We begin our Rosary like any other prayer, with a Sign of the Cross" prayer.
The
first thing we do for any prayer is make the sign of the Cross and say
“In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I pray”. The reason
for that comes from the Bible: “Amen Amen I say to you, whatever you
ask from the Father, He will give it to you in My name” - John 16:23;
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son” - John 14:13; “If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” - Luke
11:13. We Catholics believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are
one. In our sign of the Cross, we mention all three names just as we
would formally address a friend by using their first, middle and last
name. By making the sign of the Cross and mentioning God’s name, we are
telling him that what follows is in his name.
What did Jesus mean when He said He would give us “whatever you ask in my name”? In John 14, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you . . . I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (verses 12–14). This promise seems to give us the right to ask for anything and everything we want, and Jesus is obligated to give it to us—but is that really what the Lord is saying here?
The entire fourteenth chapter of John serves as Jesus’ valedictory address to His disciples. The soon-coming crucifixion would leave His followers scared and confused, so Jesus provided them with comfort and assurance regarding a number of things, including how they would carry on His work. Part of this comfort was the promise that Jesus would hear and answer their prayers. Jesus tells them that anything they ask “in my name” would be granted to them.
Jesus is not promising to be a personal vending machine; rather, He is encouraging confidence and faithfulness in prayer. When Jesus says to pray “in my name,” He means that we can pray in His authority. He has provided the access we need to heaven. When our requests, made in the name of His Son, further God’s purposes and kingdom, God will act on our behalf, and in the end the Father will be “glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). A good example of such a prayer is Christ’s in the garden where He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
In the old American West, before the days of credit cards, a shopkeeper would maintain a ledger book recording the activities of each customer’s account and the amount owed. The business owner knew his customers well and the work in which they were involved. A customer would at times send others to the shop for him to make purchases and bring back materials needed for his home or business. Those sent in the customer’s stead (e.g., his children) would be able to receive the goods “in the name of” the account owner. But, if they tried to purchase things not in line with what the shopkeeper knew the customer needed or wanted, the purchase would be denied.
Coming to God in Jesus’ name is similar to those old financial transactions. Jesus holds the account, and we are welcome to come to the Father in Jesus’ name to receive what we need. The Father willingly grants our requests because of Jesus’ standing. Of course, if we are asking for things that we don’t need or that are contrary to the character or will of Christ, then we cannot expect to receive those things (You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. - James 4:3).
When He said He would give “whatever you ask in my name,” Jesus was not delivering a magical formula for getting whatever we want. He was giving us a guiding principle to align one’s desires with God’s. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we pray according to the will of God; we pray for what will honor and glorify Jesus. God will provide the means necessary to accomplish His objectives, and He equips us as His servants. Ultimately, God receives all the glory and praise for what is done.
The practice of tracing the sign of the cross is most prominent in the Roman Catholic Church but is also practiced in the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Episcopalian churches. The history of the sign of the cross goes back as far as Tertullian, the early church father who lived between A.D. 160 and 220. Tertullian wrote, "In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting off our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross."
Originally, a small cross was traced by the thumb or finger on one’s own forehead. While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the switch was made from tracing a small cross on the forehead to the modern practice of tracing a larger cross from forehead to chest and shoulder to shoulder, we do know that the switch had occurred by the eleventh century A.D., when the Prayer Book of King Henry provides an instruction to "mark with the holy cross the four sides of the body."
Catholics find support for the sign of the cross primarily in their many years of church tradition and, secondarily, in Exodus 17:9-14 and Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1. While the passages do speak of a sign on the forehead for protection from God’s judgment, they must be interpreted in light of their context. On the basis of their context, there is no reason to believe any of the verses prescribe the ritualistic sign of the cross.
In the sixteenth century, one of the central tenets of the Protestant Reformation was “sola scriptura,” whereby any practice that didn’t line up with Scripture was jettisoned. The English Reformers believed the use of the sign of the cross should be left up to the individual, as was written in the Prayer Book of King Edward VI. "...Kneeling, crossing, holding up of hands, knocking upon the breast, and other gestures, they may be used, or left, as every man’s devotion serveth without blame." Protestants generally viewed the sign as a tradition that was unsupported by Scripture, or even as idolatrous, and it was therefore abandoned by most.
While the Bible does not instruct us to cross ourselves, the sign of the cross is not without biblical symbolism. The shape of the sign is a reminder of the cross of Christ. Historically, the sign has also been viewed as representing the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross, salvation is extended as a free gift to all of humanity. The doctrine of the trinity teaches the Godhead: one God existing in three distinct persons. Both doctrines are foundational to both Catholics and Protestants and are certainly well-founded biblically. The sign of the cross has at certain points been associated with supernatural powers such as repelling evil, demons, etc. This mystical aspect of the sign of the cross is completely false and cannot be supported biblically in any way.
The mystical aspect aside, tracing the sign of the cross is neither right nor wrong and can be positive if it serves to remind a person of the cross of Christ and/or the trinity. Unfortunately, such is not always the case, and many people simply go through the motions of the ritual of signing themselves without a knowledge of why they do it. A final analysis of the sign of the cross is that it is by no means required of Christians because it is not instructed by the Word of God.
I (Ken Harbit) make the sign of the Cross because I am calling on God to hear my prayer and to tell me His will. It is an earthly sign of motion and voice that transcends the space between earth and heaven and between myself and God.
What did Jesus mean when He said He would give us “whatever you ask in my name”? In John 14, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you . . . I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (verses 12–14). This promise seems to give us the right to ask for anything and everything we want, and Jesus is obligated to give it to us—but is that really what the Lord is saying here?
The entire fourteenth chapter of John serves as Jesus’ valedictory address to His disciples. The soon-coming crucifixion would leave His followers scared and confused, so Jesus provided them with comfort and assurance regarding a number of things, including how they would carry on His work. Part of this comfort was the promise that Jesus would hear and answer their prayers. Jesus tells them that anything they ask “in my name” would be granted to them.
Jesus is not promising to be a personal vending machine; rather, He is encouraging confidence and faithfulness in prayer. When Jesus says to pray “in my name,” He means that we can pray in His authority. He has provided the access we need to heaven. When our requests, made in the name of His Son, further God’s purposes and kingdom, God will act on our behalf, and in the end the Father will be “glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). A good example of such a prayer is Christ’s in the garden where He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
In the old American West, before the days of credit cards, a shopkeeper would maintain a ledger book recording the activities of each customer’s account and the amount owed. The business owner knew his customers well and the work in which they were involved. A customer would at times send others to the shop for him to make purchases and bring back materials needed for his home or business. Those sent in the customer’s stead (e.g., his children) would be able to receive the goods “in the name of” the account owner. But, if they tried to purchase things not in line with what the shopkeeper knew the customer needed or wanted, the purchase would be denied.
Coming to God in Jesus’ name is similar to those old financial transactions. Jesus holds the account, and we are welcome to come to the Father in Jesus’ name to receive what we need. The Father willingly grants our requests because of Jesus’ standing. Of course, if we are asking for things that we don’t need or that are contrary to the character or will of Christ, then we cannot expect to receive those things (You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. - James 4:3).
When He said He would give “whatever you ask in my name,” Jesus was not delivering a magical formula for getting whatever we want. He was giving us a guiding principle to align one’s desires with God’s. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we pray according to the will of God; we pray for what will honor and glorify Jesus. God will provide the means necessary to accomplish His objectives, and He equips us as His servants. Ultimately, God receives all the glory and praise for what is done.
The practice of tracing the sign of the cross is most prominent in the Roman Catholic Church but is also practiced in the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Episcopalian churches. The history of the sign of the cross goes back as far as Tertullian, the early church father who lived between A.D. 160 and 220. Tertullian wrote, "In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting off our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross."
Originally, a small cross was traced by the thumb or finger on one’s own forehead. While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the switch was made from tracing a small cross on the forehead to the modern practice of tracing a larger cross from forehead to chest and shoulder to shoulder, we do know that the switch had occurred by the eleventh century A.D., when the Prayer Book of King Henry provides an instruction to "mark with the holy cross the four sides of the body."
Catholics find support for the sign of the cross primarily in their many years of church tradition and, secondarily, in Exodus 17:9-14 and Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1. While the passages do speak of a sign on the forehead for protection from God’s judgment, they must be interpreted in light of their context. On the basis of their context, there is no reason to believe any of the verses prescribe the ritualistic sign of the cross.
In the sixteenth century, one of the central tenets of the Protestant Reformation was “sola scriptura,” whereby any practice that didn’t line up with Scripture was jettisoned. The English Reformers believed the use of the sign of the cross should be left up to the individual, as was written in the Prayer Book of King Edward VI. "...Kneeling, crossing, holding up of hands, knocking upon the breast, and other gestures, they may be used, or left, as every man’s devotion serveth without blame." Protestants generally viewed the sign as a tradition that was unsupported by Scripture, or even as idolatrous, and it was therefore abandoned by most.
While the Bible does not instruct us to cross ourselves, the sign of the cross is not without biblical symbolism. The shape of the sign is a reminder of the cross of Christ. Historically, the sign has also been viewed as representing the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross, salvation is extended as a free gift to all of humanity. The doctrine of the trinity teaches the Godhead: one God existing in three distinct persons. Both doctrines are foundational to both Catholics and Protestants and are certainly well-founded biblically. The sign of the cross has at certain points been associated with supernatural powers such as repelling evil, demons, etc. This mystical aspect of the sign of the cross is completely false and cannot be supported biblically in any way.
The mystical aspect aside, tracing the sign of the cross is neither right nor wrong and can be positive if it serves to remind a person of the cross of Christ and/or the trinity. Unfortunately, such is not always the case, and many people simply go through the motions of the ritual of signing themselves without a knowledge of why they do it. A final analysis of the sign of the cross is that it is by no means required of Christians because it is not instructed by the Word of God.
I (Ken Harbit) make the sign of the Cross because I am calling on God to hear my prayer and to tell me His will. It is an earthly sign of motion and voice that transcends the space between earth and heaven and between myself and God.
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