The principal differences to be settled were: whether a triple halleluia should be pronounced, in honor of the Trinity, or a double halleluia, in reference to the double nature of Christ; whether processions around the churches should march against or with the sun; whether it be right or wrong to shave the beard; whether at mass there should be upon the altar one or many loaves—the Russian used seven; whether the name Jesus should be spelled Iissous or Issous; whether, in prayer, the Saviour should be addressed as our God or as the Son of God; whether it be right to say of God, whose reign is eternal, or whose reign shall he eternal; whether the cross should have four or eight points; and whether the sign of the cross should be made with three fingers extended, as denoting the Trinity, and two closed, in reference to Christ's double nature, or with two fingers extended, in allusion to the double nature, and three closed, in token of the Trinity.
The hidden and typical significance of these ceremonies and symbols constituted their special importance. The Greeks, in each case, followed the former, and the Russians the latter, of the above alternatives, and in these respects a change, so as to conform to the Greek practice, was ordained by the synod, and was confirmed by subsequent councils in 1666 and 1667.
The Russian form of the cross, however, prevailed in the empire: the lower branch is not at right angles with the stem, but is slanting, in consequence of a tradition that Christ was deformed, with one leg longer than the other, and the lower branch of the cross, upon which his feet rested, was made to meet this personal defect. In popular belief, the Saviour was made to share to the utmost the degradation of humanity, and, in the words of Isaiah, "he hath no form nor comeliness; … he is despised and rejected of men; … he was despised and we
