#5: Sign of the Cross

When did the sign of the cross originate? What does it mean? What is the significance of tracing little crosses on our forehead, lips and heart just before the Gospel is read at Mass? 

The practice of tracing the sign of the cross (right hand to forehead, heart, left and then right shoulder, sometime accompanied by the words “In the name of the Father, Son & the Holy Spirit, Amen”) is most prominent in the Roman Catholic Church (that would be us) but is also practiced in the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Episcopalian churches.

The history of the sign of the cross goes back as far as Tertullian, an early church father who lived between A.D. 160 and 220. Tertullian wrote, "In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting off our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, in doing whatever occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross."

Originally, it was just a small cross traced with the thumb on the forehead. We don’t really know exactly when the practice changed to the full upper-body version, but we do know that the switch had occurred by the eleventh century A.D., because A Prayer Book commissioned by King Henry instructs to "mark with the holy cross the four sides of the body."

The sign of the cross can mean many things...


· It can be a statement of faith – namely, in the Trinity. When we make the sign, it’s like a mini-version of the creed. We are professing our belief in the Father, and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, through movement. Like in our scriptures, when we pray “in God’s name” we are both recognizing God’s presence and consciously bringing ourselves into God’s presence.

· It can be a renewal of baptism. When we make the sign we are saying in effect, "I have died with Christ and rose to new life." The sign reminds us that through our baptism we have been forever changed and are intimately connected to the body of Christ. We are remembering our joining and our continued membership in this body. It is a statement of our identity: We ARE the on-going incarnation, Christ’s body, alive and living in the world today. As St. Theresa of Avila says “Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours.”

· The sign of the cross can also be a mark of discipleship. It says that we are a follower of Jesus. The word that the members of the early church used for the sign of the cross is the same Greek word used for the physical mark that a slave owner put on a slave, a shepherd put on a sheep and a general put on a soldier. Like a stamp of ownership. So, by signing ourselves we are saying that “I belong to God.”

The three little signs of the cross traced on our forehead, lips and heart before the Gospel is read each Sunday at Mass signify our readiness or our desire to be open to receive God’s word. Our ritual action is a kind of prayer-in-motion that says “May God’s word open my mind, be on my lips and in my heart.”

If you have a questions about being Catholic but are thinking to yourself “Dang, I should know this!” or “Is this scandalous to even ask?” I can guarantee there are probably at least 50 other people asking/thinking the same thing! All submissions will be kept anonymous unless otherwise requested, so send your embarrassing and/or potentially irreverent “Crazy Catholic Questions” to Lisa at dre@ctredeemer.org.