Q: I recently purchased a cross to wear around my neck and on the back there is something written in Russian. Do you have any idea what it might say?

A: Although I would actually need to examine your cross to be sure, by far the most popular wording found on the back of many Orthodox crosses would be the phrase "Save and Protect," which is a description of what the cross symbolizes for us: salvation and protection.

On the back sides of many priests crosses (pectoral crosses), however, you often find this inscription from 1st Timothy 4:12: "Set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

Fr. John