Sign of the Cross for a Latin in an Eastern Mass

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Medical_Student said:
Thank-you for this information. Can you tell me more about the R → L practice. How would it differ from Byzantine Christians, or would it have been the same? I always have my 2nd and 3rd distal phalanges touching my 1st phalanx, with the last 2 digits folded as you say.
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http://www.saintelias.com/foto/small/handcruxsign_illu.jpg

It is as you state. See St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church site, the first part is similar to the Traditional Syro-Malabar/Chaldean/Assyrian practice:

saintelias.com/ca/etiquette/sign.php

We make the Sign of the Cross by touching:
  1. our Head,
  2. then our Heart,
  3. then our RIGHT Shoulder
  4. and then our Left Shoulder.
    Then we make a bow. (We generally always make a bow when crossing ourselves.)
    The entire gesture is called a “Reverence”.
    We touch the Right Shoulder first (i.e. before the left) in order to symbolise Christ, Who sits at the Right Hand of God. This is the most ancient manner of making the Sign of the Cross, a practice not only used by Byzantine Christians, but also preserved by Church which has retained the most primitive and original liturgical rites - the Great Apostolic Assyrian Church of the East (which uses the Chaldean rite). We make the Sign of the Cross with the right hand held thusly:
  5. The first three fingers together (symbolising the Oneness of the 3 Persons of the All-Holy Trinity
  6. The remaining two fingers are tucked down into the palm.
    These 2 remaining fingers represent the 2 Natures of the Christ [Divine and Human]. The placing of these 2 fingers down into the palm symbolises the descent of the Word into our world, i.e. the Holy Incarnation.
The “3rd Reverence” is common among Slavic Byzantines but not Syriac Churches.
 
Errham said:
Whatever feels comfortable to you. The Byzantine sign of the Cross is actually the original - no one’s quite sure when, where or why it changed in the West, only that it did.
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One rumor is that it was picked up from a religious order (most likely non-cloistered order of nuns or sisters) to symbolize sinners/gentiles coming to Christ. The left indicating the sinners/gentiles while the right symbolized Christ.

I’ve also heard that the Byzantine way (R to L) symbolizes God spreading His Word to the gentiles.

Both of these interpretations kind of explains the old superstations that left-handiness was demonic. In both instances, the RIGHT is considered to be Godly, while the left isn’t.
 
SyroMalankara said:
http://www.saintelias.com/foto/small/handcruxsign_illu.jpg

It is as you state. See St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church site, the first part is similar to the Traditional Syro-Malabar/Chaldean/Assyrian practice:

saintelias.com/ca/etiquette/sign.php

We make the Sign of the Cross by touching:
  1. our Head,
  2. then our Heart,
  3. then our RIGHT Shoulder
  4. and then our Left Shoulder.
    Then we make a bow. (We generally always make a bow when crossing ourselves.)
    The entire gesture is called a “Reverence”.
    We touch the Right Shoulder first (i.e. before the left) in order to symbolise Christ, Who sits at the Right Hand of God. This is the most ancient manner of making the Sign of the Cross, a practice not only used by Byzantine Christians, but also preserved by Church which has retained the most primitive and original liturgical rites - the Great Apostolic Assyrian Church of the East (which uses the Chaldean rite). We make the Sign of the Cross with the right hand held thusly:
  5. The first three fingers together (symbolising the Oneness of the 3 Persons of the All-Holy Trinity
  6. The remaining two fingers are tucked down into the palm.
    These 2 remaining fingers represent the 2 Natures of the Christ [Divine and Human]. The placing of these 2 fingers down into the palm symbolises the descent of the Word into our world, i.e. the Holy Incarnation.
The “3rd Reverence” is common among Slavic Byzantines but not Syriac Churches.
Click to expand...
Thank-you Sir. I see that your write the 3rd reverence (touching ground with hand is not common). Are the first 2 reverences common for East Syriac Christians (1: prostration, 2: bow from waist)?
 
As far as I am aware, yes.

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The Liturgy of the Holy Apostles Adai and Mari: Together with 2 Additional Liturgies to be Said on Certain Feasts and Other Days, and the Order of Baptism. Complete and Entire; Collated from Many MSS. from Various Places
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I still cross myself the same no matter if I go to an Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy. No one says anything to me, in fact I’ve seen a few others do the same as me. It is just so ingrained in me to sign myself the way I do, to change it to the other way would not be easy to do.
 
I used to switch back and forth. It was a holdover from my days in school, when the good sisters, who never were really convinced that I was Catholic, used to correct my sign of the cross. I became very adept at doing it both ways. Nowadays, I just stick with right to left.
 
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