Is it important which hand I make the sign of the cross with?

[drafdog]

I think that what is important here is that it is a sign. When you write, you are communicating ideas with words which are the signs for the ideas you intend to share. Now the question you pose may be rephrased as “Is it important to spell correctly when writing an essay or term paper?”
Another example of the importance of sign is the genuflection. I have seen numerous people genuflect on the left knee instead of the right. Because the nature of the gesture is no longer taught, few people are aware of the importance of going down on the right knee.

Reb Levi

 

[MorEphrem]

I’ve heard Eastern Catholics use their left hand, but they also go from left to right when making the sign.

Nah, Greek Catholics still use their right hand but they touch their right shoulder before their left.

That being said, in ancient Semitic culture the left hand was the hand with which one wiped themselves.

 

[NeCo99]

I have a left handed husband and one left handed child. I have asked NUMEROUS priests, nuns, bishops, etc and they all said the same thing…it’s not a big deal. They all seemed to feel that the purpose behind the sign of the cross was more important than the hand used. One priest told me that people worry too much about some of the little things in the gestures and not enough about the point of the gesture. (There was a huge debate once about is it one finger to touch the head, etc or your entire hand?) I do know that “old school” rules were adamant about not using the left hand. But I also know many people who were “forced” to not be left handed as children back then too.

Not trying to start a debate…just agreeing that I have had the same question for personal reasons.

 

[Blind_Didymus]

Does “traditional” translate to something that needs to be obeyed in the liturgy? i.e. am I sinning?

To him who knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

You did not know you were making any mistake, therefore there is no sin. At the most, this is not a sin which leads to death but a mere accident due to lack of knowledge. You have done no wrong but should endeavour to follow the common custom in future; for the right hand is the symbol of strength and we are told to worship God with all our might.

I go from right to left, but I use my left hand. I accidentally invented my own Rite of the glorious TK421 Tradition, founded in 2013 AD.

I’ve heard Eastern Catholics use their left hand, but they also go from left to right when making the sign.

Both Eastern Catholics nor Eastern Orthodox Christians are supposed to form the sign of the cross with their right hands. Yet in Eastern Europe the custom is to touch one’s right shoulder first then one’s left, while in Western Europe (as in the Oriental Orthodox Churches) the custom is to touch one’s left shoulder first then one’s right.

This is really not a matter of great significance yet as St Ambrose would say, When in Rome I do as the Romans do.

 

[CruceSignati]

Interesting question. My little boy is left handed, so when trying to make the sign of the cross he does it with his left most of the time. I always correct him and take his right hand and make the sign. Perhaps I should just let him use his left, but this seems so odd to me.
(I once saw a woman at church do it with her left hand and my immediate thought was that she was probably not Catholic and did not know what she was doing. I now realise I was probably wrong )

I have been teaching my little brother to make the sign of the cross, but I have had to remind him to use his right hand countless times…should I just let him use his left??
I know that there are stranger things. Last week at Mass, the altar server went forehead, right shoulder, left shoulder, right shoulder.