CROSS
520
CROSS
as it could not be conceived from any custom then
existing; tlie practice of nailing the condemned to a
T-shapcfl cross being, as we have seen, at that time
exclusively Western.
The cross on which Jesus Christ was n:iilcil was of the kind known as mmj'sso, which means that ila- ver- tical trunk extended a certain height alioxr ihr trans- verse beam ; it was thus higher than the crosses of the two thieves, his crime being judged a graver one, ac- cording to St. John Chrysostom (Homil. v, c. i., on I Corinth.). The earliest Christian Fathers who speak of the Cross describe it as thus constructed. We gather as much from St. Matthew (xxvii, 37), where he tells us that the tilulus, or inscription containing the cause of His death, was placed i-n-ivui, "over", the head of Jesus Christ (cf. Luke, xxiii, 38; John, xix, 19). St. Irenseus (Adv. Haer., II, x.xiv) says that the Cross had five extremities: two in its length, two in its breadth, and the fifth a projection {habitus) in the middle — " Fines et summitates habet quinque, duas in longitudine, duas in latitudine, unam in medio". St. Augustine agrees with him: "Erat latitude in qua porrectae sunt manus ; longitudo a terra surgens, in qua erat corpus infixum ; altitudo ab illo divexo ligno sur- Burn quod imminet" (Enarr. in Ps. ciii; Serm. i, 44) and in other passages quoted by Zockler (Das Kreuz, 1875, pp. 430, 431).
Nonnus confirms the statement that Jesus Christ was crucified on a quadrilateral cross {els 56pv Terpd- TrXtvpov). St. Irenseus, in the passage cited above says that the Cross had a fifth extremity, on which the Crucified One was seated. St. Justin calls it a horn, and compares it to the horn of a rhinoceros (Dialogus cum Tryphone, xci). Tertullian calls it sedilis excessus, a projecting seat, or shelf (Ad. Nat., I, xii). This little seat {equuleus) prevented the weight of the body from completely tearing the nail-pierced hands, and it helped to support the sufferer. It has never been indicated, however, in representations of the Crucifixion. On the Cross of Christ was placed the iitulus, as to the wording of which the Four Evange- lists do not agree. St. Matthew (xxvii, 37) gives, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews"; St. Mark (xv, 26), "The King of the Jews"; St. Luke (.x.xiii, 38), "This is the King of the Jews"; St. John, an eyewit- ness (xix, 19), "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews". In representations of the Crucifi.xion there often appears beneath the feet a wooden svipport (ujro7r65tov, suppedrnieum); that it ever existed is very doubtful. The first express mention of it occurs in Gregory of Tours (De Gloria Martyrum, vi). St. Cyp- rian, Theodoret, and Rufinus hint at it.
A microscopic examination of the fragments of the Cross scattered through the world in the form of relics reveals the fact that it was made from a pine-tree (Rohault de Fleury, "Memoire sur les instruments de la Passion", Paris, 1870, 63). According to an an- cient, but somewhat dubious, tradition the Cross of Jesus Christ measured in length very nearly 189 inches (4.80 metres), from 90J to 102i inches (2..30 to 2.60 metres). As noted by the Evangelists, two thieves were crucified, one on either side of Christ. Their crosses must have resembletl the one on which He suf- fered; in Christian art and tr.idition they generally ap- pear lower (St. John Chrysostom, Horn, i, xxvi, on I Cor.; on Rom., v, 5). A large portion of the cross of the good thief (traditionally known as Dismas) is pre- served at Rome in the altar of the Chapel of the Relics at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
The historical narrative of the Passion and Crucifix- ion of Jesus ( 'hrist, as found in the Four Gospels, agrees exactly with all we have set down above concerning this form of punishment. Jesus Christ w;is con- demned for the crime of sedition and tumult, as were also some of the .Xpostlcs (Malalas, "Chronoyr.", X, p. 256). His Crucifixion was preceded by flic Scourging. He then bore I lis Cross to the place of punishment. Fi-
nally the legs of Jesus would have been broken, accord-
ing to the custom of P.Tlestine, in order to permit of
burial that very evening, had not the soldiers, on ap-
proaching Him, seen that He was already dead (John,
xix, 32, 33). Besides, in ancient Christian art and
tradition, the Crucifi.xion of Christ appears as done
with four nails, not with three, according to the usage
of the more recent Christian art (see below).
(4) Gradual Development of the Cross in Christian Art.— Since by His holy sacrificial death upon the Cross Christ sanctified this former uistrument of shame and ignominy, it must have very soon become in the eyes of the faithful a sacred symbol of the Pas- sion, consequently a sign of protection and defence (St. Paulinus of Nola, "Carm. in Natal. S. Felicis", XI, 612; Prudent., "Adv. Symm.", I, 486). It is not, therefore, altogether strange or inconceivable that, from the beginning of the new religion, the cross should have appeared in Christian homes as an object of religious veneration, although no such monument of the earliest Christian art has been preserved. Early in the third century Clement of .Alexandria (" Strom.", VI, in P. G., IX, 305) speaks of the Cross as ToOKi/pioxoO ariiulov ruirav, i. e. signum Christi, "the symbol of the Lord" (St. Augustine, Tract, exvii, "In Joan."; De Rossi, "Bull, d'arch. crist.", 1863, 35, and "De titulis christianis Carthaginiensibus " in Pitra, "Spici- legium Solesmense", IV, 503). The cross, therefore, appears at an early date as an element of the liturgical life of the faithful, and to such an extent that in the first half of the third century Tertullian could publicly designate the Christian body as " crucis religiosi", i. e. devotees of the Cross (Apol., c. xvi, P. G., I, 365-66). St. Gregorj- of Tours tells us (De Miraculis S. Martini, I, 80) that in his time Christians habitually had re- course to the sign of the cross. St. Augustine says that by the sign of the cross and the invocation of the Name of Jesus all things are sanctified and conse- crated to God. In the earliest Christian life, as can be seen from the metaphorical language of the primitive faithful, the cross was the symbol of the principal Christian virtue, i. e. mortification or victorj- over the passions, and suffering for Christ's sake and in union with Him (Matt., x, 38; xvi, 24; Mark, viii, 34; Luke, ix, 23; xiv, 27; Gal., ii, 19; vi, 12, 14; v, 24). In the Epistles of St. Paul the cross is synonJ^nous with the Passion of Christ (Ephes., ii, 16; Heb., xii, 2) even with the Gospel, and with religion itself (I Cor., i, 18; Phil., iii, IS). Very soon the sign of the cross was the sign of the Christian. It is, moreover, ven,- probable that reference to this sign is made in the .4pocalypse (vii, 2) : " And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sim, having the sign of the living God."
It is from this original Christian worship of the cross, that arose the custom of making on one's forehead the sign of the cross. Tertullian says: "Frontem crucis signaculo torimus" (De Cor. mil., iii), i. e. " We Chris- tians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross." The practice was so general about the year 200, according to the same writer, that the Christians of his time were wont to sign themselves with the cross before undertaking any action. He says that it is not commanded in Holy Scripture, but is a matter of Christian tradition, like certain other practices that are confirmed by long usage and the spirit of faith in which they are kept. A certain Scriptural authority for the sign of the cross has been sought by some in a few texts rather freely interpreted, especially in the above-mentioned words of Ezechiel (ix, 4), "Mark fciuj Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and i mourn for all the abominations that are committed ir the midst thereof", also in several expressions of tlu Apocalypse (vii, 3; ix, 4; xiv, 1). It would seem thai in very early Cliristian times the sign of the cross wai made with the tlunnb of the right hand (St. Join Chrj's., Hom. ad pop. .Vntioch. xi ; St. Jerome, Ep. ac Eustochium; a practice .still in use among the faithfu
