A vast body of evidence shows that the cross was used centuries before the birth of Christianity. Its witness to a faith that is ever ancient, yet ever new is yet another way the Sign of the Cross symbolizes the heart of what we believe and practice as Catholics. Hi guys. I need to know what is the biggest difference between the modern Christianity and Catholic religions? Many place the symbol of the cross upon their Bibles, pulpits, steeples, and car bumpers. 2. Tertullian: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Philip Schaff, ed., Eerdmans, 1980, vol. 2157; see also CCC, no. The Sign of the Cross is made by touching the forehead with the fingers of the right hand, then the breast and then the left and right shoulders. As noted on page 21 of the BW book, its name (Tav) is a common Hebrew word that denotes a mark, sign, or cross. For unless that sign be applied, whether it be to the foreheads of believers, or to the very water out of which they are regenerated, or to the oil with which they receive the anointing chrism, or to the sacrifice that nourishes them, none of them is properly administered” (Tractates on John 118). The sign of the cross was well known in the symbolics of various ancient nations. Over time, Christians have imbued this small, simple gesture with volumes of theological meaning. It is known either in the form … (1) Extra-Scriptural. Amen." It is not the equivalent of a ‘cross.’” The word xyʹlon, used at Acts 5:30, is “simply an upright pale or stake to which the Romans nailed those who were thus said to be crucified.” By the Sign of the Cross we pledge allegiance to Christ and invite the Holy Spirit to apply the cross to our lives—to take up our cross and follow Christ. Learning a lot about our church. Often these words contain they letter they are naming. The sign of the cross was made simply with the fingers (the index or the thumb) on the forehead or lips or breast (as Latin-rite Catholics do at the beginning of the Gospel lesson) or with the whole hand over the torso. Lutheran pastors bless the congregation several times during the liturgy at confession and benediction as well as at the reading of the Gospel and consecration of the holy Communion. We Lutherans still practice it. All this is to say that the Sign of the Cross is indeed a distinctly Catholic (and Orthodox) practice, but it is also one that is deeply rooted in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Sign of the Cross, we profess the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith: the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--and the saving work of Christ on the Cross on Good Friday. As then-Cardinal Ratzinger once described it, the Sign of the Cross as the “summing up and re-acceptance of our baptism.”. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN and the Today Show and his writing has been published in the Washington Times, Providence Journal, the National Catholic Register and on MSNBC.com and ABCNews.com. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, he is a convert to Catholicism. (For example, see the Haydock Bible Commentary here and Scott Hahn’s book Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots.). We mark ourselves as Christians through the Sign of the Cross. crossing self, All rights reserved. (It might help, before proceeding further, to recall that languages have words for the letters in their alphabets. The idea of a sign or a seal marking members of the Church as God’s own also surfaces elsewhere in the New Testament. (See below illustration.). The sign of the cross reflects biblical reality. This seems to be a special situation in a unique period of trial and tribulation at the end of time where certain of God's people are for that unique period marked so at to preserve them. The combination of the words and the action are a creed—a statement of belief. He is a former news editor at GoLocalProv.com and was a correspondent for the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he covered the 2008 presidential primary. 786). It's a symbol of death, but so much more. Can i please adopt it to my parish newspapper ? In this form a "new standard, called the Labarum, was accordingly made, and" borne by the Roman armies. A number of commentators, most notably St. Jerome, have concluded that the mark was cross-shaped. The sign of the Cross shows the transformation of each man and his friendship with God. Cross, the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. Only recently, since the Reformation, has the Sign of the Cross (along with the Crucifix, holy water and other visible signs) been rejected as idolatrous by many Protestant traditions. Origen: The Faith of Catholics, Rev. Over the centuries, this interpretation of Ezekiel 9:4 has been taken seriously by saints and scholars alike. Around 1,000 BC—a few hundred years before the writing of Ezekiel—it still had a cross-shape but was more like St. Andrew’s Cross. But I think it’s only the higher liturgical Lutherans that use it but the conservative evangelical Lutherans do not. It’s the same idea with Hebrew. The practice has developed over time and is now a regular practice for over a billion people around the world. { 7 comments… read them below or add one }. The manger was planned. Next post: What Does the Word Catholic Mean? What did this sign or seal look like? In Israeli schools, writing the “plus” sign is frowned upon, because it looks too much like a cross. The article has a minor error – it was not abandoned by Protestants. The shape of the sign is a reminder of the cross of Christ. Wouldnt it be too easy to be saved then? ), Catholic commentators have traditionally associated the seal on the foreheads of the servants of God with the Sign of the Cross. Those so marked would be saved from the destructed that was to be visited upon the sinners. It is the most common and visible means by which we confess our faith. (Philippians 3:8) Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us keep our eyes on the cross and all its richness. In the New Testament the cross was the instrument of crucifixion, and hence used for the crucifixion of Christ itself (Eph. Centuries later, in the early 1800s, the noted Catholic commentator George Haydock cites it. Specifically, St. Jerome says the mark was shaped like the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, which, in its earliest forms had a cross-like shape. This tradition of wearing a cross does not come from the Bible or the practices of the New Testament Church. Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19 (Matthew 27:37) - "And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity.It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. In Revelation 7, John witnesses four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding back storm winds ready to wreak havoc on the earth and sea. © Copyright 2020 Catholic Exchange. To carry your cross means not to think about yourself first. Ezekiel provided a support for the early Christians to use it as a “sacramental” (CCC 1235, 1668) to display their devotion to Christ and His Cross. Well written and very concise. The sacramental imagery is unmistakable: it is through baptism that our membership in the Church is “sealed.” And it is in baptism that we receive the “first installment,” if you will, of graces to come through life in the Church—particularly through frequent prayer and reception of the other sacraments. Chapel, ed., Fr. Best of Week, However, even Martin Luther in his Taufbuechlein retained the Sign of the Cross in the baptismal service and used the Sign of the Cross as one of his last gestures before death (H. Grizar, Luther, 3:435). c. ix). and even the most wicked ungodly blasphemous person can spare himself of the judgments in those passages so long as he makes this sign on his forehead? Symbolical Uses of the Cross: (1) Extra-Scriptural. The sign of the cross was well known in the symbolics of various ancient nations. Same with Anglicans and Methodists if I’m not mistaken. We mark ourselves as Christians through the Sign of the Cross. At its heart is Calvary, the place where Jesus died so we could be forgiven. Miracles have been performed with this simple gesture and parliaments and councils have opened under its sign. The truth must always be told and the Catholic Church will always do just that. Answer: Simply put, the meaning of the cross is death. … In third century, Tertullian wrote, “At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign.” A number of other Church Fathers also attest to the use of the Sign of the Cross early on, including St. John Chrysostom and St. Cyril of Jerusalem. It could be a similar sign to the one God gave to Cain after he killed his brother able to preserve his life in Genesis 4:15. He writes of the wife who “signs” her bed and body (To His Wife 5). 3. The Easter story, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has made the cross likely the most recognized icon on earth. Among the Egyptians it is said to have been the symbol of divinity and eternal life, and to have been found in the temple of Serapis. One of the first questions we might ask is, Who decided that the cross was to be the sign of Christianity? In 2 Corinthians 1:22, Paul writes that, “the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” Similar language is used in Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30, in which Paul talks about how Christians have been “sealed” with the Holy Spirit. The sources that were readily available, like the Haydock Bible Commentary and others, don’t elaborate, but it’s clear where he got the idea by taking a look at the Hebrew text for Ezekiel 9:4. A regular plus sign (+) looks way too much like a cross, and is carefully avoided in the Israeli school system as … Charles Stanley. Rather, the Bible is seen as a witness to revelation that takes place in events. Grizar citation: Luther, Hartmann Grizar, B. Herder Book Co., 1919, vol. I have printed it and posted it on my fridge at eye-level for my seven-year-old son who has just begun serving Mass in the Extraordinary Form. 12:2; 1 … The meaning of the Last Letter is very plain; Jews and Christians have agreed about it from the beginning. In 1215, Pope Innocent III opened the Fourth Lateran Council with a rousing sermon on Ezekiel 9. The writings of the Fathers, as authentic witnesses to the apostolic teaching in the early Church, are replete with references to the Sign of the Cross. St. Augustine: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st series, Philip Schaff, ed., Eerdmans, 1983, vol. Great article ! The cross is thus a sign of both Christ himself and of the faith of Christians. . 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