Why Do Catholics Make The Sign Of The Cross
Camila Farah
Praying the sign of the cross is so common that we often rush through it without thinking much about it.
We make it when we begin and end our prayers. Basil shared that the sign of the cross was handed down first from the apostles of christ. This is shown by the fact that the earliest mentions of the sign of the cross speak of it as an already established custom and simply encourage the faithful to make it correctly. Some may make the sign as they drive past a cemetery as a quick prayer for the dead who are buried there.
But more importantly the sign is also an offensive weapon helping us reclaim with christ all that satan lost at the cross. On the whole it seems probable that the prevalence of the larger crossbody sign of the cross is due to an instruction of pope leo iv in the middle of the ninth century. Signum crucis or blessing oneself or crossing oneself is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of christianity this blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or across the body with the right hand often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of the trinitarian formula. Why do we make the sign of the cross.
We may even make it when we hear the holy name of jesus taken in vain and when we pass a catholic church where the blessed sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle. On one level then making the sign is a defensive move declaring our inviolability to the devil s influence. We also make the sign in the name of the holy trinity by invoking father son and holy spirit. Sometimes catholics may make a quick sign of the cross when receiving bad news or when sirens pass as a way of praying for those involved.
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The sign of the cross speaks and confesses. Making the sign of the cross may be the most common of all actions that catholics do. Cyprian taught in the third century that the sign of the cross was a reference to christ s redemptive death on the cross. From the first easter morning through the present the sign of the cross makes the devil cower and flee.
Quite obviously signing ourselves is a mark of our belief in the saving actions of jesus christ. Second powerful symbolic gestures when examined up close say more than one thing.
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