Altar Bread & Sign of the Cross in Greek Rites

Languages of the Liturgies

Altar Bread, Sign of the Cross

Introits, Lord have Mercy, Peace to All

Epistle, Ambo, Sequences

Gospel, Preface, Anaphora

Canon

Consecration

Holy Communion

Excerpted from Syrian Christians, A Brief History of the Catholic Church of St. George in Milwaukee, Wis. And a Sketch of the Eastern Church, by Exarch Anthony J. Aneed, Milwaukee, 1919.

Note: the following passages from Father Anthony Aneed's 1919 book explain many of the differences between the various rites of the Catholic Church. Because the book was originally written over eight decades ago, it may seem somewhat dated, since there have been many changes in the outward practice of the church. None-the-less Fr. Aneed's words explore the traditional rituals of the Eastern Catholic Churches and allow the layman to better understand our practices and faith.

Considerable diversity exists in the East in relation to the devices employed in stamping the altar-bread. The Syrians use only a number of small crosses; the Nestorians the same. The Coptic Host has upon one side, "Agyios, Agyois, Agyios, Kyrios, Kyrios, Kyrios, Savaouth" - that is Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts; and upon the other, "Agyios O Theos" - Holy God. The latter is part of the famous Trisagion which the Eastern Church employs in every day's service, but which the Latin Church only repeats once a year, in the Mass of Good Friday. This sacred hymn has a pecular and interestng history attached to it. In the time of Theodosius the Younger, A.D. 446, Constantinople was threatened by so dreadful an earthquake that all believed the end of the world was at hand. The wildest confusion reigned throughout the city as the first signs of this untoward calamity manifested themselves. Men, women and children ran frantic through the streets, and the utmost consternation was depicted on every countenance. In this dreadful juncture Theodosius addressed a petition to St. Proclus, archbishop of the imperial city, earnestly beseeching him to ask Almighty God to avert the impending calamity. The saintly man acceded at once to the emperor's wishes. He accordingly formed a procession of all his clergy and people, and, with the attendance of all the members of the royal court, marched a little outside the city, and then knelt down with the entire multitude in solemn and earnest prayer. They had not been kneeling long when, to the great astonishment of all, a child was seen in the clouds above them, moving from one place to another, and singing loud enough to be heard by the spectators. After the lapse of about an hour the child descended, singing, "Agios O Theos, Agios Iskros, Agios Athanatose, Eleison Imas" - that is, "Holy God, Holy Strong One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us!" Upon being questioned as to the object of this singing, the child replied that he had heard the angelic choir sing this sacred anthem at the throne of God, and that if the people wished to avert the terrors of the earthquake they should sing it also. It was taken up at once, and tranquillity was restored (Goar, Euchol. Graecorum, p. 126; Neale, Holy Eastern Church, i. P. 367). The emperor afterwards issued a decree causing it to be universally adopted, and it is said that St. Proclus had it inserted in the liturgies of Constantinople (Ferraris, Bibliotheca; Butler's Lives of the Saints, Oct. 24, St. Proclus).

The small crosses that appear on the face of the Coptic bread are in memory, it is said, of a celebrated discourse of St. John Chrysostom on the divinity of our Lord, in which the word cross appears several times. Martene tells us that the seals used by the Oriental patriarchs for stamping the altar-bread differ much from those used by the priests. The inscription on the Greek Hose, viz., "IX.NIKA" - is translated, "Jesus Christ Conquers."

According to the Latin ritual the priest maked the sign of the cross by touching his forehead, breast, left and right shoulder, as he says, "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, amen" - that is, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen." When he touches his forehead he says, "In the name of the Father"; when he touches his heart, "and of the Son"; and as he passes his hand from the left to the right shoulder he concludes by saying, "and of the Holy Ghost, amen." We call the reader's special attention to his distribution of the words, for they are very frequently misplaced, it being quite common to hear nothing but "Amen" said as the right shoulder is touched. This is wholly incorrect, as may be seen at once from the rubrics describing the manner of making the sing of the cross. It is hardly necessary to add that it is always the right hand which is used in going through this ceremony.

Ancient Customs Regarding the Manner of Making the Sign of the Cross - In the Christian Church in early times the custom of making the sing of the cross on the forehead only was very common. Tertullian (A.D. 200) alludes to it in his De Corona Militis, cap. III., as does also the Roman Ordo in its directions for saying Mass. Sometimes, too, only the mouth was signed, and sometimes nothing but the breast. Customs varied in different places. Anxious, however, to retain vestiges of all these ancient and pious practices, the Church still preserves them in some part of her sacred offices. The three may be seen united in one ceremony at the reading of the Gospel, where the priest signs himself on the forehead, mouth, and breast as he pronounces the initial words. The signing of the mouth only is seen in the Divine Office of the Breviary at the words "Domine, labia mea aperies" - "Lord, Thou wilt open my lips."

When all the ancient practices died away, and the present discipline was introduced, for quite a long time it ws the rule to trace the right hand from the right to the left shoulder after having touched the breast, instead of, as now, from the left to the right. The latter came into general use in the time of Pope Pius V (Sixteenth century).

The Spanish peasantry, in making the sing of the cross, use the formula, "By the sing of the Holy Cross deliver us from our enemies, O, God our Lord! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen, Jesus.

Regarding the disposition of the fingers in making this sacred sign, different practices existed, too, at one time. The most general way, however, in the Latin Church was to close the small and annular fingers of the right hand and extend the other three; then to make the hand thus disposed the required sign. Bishops and members of the Carthusian and Dominican orders have retained this custom. The two fingers united in this way symbolize the duality of natures in our Divine Lord, against the Eutychians, who maintained that there was but one; and the three other fingers typify the Blessed Trinity (Romsee, IV. 56; Bona, De Divina Psalmodia, p. 507). It will interest the reader to know that our Holy Father the Pope always observes this ancient disposition of the fingers whenever her imparts his blessing, as may be seen from any correct picture representing him in this attitude.

Customs of the Oriental Church - The ancient practice of touching the right shoulder before the left is yet in vogue, with all who follow the Greek rite, but the disposition of the fingers is entirely different. In making the sign of the cross the Greek priest first crosses his thumb on the annular or fourth finger of the right hand, and bends his little finger so s to have it resemble the curve of a crescent; he allows the index finger to stand perfectly erect, and, having bent the middle one so as to from the same figure as that formed by the little finger, raises his hand aloft, and then traces the sign. The interpretation of all this is very interesting. The outstretched finger stands for the Greek letter I; the bending of the middle finger represts the letter C, one of the ancient ways of writing Sigma, or the English letter S; the letter I, and this C or S, form the well-known contraction for "Jesus," being its first and last letters. The thumb, crossed upon the fourth finger, is the Greek letter X, equivalent to our ch; and this, with the small finger shaped as the middle finger, and representing C or S, forms the contraction for "Christus," or Christ. Hence, "Jesus Christ" is the interpretation for the whole action. The Greeks are so careful to keep the fingers thus adjusted when making the sign of the cross that we find them so disposed when blessing the people with the Dikerion and Trikerion.