Orthodox Crosses

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Would it matter if a Catholic wore a Russian Orthodox Cross?
 
I don’t think it matters. I actually wear a cross that does not have a corpus on it. (My husband designed it for me, and because of that, it’s my favorite cross).

I think the REASON why you wear a cross is the most important thing.

When I was on pilgrimage in Jerusalem, many people bought the Jerusalem crosses and wore them.

I believe wearing a cross is a sign of your fidelity to Christ and what He did for you.

At least that’s my opinion.
 
If it matters; a Russian Orthodox would use a EO Byzantine style cross.

A Catholic would use a Western style cross.
 
Wesley7 said:
If it matters; a Russian Orthodox would use a EO Byzantine style cross.

A Catholic would use a Western style cross.
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Actually, Catholics are composed of 23 autonomous churches, each in union with the pope. Only ONE of those is a Western Church, although it’s by far the largest. While each church celebrates it’s own traditions, we are more than free to use the traditions of ANY of those branches in our private worship. We are also free to attend the services of another branch.

In short, Catholics are free to wear Western style crucifixes, Orthodox style crucifixes, icon style crucifixes, simple crosses without a corpus… pretty much whatever they like. That said, the Latin Church does have its own style, and this would be the most common.
 
marlap2 said:
I don’t think it matters. I actually wear a cross that does not have a corpus on it. (My husband designed it for me, and because of that, it’s my favorite cross).

I think the REASON why you wear a cross is the most important thing. …
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Note that a cross without a corpus usually has no nail holes and no blood. It has not yet been used. Thus is it not a sign of Jesus’ Resurrection. It is your cross and a sign of your willingness to pick up your cross and follow Him. [Not strictly Church teaching, but an idea I have picked up in several areas.]
 
Wesley7 said:
If it matters; a Russian Orthodox would use a EO Byzantine style cross.

A Catholic would use a Western style cross.
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A Roman Catholic would. Eastern Catholics would wear crosses consistent with the tradition of their Church. I can’t imagine an Eastern Catholic wearing a crucifix with a 3-dimensional Christ.

To the OP, as the people here have noted, crosses fashioned in the Eastern traditions are as much Orthodox as it is (Eastern) Catholic.
 
I see nothing wrong with it. If you are an Eastern Catholic it makes perfect sense, and Western Catholics tend to be less hung up about East-West cultural exchange, presumably because we are currently the vast majority in the Catholic Church and so do not need to worry that such exchange might swallow up our unique cultural and spiritual traditions.
 
I wear a large crucifix on a cord with a medal of St. Joseph carrying the young Jesus.
I believe the crucifix came from the estate of an old Nun from Canada. I’ve had it for a long time and would feel “lost” without it.
 
Wesley7 said:
Care to explain why? . .
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Because like the Orthodox, our tradition doesn’t call for 3D representations of anyone in heaven. We make use of icons, and icons aren’t simply just paintings. There are many rules in making an icon, and every icon conveys a message and a teaching, it is also our window into heaven to see how the holy people are. Keeping our images in 2D also keeps a sense of mystery of the divine. Making them into 3D humanizes them and takes away from their divinity.

Of course this is with regards to Eastern theology. The West has good reasons to use statues more than icons and it is compatible with the West’s theology. I’m not implying that the West is wrong for using 3D images, just that with how the East’s spirituality is, its wrong for an Eastern Christian to do so. Although I still keep all my statues from when I was a practicing Roman Catholic.
 
i just recently bought a catholic cross for christmas and im a orthodox, i had no idea there was a difference… ive been told that the people in the eastern orthadox church will not accept it and i cannot return it and i have no idea if i should sell it or keep it because i dont want it to ruin anything. help 😦
 
The Orthodox, Byzantine or Russian (Orthodox) Cross is a variation of the Christian cross, commonly found in Eastern Orthodox Churches. The cross has three horizontal crossbeams—the top represents the plate inscribed with INRI (Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”, in Latin), and the bottom, a footrest. In the Russian Orthodox tradition, the lower beam is slanted: the side to Christ’s right is usually higher. According to Russian Orthodox tradition, when Saint Andrew was preaching in southern Russia, he used a similarly designed life-sized cross and tilted the footrest to show that those on Christ’s right would ascend to Heaven, while those on Christ’s left would descend to Hell. Consequently, in the Russian Orthodox Church this cross is sometimes called the Cross of Saint Andrew. In the Greek Orthodox Church, the footrest remains straight, as in earlier representations.

:angel1:
 
Would it matter if a Eastern orthodox person by accident bought a catholic cross and now has no way of returning the cross which was very expensive. because i had no idea there was a diff until now. Please HELP ! i dont know if my church will even bless it… will it ?
 
Hi Angelina: Which jurisdiction are you a member of: Antiochian, Greek, OCA, or…? Is it a wall cross for your home or on a chain for around your neck? In general, you shouldn’t have any problem asking your priest to bless the cross.
 
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