The Sign of the Cross
I distinctly remember the first time I found out not all Christians made the sign of the cross. I was attending summer camp about an hour outside of Pittsburgh at a non-denominational Christian camp. (Ligonier Camp, an amazing place that had a big impact on my life but more on that some other time.)
We all sat down in the dining hall for dinner and before the meal they have someone come up and say grace. As it started, I crossed myself but instantly realized I was the only one at my table who had done so.
Growing up a cradle Catholic who practiced rather infrequently I knew nothing about this and was suddenly very confused. But being that I was in 2nd grade and away from my family for the first time, I didn’t dare ask anyone and quickly dropped the practice for the rest of the week for fear of being the odd one out.
What is the Sign of the Cross?
So what is the sign of the cross? For those of you who don’t know I have included a handy visual guide but essentially it is a devotional tool that is used by Catholics, Orthodox, and some liturgical Protestants.
Its place is often at the start of prayer, at the end of prayers, and during crucial parts of liturgies. It also is often used as a quick silent prayer for God’s guidance or protection. I often see people cross themselves before flying on a plane, or going into something they perceive as dangerous or risky.
The Origins of the Sign of The Cross
Christians have used the cross as a symbol for the faith from the very earliest days. In the beginning, it was done by tracing a cross on ones forehead. In fact, Catholics still observe this method for Ash Wednesday, when using Holy Water entering and leaving church, when being blessed by a Priest, and right before the gospel reading.
The use of a mark on the forehead was an Old Testament practice.
4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” — Ezekiel 9:4
However its New Testament scriptural basis comes from Revelation that three different times mentions that believers will be marked on their forehead.
3 “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” — Revelation 7:3
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads — Revelation 9:4
14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. — Revelation 14:1
Early on the Church developed a devotional practice around the sign of the cross, in fact by 250AD Tertullian remarks on how this activity had permeated every part of the 3rd Century Christian’s life.
“In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross” (De corona, 30)
Cyril of Jerusalem has a similar section in one of his works
“Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in our goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are traveling, and when we are at rest” (Catecheses, 13).
Fighting the Heretics
What many people don’t realize though is our current larger form of the sign of the cross which involves touching our forehead, chest, and shoulders was developed as a popular tool to fight a 5th century AD heresy.
Monophysitism held that Christ only had one nature after the incarnation and to help fight this many Bishops began recommending the sign of the cross be made with two fingers together to represent the dual nature of Christ.
New Advent has a longer explanation worth reading.
It appears on the whole probable that the general introduction of our present larger cross (from brow to breast and from shoulder to shoulder) was an indirect result of the Monophysite controversy. The use of the thumb alone or the single forefinger, which so long as only a small cross was traced upon the forehead was almost inevitable, seems to have given way for symbolic reasons to the use of two fingers (the forefinger and middle finger, or thumb and forefinger) as typifying the two natures and two wills inJesus Christ. But if two fingers were to be employed, the large cross, in which forehead, breast, etc. were merely touched, suggested itself as the only natural gesture. Indeed some large movement of the sort was required to make it perceptible that a man was using two fingers rather than one. At a somewhat later date, throughout the greater part of the East, three fingers, or rather the thumb and two fingers were displayed, while the ring and little finger were folded back upon the palm. These two were held to symbolize the two natures or wills in Christ, while the extended three denoted the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. At the same time these fingers were so held as to indicate the commonabbreviation I X C (Iesous Christos Soter), the forefinger representing the I, the middle finger crossedwith the thumb standing for the X and the bent middle finger serving to suggest the C. In Armenia, however, the sign of the cross made with two fingers is still retained to the present day. Much of this symbolism passed to the West, though at a later date. — New Advent
So the next time you make the sign of the cross know you are still fighting a 1600 year old heresy!
(Note: There are still some churches in existence that may or may not be monophysite in theology. Its an internet rabbit hole but if you have some time here’s a good place to start.)
A Mindless, Non-Biblical Ritual
While the sign of the cross is on the whole a relatively non-controversial action, I have on occasion heard it referred to as the “vain repetitions” that Jesus warns against in Matthew 6:7.
“7 ‘In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard.”
I would make two points to this point. First is that here translations matter a lot. While Matthew 6:76 above is the New American Bible Revised Edition it says “babble.” The more quoted line about “vain repetitions” is from the King James Version, and most modern translations have dropped it.
7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. — NRSV
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. — NIV
The second point is that right after this admonition, Jesus lays out the Lords prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer.9* “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven,* hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come,*your will be done,on earth as in heaven. 11* Give us today our daily bread; 12and forgive us our debts,*as we forgive our debtors; 13and do not subject us to the final test,* but deliver us from the evil one. 14* If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
So if we were to avoid repetitive prayer because repeating words in and of itself is a bad practice, it is sure odd that Jesus then laid out what is undoubtedly the most repeated prayer in Christian history right after it.
The Practical Side
The Sign of the Cross is a great reminder of the trinity, and can be a devotional tool to keep one focused.
I personally find it is very helpful when I cross myself in situations where I might be tempted to do the wrong thing, to speak ill of someone, etc. Its a quick prayer to Jesus to help me through whatever is going on.
It can be used throughout the day to keep one grounded in the cross and it reinforces the centrality to the crucified messiah to the Christian faith.
Its also a great teaching tool for the trinity and the first way that many of our children experience the great mystery of one God and three persons.
