Looking this man up in Wikipedia (he has been given a personal name in the Orthodox Church—Dysmas), I found this interesting passage (the first line, especially, grabbed me for some reason):
Though never canonized by the church, Dismas carries the distinction of being the only human to be canonized by Jesus himself, if by ‘canonized’ one means the formal recognition of a person's place in heaven.
According to tradition, the Good Thief was crucified at Jesus’ right hand, and the other thief was crucified at his left. For this reason, depictions of the crucifixion often show Jesus’ head inclined to his right, showing his acceptance of the Good Thief. In the Russian Orthodox Church, both crucifixes and crosses are usually made with three bars: the top one, representing the titulus (the inscription that Pontius Pilate wrote and was nailed above Jesus’ head;
the longer crossbar on which Jesus’ hands were nailed; and a slanted bar at the bottom representing the foot rest to which Jesus’ feet were nailed. The foot rest is slanted, pointing up towards the Good Thief, and pointing down towards the other.The biblical account of the repentant thief is foundational to the teaching of the church regarding baptism of desire, whereby one who desires baptism, but is prevented by circumstances beyond his control from actually being baptized, may be saved by the grace and mercy of God.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”Matthew 16:24-26 NIV
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The baptism of desire: so simple and pure, without denominations or doctrinal confusions or nationalistic customs, but just a singular focus on and acceptance of Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, the Messiah.
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