If I'm saying a short prayer, can the sign of the cross be a silent tracing and simultaneous to the prayer?

[DrawNearToGod]

I read that on here that someone when blessing their meals silently traced the sign of the cross over themselves while simultaneously beginning the prayer…

It seems awkwardly long if I want to say one Hail Mary at some point during the day, to say "In the name of… " twice.

Thoughts?

 

[The27thPsalm]

You do not have to sign yourself before every single prayer, especially short tiny ones. And yes some prayers are said while signing yourself, such as the beginning of the Office and the like. I have never heard of doing so with grace, but I guess it is possible.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

I do it all the time; not sure where I picked that practice up from, but others around me also seem to do likewise.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There are no rules about making the Sign of the Cross in private prayer as long as you do it respectfully. If you’re just saying a quick Hail Mary, you do not need to make a Sign of the Cross before and after. I would suggest that you make the Sign of the Cross in the proper way at least a couple of times a day, perhaps before and after your longer prayers, or once when you wake up in the morning and once when you go to bed at night, or whenever seems comfortable for you.

In my family we typically signed before and after grace, before and after prayers said when getting into the car, and before and after night prayers. And of course before and after the Rosary. If we happened to be saying a quick prayer at other times during the day, like “Lord please help me with this task I’m in the middle of” or a Hail Mary when we saw the ambulance passing, etc. we didn’t always make Sign of the Cross.

 

[Daniel27]

I would argue that out of our 168 hour-long weeks, is a three second Sign of the Cross really too much time? It’s not a big thing if you don’t but I would try to keep your blessing and your prayer separate - if for anything else, it can act as a nice little barrier between your day-to-day activities and praying so that when you’re praying, you are actually praying and not just mindlessly saying a prayer.

 

[Mary888]

Is this a double thread on the same issue?

 

[Timeflies2me]

Tracing the sign of the cross is fine, even saying it isnt too long either. Its literally 2 to 3 seconds of saying Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

 

[CradleRC58]

It seems awkwardly long if I want to say one Hail Mary at some point during the day, to say "In the name of… " twice

If you don’t want to do it, fine. But saying it is awkwardly long is a bit much.

Considering all Our Saviour endured for us, the time and effort to make the sign of the cross doesn’t seem to qualify as a burden.

Jmo