Cross on your Wrist

egyboy

hello everyone,

I have a question regarding the little crosses that most Copts get on their wrists.
I want to know what is the best place (church or monastery) to go to get one of these cross "tattoos" but with the following requirements:
1. Clean (new needles)
2. Professional (clear and Coptic design)

so does anyone know any specific churches where I can get one done cleanly and professionally in a church or monastery?

thanks

minatasgeel

I don't know about any churches that do that here in the states....also the 2 monasteries that are here i know for sure they don't do it. it is not condoned because it is not needed. In egypt, i doubt you'll find a place with those characteristics (cleanliness and professional). in egypt, the cross tattoo is about it's meaning and not the design...therefore it doesn't take a genius to drew 2 lines together. and of course, you have the aspect of egys knowing how to do "everything"

egyboy

i understand the point is not about the design its about the significance of what it means, but i dont want just a vertical and horizontal line on my wrist lol i have seen people get coptic looking crosses on their wrists from egypt, but usually they dont know where they got it (because they were young).

copticuser20

I got mine 9 years ago at Pope Kyrillos Monastery.

You can get it in the US as well but not the traditional ones. People are going from these traditional ones: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=coptic+tatoo&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1366&bih=643

to the outline of these Coptic crosses: http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1366&bih=643&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=coptic+cross&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=

and others get a tattoo of Christ on their whole upper arm. I feel like the last two are losing the meaning and are just for looks.

Holmes

+ Irini nem ehmot,

I got mine done at a local tattoo parlour. I showed them the design I wanted and they did it.

DanieM

[quote author=Κηφᾶς link=topic=11356.msg136987#msg136987 date=1304227891]
+ Irini nem ehmot,

I got mine done at a local tattoo parlour. I showed them the design I wanted and they did it.



Exactly the same here, I just went to a local parlour here in the UK and showed them the design. As someone that has tattoos from a long time ago, I wouldn't get it done anywhere that may risk infection.

[Deleted User]

Sorry if this is late, but isn't it wrong to have any tattoo even if it is a small cross on the hand? I remember HG Bishop Youssef saying that he doesn't have a small coptic cross on his right hand because we are the temple of God, and if anything that changes our body is different than how we received it, it should not be done, but then, that is his personal opinion.

Sorry, if this is out of topic a bit, but the tattoo is wrong?

egyboy

well back in egypt people used to get the cross on their wrist by force to differentiate the Christians from the muslims.  but it has become almost a tradition in our church and many many priest and bishops have the cross on their wrist which they got from their youth

but i also think that any other tattoo besides the small coptic cross on the wrist is just plain wrong.

Abanoub737

[quote author=Marenhos Epchois link=topic=11356.msg137505#msg137505 date=1304713375]
but i also think that any other tattoo besides the small coptic cross on the wrist is just plain wrong.


Read Leviticus 19:28 -
28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
It's in the bible.

Holmes

+ Irini nem ehmot,

[quote author=Abanoub737 link=topic=11356.msg137532#msg137532 date=1304736055]
[quote author=Marenhos Epchois link=topic=11356.msg137505#msg137505 date=1304713375]
but i also think that any other tattoo besides the small coptic cross on the wrist is just plain wrong.


Read Leviticus 19:28 -
28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
It's in the bible.


This relates to pagan rituals.

Kirolies

[quote author=Κηφᾶς link=topic=11356.msg137538#msg137538 date=1304739297]
+ Irini nem ehmot,

[quote author=Abanoub737 link=topic=11356.msg137532#msg137532 date=1304736055]
[quote author=Marenhos Epchois link=topic=11356.msg137505#msg137505 date=1304713375]
but i also think that any other tattoo besides the small coptic cross on the wrist is just plain wrong.


Read Leviticus 19:28 -
28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
It's in the bible.


This relates to pagan rituals.


Yes, that's true. Back then, tattooing was a pagan ritual and that's why it was bad. Nowhere in the Ten Commandments does it say 'you shalt not get tattoos'. I believe that tattoos are wrong at a certain extent but if you get a Christian related tattoo then it's alright. God judges us from how we look from the inside not the outside but if the outside affects how we look on the inside in a negative way then there is a problem.

Abanoub737

Well Anba Youssef and Abuna Younan says even crosses are considered tattoos, so yeah.

andrew8345

Tattoo the Cross in your heart, not on your flesh. It's becoming just fashionable now - I don't see any purpose for it. . .

Khas.

[quote author=Unworthy1 link=topic=11356.msg137661#msg137661 date=1304962813]
Tattoo the Cross in your heart, not on your flesh. It's becoming just fashionable now - I don't see any purpose for it. . .

Me neither, I never got it and never will.

Meena_Ameen

As mentioned earlier, the Christians in the past were FORCED to get tattoos to differentiate between Christians and non-Christians. It has become a tradition now, in my opinion however, this doesn't make it right to willingly get a tattoo, even of a cross. Whether people would like to admit it or not, everyone does it now because it's "cool" its "cultural", its "historical", no one does it because they love Christ, those who love Christ do his will, and the cross to them is power over death, it is not a design to be made of different colors and styles to amuse others.

Do I think Christ will meet you in heaven and say "how dare you get a tattoo" lol no, but he may say something like, "you put my cross on your flesh, why have you not put my cross in your heart"

dzheremi

I think that could be said about just about anything we do, Meena. Not that I disagree with your point, but...well, if we're going to be discouraged from doing something because we don't do it with God in mind first and foremost, then most of us (including myself) wouldn't do hardly anything. It seems to me that while it is certainly possible that some people get the Coptic Cross tattooed on themselves as a cultural identifier or because they think it's cool, it is at least equally possible that those same people might also be glad to have it to remind themselves of their relationship with God and how they must constantly work to be better Christians. I don't think they're mutually exclusive positions, anyway. If I were to get the Cross on myself (I don't know if I actually would), it would probably be to remind myself about that first, since I don't have any of the other "cultural" reasons to get it (I'm not ethnically/culturally Coptic).

It seems to me that the kind of objection you raise, while valid within a very limited context or a specific subgroup, isn't really any different than the objections of Protestants to icons or incense or candles or anything else that seem obviously not done for coolness's sake if you have the right attitude toward their use. Maybe I've misunderstood you, though, in which case I'm sorry, and please explain how it's different.

Meena_Ameen

No, you make a good point dzheremi.. I think intentions are most important, but what I was saying was what I see, especially in youth. I personally don't know 1 person who got theirs for the sole purpose of "reminding themselves" of their relationship with God. This is not to say such people don't exist, i'm sure they do, but when you see fancy crosses on wrists it is normal to assume that the "relationship with God" was not the only intention of the person, and in many cases is not the intention at all.

I dont personally believe getting the tattoo of the cross on your wrist is a "sin", I just dislike how many people try making excuses for getting it meanwhile there really doing it for fashionable reasons, in which it is practically insulting the seriousness of the cross.

mabsoota

lots of people get it, indian catholics, other african Christians etc. it is something that permanently identifies a person with God, and no-one can forcibly remove it, so it is more permanent than wearing a cross around your neck.
i think any sort of cross is a good reminder. when i bend forward and my cross hangs away from my clothes then i have a nice reminder of God's love that always makes me smile.

Unknown

I do not think there is anything wrong with getting a cross tattoo because as it was aforementioned before, it is a great reminder that God is always with you ! It's understandable that many people get it for the design as well but i would not go as far as saying that is a sin . That is just my opinion . Forgive me if i am wrong

+ mahraeel +

egyboy

yea i just want a simple coptic cross with a clear design..  nothing big..  i want it to be small..  and i understand that people's ideas may differ but that was not my question to begin with...  i asked WHERE i could get one done in egypt that has a clear design

DanieM

Interestingly enough I went to an Eritrean Orthodox Church a week or so ago and many of the older women there have large crosses tattooed on their foreheads.

From what I know it has been a tradition for a long time. I have been told before that when Western Christians used to travel to the holy land in the middle ages even some of them had tattoos to remember it.  :D

I don't see a problem with tattoos at all, I have a few of them, and not to "look cool" but as a physical reminder of my faith in Christ when I struggle with it in my heart, the same as some may have items to remind them of things.