This long one is a continuation of Q&A 137... Apologies for the hopscotch
Q. And then there's the stuff you guys do for the sign of the cross...
A. The earliest records we have of the Sign of the Cross are right from the second century. Both the form and the words employed in tracing the cross have varied -
Q. For example?
A. For example instead of one large cross from forehead to breast to shoulders, the tracing of smaller crosses on the forehead, lips and breast like we do before reading the Gospel at Mass seems to have come earlier. And the words that accompanied it have varied also from "The sign of Christ", to "The seal of the living God" to "In the name of the Holy Trinity" to what we have today.
But whatever its form or accompanying words, the Sign of the Cross is a physical reminder and a prayer of the two greatest mysteries and teachings of our Faith: first that there is a Trinity of persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in one God ("in the name of" as opposed to "in the nameS of"...).
The Trinity is the highest, all-important doctrine in the Christian faith because it is the highest and most important reality. It cannot be arrived at by mere human philosophy or theodicy - God Himself had to reveal it for us to know it. And because it is the greatest reality - an infinite reality - it is both a reality we can know most about as well as one which we can never exhaust. In religion we call this a mystery. And this is the first mystery we call to mind and that we proclaim every time we cross ourselves.
The second great mystery we proclaim with the sign of the Cross is that the Second Person of that most Holy Trinity we just mentioned became a man to die precisely on a cross. Our salvation is accomplished, the gates of heaven are re-opened, we have become adopted children of God, sin, death and Satan were defeated because of what that God-man did on a wooden cross at a specific time and place in history. The whole Bible is the story of how mankind is reconciled with God. The climax of it, the peak of that story is precisely at the top of a hill on a cross. Everything before it leads to it, and everything after it flows from it. The Sign of the Cross proclaims this not just in thought, but in word and action. It is a prayer as well as a creed or profession of Faith.
This is why for us Catholics, aside from making the Sign of the Cross on ourselves whenever we begin or end our prayers, we also have crosses and crucifixes in our churches and homes. It is also why many Catholics keep a small crucifix near the tools they work with, or on their study table, or near their computer as a physical reminder: this is He who loves you, and this is His proof of His love for you - His Cross. And He wants you to take up your daily cross too as proof of your love for Him.
Q. Ah... Sort of like in the same way guys keep a picture of their spouse or family on their office desks?
A. Exactly!
Q. A bit tangential, but what's the difference between a cross and a crucifix? You seem to distinguish between them.
A. Ah yes. A cross (in this context) is a representation of the wood of Jesus' cross - the intersecting wooden beams He was nailed to. A crucifix then is a cross that additionally has a representation of the crucified Jesus on it, that has the "corpus" or body of Jesus represented as still on the cross.
Q. So I can like buy a crucifix some place and use it as a reminder also maybe on my desk at home?
A. Yup. They're available at most Catholic bookshops.
Q. Sawa. Let me see if I can get one this week.
A. Cheers!
17thMarch 2017