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Do not fill this in! ==In contemporary Christianity== {{Further|Cross necklace}} In Christianity, communicants of the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es are expected to wear a [[cross necklace]] at all times; these are ordinarily given to believers at their [[baptism]].<ref name="Samaan2010">{{cite web |last1=Samaan |first1=Moses |title=Who wears the Cross and when? |url=https://www.lacopts.org/story/wearing-the-cross/ |publisher=[[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii]] |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=en |date=25 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="Konstantopoulos2017">{{cite web |last1=Konstantopoulos |first1=George D. |title=All Orthodox Christians are Given a Cross Following Their Baptism to Wear for Life |url=http://saintandrewgoc.org/home/2017/9/18/all-orthodox-christians-are-given-a-cross-following-their-baptism-to-wear-for-life |publisher=St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=en |date=18 September 2017 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003060044/http://saintandrewgoc.org/home/2017/9/18/all-orthodox-christians-are-given-a-cross-following-their-baptism-to-wear-for-life |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many Christians, such as those in the tradition of the [[Church of the East]], continue the practice of hanging a Christian cross in their homes, often on the [[direction of prayer|east wall]].<ref name="ACE2020">{{cite web |title=Sign of the Cross |url=https://www.assyrianchurch.org.au/about-us/the-sacraments/sign-of-the-cross/ |website=Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East - Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414091409/https://www.assyrianchurch.org.au/about-us/the-sacraments/sign-of-the-cross/ |archive-date=14 April 2020 |language=en |quote=Inside their homes, a cross is placed on the eastern wall of the first room. If one sees a cross in a house and do not find a crucifix or pictures, it is almost certain that the particular family belongs to the Church of the East.}}</ref><ref name="DanielouOrigen2016">{{cite book |last1=Danielou |first1=Jean |title=Origen |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-9023-4 |page=29 |language=en |quote=Peterson quotes a passage from the ''Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus'': "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day [...] with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.}}</ref><ref name="Charles2002">{{cite web |last1=Charles |first1=Steve |title=Among the Living Maya |url=https://www.wabash.edu/magazine/displaystory.cfm?news_ID=1534 |work=Wabash Magazine|publisher=[[Wabash College]] |access-date=11 August 2020 |language=en |date=24 March 2002 |quote=In Chamula, ancient Mayan beliefs mingle with Roman Catholicism—the "syncretism" we've been observing in various forms since we arrived in Mexico—to form the costumbres of these descendants of the Maya. A cross is placed on the eastern wall of every Mayan home to commemorate the risen Christ and the rising sun; on the patio another cross faces west to salute the sun's passage below the earth.}}</ref> Crosses or crucifixes are often the centre of a Christian family's [[home altar]] as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immanuel.us/adults/home-altars|title=Home Altars|last=Nelson|first=Paul A.|publisher=Immanuel Lutheran Church|language=en|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> [[Catholic]]s, [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Catholic]], [[Oriental Orthodox]], members of the major branches of Christianity with other adherents as [[Lutheranism]] and [[Anglicans]], and others often make the [[Sign of the Cross]] upon themselves. This was already a common Christian practice in the time of [[Tertullian]].{{refn|group=note|name=De Corona3}} The [[Feast of the Cross]] is an important Christian feast. One of the twelve [[Great Feasts]] in [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Catholic]] is the [[Exaltation of the Cross]] on September 14, which commemorates the [[consecration]] of the [[basilica]] on the [[Holy Sepulchre|site where]] the [[True Cross|original cross]] of Jesus was reportedly discovered in 326 by [[Helena of Constantinople]], mother of [[Constantine the Great]]. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast on the same day and under the same name ({{lang|la|In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis}}), though in English it has been called the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican [[bishop]]s place a cross (+) before their name when [[signature|signing]] a document. The [[dagger (typography)|dagger]] symbol (†) placed after the name of a dead person (often with the date of death) is sometimes taken to be a Christian cross.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3fbWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 Keith Houston, ''Shady Characters''] (W. W. Norton & Company 2013 {{ISBN|978-0-39306442-1}}), pp. 97 and 106</ref> In many Christian traditions, such as the [[Methodist Church]]es, the [[altar cross]] sits atop or is suspended above the [[Altar#In Western Christian churches|altar table]] and is a focal point of the [[chancel]].<ref name="Committee1968">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mBvrAAAAMAAJ |title= The History of the First United Methodist Church of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 1830-1969 |year=1968 |publisher=F. W. Orth Company |page=134 |quote=The cross suspended over the altar is the focal point of the entire Church interior, and reminds us to center our lives in Christ.}}</ref> In many [[Baptist]] churches, a large cross hangs above the [[baptistry]].<ref name="Betteridge2010">{{cite book|last=Betteridge|first=Alan|title=Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands|date=1 August 2010|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|language=en|isbn=9781848762770|page=446}}</ref> <gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> File:Mar George Alencherry at Kothamangalam Cathedral.jpg|An [[Eastern Catholic]] [[Syro-Malabar]] Major Archbishop with his [[blessing cross]] File:Basilica di San Pietro, città del Vaticano (Roma) - panoramio.jpg|The Vatican Obelisk in Rome File:Salvadordelmundo.jpg|Cross on each side of the [[Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo]] pedestal] File:Cross on Church.JPG|A crucifix on the wall of a church Image:CROSS1601.JPG|A man holding several [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[pectoral cross]]es </gallery> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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