Sign of the Cross, Sign of Faith

I wrote this article on 12/21/2007. It was an essay that I submitted as a guest blogger to a now defunct blog. I just found it today in an old email. - By Rose Contreras, 5/28/2018

          Nothing publicly labels a Catholic as blatantly as does the practice of making the sign of the cross.  This simple action is the most powerful, public confession of faith that a Catholic can make.  When a Catholic makes the sign of the cross, other Catholics know "this person believes as I do."  No words are spoken, and yet a kinship is instantly acknowledged where there was none before.  It is not just a parenthesis to prayer, not a mere Catholic version of a secret handshake.  It is an entire belief system expressed in one sweeping gesture.

First, the hand goes to the center of the forehead.

In the name of the Father.

(I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  I believe in papal infallibility in matters of Catholic teaching.  I confess my sins to a priest and receive absolution.  I believe in the sanctity of the life of the unborn.)

Then the hand goes to the mid chest.

The Son.

(I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only son, our Lord, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, that He rose from the dead on the third day.  I believe that the Holy Mass is the source and summit of my faith, that the Eucharist - the consecrated communion wafer - is the actual body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, that Jesus died for my sins only once but gives me the privilege of sharing in His sacrifice through the Eucharist every day if I choose.)

Then the hand goes to the left shoulder . . .

And The Holy . . . . 

. . . . hand to right shoulder.

. . . . . Spirit.

(I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.  I believe that Mary is ever virgin, and I venerate her as the Mother of God.  I believe the Catholic Church is the original true church founded by Jesus Christ, and that Peter was the first pope.)

Amen.

           The Catholic practice of crossing oneself at the start of prayer is in essence a remembrance of our baptism.  When Catholics are baptized, the priest takes his thumb and makes the imprint of the cross on the forehead of the individual being baptized.  The Catechism of theCatholic Church explains this ritual as follows:

"¹²³⁵ The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ theone who is going to belong to Him and signifies the grace of the redemption Christ won for us by His cross."

         In crossing ourselves at prayer we are, in essence, harkening back to this pivotal moment of our baptism when the priest marked us as one who belongs to Christ.  We cross ourselves in acknowledgment of the validity of our baptism, when we first became children of God.

          I was baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas, at 40 days of life.  February 2008 will mark my 43rd year as a Christian.  For 15 years I considered myself an ex-Catholic, and it was during this time that I abandoned the practice of making the sign of thecross, that simple hand movement that carries with it such a bold statement of faith.  In 1985, I was a very young 20-year-old.  My husband was in the Navy and away at sea for months at a time, and my family were hundreds of miles away.  A friend had begun inviting me to Protestant bible studies and church services.  I have 13 years of Catholic schooling behind me, not to mention a mother who never allowed me to miss mass, so these friendly and heart-felt invitations were not easy for me to accept.  They threw me into a state of real confusion.  I consulted the priest at the Navy base before I made my decision.  He advised me to kindly decline my friend's invitation and explained patiently why it was necessary to do so.  I didn't take his advice.  I was lonely and I missed having friends, so I accepted the invitations.  Thus began my 15-year journey away from Catholicism, which took place one gesture and fundamental practice at a time.

          The sign of the cross was the first to go.  Even my attendance at Sunday mass lingered longer.  Initially I stopped making the sign of the cross at the start of prayer because I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb when I prayed with my new friends, nor did I want to offend them.  I knew they considered Catholicism an empty religion, a dead end instead of a true spiritual path, and I knew they were praying for my salvation as defined by Evangelical Protestant doctrine.  While I was concerned with offending their beliefs, it never occurred to me to stick up for mine.

          Later, when our children were born, my husband and I made the decision to ensure that they receive the Catholic Church’s sacraments of initiation (baptism, reconciliation, Eucharist), even though we were not practicing Catholics at the time.  Our reasons for this at the time had more to do with family and cultural traditions, but I also believe that God had a greater plan for our family.  When they were very little, we taught our kids to make the sign of the cross when they prayed, but we also taught them to be selective in doing so.  Just as when I was a kid, I knew which family members to speak Spanish to and which ones to speak English to, my kids knew to make the sign of the cross when they prayed with Catholic family members, and they knew to refrain when praying with non-Catholic family and friends.  Kids are smart that way.

          We lived this spiritual double life for a long time, and it wore on us after a while and eventually came to an end.  Fast forward to 2000 when I made the decision to walk away from the Evangelical faith.  I did so with reluctance at first.  However, I decided that if I was going to be a practicing Catholic, I wanted to know the meaning behind the gestures, the relics, and the culture.  What I discovered was that all those practices that Evangelicalism claimed were empty gestures and vain repetition were actually rich with meaning, history, and tradition.

          My first step back to Catholicism began with attendance at Sunday, and sometimes daily, mass.  My second step was that I began making the sign of the cross every time I prayed, regardless of where I prayed or with whom I prayed, be they Catholic or non-Catholic.  For the first time in my life, I made the sign of the cross with a heartfelt passion and affection for my Catholic faith that I never knew I could feel.

          We moved forward as a Catholic family as well, and my husband and I let our children know that we would be making the sign of the cross every time we prayed from then on.  They took to making the sign of the cross easily, and when they were older, both the children expressed to us their relief at our decision to return to Catholicism.  Apparently, they had tolerated our church-hopping, but they had never cared for it.  They were glad to have a solid and unwavering church home, and that it was Catholic.  I had never realized that in leading a spiritual double life, I had been leading my children to do the same.

          Now, as a Catholic family, we make the sign of the cross every time we pray, whether we are at home, in a restaurant or any public place.  We also do so individually, when we are out in the world living our daily life.  Is this a necessity?  Will God hear our prayers if we do not do so?  Nothing in the Catholic doctrine that I embrace says so.

          In making the sign of the cross when I pray, I am making an outward statement that I embrace the teachings of my church, that I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ and eternal salvation through Him, and in the Holy Spirit.  For me there is no other way to pray.