Cross the head, mouth, etc..?

[northstar3]

Hi. So I’ve noticed a practice (at both the EF and OF) that the people do something like make a little sign of the cross on their foreheads, mouth, etc.

Could I get an explanation about this (in detail if possible - what is crossed, which direction the cross is made, if different than the normal, if something is said during this, significance, etc)

Thank you!!!

P.S. Sorry if this has been talked about before, as I’m sure it has, but I wasn’t sure what to search for. So, sorry if it’s been talked about in detail somewhere else!!!

 

[os_justi]

For the reading of the Gospel, we make a small sign of the cross (I do it with my thumb) on our forehead, lips, and heart – to remind us to keep the word of God always in our minds, on our lips, and in our heart.

 

[YADA]

For the reading of the Gospel, we make a small sign of the cross (I do it with my thumb) on our forehead, lips, and heart – to remind us to keep the word of God always in our minds, on our lips, and in our heart.

And, Please Jesus, may it ever be so

 

[tee_eff_em]

Hi. So I’ve noticed a practice (at both the EF and OF) that the people do something like make a little sign of the cross on their foreheads, mouth, etc.

Could I get an explanation about this (in detail if possible - what is crossed, which direction the cross is made, if different than the normal, if something is said during this, significance, etc)

Thank you!!!

P.S. Sorry if this has been talked about before, as I’m sure it has, but I wasn’t sure what to search for. So, sorry if it’s been talked about in detail somewhere else!!!

You are right – It has been discussed. Here are three such threads (easy for me to find; I participated in them ):

• 
  *][thread=138352]Quest for answers[/thread]
  *][thread=190389]Is this correct procedure during Mass?[/thread]
  *][thread=241684]Gospel Readings - Acclamation and thumbing the Sign of the Cross[/thread]
  
  tee

 

[northstar3]

Thank you thank you!

 

[jmcrae]

Hi. So I’ve noticed a practice (at both the EF and OF) that the people do something like make a little sign of the cross on their foreheads, mouth, etc.

Forehead, mouth, and heart.

Could I get an explanation about this (in detail if possible - what is crossed, which direction the cross is made, if different than the normal, if something is said during this, significance, etc)

I take my right hand, raise it to my forehead, and trace a small cross on my forehead - I find that I start at the left top and trace down to the right bottom, then lift my thumb and trace from the right top to the left bottom. The cross is about an inch tall, in the form of an “X”.

Then, I do the same over my mouth, and again over my heart (the middle of my chest).

Other people might do it slightly differently - for example, their crosses might be upright instead of x shaped, and they might choose to cross the left side of their chest instead of the middle.

This is done either while or after reciting aloud the words “Glory to you, O Lord,” right before the reading of the Gospel. In your heart, you are praying something like “God in my mind, God on my lips, God in my heart,” or something similar to that.

 

[Dolphincrc]

The cross is about an inch tall, in the form of an “X”.

It should not be an “X”. it is clearly a cros “+”. Below is paragraph #134 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

1. At the ambo, the priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says, Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), and the people respond, Et cum spiritu tuo (And also with you). Then he says, Lectio sancti Evangelii (A reading from the holy gospel), making the sign of the cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well.

I havent been able to find the words the priest or deacon says to himself but the idea is what’s already been said above.

 

[jmcrae]

It should not be an “X”. it is clearly a cros “+”. Below is paragraph #134 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM):

1. At the ambo, the priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says, Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), and the people respond, Et cum spiritu tuo (And also with you). Then he says, Lectio sancti Evangelii (A reading from the holy gospel), making the sign of the cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well.

I havent been able to find the words the priest or deacon says to himself but the idea is what’s already been said above.

It’s a cross no matter how it turns out; since I can’t see what I’m doing and I typically don’t take a mirror with me to Mass, that’s how it turns out, in my case. If you can do a straight up and down cross, more power to you!

 

[Aramis]

The prayer that accompanies the three crosses, said silently:

“May the Lord be on my mind, on my lips and in my heart.”

If one is about to proclaim the Gospel (inside or outside of mass, so laymen occasionally have reason), or give the homily (which means a deacon or priest or bishop) it’s extended to
“May the Lord be on my mind, on my lips and in my heart, that I may worthily proclaim the holy Gospel.”