“Lord, teach us to pray”

(Lk. 11:1)

Making the Sign of the Cross

During a church service, you might have seen your Pastor make the sign of the Cross at various times in the liturgy. He may begin the service with it, motion it over the people during the absolution and most likely will make the sign over the bread and wine during the consecration of the Sacrament of the Altar, amongst other times. However, a lot of people often don’t realise that this physical act is actually a very ancient and precious tradition in the Church.

One scholar notes: “Crossing oneself was practised by Christians from the earliest centuries and may go back to apostolic times. We know that it was already a common ceremony used daily in A.D. 200, for Tertullian writes: “In all undertakings – when we enter a place or leave it; before we dress; before we bathe; when we take our meals; when we light the lamps in the evening; before we retire at night; when we sit down to read; before each task — we trace the sign of the cross on our foreheads.” St. Augustine (A.D. 431) speaks of this custom many times in his sermons and letters.” (Paul Lang, Ceremony and Celebration)

Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) in his Catechetical Lectures wrote, “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 travelling, and when we are at rest”

Why make a physical sign for a spiritual act?

A human being is more than just a spiritual person with an immortal soul. He or she also has a mind and body. The scriptures command us to worship God with the whole of ourselves- every part of us. Everything we are and all that we naturally are born with is to honour and worship God. Jesus, reinforcing the commandments of the Old Testament said “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

When we go to Church, we worship, pray and sing with our whole self, and that includes of course our bodies. The Bible is filled with examples of the use of the body in worship and prayer to God. (For interesting examples see Ex. 28:36-38; Ezek. 9:4; Rev. 7:3 etc)

Uniquely Christian.

The world over has many religions, all with their own practices. However, when we look at the practices of prayer, they have many common features. Within the various traditions, religious laws and prescriptions found the world over we notice that they all share the same physical gestures. Common to prayer in all religions are such things as kneeling, the folding or joining of hands, bowing, prostrating, bowing of the head and/or body, outstretching of arms or hands and so forth. But only the Christian religion has the Sign of the Cross. In ancient times, the Sign was used to identify and display the mark of being a Christian. It made a Christian stand out from the vast crowd of other religions.

Counter-cultural and bold.

During times when Christians were making the Sign of the Cross there was often great suffering of tribulation and persecution from the world towards them. The prevailing culture around them was hostile to God, His laws, His ways and even His grace and love. Christians suffered publicly, often ending in them being slain as martyrs for their faith. Yet their lives still boldly proclaimed their faith in God and the Gospel. Not only did they continue to spread God’s word amongst themselves and to the world, they were living epistles of that word in their actions (2 Cor. 3:2) through their sacraments and the ceremonies and customs that always pointed back to Christ (2 Thess. 2:15). During this time the Church not only grew and spread but did so rapidly. This growth occurred against the flow of the prevailing culture. It had no assistance from the state or from from ungodly human methods (Ps 20:7,8).

The early Christians were counter-cultural. They were bold. They were seen as radical. The Sign of the Cross was one of their marks.

A constant presence in the Church of God.

While the precise origins of the Sign of the Cross are unknown, they are certainly very early and we know of no time in which the custom was not practised. It is a constant presence in the Church throughout all history.

We know that the method in which the sign was made often changed in history, differing even in place to place, but it was always considered a matter of personal piety and not a “law” which one must follow to be saved. One is free to make the Sign of the Cross, or not.

The Reformers of the Church in the 16th Century were faced with many questions of Christian doctrine and practice. The earliest Reformers retained the practice of making the Sign of the Cross and it can still be seen in the Churches of their descendants. It is not uncommon to see this custom retained today in Lutheran, Anglican and some Methodist churches (the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches also retain this custom). It was rightly considered by the early Reformers a matter of personal piety for the laypeople and at the same time more strictly retained for use in the liturgy by the clergy. Some later Reformers from less conservative or from radical schools discarded the practice along with many other ancient customs.

Can we and how do we make the Sign of the Cross?

The prayer accompanying the outward sign is “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen” The prevailing practice in the Western Church is to make the Sign of the Cross with the right hand, with the thumb, index and middle finger held together, touching the forehead at the naming of the Father, the chest at the Son, and crossing the hand from the left to right shoulders at the naming of the Holy Spirit. Many other variants are practised and a person is free to choose whatever style they wish. There are many ways with interesting meanings to hold the hand, and in the Eastern Churches (and some US Lutheran churches) they cross their shoulders from right to left. There is of course wisdom in following the custom of one’s congregation or family. Unity in the congregation or family is always a good thing.

Luther, giving advice and instruction to the Protestant Churches, certainly commended and expected that this practice should be a part of a Christian’s daily life. He regarded it as a reminder of one’s own Christian identity, a symbol of one’s passing from the old life to the new in baptism. Luther’s 1526 Order of Baptism called for the sign of the cross to be made over the candidate as a part of Baptism. “Receive the sign of the holy cross on both your forehead and your breast” (See Rom. 6:3) He also believed that it was a useful prayer of its own and spoke of it as commonplace.

Here’s some helpers for your own daily prayer practice. Luther taught that every morning and evening should be marked as follows:

Morning Prayer
“In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. If you choose, you may also say this little prayer: I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Then go joyfully to your work, singing a hymn, like that of the Ten Commandments, or whatever your devotion may suggest.”

Evening Prayer
“In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Then kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. If you choose, you may also say this little prayer: I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Then go to sleep at once and in good cheer.”
These prayers are found in Luther’s Small Catechism, which also has good instruction on prayer itself, The Lord’s Prayer in particular as well as advice for blessing and giving thanks during meals.

Is this ancient practice for you?

That’s up to you. But I’d ask my readers to consider this one fact- the culture of the world is once again turning into the world met by the early Christians. It is hostile to God and His people and being a traditional, faithful Christian is once again a radical counter-cultural way of life. With so many in the world and even in the Church adopting the ways of the world we need to make a stand against the trends to proclaim the truth of Christ more and more. Is it time for all traditional and faithful Christians to make the Sign of the Cross our distinctive practice again?

From Redemption magazine, official magazine of RCF,

By  Ps. T. Harris,  2016