Every Catholic liturgy or celebrations always begins by sign of the cross: In the Name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What does it mean? The sign of the cross is: a confession of faith; a renewal of baptism; a mark of discipleship; an acceptance of suffering; a defense against the devil; and a victory over self-indulgence. When we make the sign, we are professing our belief in the Father, and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. When we are declaring the name of the Holy Trinity, we are declaring their presence among us. As a sacramental, it's a renewal of the sacrament of baptism, because we were baptize in the name of the Holy Trinity. The sign of the cross is a mark of discipleship. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. It's a declaration that I belong to Christ. Self-denial is not just giving up little things; to be a disciple means we are under Christ's leadership and we don't belong to our self. By doing the sign of the cross, we are saying to the Lord, I want to obey you; I belong to you. Please Lord direct all my decisions. I will always be obedient to God's law and will. When suffering comes, the sign of the cross is a sign of acceptance. It's remembering that Jesus became a man and suffered for us and that we participate in Christ's suffering. The sign of the cross teach us to be willing to embrace suffering and to share in Christ's suffering. When you're suffering or feeling like God is not there, the sign of the cross brings him there and declares his presence whether you feel it or not. It is a way of acknowledging him at that time of trial. Sign of cross – in my own experience - use of defense against the devil. In this case, by doing the sign of cross I confess and trust my self and soul to Christ’s protection.
When I was a small, before took a bath, my mom always touched the water and made sign of cross on my body, before I went to school, my parent always made a small cross on my forehead. My parents thought me how to begin everything with ask the help of the Holy Trinity by doing the sign of cross. When first time I enter to the Salesian community, I saw a big cross near the stair to the second floor, that cross full of colors and on the top of cross is written: In Cruce Salus, and during our class of Salesianity, the priest explain to us the meaning of it. Through cross we are saved. In the book of Ezekiel 9: 4-6 “Go all through the city, all through the Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who griveve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it. I heard him say to the others Follow him trough the city and strike. Not ones glace for pity, show no mercy…….But do not touch anyone with a cross in his forehead”. By this sentence, we can see, the power of cross, through it, they were saved by God because He know them and they becomes the seal of God’s ownership (cf, Rev 7:2) and because of it, God protected and freed them. And the sign of protection and freedom became visible in Jesus. He became man and obeys to God’s will even unto death, death on the cross and by it we are saved. He freed us from the darkness of sin and brought us to life everlasting. So, the sign of the cross is a confession of our faith: I believe in Him (Jesus) who suffer for me and rose again; in him who has transformed the sign of shame into sign of hope and of the love of God that is present in us.[1] We can not see the cross only the suffering part but also the resurrection part and it will bring us to live in the spirit of hope. When we sign ourselves with the sign of cross, we offer ourselves to God’s protection and guidance and it is happen in my life. Also we can not forget that when we make the sign of cross: in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior’s grace which lets him act in the spirit as a child of the Father. The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties.[2]
Many times we make the sign of the cross, but just doing it without deeply understanding and falling in routinely. I personally should more be aware because it is the way of God showed his love and protection to me and to all human person, because through the cross we are save and in cross we find our dignity before God and all creatures.
