Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Christ Blessing Hand Signs on Icons

Visitor:

I read Alexander Roman's article "Hand Signs on Icons".  After reading the article, I had a specific question that I thought you might have the answer for or at least would be able to direct me to a reputable source. 
 
My question is, "What is the explanation for the different blessing hand signs, such as the one shown on the 6th Century Sinai Christ Pantocrator Icon and that of the blessing hand sign the infant Jesus portrays in the Virgin Hodegetria Icon?" 
 
As mentioned in the article, "there are two slightly different versions of the "blessing hand."".  Are there any icons that show the infant Jesus with a so called "two-finger" blessing hand, as portrayed by the Sinai Christ Pantocrator Icon?  It appears to me that most of the Virgin Hodegetria Icons I have seen have the infant Jesus with the other blessing hand, which "represents the first and last letters of "Jesus Christ" in Greek or "IC XC."".
 
I am an Old Believer myself and believe in the "two finger" hand sign as shown by the Sinai Christ Pantocrator Icon.  Do scholars beleive that the first Virgin Hedegetria Icon, which was supposedly drawn by St. Luke himself, have the same "two-finger" blessing hand sign?  If so, is there any reputable sources that provide any information?
 
Also, are there any known Old Believer Bible scriptures that would give a clue to a single "blessing sign of the cross"?
 
If you may please provide me with any bit of information, I would greatly appreciate your help. 

Answer:

Dr. Alexander Roman alexander.r@rogers.com

Although I am not an Old Believer, I am very enthusiastic about the Old Rite traditions and have adopted many myself, including the two-fingered sign of the Cross.

I am afraid that this is not a subject about which much is written, except that can be found on Old Believer websites. It would be good to approach your spiritual Father for any information he would have on this. The Greek tradition exclusively uses the "IC XC" shape of the hand for making the Sign of the Cross and this is depicted on icons from that tradition.  Our Slavic tradition prefers the Old Believer shape with the three fingers bunched up and the two fingers extended, although there are also icons reflecting the Greek tradition I have in my possession.

The shape of the fingers are curved to represent the first and last letters in Greek of "Jesus Christ" or "IC XC."  Of course, the Old Believer tradition unites the thumb and last two fingers to represent the Holy Trinity and the extended two fingers to represent the two Natures of the One Christ.  The Old Believer tradition accepts only the latter practice and affirms that it is handed down from Christ Himself and the Apostles. 

St Meletius of Antioch taught that Christ's single Divine Person is represented by the one hand and His two Natures by the two fingers. The ancient icons not only depict Christ, the Apostles and the Hierarchs blessign in the Old Believer tradition, but there are also icons (such as the famous one of St Alexius the Man of God) where the hand with two fingers is being directed to the Saints (not hierarchs or priests) about to Cross themselves in this way.

The website www.semeyskie.narod.ru has a number of articles you will be interested in.

Visitor:

Thank you so much for your informative words.  It appears that most icons with the infant Christ showing a blessing, it is the Greek Christogram.  Or it appears to be the Greek Christogram due to the thumb laying across the ring finger, while the index and middle finger are together, with pinky finger next to the ring finger.  So, it almost appears to be a mix of the two-fingered sign of the Cross with the Greek Christogram.  Do you know of any blessing hand sign variations specifically for the infant Jesus Christ?  Our church is having a debate on this matter and have not yet came to a conclusion on why the infant Christ blessing sign is different from the two-fingered sign of the Cross found on all other icons.

Answer:

Certainly, the most ancient icons depict the Christ-Child blessing in the way that the Old Believers have always done - with thumb pressed into the last two fingers and the index and middle fingers extended etc.

We also know that the Greeks themselves blessed and crossed themselves in this very same manner long ago before adopting the three-fingered sign of the Cross for personal blessing. 

The Greek tradition of shaping the fingers to form "IC XC" is doubtless of later provenance and was developed to underscore the Hieratic blessing given by the clergy and hierarchs in the Name of OLGS Jesus Christ.  The same obtains with the two-fingered Sign since it represents Christ as well.  But it was the Greeks who developed strict rules about the use of the Christogram on icons of our Lord and also on Crosses to indicate via literary word the Person Who is invoked by the icon and the Cross, as we know.  These two reasons together probably explain why the Greeks adopted a later symbolic rendering of the hand for the hieratic blessing. 

At the same time, the Greeks developed a strong symbolic celebration of the Holy Trinity beginning with the change to the three-fingered Sign of the Cross (unacceptable to the Old Rite Orthodox especially since it suggested that the entire Trinity was crucified rather than just the Incarnate Word of God).

Thus, there were three Alleluias followed by the "Slava Tebi Bozhe" in the Psalmic doxology to underscore symbolically Three Persons in One God (where the Old Rite took the two Alleluias and the Slava Tebi Bozhe as already indicating Three Persons).  And also the prayer of St Joannicius was altered to coform to a direct Trinitarian invocation.  Where the original referred to God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, the new version mentioned "The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit."

And even the tradition of prayer for the dead was changed to reflect a Trinitarian focus i.e. Divine Liturgy for the reposed on the ninth day reflected the desire that the reposed join the nine choirs of Angels that glorified the Holy Trinity in "three trinities."  And the Divine Liturgy was further celebrated three months, six months and nine months after the day of repose for the same end.

The icons themselves, of course, reflect the theology of the icon-painter at the time.  When the Nikonian reforms took hold in Russia, as we know, icons of Saints holding their hands with two fingers pointing to themselves (in the act of making a personal Sign of the Cross) were destroyed.  And, as we know as well, St Anna of Kashin, the wife of St Michael of Chernihiv/Chernigov was actually taken out of the calendar and her cult suppressed because her right hand was in the form of the two-fingered Sign as she lay in her Ark/Shrine and was only renewed later.

In fact, an historical source of argumentation between the Old Believers and the Nikonians was based on iconic evidence of the position of the fingers of the hand when blessing.  It was a tough going for the Nikonians who were hard-pressed to even FIND an icon with a saint blessing himself or herself with three fingers (apart from later icons).  In addition, the Greeks themselves, apart from those invited to Russia for the purpose of supporting the Nikonian position, basically didn't care how others crossed themselves . .

The Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Ilarion Ohienko in his Ukrainian-language book, "Khresne Znamennya" expressed his view that the two-fingered sign of the Cross of the Old Believers is the "Russian national Sign of the Cross."  There can be no doubt, however, that the same position of the hands were universally used in icons to indicate the Hieratic blessing by Christ and others from the most ancient times.  This is also supported by the fact that the same position of the fingers was in standard use in the Roman Senate as a symbolic indication to others that what the Senator was about to say or do was sacred and thus called for perfect attention, reverence and silence.

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