Why else do we make the sign of the cross? Why is it necessary to sanctify the forehead, chest and shoulders?