Things We Do, See and Say at Church: Meditations for a Eucharist Based: Spirituality: The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross

"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 honor thy Benefactor."    -- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 - 386

The sign of the cross in Christian worship and devotion is multivalent in meaning.  As St. Cyril notes, the ritual gesture serves as a kind of seal in which we rededicate ourselves to the lordship of Christ in our lives.  It is a seal in the same way that our signatures seal our attestation or affirmation of something.  As one dictionary puts it, a seal is "a device or substance that is used to join two things together so as to prevent them from coming apart or to prevent anything from passing between them."  The sign of the cross reminds us, and others, of our convenantal relationship with God in Christ.

Performing the sign of the cross also reminds us of something that many Christians rarely think about: the trinitarian nature of God through which we participate and share in the divine life.  Moreover, the sign of the cross reminds of the atoning work of Christ on the cross of Calvary where we died to self with him and have arisen with him to live the resurrected life through baptism.  With such profound meanings, St. Cyril recommends that we perform the ritual frequently; at meals, at bedtime, when we arise, in general, in all our comings and goings and, of course, in the Eucharistic liturgy.

The problem with ritual action is that through repetition, they frequently lose their meaning and significance unless we are intentional in preserving the signification.  When we see an athlete making the sign of the cross after scoring a goal or winning a match, they probably are not entertaining these profound mysteries.  But we should, especially in the Eucharistic assembly.