C
catholicanne
Guest
I see people making a sort of sign of the cross right before the gospel is read. What are they doing and why?
- Status
A
Aggies08
Guest
With your thumb, a little cross on your forehead, lips, heart.
THe prayer I was taught was “May Your Word reside in my mind, on my lips, and in my Heart.”
THe prayer I was taught was “May Your Word reside in my mind, on my lips, and in my Heart.”
M
mab23
Guest
M
Mumbles140
Guest
I always learned it as “The Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my heart”, but maybe I just needed to get my ears checked!
But yes, also the response of “Glory to you, O Lord”, spoken aloud.
But yes, also the response of “Glory to you, O Lord”, spoken aloud.
A
Andre1000
Guest
This is a liturgical rule.
L
Little_Mary
Guest
I say the first few words a little differently…since we are about to hear the Gospel, “May the Word of the Lord be on my mind, on my lips and in my heart”
D
Deo_Gratias42
Guest
I wasn’t taught to say anything while doing so, but I was taught that it meant that we declare that we won’t be ashamed of the word of God, that we profess it with our mouth, and love it with our heart.
J
japhy
Guest
Tracing the Sign of the Cross
As we say [Glory to you, O Lord], we trace three small crosses on our bodies: one on our forehead, one on our lips, and one over our heart. Associated with this gesture is a silent prayer which, although not written in the Missal, has been handed on for centuries:
May the word of the Lord
be in my mind, . . (Phil. 4:7; Heb. 10:16)
on my lips, . … . (Deut. 30:14; Rom. 10:8-10)
and in my heart. . (Ps. 119:11; Ezek. 3:10; Luke 2:19)One variant of that silent prayer is: “May the Gospel guard my mind, bless my lips, and stay in my heart.” The idea is the same. The Douay Catechism explains the significance of this gesture this way: They sign themselves on their foreheads, to signify they are not, nor will be ashamed to profess Christ crucified: on their mouths to signify they will be ready with their mouths, to confess unto salvation: and on their breast to signify that with their hearts they believe unto justice. (p. 128)
This prayer reminds us of how attentive we must be to the Gospel.
Mind. We cannot let it go in one ear and out the other, it must remain in our minds. We cannot simply know of the Gospel, we must know the Gospel. It is not enough to know about Jesus Christ, we must know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all men. If God’s Word is in our minds, it will direct our actions and give us true peace of mind. Remember that Christ tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with, among other things, all our mind. (cf. Luke 10:27)
Lips. In the letter of St. James, we are told about how the tongue is a truly vicious organ: The tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. … With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. (Jas. 3:6-10)
We must guard our language carefully so as never to speak contrary to the Gospel. This means more than just avoiding blasphemy or denying Christ, this means making sure we are not false witnesses to Christ by the words we use. St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29) And to the Colossians he wrote that they should put away “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk” from their mouths. (Col. 3:8) Jesus Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount, preached that “whoever insults his brother shall be liable” to judgment. (Matt. 5:22)
** Heart.** A well-known psalm pleads with us not to harden our hearts when we hear the voice of the Lord. (cf. Ps. 95:8) Jesus, in His parable of the sower and the seed, refers to the seed (“the word of the kingdom”) as being sown in the hearts of those who hear it. (cf. Matt. 13:19) He warns us that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his heart. (cf. Mark 7:18-22) We also read that the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the midst of all the commotion surrounding the birth of Jesus, “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) The words for “kept” and “pondering” could also be translated as “treasured” and “encountered,” and this is what we are to do with the word of God: treasure it in our hearts, not to think of it fondly every now and then, but to truly encounter it.
As we say [Glory to you, O Lord], we trace three small crosses on our bodies: one on our forehead, one on our lips, and one over our heart. Associated with this gesture is a silent prayer which, although not written in the Missal, has been handed on for centuries:
May the word of the Lord
be in my mind, . . (Phil. 4:7; Heb. 10:16)
on my lips, . … . (Deut. 30:14; Rom. 10:8-10)
and in my heart. . (Ps. 119:11; Ezek. 3:10; Luke 2:19)One variant of that silent prayer is: “May the Gospel guard my mind, bless my lips, and stay in my heart.” The idea is the same. The Douay Catechism explains the significance of this gesture this way: They sign themselves on their foreheads, to signify they are not, nor will be ashamed to profess Christ crucified: on their mouths to signify they will be ready with their mouths, to confess unto salvation: and on their breast to signify that with their hearts they believe unto justice. (p. 128)
This prayer reminds us of how attentive we must be to the Gospel.
Mind. We cannot let it go in one ear and out the other, it must remain in our minds. We cannot simply know of the Gospel, we must know the Gospel. It is not enough to know about Jesus Christ, we must know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all men. If God’s Word is in our minds, it will direct our actions and give us true peace of mind. Remember that Christ tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with, among other things, all our mind. (cf. Luke 10:27)
Lips. In the letter of St. James, we are told about how the tongue is a truly vicious organ: The tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. … With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. (Jas. 3:6-10)
We must guard our language carefully so as never to speak contrary to the Gospel. This means more than just avoiding blasphemy or denying Christ, this means making sure we are not false witnesses to Christ by the words we use. St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29) And to the Colossians he wrote that they should put away “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk” from their mouths. (Col. 3:8) Jesus Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount, preached that “whoever insults his brother shall be liable” to judgment. (Matt. 5:22)
** Heart.** A well-known psalm pleads with us not to harden our hearts when we hear the voice of the Lord. (cf. Ps. 95:8) Jesus, in His parable of the sower and the seed, refers to the seed (“the word of the kingdom”) as being sown in the hearts of those who hear it. (cf. Matt. 13:19) He warns us that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his heart. (cf. Mark 7:18-22) We also read that the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the midst of all the commotion surrounding the birth of Jesus, “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) The words for “kept” and “pondering” could also be translated as “treasured” and “encountered,” and this is what we are to do with the word of God: treasure it in our hearts, not to think of it fondly every now and then, but to truly encounter it.
From Praying the Mass: The Prayers of the People, pp. 64-65
A
agw123
Guest
This must be a catechism training issue. I dont see a lot of this being taught now or even back when I was a kid in a different diocese.
It seems like the ones who went to Catholic elementary school and had religion classes during the day got taught to do this and the ones that went to CCD (what it was called back them) on Wednesday afternoons never got taught this part.
I was taught this in Catholic school. My wife never had it taught to her and she went through public school and after school religious ed.
C
catholicanne
Guest
Thank you for your replies. I was never taught this at RCIA class nor as a child. I’ll be happy to do it this Sunday.
R
rivera01
Guest
I’ve heard from a couple of people that this is some sort of deliverance prayer that we say when we do the Sign of the Cross before the Gospel 
A
Andre1000
Guest
Yes I experienced that too, almost all I know about the Catholic Church I had to look for myself. My brother and my sister have been altar servers for years, they never confessed and did not know what a tabernacle is.
Also the “prayer”(according to the Schott) for the 3 crosses:
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum (Matheaum, Marcum, Lucam, Joannem).
M
mburn16
Guest
apparently I’ve been running afoul of custom for years. “Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my soul” whoops!
T
TimothyH
Guest
This is a most excellent post. I have pasted it into a document and printed it for further reflection.
-Tim-
- Status