An Everyday Blessing—The Sign of the Cross

The Forgotten Art of Blessing This article by Sascha T. Moore from the October 2000 issue of St. Anthony Messenger is a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to learn about blessings: what they are, the many opportunities we can find to offer them, and their importance in our Catholic life. Here, gathered in one place, are suggestions for a multitude of simple blessings that we can offer every day, even (especially) at those times when the routine stresses of daily living threaten to crowd out the divine in our lives.

Praying In Words and Signs: The Sign of the Cross In this brief reflection Passionist Father Victor Hoagland shares his thoughts about this most ancient and basic of Christian blessings. It is, as Father Hoagland tells us, "the first sign made on us at Baptism and the last sign made as we pass to our future life." The page also offers a link to a sweet and simple poem that a parent can use to teach the Sign of the Cross to a small child.

Sign of the Cross This excellent short "point paper" on the Sign of the Cross—its history, its meaning, and its place in our Catholic life—is just one of many valuable resources (among them a searchable online version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church) to be found on the Web site of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Picayune, Mississippi.

Contributed by Dorothy Werner, a retired DRE from the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.