Why sign of Cross

geomike

Why do we do the sign of the cross on our mouths when we yawn.:0

Marianne87

I have heard it's a tradition to keep satan away from making you fall asleep when you are in church.

miskande

the reason i learned was that it was to ask God to keep a guard over your mouth so that you're tongue won't slip up and sin. it has to do with the verse that says "it is not that which enters the mouth that defiles a man, but that which comes out defiles a man" (i may have misquoted the verse....but you get what i mean ;-) )

God Bless

minatasgeel

[quote author=Marianne87 link=topic=7841.msg101809#msg101809 date=1239656942]
I have heard it's a tradition to keep satan away from making you fall asleep when you are in church.


that's the exact tradition i was taught to. which is fine. but it's not really a big deal. the manner rule is that you cover your mouth when doing so.

Boricua_Orthodox

[glow=red,2,300]In the Name of the Father+ and of the Son+ and of the Holy Spirit+, the One True God. Amen. [/glow]

We call ourselves Christians because we believe in God as we were taught to believe by the Son of God Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. As the sinless Son of God, by His Cross, he conquered not only sin but also death itself-He rose from the dead, and He made the Cross the weapon of His victory over sin and death. The Cross reminds us to follow our Lord Jesus Christ in our daily struggles. Where does the believer find his strength? He receives in through communion with Christ, through love for Christ which inspires him to follow after Him. This struggle of following Him Christ calls His "yoke":  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, For My yoke is easy and My burden is light, (Mat. 11:29-30)".  He called it a cross:  24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me, (Mat. 16:24)" and "38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me, (Mat 10:38)". We are called to die to our passions and lusts, despising the goods of the world and it's temptations and now He lives in us: "20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me, (Galatians 2:20)".

This is why, in order to express our faith in Jesus Christ our Saviour, we wear a cross on our body, and during prayer we form the cross over ourselves with our right hand, or make the sign of the Cross. The sign of the Cross gives us great strength to repel and conquer evil and to do good, but we must remember to make the sign of the Cross correctly and without haste, otherwise it will not be the sign of the Cross, but just waving our hand around, which only gladdens the demons.

Thus we express our faith in the All-Holy Trinity and our deisre to live and labor for the glory of God.