The sign of the Cross is one of the visible evidences of a person's faith in God. It is believed that people are baptized and pronounce the name of God in order to attract God's grace of the Holy Spirit.
Why are people baptized?
The sign of the cross is a small sacred rite. Anyone who depicts it on himself or overshadows other people (for example, his own child), attracts God's grace of the Holy Spirit. It is believed that the power of grace was given precisely to the sign of the cross for a reason.
The sign of the cross is not only part of a religious ceremony. It is also a great weapon of faith. The Lives of the Saints gives various examples of proof of real spiritual power concentrated in the image of the cross.
The fact is that Jesus Christ by his earthly death on the cross defeated Satan and his pride. Christ freed people from the bondage of sin. It was Jesus who sanctified the cross as a victorious weapon, giving it to earthly people as a weapon to fight enemies. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross is an act of the greatest divine self-sacrifice for the salvation of mankind.
The power of the sign of the cross for man
Anyone can be baptized, but not everyone is doing it right. An Orthodox Christian should know that the sign of the cross has God's grace only when it is performed correctly and, most importantly, reverently.
The clergy say that if a person does it at random, for example, waving his hands randomly, then it is believed that this "demons rejoice." In order for the demons not to rejoice, it is necessary to sign the sign of the cross as it should be, folding the fingers of the right hand in this way: the index, large and middle must be closed together and evenly, and the nameless and little fingers must be bent to the palm.
Any Orthodox Christian who believes in God is obliged to be baptized at the beginning of prayer, during prayer and at the end. In addition, you need to overshadow yourself with the banner of the cross when approaching something holy: icons, a temple, etc.
The fact is that the fingers of an Orthodox Christian, faithfully forming the sign of the cross, symbolize his expression of faith in God the Father, in God the Son and in God the Holy Spirit as an indivisible and consubstantial Holy Trinity. Two fingers bent to the palm is an expression of the dual nature of the Son of God - human and Divine.
You need to be baptized not by compulsion, but by your own will
The clergy believe that the Lord never forced anyone to do anything. Therefore, it is a person's free choice to sign himself with the sign of the cross or not. But this choice should not be overshadowed by clumsy gestures and waves, parodying the great sacred action! To be baptized correctly is to truly prove your faith in Christ. Only in this case can a Christian count on the grace of God.
