The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-04-08
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS.

mark by which the Christian is known
among men, and distinguished from
those who are not of the faith. The
sign of the cross is the sign of his be-
lief and when one makes that sign it
clearly denotes that he believes in
Christ and in the sign by which he
has been saved. By the outward sign
we make public profession of our re-
ligion. To be proud of it is to be
proud of Christ, to be ashamed of it is
| to be ashamed of our Divine Saviour.
There was a custom among the East
ern Christians of branding with a hot
iron the sign of the Cross upon the
forehead of the child. This was done
so that the children who might fall
into the hands of the Mohammedans
might be known to be Christians. So
great was the Moslem hatred of the
cross that they were unwilling to have
among the members of the household
even slave who bore this sign upon
his brow. AS we make the sign of the
cross in blessing ourselves we say, I'm
the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost, Amen" We
thus invoke the divine Trinity and
awaken in ourselves all that is hottest
in our lives, that thus every act may
be sanctifed. The use of the Sign of
the Cross comes to us with all the ira
ditions of the apostolic days. 1t is
found everywhere among Christians,
and it is difficult to assign the moment
of its origin. St. Augustine says that
which is practiced by the Church with
out being prescribed by the Councils
and has always been practiced, is held
to be of apostolic tradition" 1t is re-
lated with historical accuracy that ST..
John, the Evangelist, made the sign OF
the cross upon himself before dying,
and that with the sign of the cross
upon the eyes of the blind man, ST..
Peter restored his sight. ''The sign of
the cross" says st. Ignatius, the mar
tyr, and the disciple of the apostle ST..
John, lis the standard raised against
the power of the world" St. Cyril of
Jerusalem recommended the faithful
of his day to frequently make the sign
of the cross upon their foreheads and
to make it with confidence. The sign
of the cross represents to us the three
principle mysteries of the Christian
religion-the Holy Trinity, the In
carnation and the Redemption. 1t
is Therefore great act of re-
ligion. 1t tells of the Trinity be-
cause by placing the hand upon the
forehead we profess our belief in God
4Io Dot %hn 0f fhn
and the Holy Ghost; in placing the
hand upon the breast we profess be-
lief that God the Son is born of the
Father, and in passing the hand from
the left shoulder to the right we pro-
fess belief that the Holy Spirit is the
bond between the Father and the Son,
the love of one for the other. Although
each person of the Trinity is God,
: they are not three Gods but one God,
, and therefore in making the sign of
: the cross we say I'm the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost" using the singular and not the
plural The mysteries of the Incarna.
, to our minds because, by the sign of
the cross, we make upon ourselves the
, figure of the cross upon which Christ
! the Son of God made man, died for
our sins We glory in the cross of our
Lord, Jesus Christ, who is our saliva
ton, our life and our resurrection
, The sign of the cross leads us to glory
also in the holiness and power of our
Divine Saviour who, by His grace, has
, redeemed the world and through His
, mercy bestowed upon each of us the
bountiful blessings of His redemption
The invitation from our Divine Saw
> Jour is to take UP His cross and follow
Him, for that is the sign of His disci
pies. The sign of the cross gives us
, power to resist temptation, to conquer
the devil and to draw down upon our
: selves the blessings of God. The lives
of the saints are full of the examples
of the victories won over the prince
, of evil by the sign of the cross. Our
: own experience proves the influence
: and power of that act of our Christian
faith, for how many temptations have
been banished and how much of cour
, age has come into our lives by the
: making of the sign of the cross. 1t is
to us as an armor to protect us from
the shafts of evil, it is like an ange'
protector with drawn sword to guar6
us from the assaults Of evil, it is the
sign by which to conquer, it is power
: over the heart of God because it re
= calls the infinite mercy and love o.
! His Divine Son. The Church, there
: fore, uses it in all circumstances II
: the administration of the Sacraments
! in the celebration of Holy Mass, in it:
7 prayers and benedictions 1t bids u!
: begin and end every exercise with thu
: sign of the cross. Our morning an(
: evening prayers, our prayers at meals
: the food we eat and the things we do
: should have upon them the sign of thu
= cross. We are Christians because
AL