The question of wearing someone else's pectoral cross, which used to belong to a loved one, including a spouse, may arise for various reasons. Some of them are quite sad.
If the husband is dead, the widow may well leave his pectoral cross as a keepsake, and then she will have to decide whether to keep it in a secluded place or wear it.
But the situation is not always so sad. The husband can give the cross to his wife if she has lost hers. Finally, the cross can also become a gift for a beloved woman, and the spouse himself will wear another cross.
Objections
In most cases, arguments against wearing someone else's pectoral cross, including one that belonged to a spouse, boil down to the following: the cross "absorbs" the owner's problems and misfortunes, his "negative energy", and all this dangerous "matter" who will wear someone else's cross. And in general, if a person gives someone a cross, this is suspicious: obviously, he wants to take off himself and pass on to someone his problems!
There is no need to talk about the cross that belonged to the deceased: the wife who put on the cross of the deceased husband will certainly die herself in the near future!
Position of the Church
All of the above arguments go back to the principle "like gives birth to like". This is one of the fundamental principles of mythological thinking. It is in it that numerous signs and magic originate. Both belong not to the Christian faith, but to paganism, and it is impossible to be both a pagan and a Christian at the same time.
The holy cross, including in the form of a small cross, which Christians wear on their chests, is a symbol of Salvation. Consequently, in principle, it cannot carry any negative meaning in itself, moreover, it cannot bring any troubles. From the Christian's point of view, only one's own sins can bring misfortune.
Neither a gift made from a pure heart, nor the bright memory of a deceased spouse is a sin. A woman can fearlessly wear her husband's cross, which he gave her as a sign of his love. There is nothing dangerous in the cross of the deceased spouse.
When you can't wear your husband's cross
There is only one situation in which a woman should flatly refuse to wear her husband's cross. This is the case when the husband declares: "Take my cross, you can wear it, I don't need it." This means that a person is ready to give up not only the cross, but also the faith. In this case, a loving Christian wife will not accept such a "broad gesture." On the contrary, she will say: “Thank you, I already have a cross, but keep yours for yourself. I am calm when you wear it."
