Why do you do that?

What's with the sign of the cross? Isn't that Catholic? What does it mean? These are questions I get frequently. So what better place to start our journey than right there with the sign of the cross.

Many Christians find it meaningful to cross themselves. It is a truly catholic (meaning universal) practice found in Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and some branches of Lutheranism. This is a silent prayer that has several uses and is rich in meaning.

It is appropriate to cross oneself whenever the blessing occurs or at the mention of the Trinity as a symbol of our being blessed in God’s Holy Name and that this blessing comes to us through the cross. The oldest form for making the sign of the cross is to place the first two fingers and thumb of the right hand together as a sign of the Trinity, while placing the last two fingers together pressed into the palm as a sign of the mystery of the incarnation, that Christ was both fully God and fully man. This form is still used in Eastern Orthodoxy and is re-emerging in the West where the prescribed form had been long forgotten (some Western churches cross with all five fingers, while others only use one or two).

In the West we cross ourselves by touching this living symbol first to our head, then down to our stomach, to the left shoulder then to the right and coming to rest in the center over the heart. This is a silent prayer offering our whole being to God, loving Him with our heart, mind and strength as Scripture says.

At the reading of the gospel some Christians make a small cross with their thumb over their forehead, lips and heart. This is a quick prayer asking God to be in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts as we hear (and for the celebrant as he proclaims) the holy words of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As with many of the catholic (again, universal) traditions of the Church, Anglicanism can be at times ambivalent. While you will find this living symbol actively practiced in some "higher church" settings, traditionally "low church" evangelicals will eschew the practice. Thus in Anglicanism it is one more of those traditions that is available but by no means mandatory. If you find it meaningful and helpful by all means use this gestural prayer. If you stumble over it or have some of those hang ups about "Roman Catholic" things that some of us grew up with, perhaps it is more edifying to leave it for others to pursue.