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“The
venerable custom of making the Sign of the Cross over persons and things has,
without doubt, its origin from Apostolic times; some even trace it to Christ our Lord
Himself who, according to a devout opinion, blessed at His Ascension into
heaven the disciples with His hands in the form of a cross. The very ancient use of the Sign of the Cross
is proved from the universal testimony of the Fathers and ecclesiastical
writers…
The sign of the Cross is a symbolical expression of the
principal mysteries of Christianity, a confession of the Catholic faith. It
reminds us of the Crucified, of the price of our redemption and of the value of
our soul; it enkindles love of God, strengthens hope, animates us to follow
Christ on the way of the Cross; it indicates that in the Cross we are to find our honor,
our salvation and our life; that we should prefer "the folly and weakness
of the Cross" to all the wisdom and power of the world, that, as disciples of the Crucified,
we should combat under the banner of the Cross and by this sign triumph over
all our enemies…
St. Francis
de Sales writes on this subject: "We raise the hand first to the forehead,
saying: in the
name of the Father', to signify that the Father is the first person of the Most
Holy Trinity, of whom the Son is begotten and from whom the Holy Ghost
proceeds. Then saying: 'and the Son,' the hand is lowered to the breast, to
express that the Son proceeds from the Father, who sent Him
down to the womb of the Virgin.
Then the hand is moved from the left shoulder or side to the right, while saying:
'and of the Holy Ghost,' thereby signifying that the Holy Ghost, as the third
person of the Holy Trinity, proceeds from the Father and the Son, that He is
the love that unites both, and that we, through His grace,
partake of the fruits of the Passion… Accordingly, the sign of the Cross is a
brief declaration of our faith in the three great mysteries: namely, of our
faith in the Blessed Trinity, in the Passion of Christ and in the forgiveness
of sin, by which we pass from the left side of curse to the right
of blessing.
The concluding
word Amen has here a two-fold meaning: one side, it expresses his desire that
the petitions included and mentioned in signing himself with the sign of the
cross may be fulfilled; on the otherhand, it confirms and seals the good
intention excited within him by the accompanying words in honor of the Most
Holy Trinity.”
Excerpts taken from "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Fr. Gihr
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