Question 68. Both Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics make the Sign of the Cross, but why is the order different (Orthodox right shoulder first, RC's left shoulder)?

Answer: Nicephorus writes that Saint John the Evangelist blessed himself with the sign of the cross before dying. Saint Paul used this same sign to restore sight to a blind man. Many even affirm that Our Lord Himself taught this sign to the apostles and that he used it to bless them on the day of his Ascension. “The sign of the cross,” says Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of Saint John, “is the trophy raised against the power of the prince of this world; when he sees it, he is afraid; when he even hears of it, he is filled with terror.” Tertullian in the second century says, “At every fresh step and change of place, whenever we come in or go out…we impress upon our forehead the sign of the Cross.”

    It’s interesting to note that in the 13^th century, Pope Innocent III (contemporary with St. Francis of Assisi) instructed the faithful on the meaning of the sign of the cross in these words:  “The sign of the cross is made with three fingers, because the signing is done together with the invocation of the Trinity. ...This is how it is done: from above to below, and from the right to the left, because Christ descended from the heavens to the earth, and from the Jews (right) he passed to the Gentiles (left)”.

    Note that Pope Innocent is describing what the custom was in the West. In the 13^th century the East and the West still made the sign of the cross in the same way. The pope goes on to say: “Others, however, make the sign of the cross from the left to the right, because from misery (left) we must cross over to glory (right), just as Christ crossed over Paradise.        

    Some priests do it this way so that they and the people will be signing themselves in the same way. You can easily verify this picture. When a priest faces the people for a blessing and makes the sign of the cross over them, it is from left to right...”

    So the people, imitating the blessing of the priest, began to sign themselves from left to right. Be that as it may, centuries have gone by since then, and we in the West make the sign of the cross from left to right, with the palm open, with the five fingers next to each other, to represent the five wounds of Christ (head, hand, hand, torso, feet).

    Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics also place great emphasis on the sign of the cross as a profession of faith in the three basic doctrines of Christianity: the Holy Trinity, the double nature in Christ, and the mystery of Redemption. This act of faith in the teachings of Christianity is also an act of consecration to God of all human activities - thoughts, affections, actions.

     Orthodox Christians make the sign of the cross with the thumb, index, and middle fingers together, representing the Trinity, and the fourth and fifth fingers pressed into the palm to represent the two natures of Christ. The gesture is presently made by lifting the hand first to the forehead, then to the heart, to the right and then the left shoulder. In the Scriptures right always represents good and left evil and in the Creed the Son is said to sit at the right hand of the Father - thus the signing of the right shoulder first.

    Eastern Christians sign themselves often especially at every mention of the name of the Holy Trinity and in conjunction with the metany or bow made to reverence holy things such as the altar or an icon.

   When you make the sign of the cross let it be with a real sign of the cross. Do it carefully, deliberately, and with reverence. When we cross ourselves, instead of a small, embarrassed, cramped gesture that gives no notion of its meaning, make a large measured sign, from forehead to lower breast, from shoulder to shoulder, consciously feeling how it envelopes you. The Sign of the Cross surrounds the deepest mysteries of our faith.