When and how to kiss an Orthodox cross
Church charter recommends kissing your own pectoral cross after finishing reading prayers in the evening. If misfortune threatens or your soul is uneasy, you should, while kissing him, read the words “Save and preserve” written on his back. The prayer read while kissing him helps believers in adversity.
Schema-abbot Savva (Ostapenko) reminded that Orthodox Christians should not forget that rays of blessed light and love emanate from the crosses on the body. Therefore, according to the Pskov-Pechersk Elder, you should not wear them as if on a hanger. The clergyman reminded that the symbol of Christianity scares away evil spirits. Thanks to him, a Christian becomes more pious. The Pskov-Pechersk monk called, kissing the symbol of the crucifixion, to pray for others. The elder especially reminded us of how important it is to mention sinners in appeals to God and the saints. We must ask those who have sinned to take the path of correction.
The elder called to remember drunkards, fornicators and other lost people. The pious monk argued that thanks to this, the fallen have a chance to improve. The Pskov-Pechersk elder said that if you start the day by kissing the symbol of Christianity and asking for the lost, then the whole day will be spent holy. This will happen due to the fact that a person will be overshadowed by grace from the cross. The schema abbot argued that it is better not to have breakfast than to forget about the symbol of Christianity!
Nowadays, there are churches where believers are offered to kiss crosses instead of common crosses. Some Christians cross themselves before kissing the common cross.
KISSING OF THE GOD
(kissing the cross), christ. The ritual (kissing a cross held by a priest or lying on a lectern) has been known since the Middle Ages in the political, judicial and civil spheres as an oath. K. c. was known in the West. Europe, in Byzantium, but it became most widespread in Other countries. Rus'. The ritual of kissing a shrine, including the cross, was considered as a sign of special veneration and reconciliation; kiss to Christ tradition (including liturgical) has always been considered a symbol of reconciliation and unity in the Church.
Medieval. The Church condemned the use of any oaths, the basis for which was the direct prohibition of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5. 33-37). Canon law also contained corresponding prohibitions. In ancient Slav. Helmsman has 14 titles, known in Rus' since the 11th century, ruled by Ap. 25, Chalkis. 18, Trul. 93, Vasil. 10, 64, 82 condemn oaths in principle and provide for punishments for “oath-takers”: for the laity - excommunication from the Church for up to 10 years (different rules on this issue establish different conditions and terms of excommunication), for clergy - in any case, deprivation of rank (Beneshevich. DSK. 1906. T. 1. Issue 1. P. 66, 121, 198; 1907. Issue 3. P. 474, 500, 506). 29th rights. St. Basil the Great contains a discussion on how to admonish oath-takers (Ibid. Issue 3. pp. 487-488); This ruling not only condemns the oath, but makes it clear that its taking cannot be considered an absolute obligation, and therefore there is nothing wrong with breaking promises if their fulfillment requires the violation of truly important moral principles and laws.
St. was also a staunch opponent of taking an oath. John Chrysostom, who repeatedly spoke on this topic, in particular in his interpretation of the indicated place of the Sermon on the Mount (his “Sermon on those who swear” in Rus' was included in the 12th century in the fourth collection for the laity “Zlatostruy”).
In Old Russian bookishness, prohibitions on oaths are present in a number of works of church teaching literature. For example, 3 monuments included in the Izbornik of 1076 contain direct condemnations of the oath: “The Teaching of St. Basil on the Life", "Athanasian Answers" and "The Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach." In the word “About an oath” in Old Russian. Sat. “Bee” selected biblical and patristic commandments with a condemnation of oaths in any form. Old Russian Other collections also contain teachings against those who swear: “Zlatoust”, “Zlatostruy”, “Izmaragd”.
Kissing of the cross by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (Pereyaslavsky) and Svyatopolk Izyaslavich of Kyiv as a sign of reconciliation. Miniature from the Radzivilov Chronicle (BAN. 34.5.30. L. 143 vol.) Kissing the cross by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (Pereyaslavsky) and Svyatopolk Izyaslavich of Kyiv as a sign of reconciliation. Miniature from the Radzivilov Chronicle (BAN. 34.5.30. L. 143 vol.) Widespread occurrence of oaths with one or another religion. content in almost all Christians. countries is primarily due to the absence or deficiency of methods and mechanisms for fixing and confirming s.l. promises and control (public and/or state) over their fulfillment. In oral culture, a certain level of public trust can only be ensured by a statement backed by a higher (sacred) authority. The importance of the oath is radically reduced only when writing, especially bureaucratic paperwork, and literacy become widespread.
Orthodox The Church, like the Catholic Church, was forced to put up with the use of oaths in society, which were viewed as an inevitable evil associated with the sinfulness of human nature. K. ts., thus, was one of the forms of compromise between the rigorism of church preaching and practical needs and requirements. In Rus', with Christianization, oaths with pagan content quickly disappeared (or magical elements disappeared from rituals of pagan origin - for example, hand-shaking, having lost its magical meaning, preserved to this day), were strictly condemned and were not allowed into officialdom. spheres of any deity, but certain oaths were allowed with an appeal to Christ, to the Holy One. The Virgin Mary, saints and/or using appropriate sacred objects. Among these permissible oaths, the most common form has become K. ts. (although there are known cases of oaths on the relics of saints, icons, etc.). In Rus' K. c. It could also be designated, along with other types of oath, by the word “company,” and the one taking the oath was accordingly called “rotnik.”
About an oath using a cross for the first time in Russian. sources say in connection with the conclusion of the Russian-Byzantine Empire. agreement of 944 (PVL. 1996. P. 26). Mentions of K. c. as an oath, they appear in chronicles starting in 1059 and, like most of the later information (XII-XV centuries), refer to agreements between the Rurik princes.
When concluding agreements sealed by the K. Ts., special “letters of the cross” were written, which were then, if one of the parties believed that the agreement had been violated by the other party, “thrown down” at the feet of the violator. The ritual of “throwing up the letters of the cross” meant official. termination of the agreement, and it became one of the characteristic features of Russian. "embassy custom".
In the “Tale of Bygone Years” there are discussions about the special power of the Cross of the Lord, and in the story about the strife between the sons and grandsons of St. equal to book Vladimir (Vasily) Svyatoslavich in 1067-1069 - a special teaching on this topic in connection with the brothers’ violation of the promises made to each other with K. ts. In the teaching, the misfortunes that befell the princes who “transgressed” the K. ts., and the entire Russian land, are explained as the punishment of the great “power of the god” (PSRL. T. 1. Stb. 172-173; PVL. 1996. pp. 74-75). These and similar chronicle comments express the idea that the “power of the cross”, which people resort to through K. ts., defeats the devil’s “evil” and “flattery” in their relationships, but in the event that promises are made “on lies” ” or are later violated, the oathbreakers and all those for whom they are responsible will be overtaken by divine “execution”, and “they will have no repentance.”
The idea of a special “power of the cross” behind the K. ts. probably contributed to its establishment as, in fact, the only acceptable form of oath in the North-East. Rus' XIII-XV centuries. and then in the Moscow state in the 16th-17th centuries. At the same time, the scope of application of K. c. is expanding. It serves to seal not only agreements between the Rurikovichs, but also any agreements or obligations in general.
There are known cases of Russian princes being released by church hierarchs from political obligations sealed by kissing the cross. To correctly assess these historical facts, one should take into account that with Christ. t.zr. no oath has absolute force, but in the face of higher values it has only conditional meaning. By dispensing with the oath, the church leadership did not condone the momentary passions of the princes, but gave priority to others besides loyalty to K. ts. principles and considerations - for example, the idea of peace, the idea of unity of Christians against enemies of other faiths, etc.
K. c. began to be used as an oath to the ruler of the nobility, and then by the general population. Initially these oaths were oral. In con. XIV-XVI centuries The Moscow Grand Dukes (later the Tsars) took the so-called from individual representatives of the princely-boyar nobility. Kissing records are written obligations of faithful service, supported by the K. Ts., which was witnessed by the Metropolitan - the head of the Russian Church. The formulas of these records served as the basis for the texts of the oaths to the Crimea from the con. XVI century the population was brought in (mainly service people) upon accession to the throne of each new ruler, as well as individual people or groups of people upon entering into Russian citizenship. to the kings. The text was not stable and could change depending on the circumstances, but the 2 main interconnected elements were the obligation of faithful service and the K. ts., which reinforced this obligation (see, for example, in the record of the cross to Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, which was adopted by the Zemsky Sobor in 1613 and sent to the cities: “I kiss these saints and the life-giving cross of the Lord to my sovereign, Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich of All Russia and his queen and grand duchess and their royal children, to whom God will give them, sovereigns: serve me, name, him, his sovereign, to be straightforward and to want good in everything without any cunning..." - etc. (SGGD. Part 3. No. 5. P. 14-15)).
When swearing in groups of people, the so-called. crucifixion lists or books, which indicated by name the persons who kissed the cross to the sovereign (for example, this is how lists of Ukrainian Cossacks who swore allegiance to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich after the Pereyaslav Rada of 1654 were compiled).
Similar oaths were also taken by persons who were involved in the 16th-17th centuries. for non-military government service on a temporary basis, e.g. were elected by zemstvo people in districts and townships to perform financial, partly judicial and police functions. Since the oath was in the form of the K.Ts., these officials began to be called “kissers.” In particular, such people sold alcoholic beverages in the “tsar's taverns” (the bureaucratization of the state apparatus led to the disappearance of kissers, and in the 18th - early 20th centuries this name was traditionally applied only to servants of wine farmers and sellers in state-owned wine shops shops).
They resorted to oaths in the Middle Ages. Rus' and in the judicial process: as judicial evidence, during testimony and during a judicial duel. K. c. mentioned in this capacity in sources from the 14th century, for the first time in the Pskov Judgment Charter (1st ed. - 1397). In the XV-XVII centuries. it was practically the only form of oath that was used in court, although we do not know exactly how the bringing to the cross was carried out.
In the Council Code of 1649, separate, 14th, ch. is devoted to the regulation of the use of K. c. in court - in what cases should one be brought to him, how, on what days and terms, etc. Only people at least 20 years old can be brought to him, no more than 3 times in a lifetime, etc.
Kissing of Rurik Rostislavich with the cross. Miniature from the Radzivilov Chronicle (BAN. 34.5.30. L. 237 rev. top)
Kissing of Rurik Rostislavich with the cross. Miniature from the Radziwill Chronicle (BAN. 34.5.30. L. 237, top) In pre-Petrine times, the question of the legality and/or scope of application of K. ts. always remained relevant and was discussed in one way or another. On the one hand, there was an opinion that, based on the gospel prohibition of an oath, it was believed that it should be avoided in any form, including in the form of K. ts. On the other hand, specially selected arguments were expressed in favor of the use of K. c. (for example, Venerable Zinovy Otensky in the message of the mid-30s of the 16th century to clerk Y.V. Shishkin - Klibanov A.I. Spiritual culture of medieval Rus'. M., 1996. P. 339-343).
Church authorities recognized the oath in the form of the K. Ts., but tried to limit its use and emphasized the particular sinfulness of kissing the cross “on the crooked” (falsely) and violating the oath sealed by the K. Ts. So, according to the beginning included in the “metropolitan form”. XVI century (GIM. Sin. No. 562) “Records on kissing the cross” (excerpt from the anonymous article “And this is a priestly question”), “if someone kisses the cross, it is small, but to transgress, 5 years is his penance. And if you mean to transgress, you will only redeem yourself with your blood and shed martyrdom for Christ” (RFA. 2008. [Issue 6]. P. 476). In the Service Books of the 16th century. questions were included for those confessing: “Either he brought you to the company, or he kissed the cross himself... or did he transgress the kissing of the cross?” (Almazov A.I. Secret Confession in the Orthodox Eastern Church. Od., 1894. T. 3. P. 152); Thus, here both the crime of K. Ts. and it itself are understood as a matter worthy of church punishment.
If in state bodies collected certain promises and testimony from the population, then instead of an oath they usually resorted to oral assurance containing a reference to the words of the Sermon on the Mount: “... we promise to the Lord God Almighty before the Holy Gospel, according to His immaculate commandment, as indicated in this Holy Gospel, eh-ee, on that…” - or, if there was no Gospel, simply: “... according to the immaculate commandment of the Gospel, eh-ee”; this verbal formula is found in scribe books, court cases with “searches” of people, and other orders and private documentation of the 16th-17th centuries. (cf. in the Church Orthodox text of the Gospel: “...be then your word: hey, hey, neither, nor; but I sow too much out of hostility” - Matthew 5.37).
From the end XVII century, apparently following. the restrained or even negative attitude of church authorities towards the oath, partly bureaucratization and the development of written records, as well as influences from the West. In Europe, there is a change in the practice of using K. c. in public life. In the state oath, the emphasis shifts to fixing the promise of allegiance to the ruler in writing, and religion. sanction is provided primarily by the Gospel, before which a promise was made or a hand was laid on it during the pronouncing of the oath. Kissing the cross is mentioned only at the end of the oath as a kind of additional reinforcement of these promises (so in the oaths to all rulers from Emperor Peter II Alekseevich to the Holy Martyr Nicholas II Alexandrovich). After the February Revolution of 1917, the oath to the Provisional Government no longer provided for the use of either the Gospel or the cross, and only the sign of the cross was required of Christians.
At the same time, in legal proceedings, an oath with a kiss of the cross in the form of a promise written on paper and pronounced before the Gospel was used in the 18th - early centuries. XX century, as before, quite widely: both for induction into office (thus, jurors were sworn in, hence their name), and as judicial evidence, and for reconciliation of the parties.
Lit.: Verblovsky G. Oath. Oath in civil proceedings // ES. 1898. T. 25(49). pp. 255-259; Sergeevich V.I. Russian legal. antiquities. St. Petersburg, 1900 2. T. 2. S. 200-205; Vladimirsky-Budanov M.F. Review of Russian history. rights. TO.; St. Petersburg, 1900 3. S. 167, 660-661; Bronzov A. Oath // PBE. T. 11. Stb. 290-302; Dewey HW, Kleimola AM Promise and Perfidy in Old Russian Cross-Kissing // Canadian Slavic Studies. Montreal, 1968. Vol. 2. N 3. P. 327-341; Filyushkin A.I. Institute of Kissing the Cross in the Middle Ages. Rus' // Clio: Journal. for scientists. St. Petersburg, 2000. No. 2(11). pp. 42-48; Fedotov G. P. Collection. op. M., 2001. T. 10: Rus. religiosity. Part 1. pp. 261-266; Shchavelev A. S. Symbolic functions of the cross in Dr. Rus' // East. Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages: Imaginary realities in ancient and medieval times. historiography: XIV Thursday. in memory of corresponding member USSR Academy of Sciences V. T. Pashuto. M., 2002. S. 248-254; Stefanovich P.S. Kissing the Cross and the attitude of the church towards it in Dr. Rus' // Medieval Rus'. M., 2004. Issue. 5. P. 86-113; aka. Prince and boyars: Oath of allegiance and right of departure // Gorsky A. A., Kuchkin V. A., Lukin P. V., Stefanovich P. S. Dr. Rus': Essays on politics. and social building. M., 2008. P. 164-209; Antonov D.I. Troubles in the culture of the Middle Ages. Rus': The evolution of ancient Russian mythologies in early book literature. XVII century M., 2009. pp. 177-203, 213-224.
P. S. Stefanovich
Prayer of Abbot Savva while kissing the cross
Nikolai Ostapenko, the future schema-hegumen Savva, was born in 1898. The future clergyman dreamed of becoming a monk since childhood, but for many years, due to prevailing circumstances, he lived in the world. Only in 1948 a man was tonsured at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1954, the elder moved to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. There, the revered monk wanted to go into seclusion, but after a vision he realized that people needed his spiritual advice. On July 27, 1980, the elder died.
Schema-abbot Savva composed special prayers. These appeals to God and the saints must be read while kissing the cross. Here is one of them:
“Pour, Lord, a drop of Your Most Holy Blood into my heart, which has dried up from passions and sins and impurities of soul and body. Amen".
