Reader Ken Jones has asked a very interesting question:
I make the Sign of the Cross as much as or more than most, but I've been asked a question I cannot answer: What is "in the name of the Father," and so on? What's understood (left unsaid) that makes this phrase a sentence?
Perhaps the most common criticism of the Catholic practice of prayer (with the possible exception of our practice of praying to saints) is that we engage in "vain repetition" or prayer by rote. Properly understood and used, such prayers are not really a problem but a way to structure our prayer life.
On the other hand, when a prayer becomes very familiar, we may sometimes lose sight of what we're actually saying when we're praying it. Ken has provided a good example.
When we begin the Sign of the Cross "In the name of the Father," we are indeed leaving something out. But what we're leaving out depends on what we're doing when we make the Sign of the Cross.
If, for instance, we're making the Sign of the Cross to begin our prayers, then what we're saying is "These prayers that I am about to pray are being made in the name of the Father," etc. Think of the parallels in the Mass: After the priest recites various prayers, he says, "We ask this in the name of the Father . . . "
But what about when we, say, enter a church and make the Sign of the Cross using holy water? Then we're saying, "I dedicate myself to God in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The use of holy water and the words are a quick renewal of our baptismal vows.
Similarly, if we make the Sign of the Cross over our children, we're asking God to bless them, and we're asking that "in the name of the Father," etc.
The frequent use of the Sign of the Cross is a very good thing, a way to fulfill Saint Paul's command to "pray without ceasing." And the Sign of the Cross is a sacramental—indeed, the chief sacramental used in the Church.
We can make better use of it, however, by making a conscious effort to realize how we're using it each time we do.
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