How to pray the Jesus Prayer

[fatman2021]

As one moves through the Sign, one recites, at the forehead, "Lord "; at the stomach, “Jesus Christ”, on the right shoulder, “Son of God”; and on the left shoulder, “have mercy on us” followed by a bow(to the ground during great lent).

Joining two fingers together-the index and the middle finger-and extending them, with the middle finger slightly bent, represents the two natures of Christ: His Divinity and His Humanity. He is God according to His divinity and Man according to His hummanity, perfect in both natures. The index finger represents His divinity, while the middle finger repersents His hummanity, since He came down from on high and saved those below. The bending of the middle finger is interperted to mean that He bowed the heavens and came down upon the earth for our salvation.

And thus it proper to make the Sign of the Cross and to bless; thus was it laid down and ordained by the holy fathers; such is the power of the Sign of the Cross, with which we faithful sign ourselves when we pray, confessing sacramentally the Saviour’s economy: His being begotten of God the Father before all creation; His decent to earth from on high; His Crucifixion; and His second coming, which is the sealing of His entire philanthropic dipensation concerning us.

The sign of the cross must be made according to the rules, in the form of a cross; and the right hand, that is, the dextral hand, must be used in crossing oneself, with the thumb and the two lower fingers joined together, and the extended index finger joined to the middle finger, slightly bent; thus should prelates [and] priests give their blessing and thus should men cross themselves. . . . It befits all Orthodox Christians to hold their hand thus, and to make the sign of the cross upon their face with two fingers, and to bow, as we said before. If anyone should fail to give his blessing with two fingers, as Christ did, or should fail to make the sign of the cross with two fingers, may he be accursed… . ., Chapter 31 of The Council Of The Hundred Chapters.

 

[Philothea53]

As one moves through the Sign, one recites, at the forehead, "Lord "; at the stomach, “Jesus Christ”, on the right shoulder, “Son of God”; and on the left shoulder, “have mercy on us” followed by a bow(to the ground during great lent).

Joining two fingers together-the index and the middle finger-and extending them, with the middle finger slightly bent, represents the two natures of Christ: His Divinity and His Humanity. He is God according to His divinity and Man according to His hummanity, perfect in both natures. The index finger represents His divinity, while the middle finger repersents His hummanity, since He came down from on high and saved those below. The bending of the middle finger is interperted to mean that He bowed the heavens and came down upon the earth for our salvation.

And thus it proper to make the Sign of the Cross and to bless; thus was it laid down and ordained by the holy fathers; such is the power of the Sign of the Cross, with which we faithful sign ourselves when we pray, confessing sacramentally the Saviour’s economy: His being begotten of God the Father before all creation; His decent to earth from on high; His Crucifixion; and His second coming, which is the sealing of His entire philanthropic dipensation concerning us.

The sign of the cross must be made according to the rules, in the form of a cross; and the right hand, that is, the dextral hand, must be used in crossing oneself, with the thumb and the two lower fingers joined together, and the extended index finger joined to the middle finger, slightly bent; thus should prelates [and] priests give their blessing and thus should men cross themselves. . . . It befits all Orthodox Christians to hold their hand thus, and to make the sign of the cross upon their face with two fingers, and to bow, as we said before. If anyone should fail to give his blessing with two fingers, as Christ did, or should fail to make the sign of the cross with two fingers, may he be accursed… . ., Chapter 31 of The Council Of The Hundred Chapters.

Ummm, what happened to “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?”

 

[wtpdosa]

Are you saying that when a priest makes the sign of the cross, blessing us, that if he does not follow this out dated set of rubrics, he is not really blessing us? And do you think that God is watching every Christian making the sign of the cross to see if they are doing it the way you have mentioned in this post? And for goodness sake, what about a good Catholic that has had their right hand amputated?
Our brave young men and women coming back from Iraq who have been disfigured would be very disheartened hearing this kind of talk. What a hurtful think to say!
As you mentioned, the sign of the cross is indeed a blessing and that as in all of our prayers, whether formal or not, we use it at the beginning of them. You also mention that we should be reminded that God is merciful, and it is my prayer that when ever I mess up and don’t make the sign exactly the way you have mentioned that He will indeed have mercy and forgive my human faults.
My prayer is that we all come to God and pray more, regardless of how we bless ourselves.

In Christ, who is Love,

Br. Tom Davis, OSA

 

[Sr_Sally]

There is a wonderful book out now about the Sign of the Cross. It’s upstairs so I don’t have the author’s name handy. He was also recently on EWTN. Anyway, he talks about the many traditional ways of making and saying the Sign of the Cross. There is not just one set way. And as a previous poster said, those with amputations of other disabilities make the sign however they are able and God sees and loves them for it.

 

[wtpdosa]

There is a wonderful book out now about the Sign of the Cross. It’s upstairs so I don’t have the author’s name handy. He was also recently on EWTN. Anyway, he talks about the many traditional ways of making and saying the Sign of the Cross. There is not just one set way. And as a previous poster said, those with amputations of other disabilities make the sign however they are able and God sees and loves them for it.

Dear Sister Sally,
Would you please post the authors name when you can?

Thanks!

Br. Tom

 

[Catherine_Grant]

Moderator Note:

There appears to be some confusion here which might have been avoided had the original poster provided commentary for his or her intent.

As fatman2021 is an Orthodox Christian who posted an explanation of a prayer commonly used by Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, I have changed the title of this thread from “How to make the sign of the cross…” to “How to pray the Jesus Prayer…” Hopefully this alleviates any further confusion and provides a catalyst for conversation.