Before each prayer we make the sign of the Cross, but why do we do it? The sign of the cross comes from the first centuries of Christianity, since we find in the writings of Tertullian, who lived between the years 160 and 220 AD, the following: “In all our travels and movements, in all our departures and arrivals, When we put on our shoes, when we take a bath, at the table, when we light our candles, when we go to bed, when we sit down, in any of the tasks in which we occupy ourselves, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.”, the first Christians justified this sign according to the book of Revelation where it is indicated that the servants of God will have a seal on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3, 9:4, 14:1).
This sign on the forehead later evolved into the sign of the cross that we know today, from the forehead to the chest, indicating that Jesus Christ descended from heaven to earth in his Incarnation, and from the left shoulder to the right, indicating that after his death He descended into hell and ascended to Heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of the Father.
It is during the sign of the cross that we say the words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, thus certifying that the name of God is one and that God is expressed in the three persons of the Holy Trinity. It is also by pronouncing these words that we express our baptismal legacy, where we die to sin and rise in Christ. By making the sign of the cross we are witnessing with body and soul our faith, we mark the cross in ourselves, thus claiming to ourselves the Cross of Christ and His victory over sin through His sacrifice.
Let’s be aware of everything we express when we make the sign of the cross and say the words that accompany it. Let us always be witnesses and proclaim our faith before the world, that our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for the atonement of our sins and by His sacrifice and resurrection we have been saved.