Inter-Faith Series, Holy Trinity: Why do Catholics make the sign of the cross?

Answer 1

It's just an outward sign to remember the basis of the religion.

Greeks Orthodox do it too....many times during a service.

Answer 2

I open my hand and touch my brow, and say,
"In the name of the Father"

Then I touch my heart with my hand, and say,
"and of the Son."

I touch my shoulders left and right, and say,
"and of the Holy Spirit"

I say,
"Amen."

The Sign of the Cross is
+ A statement of belief in the Holy Trinity
+ A statement of belief in and thanksgiving for Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross
+ God blessing us
+ Us Blessing God ("I will bless the Lord at all times")
+ A prayer using your entire body
+ A Bible quote (Matthew 28:19)

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

The Sign of the Cross is primarily a blessing. We use it to call God's blessing upon us. We also use it, in both large and small versions, to bless others or things, such as a rosary. When used in this way,the large Sign of the Cross is made in the air. Laypersons as well as clergy can use it to bless others. Parents,for example, may use the Sign of the Cross to bless their children.

When we make the Sign of the Cross upon ourselves, we are also expressing our belief in God and the Trinity. Through it, we remind ourselves of God's love for us, of the sacrifice Jesus made to give us eternal life, and of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

The Sign of the Cross also gives us a way to express our belief in Jesus' death and our hope in the Resurrection. We embrace the cross of Jesus and express our willingness to take up our own cross, all the while bursting with joyful hope in the Resurrection.

Answer 4

As a reminder of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.

As a reminder of the Two Natures of Christ.

As a personal blessing before and after prayer.

To remind us of the finished work of Christ upon the Cross.

Personally, I do it whenever I hear a siren - as a reminder to pray for the Police, Fireman, Ambulance Driver or any victims.

Answer 5

We make the sign of the cross because we Honor the father, the son, and holy spirit.

Answer 6

In addition to things already said, it is a remembrance without shyness of the fact that we love the TRINITY (top, at head): with all our mind; (bottom, at heart): with all our heart; (center, at shoulders, from side to side): with all our might, proud to carry the Yoke HE gives, and unting first to GOD, then to one another, remembering that the SON came dwon from the FATHER in infinite Humility, and that in the place established for us, between CHRIST's utmost Descent, and the Highest Place where the DIVINE Reign is, the HOLY SPIRIT connects neighbor to neighbor, as yolk-fellows in one Church, causing us to be brothers who love, each one his neighbor, as he loves himself.

The moment the TREE OF LIFE bleed out all HIS Life Sap for us, the Cross on which HE did so became powerfully the Symbol of Life Everlasting, and we are ver proud of the Cross as the Altar of the SELF-Sacrifice of the LAMB OF GOD.

As prophesied in Ezekiel, the Sign of the Cross (cf. chapter 9), and the the very same Sign, placed on the head of Cain as a guarantee of Salvation (Genesis 4), is the Sign of Life. From the beginning, as in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, those anointed unto CHRIST in Confirmation, which completes Baptism, were always sealed with the Sign of the Cross on the forehead with the Anointing, in the Sacrament of the Laying on of Hands for the HOLY SPIRIT, and so we remember our Baptism and Confirmation, in which we are crucufied and raised up as new creations with CHRIST, and born into the Kingdom, of the Water and of the SPIRIT, and made partakers in CHRIST's own Anointing, to which Saint John the Apostle refers in his "first Epistle".

In the Book of Acts, we see that those first baptised in Samaria had also to be confirmed as soon afterward as was possible, and that Philip could not do this himself, as he was only a Deacon, and not a Priest. In the sxth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which Tradition says Luke, the writer of the Acts, had part in writing, also mentions Baptisms, then Laying on of Hands, in exactly that order. In the "first Epistle" of John (he likely wrote earlier ones), he mentions the Witness on earth of the SPIRIT, Blood and Water, speaking of Confirmation, the Eucharist, and Baptism's threefold Witness.

Answer 7

profession of faith in the Trinity and salvation by the death of Christ and the use of the body in worship and in consecrating ourselves to the Trinity and to Christ,true God and Man, crucified and risen,sacrifice and victorious Lord and as a call to worship

Answer 8

Father (top), Son (bottom), Holy Ghost (across middle.)
It is a visual way for us to express our faith. It is usually asscociated with genuflection. (it usually involves kneeling and prayer.)