Of all Christian denominations, only in Orthodoxy and Catholicism are crosses and icons revered. Catholics worship a cross of the same shape: a four-pointed with an extended vertical crossbar. In Orthodoxy, revered crosses are very different. Unacceptable for the Orthodox Church is not the shape of the Catholic cross, but the image of Jesus Christ on it.
Catholics depict Christ as dead, heavily sagging, sometimes with blood on the face, from wounds on the arms, legs, and ribs (stigmata). In addition, the legs are nailed by one nail. In Orthodoxy, on icons and crosses, in principle, they never and never depict just a body. The icon of the saint, in the first place, is the image of his glorification. Jesus Christ is portrayed everywhere as the almighty God, and the saints as they stand before Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. The body shell on the icons is only a symbol of the immortal image in Heaven.
Yes, we know that Christ died on the cross. But we also know that He resurrected afterwards, and that He suffered not from powerlessness, but voluntarily out of love to people: to teach us to cherish an immortal soul; so that we too can rise and live forever. In the Orthodox Crucifixion, this Easter joy is always present. Therefore, on the Orthodox cross, Christ does not die, but freely stretches his arms, as if embracing the whole of humanity. He is not a dead body, but God.
In addition, the Orthodox Byzantium kept the nails with which the Lord was nailed to the cross. And it was precisely known that there are four, not three. Therefore, on the Orthodox crosses of Christ’s feet are nailed with two nails, each separately.
