Several of the external signs of prayer are common to all men; such
are: inclinations of the body, as low as the waist or all the way to the
ground, kneeling, bowing of the head, lifting up of the hands. All these
gestures express devotion to God, humility, repentance, supplication for mercy,
gratitude, and reverence.
But, apart from these universal expressions of prayerful feeling,
Orthodox Christians, when praying, use a sign which belongs exclusively to
them: the sign of the Cross. This sign, according to oldest custom, we make in
the following manner: the thumb, the index and the middle finger of the right
hand we join together, while we bend down the third and the little fingers till
they touch the palm of the hand. Having arranged the fingers in this manner, we
touch with them first the brow, then the breast, and after that first the right
shoulder and then the left, thus making on our persons the sign of the Cross.
By this sign we express our faith in the things which Christ the Saviour taught
us and did for us: by joining the three fingers, we express our faith in the
Most Holy Trinity, consubstantial and indivisible; by the two fingers bent to
the palm of the hand we express our belief in the descent to earth of the Son
of God, and in His having assumed humanity without divesting Himself of His
divinity, thus uniting both natures in Himself, the divine and the human. By
touching our brow, breast and shoulders, we express our belief that the Triune
God hath sanctified our thoughts, feelings, desires and acts; lastly, by making
on our persons the sign of the Cross, we express our belief that Christ hath
sanctified our soul and saved us by His sufferings on the Cross.