The sign of the cross is a beautiful gesture which reminds the faithful of both the cross of salvation while invoking the Holy Trinity. Technically, the sign of the cross is a sacramental, a sacred sign instituted by the Church which prepares a person to receive grace and which sanctifies a moment or circumstance.

The first recorded instance of making the sign of the cross at the proclamation of the gospel is found in the ninth century: Regimius of Auxerre (d. c. 908) in his Expositio recorded how the people in the congregation would sign their foreheads, and the deacon would sign his forehead and breast. By the eleventh century, as attested to by Pope ...

The cross with which most Roman Catholics are familiar is technically termed the “Latin Cross,” which has the long vertical beam crossed about two-thirds up by a horizontal beam. This type of cross is believed to be the one upon which the Romans crucified our Lord, nailing His outstretched hands to the ends of the horizontal beam and his ...

The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”

St. Helena is often depicted holding a cross because tradition maintains she found the true cross in Jerusalem. Before delving into this matter further, some background information is necessary. Because of Jewish insurrections, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (reign A.D. 117-38) abolished the name of Judea and renamed the area “Syria Palaestina.”

For example, we begin and end Mass by making the sign of the cross; during the Confiteor, we strike our breast; we sign ourselves with the cross on the forehead, lips, and heart at the proclamation of the Gospel; during the Creed, we bow at the words professing our faith in the incarnation of our Savior; we kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer ...

Countering the objections of some who considered this veneration superstitious, Pope Martin V in 1427 approved the proper veneration to the Holy Name and asked that the cross be included in the monogram IHS. Largely due to St. Bernadine’s preaching, the name “Jesus” was added to the Hail Mary: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

with the sign of the cross. The Penitential Rite was prescribed by the Didache. This rite involved an examination of conscience and a public confession of sins before the celebration of the Eucharist. In the early Church, the asperges with the renewal of baptismal vows was moved to this point and formed part of, if not the whole, penitential rite.

He cannot be compelled by law to disclose a person’s confession or be bound by any oath he takes, e.g. as a witness in a court trial. A priest cannot reveal the contents of a confession either directly, by repeating the substance of what has been said, or indirectly, by some sign, suggestion, or action.

For example, we make the sign of the cross using Holy Water when entering a Church: That pious action and the Holy Water itself, which together remind us of our Baptism, awaken us to the presence of God and dispose us to receiving God’s grace. Unlike a sacrament, a sacramental does not itself confer the grace of the Holy Spirit.