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In your iconography what is the meaning of the placement of the fingers of the right hand of Jesus and certain saints?
When a priest gives a blessing in the Eastern Orthodox Church, he holds his fingers of his right hand to form IC XC, blessing with the sign of the Cross and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The “IC XC” is a monogram or Christogram of Christ that means “Jesus Christ Conquers.” Often you may see the additional word “Nika” which means “Conqueror.”
In the ancient Greek language, Jesus Christ is written ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, however, more often seen and written: “ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ” with the lunate sigma “Ϲ” in place of the Σ, common in medieval Greek (“IC XC”, rather than “IΣ XΣ”).
The priest holds his fingers that way to remind the congregation or the individual(s) receiving the blessing that he is giving not his blessing, but the blessing of Jesus Christ himself through the grace the ordained priest or bishop.
Of course, in icons, Christ also holds his hand the same way, because he is our “great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14). Saints who hold their hand in this same way in their icons are bishops or priests.
The victory that we celebrate in the EOC, as portrayed in the symbolism of our iconography, is that Jesus Christ conquered death and sin, trampling down death by His death and for all of us through our confession of faith and repentance can once again have eternal life with God.
