Deacon's Corner: Why the Sign of the Cross?
October 9, 2022, 12:00 PM
We say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” We use our right hand to touch our forehead at the mention of the Father; the lower middle of our chest at the mention of the Son; and the left shoulder on the word "Holy" and the right shoulder on the word "Spirit." We then join hands saying, “Amen.”
 
The Sign of the Cross is not simply an action, but a prayer that we say with reverence. We shouldn't rush through it to start the next prayer (or to begin eating). It’s a very common prayer. We use it to begin and end prayers; when we bless ourselves with Holy Water entering and leaving a church; when we begin Mass; and when we pass a Catholic church where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle. So why the Sign of the Cross? With it we profess the deepest mysteries of our Faith: 1) the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and 2) the saving work of Christ on the Cross. It is a creed, a statement of belief. It is the Gospel in a single motion.
 
Because we make the Sign of the Cross so often, we may rush through it, to say the words and ignore the profound symbolism of tracing the shape of the Cross, the instrument of Christ's death and our salvation, on our own bodies. This 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. Now you know!