The Sign of the Cross

This gesture has been made by countless millions of Christians down through the ages. Its roots are ancient, going right back to the earliest centuries of the Church’s life.

In the Western Church the sign of the Cross usually takes the form of a cross traced from forehead to breast and from left shoulder to right (in the Eastern Church the movement goes from right to left). Priest and people make this gesture together at the beginning of mass as ‘In the Name of the Father...’ is said. The congregation makes the same gesture as the priest gives us God’s blessing at the end of Mass.

We are encouraged to make the sign of the Cross in a different way at the gospel. We trace three small crosses with the thumb on our forehead, lips and breast as the priest or deacon says: ‘A reading from the Holy Gospel according to N.’ This gesture serves as a reminder that the Good News must be a part of all that we are: in our heads for us to think about, in our hearts to pray and meditate on, and on our lips that we may proclaim it.
But what of the history of this ancient gesture? How did it come about?
Certainly it seems to be have been part of the Christian tradition from very early on. The first certain evidence comes from the early Christian writer, Tertullian,  in chapter 3 of De Corona Milites (c. AD 211) who 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, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the Cross’.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, writing in the fourth century, says this:
Let us not then 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 in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor's sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the Gift; but for this rather honour thy Benefactor."
-- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 – 386

But in all probability the sign of the cross goes back even further, having its roots in Jewish observance and practice. Jews in the time of Jesus (and some Orthodox Jews today), had the practice of keeping texts of scripture in a small box on their arms and foreheads.  Later on, Christians, marked by baptism on the forehead, would also begin to make the sign of the cross to express, not only their membership of the Christian family, but to express  the principal Christian truths of the Trinity, Christ the Cross in a physical way.

During the time of persecution this sign would have been made secretly, perhaps by tracing the cross with a stick in the dust on the ground and then quickly brushing it away. As the persecutions gave way to acceptance, so the gesture became more expansive and open. It was in the 13th century that Pope Innocent decreed the familiar form that we have today: using the first three fingers of the right hand (to symbolise the Trinity) and making the cross from forehead to breast and from left to right shoulder.

Even so, we can still use this gesture to remind us of different aspects of our faith. Using the first two fingers symbolises the two natures of Christ, human and divine. Using all five symbolise his five wounds. Using just one reminds us not only of the Trinity but also the unity of God.
So we can see that the sign of the Cross is not only an ancient Christian gesture; it is extremely rich in meaning. Christians need to make it frequently: in the morning, during the day, at night when we lie down to sleep, at the Mass in the usual place, as we pass a church. Just as Christ took flesh for our sake, so we too, need to find ways to give our faith a physical expression: the sign of the Cross is one of the most beautiful and complete ways of doing so.