Crossing oneself

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I just lived in Bolivia, South America for the past five years. In Bolivia many people cross themselves when they pass a church. Even cab or bus drivers do it.
Now I live in Germany and no one over here does that. I was wondering if anybody in this forum does that and would continue doing it in a country that doesn’t have this custom?
 
Lui said:
I just lived in Bolivia, South America for the past five years. In Bolivia many people cross themselves when they pass a church. Even cab or bus drivers do it.
Now I live in Germany and no one over here does that. I was wondering if anybody in this forum does that and would continue doing it in a country that doesn’t have this custom?
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Crossing oneself when one passes by a Catholic Church is done as a sign of reverance to Christ reserved in the tabernacle. If one were to go inside the Church, he or she would genuflect to the Lord. When one does not go inside, crossing oneself is the sign of reverance shown.

I would certainly continue to do so. I don’t consider it a cultural custom, but a sign of reverence. It may just be the fact that people in Bulgaria tend to be people of faith, whereas folks in Germany tend not to be. That would be my guess. Of course, I could be wrong.

In any case, I would continue to do it, recognizing the purpose and meaning of it. It isn’t just a thing folks do in a given area, in other words, but a personal sign of reverance. I would want to continue to revere Christ, and so I would continue to make this sign towards Him.

Peace and God bless!
 
Lazerlike42 said:
I would certainly continue to do so. I don’t consider it a cultural custom, but a sign of reverence. It may just be the fact that people in Bulgaria tend to be people of faith, whereas folks in Germany tend not to be. That would be my guess. Of course, I could be wrong.
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Thank you for your reply although I just had a smile on my face because you mixed up BOLIVIA with BULGARIA which many people do. I lived in BOLIVIA which is very Catholic. In Bolivia you hardly meet people who say they are not religious while in Germany it’s the opposite.
That’s why I came to the same conclusion as you did but I asked one of my work colleagues here in Germany who is Catholic and sings in Church and she replied that she never saw anybody cross himself while passing a Church.
I have been to the Mainz Cathedral this afternoon and haven’t seen anybody do it either.

Anyway, I agree with you that it is a personal sign of reference and I should continue to do it.
 
Personallly I dont do it but my brother does. I dont know why but the other poster explained it pretty well. I just didn`t grow up being told to do it, maybe my brother learned otherwise.
 
In the 40’s men doffed their hat when passing a church and women blessed themselves. Between the passing of hats for men in the 50’s and the loss of many old customs in the 60’s this seems to have disappeared.

It would seem a good idea to revive the custom of blessing oneself when passing any church [Catholic or Orthodox] where the Eucharist is reserved. Maybe we can get life back on track.
 
I do this, but it’s fairly new to me. I have a friend who introduced it to me and I think it’s a lovely thing to do. It’s not at all common in Houston but I do it anyway!
 
I remember my great-great aunt blessing herself every time she passed a Catholic Church. I had forgotten about this until recently when I was driving a priest to visit someone in the hospital. As we passed a Catholic Church in a small town, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him bless himself:thumbsup: . What a flood of memories that brought back! I have been doing it ever since:) .
 
I was on an Irish bus 16 years ago and most everyone crossed themselves whenever we passed a Catholic church. Since most Irish churches do not have a sign identifying whether they are Catholic or Church of Ireland (Anglican), one looks at the bell tower. Catholic churches have a cross on top and Anglican ones usually have a weathervane. Here in the United States, I have seen many more traditional Catholics cross themselves, and among the Old Believer Russian Orthodox around here, they always do it when passing their churches.
 
I was on an Irish bus 16 years ago and most everyone crossed themselves whenever we passed a Catholic church. Since most Irish churches do not have a sign identifying whether they are Catholic or Church of Ireland (Anglican), one looks at the bell tower. Catholic churches have a cross on top and Anglican ones usually have a weathervane. In the United States, I have seen many traditional Catholics cross themselves, and among the Old Believer Russian Orthodox, they always do it when passing their churches.
 
Our family does it. We do the Sign of the Cross when we pass a Catholic Church because it is expected for the Eucharist to be inside that building.
We do the Sign of the Cross when we pass a funeral home or cemetery and say a small prayer for the repose of the dead that are there.
We also do this when an ambulance goes past us for the person being transported.
It just seems to be something that we do when we feel the need. And yes we would still do this in other countries. Even if it meant going to jail if we were in the mid-East.
 
Lui said:
I just lived in Bolivia, South America for the past five years. In Bolivia many people cross themselves when they pass a church. Even cab or bus drivers do it.
Now I live in Germany and no one over here does that. I was wondering if anybody in this forum does that and would continue doing it in a country that doesn’t have this custom?
Click to expand...
I never heard of that custom until I joined this forum. I don’t do it, because it was not something I was brought up with. My parents and grandparents were Catholic, but they never did that.
 
lak611 said:
I never heard of that custom until I joined this forum. I don’t do it, because it was not something I was brought up with. My parents and grandparents were Catholic, but they never did that.
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I likewise wasn’t brought up with it and only heard about it here, but I do it now, although discreetly as Australian Catholics rarely do so 🙂 :crossrc:

Don’t know about Orthodox Churches, they tend, IIRC, not to reserve the Blessed Sacrament between liturgies as Latin Rite Catholic Churches do. Perhaps out of respect for the fact that Our Lord does make Himself truly and substantially present in those churches, though, maybe you should do so anyway?
 
The other day when I was going into mass, an ambulance passed me and I automatically made the sign of the cross.

Tears also came to my eyes but I know not why.
 
I definitely agree it’s a good thing. It’s a good way to get yourself to be always conscious of Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament inside the Tabernacle.

It gets your mind focused back on what is Holy. It’s also a big encouragement to me to know that Jesus is physically present there and I can KNOW that He is really physically present whenever I pass by a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 
I do it if it’s a Catholic or Orthodox Church. Or if I’m not sure: Why look for trouble? 🤷 😃

Some other good giveaways of Catholic Churches:
  • statues out front
  • named after a pope or “Our Lady of (anything)”
  • Vatican flag or Papal insignia (tiara, keys, basilica umbrella)
  • “ShareLife” banner out front
  • St Vincent de Paul truck in the parking lot
Onion domes are a good indicator of Eastern Churches. A red-blue-orange flag usually indicates an Armenian Apostolic Church.

Sometimes, though, you just can’t tell – you can’t read the sign except maybe the saint’s name (and it’s an apostle or other common-to-all-denominations saint). I look for a Cross of St George flag with a maple leaf in each corner (Anglican), a Cross of St Andrew flag (Presbyterian Church in Canada), a cat’s-eye shaped shield (United Church of Canada), etc. If I can rule those out, good guess it’s Catholic/Orthodox.

Although I find that most churches named after Saint George tend to be Anglican. 🤷
 
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