In modern shops and church shops, you can buy crosses of various shapes. However, not everyone can distinguish between Orthodox and Catholic crosses, despite serious differences.
Cross shape
In Orthodoxy, crosses with 6 and 8 ends are common. It is believed that the best protection against evil and evil spirits is provided by an eight-pointed cross. Its 8 ends reflect all periods of human history, the last of which is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Such a cross has a small upper crossbar, symbolizing the tablet, which was nailed in ancient times over the convicts and explained their crimes. At the bottom of the eight-pointed cross there is a slanting crossbar. Its first meaning is the foot on the crucifix, and the second is the disturbed balance in the earthly world of sins, indicating the path of rebirth.
The six-pointed cross is also complemented by an inclined crossbar, but in this case the lower end is a symbol of unrepentant sin, the upper one is liberation through repentance.
At the same time, the Catholic cross has only 4 ends. It looks simpler and its lower part is elongated.
The position of the body of Christ
In the Catholic crucifixion, Jesus looks naturalistic: it is clearly visible that his body is in great suffering. Christ's hands sag under the weight of the rest of the body, and blood oozes from the wounds. Such an image looks plausible, but does not reflect the coming onset of eternal life.
In the Orthodox crucifixion, life triumphs over death. The image of the son of God is filled with humility and the joy of resurrection. Jesus is depicted with open palms, which are directed towards all of humanity. He looks not just like a crucified man, but like God.
The number of nails on the crucifix
In Orthodoxy there are many shrines, and among them there are 4 nails, with which, according to legend, Jesus was nailed to the cross. This means that the arms and legs were nailed separately.
The Catholic Church has a different view: it keeps 3 nails with which Christ was fixed on the crucifix. From this it is concluded that the legs folded together were nailed with a single nail.
Inscriptions on the cross
There is a tablet over the head of Jesus. It was supposed to contain a description of his offense, but the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, could not exactly do this. In this regard, the inscription was put on the tablet: "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews", which was translated into three languages: Greek, Latin and Aramaic.
The inscription is the same, then on the Catholic cross it looks like "INRI", and on the Orthodox - "IHHI".
