The Sign for All Times

The year was 312 AD and Constantine, who would become the first Christian to hold the supreme post as head of the Roman Empire, was preparing to fight against his adversary Maxentius. These two brothers-in-law were vying for the role of Emperor and the control of the civilized world. The night before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the decisive contest in their war, Constantine saw emblazoned in the sky “a cross of light” which bore the words, “In hoc signo vincis.” “In this sign you shall conquer.” Constantine understood this remarkable experience as sent from the Christian God. The next day he fixed the cross to his standard and defeated Maxentius. As a result, he became emperor. The Sign of the Cross became universally known as the symbol of faith in Christ throughout the empire.

Making the Sign of the Cross at prayer, and especially at the first moments of Mass, has been with us since the early centuries of Christianity. We can say that the Sign of the Cross is the sign for all times and the sign of victory for us as it was for Constantine.

It is particularly appropriate for the beginning of Mass, because it speaks to us of some pivotal eternal truths that tell us who we are. As we move our hand from forehead to breast and shoulder to shoulder in the Sign of the Cross we pray, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” We confess our faith in the Blessed Trinity, our Triune God, to whom we bow down in adoration at Mass. This worship of God is the first and most important purpose in coming to Mass.

In addition, by the very marking ourselves with the Cross of Christ, we remind ourselves of the greatest act of love and the greatest deed of mercy ever known, that is made present on the altar around which we gather. It is a memorial of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, by which we are saved. In a sense, making the Sign of the Cross at the first moments of Mass answers the question, “Why should I come to Mass?” It loudly proclaims: “To adore God through the Sacrifice of Jesus made present for us.” How profound is that! So, how do we further enter into this great mystery?

Immediately following the Sign of the Cross the priest greets the faithful and helps them to remember what they come for. These words of greeting are “out of this world”, we might say, because they provide no ordinary salutation. No “Hi,” “Hello,” “Good Morning,” or “Good Evening” could possibly convey what is happening in this exchange. Whether the priest employs, “The Lord be with you” or “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you,” the response of the people is “And with your Spirit.” This is a heavenly dialogue, because it is not simply human being to human being. The priest, representing Christ, speaks the greeting that comes from the Lord Himself. Jesus Christ, the Head of His Body the Church, speaks to the members of His Body, the faithful. He communicates to them grace, love and communion. The faithful recognize who the priest represents, and pray for the spiritual welfare of the priest by expressing that the same Lord be “with (his) spirit.”

We realize that this is no ordinary gathering. It is a meeting of heaven and earth. It is an assembly of communion of the created with their Creator, of the redeemed with their Redeemer, and of the sanctified with their Sanctifier. It takes place under the Cross of Christ, under what the world sees as a sign of death and defeat, but what believers see as a sign of new life and victory.

The Sign of the Cross and the greeting at the beginning of Mass tell us clearly that when we come together at Mass, we are bound to Christ the Head of His Body the Church, and we are bound to one another as members of His Body. Under the Sign of the Cross we form a spiritual corpus (body) that is united in the purpose of offering adoration and praise to God the Father through Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

No political gathering, no club meeting, no secular reunion, no game, no concert can even come close to what happens when we come to Mass. Eastern Rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians call this gathering “Divine Liturgy.” This clearly tells us that it is God Himself who convenes us. That is why the Cross is so prominent at Mass and why the priest greets us as the representative of Chris. In fact, he is in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) reminding us that it is Christ Himself who presides over us.

The Sign of the Cross must shine brilliantly over our lives and illuminate every day for us. That which used to be a symbol of a criminal’s execution that terrified people two thousand years ago, has been transformed by Christ into a sign of love, mercy and peace. It has become a sign of ultimate victory over sin, death, and darkness.

We who are marked by this sign at our baptism into the death of Christ (Rom 6:3) gather under this sign every time we come to Mass and hear the life-affirming words, “The Lord be with you.” How blessed we are to know that the Lord Jesus is present, who gathers us unto Himself!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid

Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh