“…in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
What is the most popular, most used prayer of the Church? The Sign of the Cross is the most popular Christian doxology (hymn of praise to God), and the most constant daily reminder and expression of our Christian Faith. Besides being an act of faith, the Sign of the Cross is an act of consecration by which we dedicate ourselves to each Person of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Does it matter how we hold our hands, fingers? As an act of faith, the symbolism contained in the gesture is very rich. The thumb, index finger, and middle finger of the right hand are joined together, while the fourth and little finger are joined and bent into the palm of the hand. The three fingers are joined together so as to form one entity, which expresses our faith in the Most Holy Trinity: Three in One. The fourth and little finger joined together in the palm also form a unity, which signifies our faith in the Incarnation: the union of God and man in one Person. Then, by the gesture of the Cross, we proclaim our faith in the Redemption: Christ’s crucifixion and death on the Cross for our salvation.
Why do some people kiss their fingers after the sign of the Cross? In the Hispanic and Latino culture a small Cross is made with the thumb and pointer finger. After the Sign of the Cross is made usually, the person praying kisses the smaller Cross and sometimes even lifts the Cross. We can make a Cross with a Cross, shows our love for the Cross. We can kiss the Cross because it is the altar upon which our salvation was one. We can also lift that Cross up because Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, pick up our Cross and follow Him. We cannot carry it alone so we lift it up to Him.
Does it matter how we make the sign of the Cross? The way this gesture is made is also highly symbolic. After joining our fingers, we lift our hand to our forehead, calling on God the Father to be in our mind, as offering Him the homage of our intelligence. Then we bring our hand to our heart, offering our love to the Son and accepting His love and life. Then, as is done in the Eastern Christian tradition, crossing over to the right shoulder we call on the Holy Spirit to inspire our actions and to be the source of all our life and works, and to the left shoulder to ask forgiveness for our sins.
In the West (Roman Catholic), Christians cross over first to the left shoulder, and then to the right shoulder. Eastern Christians sign the right shoulder first because in our human language and especially in the Holy Scriptures, right symbolizes good, while left symbolizes evil and death. Yet, one could argue, they sign the shoulder first because one must first acknowledge his sinfulness before being redeemed and saved from evil and death by God’s grace and mercy. Whether right to left or left to right, both are acceptable and true.
If we go from left to right we symbolize that we are moving from the darkness of sin into the light of Grace. If we go from right to left we symbolize that we taking the truth and light into the darkness of the world.
In practical life, many Christians express verbally what the gesture symbolizes. Instead of the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” they say, “In the name of the Father Who created me, and of the Son Who redeemed me, and of the Holy Spirit Who sanctifies me,” or “Lord, I give you my reason; Lord, I give You my love; Lord, I consecrate to You all that is good in my life; and I ask forgiveness of my sins,” or simply, “Lord, be in my mind, be in my heart, be in the works of my life, and forgive me of my sins. Amen.”
When did the Sign of the Cross begin? The earliest Fathers of the Church mention this custom, and say it originated with the apostles. St. Nicephorus informs us that St. John the Evangelist signed himself with the sign of the Cross. Tertullian (AD 160) urges the Christians to make the sign of the Cross when coming in and going out, when dressing, at table, in their rooms, when sitting down, and before every undertaking. St. Ephrem (AD 378) writes, "Arm thyself with the sign of the Cross as with a shield, sign thy members and they heart, but sign thyself not only with thy hand, but with thy mind. Thy work, thy coming in and thy going out, thy bed, and the ground over which thou dost pass, sign every thing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; for these are the strongest weapons."[ii]
Is there power in the Sign of the Cross? Absolutely. As it was said in the previous paragraph the strongest of all weapons is the Sign of the Cross. St. John Vianney said, “the sign of the cross is the most terrible weapon against the devil. Thus, the Church wishes not only that we should have it continually in front of our minds to recall to us just what our souls are worth and what they cost Jesus Christ, but also that we should make it at every juncture ourselves; When we go to bed, when we awaken during the night, when we get up, when we begin any action, and above all when we are tempted.” St. Gregory of Nazianzen spoke of a man named Julian the Apostate who was not a faithful Catholic at the time, but was able to overcome the Devil just by the sign of the Cross. “Julian the Apostate one day entered a pagan temple, in company with a noted idolater. The latter having invoked the demons, they at once made their appearance: Julian became alarmed; and forgetting, for a moment, that he had abjured the Catholic religion, he made the Sign of the Cross, as he had been formerly accustomed to do when any danger was near. Immediately the infernal spirits disappeared ----so powerful and efficacious was this Sign, when made even by a Christian renegade! This miracle was the last effort of Divine mercy to recall that wretched being to repentance; but the unhappy man's heart was hardened and insensible to every call of God.”
What happens when we make a sloppy Sign of the Cross? Since the Sign of the Cross is thus a highly symbolic gesture, and an act of faith and consecration, it should always be made with care. Because it is made so frequently, there is danger of abusing it. St. John Chrysostom (d.407) remarked that a Sign of the Cross made hurriedly and without personal devotion is an empty and ineffective “magical waving of the hand in which the demons rejoice.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d.386) gives this exhortation: “Let us not be ashamed to confess the crucified. Let us devoutly make the Sign of the Cross on the forehead, and on everything: on the bread we eat, on the wine we drink. Let us make it when we go out and when we come in, when we lie down to sleep and when we rise up, when we journey and when we rest.” There is a true story of a priest, Fr. Ravignan who always made the Sign of the Cross with scrupulous care and devotion. A Protestant minister went one day to hear him in Notre Dame, in Paris. Seeing the venerable Father make the Sign of the Cross with such holy and majestic gravity, he said to his companion: "He has already preached to us; the sermon is over, we can go.[iii]
In a very real sense, the Sign of the Cross is the perfect expression of the theology of the monastic soul. A Christian is a spiritual man, but nevertheless a man who is dependent upon his senses to make contact with realities beyond himself. A spiritual man lives and moves by faith in a world richer and wider than all the material realities he can see with his bodily senses, but these latter are necessary to lift him up to that invisible world. By the use of signs and symbols he draws nearer to the realities they represent, and thus his realization of them becomes life and sources of joy, confidence, and union with God.
Therefore, whether we are Catholic or non-Catholic, let us humbly but freely make the Sign of the Cross whenever we perceive the presence of God or whenever we seek to make Him present, before and after our prayers, and as a prayer itself. As a sign of faith and true devotion, consecration and abandonment to divine providence, redemption and salvation, communion and divine merciful love, the Sign of the Cross not only identifies one as a Christian before God and man, it makes him one. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How is the Sign of the Cross a template of some of the core beliefs of the Faith?
1. We are worshipers of Christ Crucified
2. We have no fellowship with the enemies of the Cross of Christ
3. We profess faith in the Most Holy Trinity
4. We honor and prove our grateful remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ.
5. We honor Jesus who redeemed us and obtained all good things for us by His death on the Cross.
6. We pray the Sign of the Cross to overcome the devil and temptations, for he hates the Cross.
7. We pray it to perform all our undertakings happily in the name of Jesus.
8. We pray it to be preserved by Christ’s merits from all harm of body and soul.