Can laity employ blessing crosses?

[Bob Kovacs]

Is a blessing cross or hand cross used by lay people as well or just priests. In the coptic tradition lay people use it as an aid to prayer, keeping one by their prayer corner. I also read a prayer in my Unabbreviated Horologion that has you bless your bed with a cross before going to sleep. Would this be a good object to have for ones prayer corner.

[Paul Cowan]

Dear Bob:
Though I do not know the theology behind your question, I cannot say that having too many crosses in your house is a bad thing regardless of how big, small or what they are made of.

Paul

[John Charmley]

Dear Bob,

Veneration of the Cross has always been an especially important part of Oriental Orthodoxy - and if you read St. Isaac the Syrian on this you will see that he attaches importance even to the shadow of the Cross - so powerful a symbol of our Faith is it for him and his contemporaries.

In this world we can never have too many signs of our Faith. I have a Coptic Cross (kindly given to me by one of our priests at my reception into the Church) made from olive wood from Jerusalem in my prayer corner, and I habitually make the sign of the Cross over my bed before retiring for the night. So, unless anyone here sees harm in these things, I would encourage you if you want to go right ahead.

In Christ,

John

[Father David Moser]

As others have said, it is good to have a cross. As for the "blessing" part, if you have a hand cross, you may bless yourself with it, but it is for a priest to give a blessing to others. When, in the prayers, it says to bless your bed with a cross, that means to make the sign of the cross over your bed. The traditional way for a layman to do this would be to hold your hand as if you were crossing yourself (three fingers together, two fingers in the palm) and then instead of crossing yourself, make the cross over your bed. It is not uncommon for people also to bless their own food in this manner or for a parent to bless a child in this manner.

Fr David Moser