Sign of the cross
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The Sign of the Cross is a ritual hand motion performed mainly within Latin and Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism. For the members of those traditions, the motion symbolizes the four points of the Cross on Calvary by tracing the shape of the cross in the air or on one's own body. The four points can also signify loving God with all one's heart, soul, mind and strength. There are two particular arrangements one is most likely to observe. One is followed by many of the Eastern Churches, the other by the Western (Latin) of Roman Catholicism and the Oriental Orthodox.
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[edit] The gesture
Latin: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
English: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Typically, the right hand is used. The thumb, index, and middle finger are brought to a point. They are then placed on the forehead, then moved down to the sternum, and then from one shoulder to the other (for differences on the sequence see below).
As one moves through the Sign, one recites, at the forehead, "In the name of the Father"; at the stomach, "and of the Son"; and across the shoulders, "and of the Holy Spirit/Ghost, Amen." There are variations that occur. For example, some may mark a very large cross, or a very small one. A person may reach for holy water first. After moving the hand from one shoulder to the other, it may return to the stomach. It may be accompanied instead at times with the words of the Jesus Prayer in some form, or simply "Lord have mercy".
The thumb, index and middle finger brought to a point symbolize the Trinity, three persons sharing a single essence. The remaining two fingers are kept pressed close together and to the palm, representing the human and divine natures united together in Jesus Christ.
Regarding the sequence of which shoulder is touched first, different practices have developed: Catholics of the Latin Rite, Anglicans, Lutherans and the Oriental Orthodox will move the hand from the left shoulder to the right, while the Eastern Orthodox and most Eastern Catholics will do the opposite (i.e. right, then left).
In the western Church, the direction gradually changed[citation needed] during the first millennium from right-to-left to left-to-right. The reasons for this are unclear and heavily disputed, however, the most accepted is that in the West, when the priest made the Sign over the people to bless them, the people mirrored the direction of his hand, rather than copying the motions, thus, they moved their hand left-to-right, the direction that the priest's hand moved from the point of view of the congregation. In the Byzantine-Rite East, the people simply continued[citation needed] to make the same sign. The Ethiopians, though further removed from the West, make the sign of the cross left-to-right.
Whatever the reason, by the 13th century, after the Great Schism between East and West had already occurred, Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) who met with Saint Francis of Assisi, directed that the Sign of the Cross be made with three fingers pressed together, two fingers held tightly in the palm and the hand moves from the forehead to the belly and from the right side to the left shoulder.[citation needed] He also acknowledged that some (in the far West) did the sign with two fingers and from left to right – this was not correct.[citation needed]
In Russia until the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the 17th century, it was customary to make the sign of the cross with two fingers (symbolising the dual nature of Christ). The enforcement of the three-finger sign was one of the reasons for the schism with the Old Believers whose congregations continue to use the two-finger sign of the cross.
Today Russian Orthodox believers finish the sign of the cross by moving the hand to the left side, below the stomach, as opposed to the shoulder. They also frequently make the Sign two times in a row and then bow toward the church, icon, cross, or priest.
[edit] Use of the sign
There are certain times when Christians will make the Sign. Throughout every liturgical action, such as the Mass, there are moments where the Sign is called for. The rubrics of the Tridentine Mass called for it to be made many times over the already consecrated bread and wine. In Eastern Orthodox prayers, the sign of the cross is usually made whenever all three persons of the Trinity are addressed, or alluded to, which is the same in Independent Anglicanism. If one prays the Breviary, one will make the Sign at various times. Before commencing any prayer, in fact, the Sign is typically made. Upon entering a church, and the sanctuary within the church, one will make the Sign partly as an outward sign of reverence and veneration.
Eastern Orthodox and Catholics will make the Sign as one way of venerating an icon of any saint, as well as when venerating the Cross or other sacred relics and objects. It is also often used as a gesture of associating oneself particularly with a petition bring prayed for or when a favourite saint is mentioned in prayers. Anglicans will make it while kneeling, before they sit down in the pew. Priests have many more specific occasions upon which to make the Sign. In the Lutheran tradition the pastor will often make the sign to accompany the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" parts of liturgy, and congregation members are free to join in. Some other protestant denominations use the sign less, or in some cases not at all.
Many Christians will make the Sign in a way that may seem idiomatic to some: for example, if one is exposed to blasphemy, he or she may make the Sign, partly to suggest subtly and politely to the speaker that an offense has been committed, partly to ask the Trinity to forgive the offender. Some will use the Sign in what seems to be a wish for luck; it may be that, or a part of an unsaid prayer for God's blessing, as when starting a travel, a sport competition or a bullfight. The Anglican and Catholic Churches (both Roman and Eastern) consider the Sign a sacramental. Christians may also make the Sign when passing a church as recognition and adoration of Christ's presence in the Eucharist.
The Sign of the Cross is made in other ways as well: it can be made in the air to bless objects (usually by a priest) and it may trace a very small trajectory, such as on the forehead. Before listening to the Gospel during Mass, Roman Catholics, as well as a great many Anglicans, trace the sign with the thumb of the right hand on their own forehead, on their lips and on the heart in quick succession. (Traditionally Roman Catholics will also say 'May the Word of God be on my mind, on my lips and in my heart' when signing the respective areas.)
For Christians in general, perhaps the essential element of the Sign is that it physically indicates the direct relevance of the Cross, of the Sacrifice of Jesus, to one's person or surroundings. It is an engagement of the body that affirms what the faithful professes. It is also a sign to others of what one professes. Many do not hesitate to cross-sign themselves in public as they feel that this an outward expression of their faith to others.
Roman Catholic Bishops, including the Pope make the Sign of the Cross with their right hand three times when they are blessing the public, such as at the end of the Mass. It is made once at the Name of the Father, a second time at naming the Son and one last time at the naming of the Holy Spirit. Other Roman Catholic clerics, however, are restricted to making the Sign of the Cross only once.
In traditional societies, the sign of the cross is performed in food making, eg. the spoon crosses the newly poured mixture before stirring it, in order to bless the food that will come out, housewives make the cross with their hand for the food when putting it in the oven etc. Actually, the custom is followed generally with any product coming from traditional workshops, eg. pottery etc. As an extension, on the eating table, the paterfamilias crosses the bread with the knife before cutting it into slices, since bread is parallelled with the body of Christ.
American baseball superstar Kirby Puckett, during his career, made the sign of the cross before each at-bat.
[edit] Low-Church attitudes
Although the Sign of the Cross dates to early Christianity, it was generally rejected by the Reformers, and is mostly absent from Protestantism. Since the Reformation, it has generally been rejected by Protestants in general and some Low-Church Anglicans as being a Catholic practice. Lutherans never abandoned the practice. It is expected before the morning & evening prayers in the catechism.
[edit] Origins of the sign of the cross
The Christian custom of gesturing the sign of the cross was originally with the right hand's thumb only and across the forehead only. (St. John Chrys., Hom. ad pop. Antioch. xi; St. Jerome, Ep. ad Eustochium.) The custom originated during the second century.
Vestiges of this earliest gesture still exist when Catholics sign a cross on their forehead to hear the Gospels during mass, when their foreheads are marked with ash on Ash Wednesday, when applying the holy oil (called chrism) on the forehead for the sacrament of Confirmation, and so on. Around year 200 in Carthage (modern Tunisia, Africa), Tertullian says: "We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross" (Latin: "Frontem crucis signaculo terimus") (De Cor. mil. 3). The second century Christians signed the cross on their forehead before taking any risk, such as embarking on a journey, and so on.
Tertullian points out that the sign of the cross is not commanded in any Holy Scripture. It is only from Christian cultural tradition. A search for a scriptual prooftext for the sign of the cross has required loose interpretations. For examples: "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark [of ash?] on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable [idolatries] that are done in it" (Ezekiel 9:4). "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal [with holy oil?] on the foreheads of the servants of our God." (Revelation 7:3). And so on. Of course, none of these biblical prooftexts prescribe a motion of a cross, but their location on the forehead probably informed the early Christian custom.
By the fourth century, the sign of the cross involved other parts of the body beyond the forehead. (St. Ambrose, De Isaac et animâ, Migne, P. L., XIV, 501-34.) By the sixth century, these variations of smaller signs across the body conflated into one larger sign from forehead to sternum, like the Orthodox Christians use now. At this time, the signing of the larger cross was also choreographed with three fingers (including the thumb) to represent the Trinity and with the phrase in Latin: "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti".
Originally, when signing the large sign of the cross on oneself, the movement of the hand was from right-to-left. The Eastern Orthodox Church still preserves this motion today. However, the Western Roman Church soon reversed the direction. This relatively minor difference was mentioned as a factor in the Great Schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the eleventh century.
[edit] Double-cross
The English-language expression "double-cross" has led to some fake etymology: the fact that the sign is made in one direction in the Western rite, and the other in the Eastern rites, leads to its sometimes informal use for two people to identify themselves and others as being from the West or East. There was a period in the Middle Ages when some Venetian merchants and others would cross themselves in the Western fashion when meeting with Westerners, and in the Eastern fashion when meeting with Easterners. This duplicity supposedly led to the coining of the phrase "double crosser" to mean someone who professes to be aligned with one party, but in reality is aligned with an opposing party or with no party.
The actual origin of the expression "double-cross" which dates in English from only 1834, has to do with "fixing" a horse-race in a pre-arranged swindle that is almost certainly unconnected with the sign of the cross.
[edit] Catchphrase
The order of motions for the sign of the cross is sometimes referred to by the catchphrase Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet and Watch — the watch being a pocket watch which is traditionally worn in the left hand chest pocket. This corresponds in reality only to the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition of touching the right shoulder before the left.
This term is used in the 1990 Jonathan Lynn film Nuns on the Run when lapsed Catholic Charlie (Robbie Coltrane) tries to teach Brian (Eric Idle) how to perform the sign of the cross, so that he can successfully pass himself off as a nun. It is also used by Edward Norton in Keeping the Faith where, as a priest, he unsuccessfully tries to teach Ben Stiller, a rabbi, how to sign the cross.
It was the punchline in a joke told by Myron Cohen on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show in the 1960s, in which a Catholic priest and his good friend the Rabbi, whom he had long been teasing about needing to convert to Catholicism, are on an airplane together when the plane hits an air pocket and jumps violently. The rabbi makes the traditional gesture and the priest cries out, "You've converted!" "No," says the rabbi, "I vas just checking: spectacles, testicles, vatch, and vallet."
[edit] Offence
In Scotland during a football match between Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C. on the 12 February 2006, Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc performed the sign of the cross. Although Boruc's hand gestures were not captured on official cameras, the reaction of the Rangers supporters were, and indicated that the gestures caused considerable offence and crowd unrest. Complaints about the player's actions triggered an official police investigation of the incident. There is a long history of sectarian violence between Celtic and Rangers fans and both football teams take such incidents seriously. After a six month police investigation the incident was reported to the procurator fiscal who then issued Boruc with an official caution for causing a breach of the peace.[1] Following Press comment, the Crown Office issued a statement on 28 August stressing that action had been taken against Boruc for gestures made toward Rangers supporters rather than for crossing himself, although amature footage appears to contradict any "offence gestures" taking place and that it would not take action against individuals for "acts of religious observance".[2] The validity of the grounds on which the caution as based has now been brought into question, after a section of the Rangers support were similarly offended in the following Old Firm match by Boruc blessing himself but with no offensive gestures.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Alarm at 'cross' player's caution (HTML). BBC News (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-04.
- ^ Player caution 'not for blessing' (HTML). BBC News (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
[edit] External links
- The Sign of the Cross - entry from the Catholic Encyclopedia
- Why Do Lutherans Make the Sign of the Cross? - from the ELCA website
- Sign of the Cross - from the LCMS website
- The Sign of the Cross - from the Episcopal Church's website
- The Power of the Sign of the Cross - (Ukrainian church)
- The Sign of the Cross - a Traditional Catholic perspective
- Significance of the Sign of the Cross
- On making the Sign of The Cross (Old Believers)
