Church Sacramentals serve as a powerful spiritual armor in our fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world, the flesh, and the devil are our enemies in spiritual warfare. Perhaps the most effective way to be on the winning side of spiritual warfare is a frequent and faithful participation in the holy sacraments of the Catholic Church.
Although we cannot always receive the sacraments of the Church in the busyness of daily life, we can always have the sacramentals with us on some level. Sacramentals are not limited to crucifixes, bibles, prayer books, rosaries, medals, holy water, icons, candles, relics and scapulars. They can also involve sacred times, places and gestures.
Sacraments and Sacramentals
Sacraments
The Sacraments (Baptism, Confession, Eucharist, etc.) were instituted by Christ.
- The grace of God flows from the Church sacraments themselves,
Sacramentals
The Sacramentals were instituted by the Church.
- The sacramentals help us to live more devoutly in Christ and obtain grace.
The Power of Church Sacramentals
An example of a sacred time is found in the Angelus prayer devotion. I heard a spiritual warfare expert, Dr. Dan Schneider, say that if you want to get the most grace out of the Angelus prayer, pray it at the precise liturgical times in union with the Church (6 am, noon, 6 pm). I have been trying my best to do this as a New Year Resolution, and I must say I have clearly noticed results with the Angelus Prayer!
Thus, Church sacramental prayers, times, and gestures have more power in them than we may be inclined to believe. For example, when a priest is ordained, the bishop performs the laying on of hands on the priest’s head. In faith, this is important.
- Without the rite of ordination to the priesthood, there are no ordained priests.
- Without ordained priests, there is no administering of Church sacraments.
- Without the Church sacraments available, there is no salvation in Christ.
The character of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is permanently “marked” on the newly ordained priest’s soul by the invisible flow of God’s grace. If the power of God’s sacraments are completed with liturgical gestures, we can have confidence in God with the sacramentals gestures he has given us in the goodness of His mercy. The sacramentals of the Church will help protect us and bless us in daily life.
…The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
Sign of the Cross
One of the most powerful sacramental gestures we can make is the Sign of the Cross. The Sign of the Cross is the chief sacramental of the Catholic Church, and it goes all the way back to the days of the early Church Fathers. The Sign of the Cross evangelizes both the visible and invisible world, and the sacramental gives testimony in what we believe in as Catholics. We believe in God and His Church +
“It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the Fathers.” – St. Athanasius
Before I begin jogging, I make the Sign of the Cross. Not only do I feel a sense of blessing and protection with it before I start, but the Sign of the Cross also serves as an evangelization tool to let others (traffic, joggers, walkers, etc.) experience the light of Christ through the holy sacramental in their own lives at that moment in time.
Being a good Christian is all about shining God’s light into the world’s darkness with faith, hope and charity. And the darkness has not overcome it, all praise be to God.
All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…James 1:17
I had written a paper while I was in seminary about the Sign of the Cross, and I want to please share with you below. In addition, I have provided some related scripture verses and LOH excerpts from the early Church Fathers for contemplation. May the holy light of God’s protection and blessing be with us now and always. Amen +
Sign of the Cross – Historical Survey
There is no direct evidence that supports it, but it seems probable that the Sign of the Cross originated back to apostolic times (Ghezzi 20). Making the Sign of the Cross can be traced back as early as the third century in Africa and in Rome.
Initially, the Sign of the Cross was made on the forehead. It was a customary way for the person to show they belonged to Christ during the rites of initiation. The gesture served as an invisible seal of Christian identity (Dalmais 185).
…The one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
One of the earliest accounts of the Sign of the Cross was given by influential third century writer, Tertullian, who wrote in testimony of the Sign of the Cross saying that they made the gesture on their foreheads at every opportunity during the course of their day (Andreopoulo 13). The sign was a customary way for early Christians to show their faith in Christ (Hahn 43).
“Anyone who refuses to admit the testimony of the cross is of the devil.” – St. Polycarp
Renowned saints from the early Church gave similar accounts about the Sign of the Cross. In the third century St. Cyprian of Carthage testified to the great witness of faith in making the Sign of the Cross. St. Cyprian said that in the Sign of the Cross is all virtue and power, and salvation is for all who are marked on their foreheads with the Sign of the Cross (Hahn 43).
And the LORD said to him: Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark an X on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the abominations practiced within it. Ezekiel 9:4
St. Cyril of Jerusalem gave testimony that Christians trace the cross over bread they ate and from the cups they drank (Ghezzi 21). In the fourth century St. Basil the Great said that the Sign of the Cross was taught to us by the apostles as a gesture or mark that symbolizes hope in the Lord for those presenting themselves for baptism (Ghezzi 20).
“The catechumen believes in the cross of the Lord with which he too is signed, but unless he is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit he cannot receive the forgiveness of sins or the gift of spiritual grace.” – St. Ambrose
St. Athanasius declared that all witchcraft and black magic is brought to nothing by the Sign of the Cross. Early Church saints St. Jerome and St. Augustine also discussed making the Sign of the Cross in their writings (Hahn 43).
“It was to strengthen your heart that He came to suffer and die, came to be spit upon and crowned with thorns, came to be accustomed to shameful things, yes came to be fastened to the wood of the cross.” – St. Augustine
In the seventh and eighth centuries a group of people called the Monophysites claimed that Christ had only one nature (divine) as opposed to two natures (human and divine). In response to this heresy, Eastern Catholics began to sign themselves with the larger sign over head, breast and shoulders using two fingers to represent both the humanity and divinity of Christ. The logic of using the larger sign was that it would be visible to all in defense of the truth (Ghezzi 21).
…whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38
During the thirteenth century, Pope Innocent III instructed Christians to sign themselves with two fingers and thumb extended in reference to the Trinity. By the end of the Middle Ages most Western Catholics were making the Sign of the Cross, left shoulder to right shoulder, with an open hand, probably under the sizable influence of the Benedictine monasteries. This method of making the sign continues today for many Roman Catholics (Ghezzi 23).
Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1
In the early days of the Roman Church Mass, the Pope would walk from the Lateran Palace to the sanctuary where Mass was to be celebrated that day. This rite existed under St. Celestine V (fifth century) and was later magnified by St. Gregory the Great. This is where the origin of the procession entrance for Mass began. The celebrant goes to the right side of the altar and reads a short prayer from a book. This is known as the Introit, or Entrance Versicle. As the celebrant would say the words of the Introit, the celebrant makes the holy Sign of the Cross which is the mark of the beginning (Daniel-Rops 40). In the current Missal the Sign of the Cross has been recognized as a public gesture that marks the beginning of the liturgy of the Mass (Dalmais 186).
…in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19
Andreopoulos, Andreas. The Sign of the Cross – The Gesture, The Mystery, The History.Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2006.
Dalmais, Henri Irenee, Pierre Marie Gy, Pierre Jounel, and Aime George. The Church at Prayer. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1914.
Daniel-Rops, This is the Mass. New York: Hawthorn Books INC, 1958.
Ghezzi, Bert. The Sign of the Cross – Recovering the Power of Ancient Prayer. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2004.
Hahn, Scott. The Lamb’s Supper. New York: Doubleday, 1999