Is there a particular significance to the cross Maronite priests use?

[Ferox]

I was watching a video of the Maronite liturgy (this one to be exact) and I couldn’t help but notice the cross the priest used to bless things. Does it have a particular name? Is there an equivalent in other liturgies? Thanks.

 

[bpbasilphx]

It’s called a Blessing Cross or Hand Cross in the Byzantine Churches. Seems to be not uncommon in most of the Eastern Churches.

 

[malphono]

It’s called a Blessing Cross or Hand Cross in the Byzantine Churches. Seems to be not uncommon in most of the Eastern Churches.

Yes, it’s called a Hand Cross, and generally has a white silk ribbon or cloth attached to the stem end. It is used almost universally by bishops in the Syriac Chuches (Maronite, Syriac, Syro-Malankara) and the Alexandrian Churches (Coptic & Ethiopian). (I’m not certain, but I seem to think the Hand Cross is used by bishops in the Chaldean and Armenian Churches as well.)

It’s also commonly used by Maronite priests and, I believe, by Coptic priests as well. Among the Maronites, at least, its use by priests is an extension of the bishop’s privilege. Where a priest (or priests) concelebrates with a bishop presiding, only the bishop carries the Hand Cross.

I was watching a video of the Maronite liturgy (this one to be exact) and I couldn’t help but notice the cross the priest used to bless things. Does it have a particular name? Is there an equivalent in other liturgies? Thanks.

 

[Ferox]

Thanks for your replies.