Reader Question: Why Do Catholics Make the Sign of the Cross?
Why do Roman Catholics make the Sign of the Cross when they say, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"?Making the Sign of the Cross may be the most common of all actions that Catholics do. We make it when we begin and end our prayers; we make it when we enter and leave a church; we start each Mass with it; we may even make it when we hear the Holy Name taken in vain and when we pass a church where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
But do you know why we make the Sign of the Cross? The answer is both simple and profound.
In the Sign of the Cross, we profess the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith: the Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--and the saving work of Christ on the Cross. The combination of the words and the action are a creed--a statement of belief. We mark ourselves as Christians through the Sign of the Cross.
And yet, because we make the Sign of the Cross so often, we may be tempted to rush through it, to say the words without listening to them, to ignore the symbolism of tracing the shape of the Cross on our own bodies. A creed is not simply a statement of belief--it is a vow to defend that belief, even if it means following Our Lord and Savior to our own cross.
One further note about the reader's question: Roman Catholics aren't the only Christians to make the Sign of the Cross. All Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox do as well, along with many high-church Anglicans and Lutherans (and a smattering of other Mainline Protestants). Because it is a creed that all Christians can assent to, it shouldn't be thought of as just "a Catholic thing."
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I learned at my Catholic Elementary School that when we do the sign of the cross it begins at the forehead so we listen and learn, next our heart so we keep it in our hearts and feel it and our mouth so we can speak it and share it. Where does this fit in? and how about to the right and left at each shoulder?
Although I don’t think it is practiced much, I believe that I’ve read that Martin Luther recommended that the sign should be used before some prayers.
The “and ofs” that we say as we make the cross in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit expresses the equality of the three Persons. Touching your head on “in the name of the Father” recognises Him as the head of the Trinity. Touching your breast “and of the Son” denotes recognition that the Son came to teach us of the love of the Father for us (and love is in the heart). “in the name of the Holy Spirit” touch 1st your left (Holy) and then the right shoulder (Spirit): the Holy Spirit is the strength of God, the Comforter, who helps us carry the burdens of life. We carry heavy things on our shoulders.
Constatine saw a vision of the cross in 312AD in front of the sun with the latin words for “In this sign you shall conquer”. He ordered the cross to be put onto his battle standards. He invaded Italy (even though he had the poorest and weakest area and army – outnumbered 4-1), without fear and he won. 29 October 312 Rome opened the gates to Constantine. In thanksgiving he ended the persecution of the Church, gave her legal status and outlawed death by crucifixion.
It became a practice in later years to conquer the world in the name of the sponsor of the explorer. Eg. Columbus took America in the name of Isabel and Ferdinand of Spain – his benefactors. It became a possession of Spain. Similarly, when we do anything in the name of the Trinity, we sign it over to Them. So parents should sign their children with the cross when they kiss them goodnight before going to bed (and even in the mornings when they leave home). Please read the scriptual references that supports all of this: Ezekiel 9:4, Rev7:3, Rev9:4, Rev14:1
From: Our Lady Teaches About Sacramentals and Blessed Objects by Rev. Albert Joseph Mary Shamon.
Along with the obvious reference to the Holy Trinity, the sign of the cross also represents laying of the cross upon our very bodies. It brings us fully into the mystery of the cross and the love of Jesus who died on it for us.
In regards to the actions. We start at the head which brings God to our minds, our hearts and our shoulders for strength.
I was taught a lot of these same things throughout Catholic school myself. As I am growing with scripture I am beginning to battle with a lot of the Catholic teachings that show up no where in Scripture. Yet as I study these things such as “the sign of the cross” I see that lots of these teachings and or traditions are created by catholicism and now followed by many which seems to be a common them and potentially dangerous. Am I overlooking the mention of “the sign of the cross” in scripture that this is an example of how we are to display our faith or is this just another example of how the Catholic church creates their own traditional beleifs outside of what Jesus and the scripture teaches us? I am curious of this because my kids are 3 and 4 and have just begun to go to Catholic school and or now making the sign of the cross before we pray and it has really caughtmy attention an made me think are we teaching our kids what scripture tells us to do and how do do things or are we consistently displaying our beleifs and confessing our sins the way the Catholic church teaches? Please help. Thanks!
Re: Jesse
Catholics do a lot that will not be found in the Bible. Many of the things we do are actually things begun in bygone eras to teach the faith when the great majority of people were illiterate, which is why statues and stained glass are persent. We are not a faith that relies only the Bible. We have this great thing called Sacred Tradition that most to the Protestant denominations do not have. It is belief that when the pen was laid to rest at the completion of the Bible, God was not, and is not finished teaching us. Even the Bible states that not all things are recorded in its pages. Sacred Tradition is a body of work that continually grows as we experience the teacings to the great leaders, Thomas Acquinas, Mother Teresa, etc. This body of work is not added to in any hap-hazard way, but only after much scruitiny and debate by the doctors of the Church.
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