Two or three? How to make the sign of the Cross according to the Muscovite “Table (of the Law)”
In June 1654, Nikon, the Archbishop of the imperial city of Moscow and Patriarch of Great, Little, and White Russia, wrote a letter to Patriarch Paisios of Constantinople. The document informed Paisios of irregularities discovered in the liturgical books, the intent to correct them according to the normative Greek tradition, and the difficulties encountered in doing so. Nikon requested that a synod be convened in Constantinople to discuss the twenty-seven problematic issues listed, as well as measures to address dissenters. A synodal decision would have strengthened Nikon’s liturgical and ecclesiastical reforms and fully integrated the Muscovite Church into the family of Eastern Churches.
One of the innovations under attack concerned the sign of the cross: Nikon mandated that it be made with three fingers (the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger) to represent the Holy Trinity, according to the Greek practice, rather than two fingers (the thumb and forefinger), which symbolized the dual nature of Christ, according to the Russian custom.
In 1655-1656, a comprehensive collection of texts was compiled to justify the reform. It was called the Skrizhal, meaning “Table (of the Law),” and included visual depictions of the three-finger and two-finger signs of the Cross. However, Nikon’s reforms sparked dissent, which eventually led to a schism known as the Raskol. The dissenters rejected the Patriarch’s initiatives, including the introduction of the three-finger sign of the cross. The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had deemed such practices insignificant and non-essential to the faith, as they pertained to minor, not fundamental, aspects of doctrine. The escalation of the conflict proved this assessment wrong.
Title:
Skrizhal (Moscow 1655-1656), p. 740, 742 – The making of the sign of the Cross with three fingers, as opposed to two.
Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C_1656.pdf