When Catholics cross themselves why is the cross inverted?

Question

I keep seeing it done from forehead to upper chest then shoulder to shoulder.I'm not Catholic so I don't understand.

this question is not meant to insult Catholics in anyway.I asked because thats the way it looks to me and i want to better understand what i'm seeing. thank you to everyone who answered.

Answer 1

That's a really good point you make there! I never thought of it that way. Well, I've done some quick research on Google and it turns out that this form of crossing yourself was started by the Opus Dei in the early 20th century. Before that people used to reach all the way down to their navel when crossing themselves, making an upright cross, but that was considered obscene.

I wonder what ulterior motive Opus had for this one!!!

Answer 2

This is the way it may look, but it is not what is intended.

The parts of the body that are touched are the forehead, where the mind is located, the chest where the heart is located and the two shoulders which are the tops of the two arms.

We are asking for the Lord to be in our thoughts, our heart and in the work that we do (with our arms and hands) today.

Answer 3

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't see the inversion -- much less how any sinister meaning can be ascribed to the motion (ooooh, Opus Dei started it? Come on ...) unless one works really, really hard at trying to find something that's not there.

The motion begins at the head -- so that's "right side up", is it not? At best, one can describe it as an abbreviated cross, ending as it does at the shoulders. And that's just one sign of the Cross that we make.

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as "A term applied to various manual acts, liturgical or devotional in character, which have this at least in common: that by the gesture of tracing two lines intersecting at right angles they indicate symbolically the figure of Christ's cross."

So the question of inversion, if there is one, is not relevant.

Answer 4

It's not inverted. Here are directions I found using google!

1. Touch your forehead
2. Touch the base of your sternum
3. Touch the left side of your chest
4. Touch the right side of your chest
5. As you cross yourself, say, whisper, or think: “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Why someone would need directions, I have no idea.

Answer 5

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)

In French: Au nom du père, Et du fils, Et du Saint-Esprit. Amen.
In Latin: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
In Spanish: En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.

I do not understand the part of your question about it being inverted.

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

I think it just looks inverted because the forehead is so much farther away from the chest than the shoulders are from the chest.

Answer 7

Crossing ourselves is a pious act, a declaration of our Faith and our pride in the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ who allowed Himself to be crucified for our sake and for our salvation. So making the Sign of the Cross is a reminder of the Life of Christ, His Divinity and His Living Presence in ourselves who believe and call on His Name.

It is not inverted

We mark ourselves with the Sign of the Cross in this way:

First we touch our foreheads – this signifies that God is in heaven and we pray that He will enlighten our mind

Second, we touch our breast (that is our chest) and this signifies that God is in our hearts (our feelings)

Or

We touch our belly and thus signify that we believe that Jesus came down to earth from heaven and was made Man in the womb of the Virgin Mary

Next we touch our right shoulder, thus asking our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ to place us at His right hand when He comes to judge the world, but also this reminds us that Christ sits at the right hand of the Father (as we say in the Creed “…And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father...”). Then we touch our left shoulder and by so doing we are asking the Holy Spirit to completely cover us.

By this sealing we are also confirming our own voluntary acceptance of our cross through our faith in God

Answer 8

it's not inverted. we Catholics put ourselves in the Presence of God when we cross ourselves.