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Hi, Will —
If I understand you correctly, you're
referring to the Sign of the Cross.
The Sign of the Cross represents
the Cross on which Jesus was crucified
in sacrifice for our sins, so that
we could be reconciled with God and
so be resurrected from the dead on the
Last Day.
We sign ourselves to remember the
Cross and His Passion (suffering)
and Sacrifice. We do this:
- when we enter the Church
- when we pass by a Church
- when we enter a pew (together
with a half-kneel called a genuflection)
- when we pass the altar, at various
times during a service
- or whenever
we want to invoke God's help.
When we enter the Church, we touch
our fingers into Holy Water (in what
is called a font),
and make the Sign of the Cross with
the Holy Water on our fingers.
This reminds us of our Baptism, in
which we spiritually died with Christ
and were raised from the dead with
Him symbolically by immersion into
water or having it poured over our
heads.
Baptism is the entry into Christianity;
at that moment:
- we become adopted
sons or daughters of God
- are made
righteous inside
- become objectively
pleasing to God, and
- receive God,
the Holy Spirit into our hearts.
Blessing
ourselves with holy water reminds
us of this Baptism.
The Sign of the Cross is made by
moving the hand to the forehead,
the stomach, the left shoulder, and
the right shoulder. (In some churches,
called Eastern Rite churches, the
first three fingers are together
and the motion is from right to left,
instead of left to right.)
Sometimes, depending on the context,
we may say,
"In the name of the Father [touching forehead], and the Son [touching stomach], and the Holy [touching left shoulder] Spirit [touching right shoulder]".
This invokes the Blessed Trinity
whom we worship, one God in three
Eternal Persons.
Eric
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