On the Sign of the Cross and Prostrations during Prayer

Outwardly, the feeling of prayer is expressed by the sign of the cross and by prostrations.

The sign of the cross is made with the right hand. For this we join the first three fingers together and bend the other two, the so-called ring finger and the little finger, to the palm. With the three joined fingers we touch the forehead, then below the chest, then the right and the left shoulder, thereby tracing the cross upon our body; after lowering the hand we bow the head.

The joining of the three fingers signifies our faith in the Holy Trinity — God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; the two bent fingers signify our faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ: that He has two natures, being God and man, and that for our salvation He became man, that is, was pleased to be born into this world as a human being.

We sign the forehead, that by true faith and the power of the cross our mind and thoughts may be sanctified; below the chest, that our heart and feelings may be sanctified; the shoulders, that our bodily strength may be sanctified and a blessing called down upon the work of our hands.

The sign of the cross has an even deeper meaning: by its outward form the Cross of Christ is the symbol of the meeting, the union, of love for God and love for one’s neighbour. A life filled with self-giving love for God and neighbour is a cross; God is glorified by the cross alone, He wants no other glory; there is no other glory of God. In this world the cross is both the glory of God and the sign of His glory. Therefore, when in prayer the name of God is invoked and glorified — “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit” — we the faithful make the sign of the cross, outwardly expressing our inward wish and striving to imitate Christ and to live for the glory of God.

In prayer we make the sign of the cross when saying words that glorify God, and also when asking God for forgiveness and mercy, and when asking the Mother of God and the saints to intercede for us before God and glorifying them.

We cross ourselves once, unhurriedly and with the fear of God — for example, once for a threefold or twelvefold “Lord, have mercy”, after which we continue the prayer.

Prostrations are of two kinds, great and small.

A great prostration is made thus: we make the sign of the cross, kneel down and touch the ground with the forehead, after which we rise to our feet again.

In a small prostration we make the sign of the cross, bow the head, bend deeply from the waist and straighten up again.

In prayer, after making the sign of the cross, we bow the head; this is the closing part of the sign of the cross, by which we express our worship of God.

By prostrations in prayer we express before God both our reverence and our sense of unworthiness and repentance. Great prostrations are not fitting on days of common spiritual joy, such as Sundays and great feasts [*]. Nor is a great prostration made on the day one has received Communion, for that whole day, except for the prostrations at the prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian during Great Lent.

[*] Kneeling is not done from Saturday Vespers until Sunday Vespers (see the Book of Canons: Canon 20 of the First Ecumenical Council, Canon 90 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and Canon 15 of St Peter of Alexandria), for Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, and by standing on our feet we signify the restoration, the raising up of fallen human nature by the Saviour. Besides Sundays, kneeling is also not done on the following days: from the feast of the Nativity of Christ until the feast of Theophany, from Pascha until the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, and on the feast of the Transfiguration.