Among modern church paraphernalia, many things seem not entirely clear to ordinary people. For example, the question often arises: “Why do priests wear gold, in particular, pectoral crosses made of precious metal? After all, Jesus preached non-covetousness, and, in general, gold in the Christian tradition is strongly associated with the devil.” Really, How to treat the words of the opera Mephistopheles “Satan rules the roost there - people die for metal” if the clergy themselves decorate themselves with gold crosses?
What is the meaning of the pectoral cross?
For different people, the meaning of wearing a pectoral cross is different. For some it is simply a beautiful decoration, for others it is a tribute to the tradition of Orthodoxy, a kind of sign of belonging to a certain denomination. And for others, the cross on the chest is just a tribute to fashion, a way to emphasize that he, too, does not lag behind life and is in the “mainstream.”What is the true meaning of wearing a cross in Christianity?
According to the Bible, neither Jesus himself nor his apostles wore crosses, which is not surprising: Previously, crucifixion served as a method of executing the most notorious scoundrels. And only after the Son of God accepted martyrdom did the cross acquire a sacred meaning for all Christians. The whole meaning of wearing a pectoral cross is explained in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Galileans: “I have been crucified with Christ”, that is, became like him, fully accepted his teaching. Of all Christian denominations, only Orthodox and Catholics wear crosses.
According to Orthodox tradition, The pectoral (breast) cross is a symbol of belonging to the faith, protection from the machinations of the devil. According to some theologians, the cross itself, without sincere faith, is not capable of protecting from the unclean. He is only a reminder of the sufferings of Christ, "the material evidence of redemption." There is no mention in any holy scripture regarding the material for making the cross. It can be any material, including gold.
Is it true that gold is the devil's metal?
There is an opinion among most people that gold is the metal of the devil. It is based on the sayings of medieval philosophers and theologians who condemned acquisitiveness and greed.. So, according to the Gospel of Mark, the publican (tax collector) Matthew threw gold coins into the dust and followed Christ, becoming his apostle. One can also recall the Old Testament golden calf, which was worshiped by the Jews, destroyed by the prophet Moses.
But at the same time, in Christianity, gold in itself does not symbolize something bad, devilish. Since this religion in its essence is not material, but spiritual, then the focus of sin in it is human thoughts and actions. Inanimate objects in the Christian faith have a purely symbolic meaning and are not independent “actors”.
Therefore, religion, while condemning the unbridled desire in people to possess gold, does not at all consider the metal itself to be a container or embodiment of the devil. In Orthodoxy, gold is associated with the brilliant glory of Christ, the dazzling purity of the sky, where the Lord dwells. The Bible also mentions that the wise men brought, among other things, gold as a gift to the baby Jesus. The theologian John, Archbishop of Constantinople, was nicknamed “Chrysostom” for his magnificent sermons.
A little about the energy of gold
The issue of gold energy has long been the subject of fierce debate. Some believed that this yellow metal acquired mystical power over its owner, making him greedy and unprincipled. As an example, numerous cases were cited when the thirst for gold became the cause of the most terrible crimes, in which even close relatives were drawn into.
Simultaneously, gold was endowed with noble properties. So, in the ancient world it was believed that it capable of neutralizing poisons. Gold was also used for medicinal purposes: against cardiovascular diseases, colds and epilepsy. Taoist monks approached the question of the energetic influence of gold on a person, his body, psyche and moral qualities purely dialectically: It affects some people well and others badly.
According to ancient Chinese philosophy, the power of gold rejuvenates the body, makes a person’s character more cheerful and kind. But this only applies to people who are predisposed to positivity. For people with low spiritual development, prone to anger and laziness, this metal has the opposite effect. It awakens in their soul the worst, basest manifestations of nature. Gold is considered a conductor of solar energy among many peoples. Even the ancient Egyptians, American Incas, Aztecs and Mayans called this metal solar, believing that the sun itself also consists of gold.
What explains why priests wear gold crosses?
Many people who watch church services only on television on special occasions - Easter, Christmas - turn their attention to the unusually magnificent vestments of the priests. It's quite simple to explain:
- a holiday - it is a holiday;
- In solemn divine services, especially those broadcast on TV, the main characters are far from the last persons in the church hierarchy.
Actually the pectoral cross can, in military terms, be perceived as part of the uniform, a sign of rank and length of service. Therefore, not every priest is supposed to wear a yellow pectoral cross. Each priest receives his cross from the hands of the bishop leading the territorial diocese, as a sign that he is allowed to conduct services. In the event of a serious offense, the bishop has the right to punish the negligent priest by removing the cross from his neck and imposing a ban on his holding services.
A yellow pectoral (breast) cross is supposed to be worn only for certain services to the church, or for long-term service in the parish. Young priests who have only recently entered the service wear white crosses. Thus, yellow crosses are not an item of luxury or decoration, but are a kind of award, a badge of honor in the Russian Orthodox Church system.
During the days of Great Lent preceding Easter, all clergy without exception wear wooden crosses, donning ceremonial attire only on the occasion of the Resurrection of the Lord. It is this “ceremonial uniform” that viewers see on TV during broadcasts, amazed at the inappropriate, in the opinion of the average person, luxury of the outfits of church leaders.
Is the price of the cross as a tribute to God or as contempt for cheap wood?
In church tradition, crosses are not called “gold” or “silver”, but rather yellow and white. Moreover, they are not made from these precious metals. The yellow crosses of ordinary priests are made of brass, and they cost at most 10 thousand rubles, of which the main cost is the work of the master maker. White crosses are made mainly from cupronickel, and their price is about 5 thousand rubles. At ceremonial services, brass and cupronickel crosses are polished by their owners to such an extent that it is almost impossible to distinguish them by their shine from works made of real precious metal from the outside.
And only the crosses of the highest church hierarchs, from the bishop and above, are made using gold. But, again, they are not cast from a single piece of precious metal, but use sputtering and gilding technology. Real gold on such a cross will accumulate at most 2-3 grams.
According to the internal church charter, each clergyman is obliged to appear at official receptions with the highest clergy with his own cross, indicating his status.
And finally, it should be noted that crosses, even brass and cupronickel, are not the personal property of the priest, but are given to him for the duration of the service, so to speak, “on account”. When removing the priesthood, the clergyman returns to the bishop the cross that was once given to him.
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Crosses weighing 1 kg or more are worn by priests and thieves in law. Both professions are similar: the “tributers” are just different. But sometimes they are the same.
Why do they always mix Orthodoxy and Christianity? There were no Orthodox churches and Orthodox Christianity... Two different faiths... There were true Christians!
This is not true, you know. The question is, then why are you slandering???
Dear Andrey Vladimirovich, Orthodoxy and Christianity are not different faiths. Orthodoxy, the Orthodox Church, is a designation that arose after the Great Schism of 1054.This is how representatives of the Christian Churches of the East began to call themselves, as opposed to the Roman Church. But the phrase devout Christian is never used.
Dear Arkady, a true believer is the correct faith, so called by representatives of the Greek church, who implanted their faith in Rus' with their blood, the Orthodox are the rulers who glorify the faith before the forced baptism of Rus', and the link to the translation of this concept to the Greek language is fundamentally wrong, to say the least. Changes came with the revolution of 1917, Muslims began to be called Orthodox believers, and Christians were called Orthodox, it is clear with Orthodox believers that these are Orthodox! Orthodoxy is a substitution of concepts to please the church….. regarding 1054, more precisely 6562 years from SMZH, everything related to the ancient (pre-Christian) faith , everything was crushed by church “figures”, the substitution of holidays, rituals, saints, it would take a long time to count, and I don’t see the point...
And the Lord will cut off the head and tail of the fish (Christianity) (Head is the Kremlin, tail is the priests), in one day. And who will follow them? they will die
If gold is a demonic metal, then whoever wears crosses made of gold is serving the unclean.
Priests wear cupronickel crosses. Sometimes it is gilded. Why lie, author?
like this... the Rodnovers and other atheists have wiped themselves out))
I have been wearing a cross as a priest for many years and only now I found out that I have it made of gold and I was so happy. I went to the jeweler to find out the sample and weight. It turns out I was happy early. no, the cross is not made of gold. the deceitful author misled the priest
Orthodoxy is the right to glorify and is a historically Slavic concept that has nothing to do with Christianity, before Nikon the church was called the Russian Orthodox Orthodox Church, do not confuse or mislead others
The cross and Christianity are antipodes, Words of Jesus to the priests - Your father is the Devil, and you want to fulfill the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks according to his essence, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:4
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In addition to cemeteries, crosses are now installed on Christian temples and churches. A characteristic property of many Christian churches, as you probably know, is the presence in them of human remains - relics. In this sense, a Christian church is a grave, a burial place, which is already enough to place a cross over it - a symbol of death. But there are also living people in the temple. What are they doing there? They are preparing for death. They are trying to atone for sins in order to receive some benefits after death. Even if they do not master the technique of mortification, they attach special importance to the moment of death, since it is a special moment for them - the beginning of existence after death. In a sense, we can say that they are already half dead, and the temple crowned with a cross is for them a kind of common grave that has grown out of the ground - a transition bridge from this world to the next.
Now think about what happens when a person “signs himself with a cross,” or worse, puts this symbol of painful and shameful death on himself.By this, a person shows other people that he is, as it were, dead or striving to die, since earthly life for him is generally an insignificant phenomenon in comparison with the eternity that lies ahead after death, “deadly eternity.”
Think about what happens when a priest baptizes your child, placing a symbol of death on him.
Buildings and people bearing the symbol of the cross, with the help of this symbol, show that they no longer belong to the world of the living, but belong to the world of the dead. In addition, it becomes clear that a religion that has chosen the cross as its main symbol is a cult of death, a religion of the dead, a “dead” religion. Looks beautiful, but rotten inside. Death for a Christian is a meeting with his Jewish Lord God.
Well, he who loves the cross loves the very process of killing and tormenting his god. Only those who do not think about the subject of their faith can wear such crosses. But almost all Christians wear this cross. They wear it and don’t even think about what they are wearing. In paganism, by the way, they did not carry dead gods on themselves.
Look at this army of priests, some in black robes, others in golden robes, and that Jesus also wore such clothes to show the believers that we are your gods, and don’t you think that these are the servants of the devil, if you remember how the church burned people at the stake at the dawn The Soviet government forbade children to study at school, what is faith, to conquer people and rule over them.
After reading the comments, a double feeling arose - both laughter and sin... Statements with claims against the Church are simply amazing with the imagination of the authors going off scale! More precisely, the fantasies of these “experts” do not belong to them! We've read a lot, listened to all sorts of neo-pagan nonsense, and eaten enough of occultism and superstition! It’s a pity that you are robbing yourself, betraying your own rich history, your own real ancestors! As they say, “whoever is defeated by someone is his slave”(((
2-3 GRAMS of gold - well, well... I, working as a jeweler, repeatedly fulfilled orders, so to speak, from employees of the Russian Orthodox Church not from the head office - the crosses were from 30 to 170 grams of 750 standard + STONES. So your article is just for fun.
Perhaps the author is a good publicist, a good historian and, perhaps, a good religious scholar.
Maybe…
But I would advise him to read the Bible. Here he has obvious punctures.
The publican Matthew did not throw money into the dust. This is not written in the Bible.
It is written that he “left” the money.
I just left them where they were.
Along with a tax collection box.
Next inaccuracy.
Nowhere in the Bible (including the New Testament) is it written that wealth is a sin.
Everywhere it is said only that spiritual wealth is of great priority over material wealth.
And that it is not wealth that is a sin, but LOVE for this wealth (love of money).
Well, what about the priests and the love of specific ones for wealth and decoration...
Well, each of them will answer to God in due time!
“To whom much is given, much is required.”
How many categories are useless for civilization! At least one priest would mention the environment. after all, the world of his god is destroyed. But they keep talking, just like centuries ago, about the current immaculate conception and resurrection of Lazarus. It’s time to understand that civilization is on the verge of disaster.
Faith and church, how sharp and long are similar.
in fact, you have no idea what the cross is for... besides, you didn’t pay attention to the chain... it’s also different... some chain links have a standard coil, while others have a kuari shell shape... but that’s a different story. The strongest cross made of silver (cerebro). I know partly the purpose of these attributes, but you said that you know, now look. (I gave you hints), just don’t be shocked by what you find.
When they start with the words: “you have no idea,” I answer: who needs that? What depends on this? Do you have any idea? Or do you suffer from verbiage?
Yes, all priests are servants of the devil
Vladimir, we die to sin and are immediately reborn in baptism for eternity.
Poetically sublime phrases do not discourage criticism for me! Power in Baptism? And ALL those who are baptized will become good? Why then is there so much evil in the world? This ritual cannot change anything in a person unless he himself wants to. Just action. Show. Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was ALL baptized. And where did the horrors of the Civil War come from?
Cross! how much and how little. The cross is the oldest symbol.And Christians took it for their own affairs, solely to superimpose their verbiage on what existed before Christianity - “paganism”. Don’t fuss about what cross it is (precious, big or small). The essence of the cross phenomenon has ancient Vedic origins.
Only a godless person could write such nonsense, the priests are one with Gapon, and the priests are Seraphim of Sarov and our other saints, Kiril and Putin, these are our saints, we must pray to them for the salvation of humanity from war.
Judging by your diploma, there was no chance to study? And out of stupidity, there’s no reason. Putin has become a saint, this is already incurable. What is really ruining the country is the abundance of you, crazy and illiterate patriots!
Lots of false information. During Lent, not everyone wears a wooden cross. In the Gospel, Matthew did not throw the gold into the dust. The crosses are bought by the priests themselves before ordination or before being awarded the yellow cross and are not handed over to the bishop.
I wonder why the author suddenly decided that priests wear GOLD crosses? Do you know how much such a cross would cost if it was made of pure gold? There is usually brass with gilding or brass with a silver coating on top.
As Friday used to say in a conversation with Robinson Cruse, “The Devil is stronger.”
PEOPLE – stop talking nonsense. Look at Christ, He will come soon - everything will end and nothing will save you - unless you accept Christ for your salvation. .. And there is HELL or Heaven.
Where should I look? I already looked under the sofa - no one! And we are tired of being afraid of the end of the world. Over the past 100 years it has already been announced 5 times. Somehow we got used to it. But I don’t need your Heaven or Hell. We are in this nonsense. Buddhist philosophers never believed. And we are not afraid of the death of the body like you. Your job is to be afraid, even of your own shadow, and ours is to live according to conscience and reason!
Regarding the alleged “Preparation for death in the Orthodox Temple...”
The author of this version has clearly never thought about the Meaning of human life on our Earth.
One can understand that there are some, even those who consider themselves “highly spiritual,” creeds that declare the meaning of life to be “the incomprehensible Plan of God.” And they forbid their adherents to seek this meaning during earthly life. Like, you will repose before the Lord, and there you will find out...!
Such a point of view is unworthy for Rusich (of any Religion)
Our REAL world (in which we are now), a kind of “selection committee”….!
In which we TAKE EXAMINATIONS for the right to be enrolled in the Main University..
And our Orthodox Cross (especially with the first oblique crossbar from the bottom) is a symbol of the stages of testing that the “entrant” goes through.
And the crucifix, which appeared on this cross with the advent of Christianity (the root one, which does not have any contradictions with the root Russian ancient Creed), is the essence of the “painful questions” that will have to be answered at those same entrance exams.
And Gold is already the second (from below) level of spiritual development (of the eight present on Earth).
And Orthodox (as well as true believers) Christians, who consider themselves “at the start of spiritual development,” call on the “lower ones” to rise to the level of “gold.”
They are not homeless, like parishioners, so they can carry all sorts of cheap rubbish. a slave from afar must see the mighty of this world in shining robes of gold
This tinsel and glitter are befitting of buffoons and circus performers. And the homeless and other parishioners and pastors are BROTHERS! In Christ. And those who do not want to carry cheap things are subject to the most terrible sin - PRIDE!
Why do they wear gold crosses? Because the gold tiara on the head of the Patriarch of All Rus' is a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns. Based on logic, the golden cross is a symbol of the wooden cross of Christ.
there are true things inherent only in a given subject. Someone's mind is conscience, malice and greed. And there are things that mean NOTHING: Clothes and jewelry. Anyone can put them on themselves. And here is the crown of thorns. For Yeshua, it was not at all what someone named Kirill put on. This is the same as for a cannibal to eat the heart of an enemy. The enemy was a brave warrior and will I become the same? What if I eat it? And all kinds of symbols in the church are just as “valuable” as spiritual ones. After all, they don’t imitate Christ in his lack of wealth and poverty? And to look for spirituality in trinkets... It’s just hypocrisy!
Any business knows that in order to earn more you need to attract as many people as possible.
Religion is one of the most successful businesses.
Cultists promote modesty, talk about holy hermits, half-starved ascetics in tattered cast-offs, passing it off as a virtue.
But reading about it is one thing.And few people will like seeing ragged beggars in front of you as an ideal, realizing that they are feeding this to you as a role model. You can't attract people that way.
And the last thing the cultists themselves want to do is deny themselves carnal pleasures.
Therefore, golden domes, ringing bells, gilded clothes, huge golden crosses.
Such a dressed and gilded sheep (flock) will look at him as an authoritative person.
At the same time, the sheep themselves are taught that earthly goods are not the most important thing. that money is generally evil, so that it would be easier for them to part with honestly acquired property.
Everything is logical and obvious.
PS. Who even came up with the idea that gold is beautiful? The most unnatural metal. The metal should be silver, even the color - metallic - is not yellow, not at all.
How many people actually like yellow? I’m not talking about the color of the Sun, of course, or some flowers, these are rare exceptions, I’m talking specifically about things, interiors: Yellow cars, yellow clothes, yellow appliances, wallpaper in apartments, furniture, etc.?
This is very specific, good only in rare cases, or very much for an amateur.
But someone decided that yellow metal is cool for some reason, and now everyone is taught this from childhood. Gold=luxury. There are many expensive metals, as well as precious stones, and just expensive things. but the symbol of wealth is gold.
To me, all this gilding looks very poor and there is nothing to admire here.