After receiving communion do you do the sign of the cross

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At my church i see plenty of people doing the sign of the cross after communion, as well as i use too. A while ago i heard from a nun it wasn’t necessary to do it since the host is already blessed so i stopped. I was just wondering if it was necessary. Thanks
 
My second grade nun in 1962 didn’t teach us to, so I don’t.
 
I have always done it, but it was pointed out to me that it’s not in any rubric or instruction. So I guess a purist would say that it’s not to be done (just as holding hands during the Our Father is not mentioned in the rubrics, so it is not to be done.)

That said, I would say that it’s a personal devotion and it’s probably OK to make the sign of the cross. If we do it when a priest blesses us, how much more to be blessed by the actual body and blood of the Savior Himself!
 
I’ve been told both doing so, and not doing so are correct. I usually do.
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
I’ve been told both doing so, and not doing so are correct. I usually do.
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This is okay to do. I do it so long as I’m not distracted trying to meander through the crowds and with my children. Plently of people dip their fingers in holy water on the way out, which is not a requirment. Neither is dipping one’s hand in prior to mass a requirement. But we do it as a way of reminding us of our baptismal promises as we enter sacred space.
 
Making the sign of the cross is a sacramental, so it can’t be wrong, right? 🙂

I just realized I when possible I face the tabernacle after receiving and cross myself…that’s kind of pointless as Christ is right there in the Eucharist.
 
Well, when the priest gives you a blessing and seals it with the sign of the cross, it’s not proper to make the sign of the cross yourself, but its not bad. It just doesn’t make sense…

Do Roman Catholic Reverence themselves with the sign when the priests incenses them? I’ve been told both it is proper and not proper in a byzantine context.
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Well, when the priest gives you a blessing and seals it with the sign of the cross, it’s not proper to make the sign of the cross yourself, but its not bad. It just doesn’t make sense…
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Actually, I believe Latin-rite Catholics are instructed to make the sign of the cross at the end of Mass (when the priest gives the formal blessing with the sign of the cross). What makes you think it’s “not proper”?
 
So i guess its just preference then, not like you get told not to do it, only that its not necessary.
 
I was taught in school to do it so I do. It just seems respecful to me. Something I was not taught and that I never saw until I moved to North Carolina was is that people here bow before approaching the priest for Communion. Anybody else see this anywhere?
 
It is redundant.
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What kind of Catholic theology is that? A prayer is a prayer. Signs of cross, genuflecting, bowing, etc. are forms of prayer. Do you only pray once in your lifetime because praying everyday is “redundant?” Do you not say the rosary because the Our Fathers and the Hail Marys are “redundant”?
 
Tony1972 said:
I was taught in school to do it so I do. It just seems respecful to me. Something I was not taught and that I never saw until I moved to North Carolina was is that people here bow before approaching the priest for Communion. Anybody else see this anywhere?
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We bow in my parish in Tennessee.
 
Most people in both churches I attend cross themselves after the Body, but not after the Blood.

I thought that is strange if the Lord is present in both species, but that’s what happens. I almost never take the Blood so it’s just something I noticed others not doing.

🤷
 
It always seems that people who are not receiving walk straight past the Chalice without making any sign of reverence, which is worse.

Hardly anybody in our parish crosses themselves after receiving - I suppose they reckon that as the priest does not, it isn’t correct to do so. I don’t myself.
 
mary_bobo said:
We bow in my parish in Tennessee.
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One thing about bowing before receiving; if is not done in your parish I can bet you that just like Field of Dreams’ “If you build it, they will come”, if you bow, others will begin to bow too. 🙂

I think people young and old see the beautiful reverence inherent in this act and for many older parishioners it probably reminds them of when the Church was more reverent.
 
surritter said:
I have always done it, but it was pointed out to me that it’s not in any rubric or instruction. So I guess a purist would say that it’s not to be done (just as holding hands during the Our Father is not mentioned in the rubrics, so it is not to be done.)

That said, I would say that it’s a personal devotion and it’s probably OK to make the sign of the cross. If we do it when a priest blesses us, how much more to be blessed by the actual body and blood of the Savior Himself!
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I was never taught to do it but one of my kids was as part of First Communion prep. I don’t have a problem with added instances of gestures that are already in Mass. For example, we are to strike our breast during the Confiteor so it isn’t too extreme to also strike our breast at the elevation or the “Lord, I am not worthy…” as I see many do.

Same with the sign of the Cross. It’s already a part of the Mass in at least three places so, even if it’s not mentioned in the rubrics for that specific moment, it doesn’t seem out of place to me.

I do sometimes worry that the people who receive and then flip right into a sign of the Cross are not carefully checking for crumbls as they are supposed to do when receiving in the hand. 🤷

Personally, I make the sign of the Cross after I am back in the pew, at the conclusion of my personal prayers after receiving.
 
paperwight66 said:
It always seems that people who are not receiving walk straight past the Chalice without making any sign of reverence, which is worse.
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Worse? Catholic theology tells us that I already have the Blood of Christ in me as I walk by.

Why stop to reverence before the cup when the same substance is already in my mouth? I’d rather start focusing on my communion prayer as I walk back to the pew…
 
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