The Cross

by Don Palmer

The Episcopal Church is a church with an altar, and upon that altar is a cross; rarely, a crucifix, much more commonly an “empty” post-Resurrection cross.  This seems to bother some other Protestants.  (I use the term “Protestant” advisedly.  Are we Protestant or Catholic?  More on that down the road.)  Central Park Baptist Church in Birmingham was building a new edifice (with something of an “edifice complex”).  The architect put a cross atop the spire, and was scolded.  “We don’t put crosses on our churches.”  “Hmmph.  What do you want me to put there, a bathtub?”

By contrast, when Elaine and I moved here from Sylacauga, and left behind many meaningful years in Alpine Baptist Church, we gave them a large wooden cross, exquisitely made for the occasion by one of the congregation, a master woodworker.  Delight!  Several told us how much it added, high on what might be called a rood beam, and many openly wondered why they’d never had a cross in the church before.

We cherish the significance of the cross.  We acknowledge the Christ and him crucified.  It is a sign of deep reverence, and not, as some far-out Protestants have said, an idolatrous gesture.  We acknowledge the cross on the altar in several ways.  Many will, when passing in front of the cross, face it, hesitate, and gently bow the head.  Generally we acknowledge with a slight bow the processional cross when it passes our pew.  Some members genuflect as they enter or leave their pews by the center aisle, a deep bend on the knee.  (genu, Latin for knee; flectere, to bend).

For centuries Christians have been making the sign of the cross upon themselves, usually touching the forehead with the thumb and first two fingers, then touching the abdomen, the left shoulder, and then the right shoulder.  When is it appropriate?  Whenever you feel like it!  Often one silently says, “In the name God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”  I usually, at those times, recall the stirring words of the hymn, “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity.”  The priest makes the sign upon himself at the Confession.

It is customary among some Episcopalians to make the sign of the cross upon their bodies when the priest, with hand upraised, makes the sign of the cross upon the congregation at the Absolution following the Confession.  The celebrant at the Eucharist makes the sign of the cross with his thumb upon his forehead first, his lips, and the Gospel Book as he commences to read the Word in the Gospel.

Other applications of the sign of the cross include upon candidates’ foreheads at baptism, when the clergyman says, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Making the sign of the cross is never directed or specified.  It is an ancient custom going back to the second century.  It should not be construed, ever, as “too Catholic”.   No less a Protestant than Martin Luther himself commended this personal act of piety.

I quote from a great Lutheran pastor, Paul Bosch.  He says it well, very well.  “But remember, it’s heavy stuff.  That personal signing of yourself with the cross, it’s nothing you want to do lightly.  You’re marking your very self, your body, your psyche, with the cross of Christ’s suffering.”

There are neither prescriptions nor proscriptions for making the sign of the cross upon oneself.  Do it if it feels meaningful to you.  Not for anybody else, just for you.