Mass Talks 7: Sign of the Cross & Greeting

We are engaged in a series of sermons on the ceremonies of the Mass that, cumulatively, aim to extend our appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament during this Eucharistic Year proclaimed by the Pope.

After the Introit and the (optional) incensing of the altar, Mass solemnly commences with the sign of the cross. This is the priest’s first act of prayer in the sacred liturgy and would thus seem to convey great importance. Indeed, this venerable custom has its origin from apostolic times. The Church employs this sign not only for Mass, but for all the sacraments, for blessings, for the opening and closing of prayers, and in exorcisms. The importance of the sign of the cross may be evident in that it is an embodiment of the main truths of the Christian faith. It reminds us of our crucified Lord, of the price He paid for our redemption and of the value of our souls. It moves us to the love of God and to reverence Him. This is the sign of combat that triumphs over all Christ’s enemies. The most common form of words that accompany the sign of the cross is the universally known formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen” –an acknowledgment of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The hand is raised to the forehead when invoking the divine Father to signify that He is the first Person from Whom the Son is begotten and from Whom the Holy Spirit and the Son proceeds. When saying “the Son,” the hand is lowered to the breast to express that the Son proceeds from the Father / who sent Him down to earth by first descending into the blest womb of the Virgin Mary. And since the Holy Spirit is the love that unites both Father and the Son, the hand then passes from the left to the right shoulder, as if connecting them. (This gesture then ought to be made correctly and reverently. It’s a sorry sight to see it made often incorrectly, sloppily, and or with the form of words either incomplete or ill-timed with the movement of the hand. Moreover, it’s’ a shame to see this sacred sign abused as a superstitious gesture or by non-Catholics as a blasphemous mockery of Catholic practices.)

The sign of the cross is a source of grace for those who use it devoutly and it obtains the blessing of God. It is likewise a weapon against evil spirits and a means of protection against them. The Church grants a partial indulgence to those who make the sign of the cross saying the usual words.

When the priest opens Mass saying “in the name of,” he means that all that follows is done by the commission of God. It signals the fact that the Mass is not a prayer invented by the priest, and that he is one sent by the Church to act in an official capacity as God’s agent. Moreover, the use of the cross is an indicator that Holy Mass is connected to the cross of Calvary; and that the Mass is a renewal of the sacrifice of the Cross. And–if there would need to be more reasons for it–it acts as a shield, a breastplate of protection for the priest and people against the snares of the devils who might attempt to disrupt the sacred liturgy.

What follows the invocation of God’s name in the sign of the cross is the Greeting of the people. For this, the priest turns towards them, opens and then closes his hands while saying one of four lawful Mass formulas. The first option is taken directly from the conclusion of 2nd Corinthians and is well familiar to you: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” Here again, the names of the Blessed Trinity are used in a manner of blessing for the people, imparting to them God’s “grace” (presumably ‘actual’ grace here, although the meaning could also be a wish that all present be found in a state of grace) and divine charity, both of which cannot obtain from man but only from God. The rather puzzling word here is ‘fellowship’ and I must confess some uneasiness about it. ‘Fellowship’ may be either a rather cold-sounding word or else a somewhat too chummy an expression in our English language, but it does manage to convey the fact that the Holy Spirit creates bonds between us and God and among one another in the Church: and thus fellowship. But the Latin word communicatio has a stronger sense of the unifying power of the Holy Spirit who joins us into the one body of Christ. An alternative greeting is derived from the same epistle of Saint Paul, not from its conclusion but from its beginning: “The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ [be with you]” to which was added (but apparently now to be subtracted) the people’s reply, “Blessed be God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” which are the words that immediately follow in the epistle. This is the formula least used of the Mass greetings, and its long and unfamiliar response has perhaps been the reason for its neglect. In the new edition of the Roman Missal (which we now use), this longer response has been replaced with the simple: et cum spiritu tuo, “and with your spirit” about which we will speak more in a moment.

The traditional greeting, so rich in meaning, is the simplest: “The Lord be with you” answered by “and with your spirit.” This has a fascinating story.

But first, I want to comment about the fact that the fabricated mistranslation used in our English Masses, “and also with you” has now been condemned by the Vatican (that’s too strong an expression, I realize, but I delight in saying it because it’s a vindication for us sufferers from bad Mass translations these past thirty years). The right response, “and with your spirit” is certainly cryptic but that alone cannot justify changing it to something else. Now here’s the interesting story of this little dialogue.

We have a very ancient sermon that has survived since the second century, one that may well preserve knowledge that Jesus imparted to the apostles but which was not recorded in the New Testament. We call such material: Apostolic Tradition, and it’s terribly important to us Catholics. In this sermon, we are told of what happened after Jesus’ death when He went down into the underworld, or descended among the dead, visiting the souls that had been held captive in Limbo. Among those in captivity awaiting liberation from Jesus after He won their redemption was Adam, the first man. When Jesus broke into the underworld, victorious, Adam, in astonishment, was said to have struck his breast saying to all the souls in Limbo: “My Lord be with you all,” an acknowledgment that Jesus, the Lord was present. And it was then that Jesus Himself said in reply to Adam: “and with your spirit,” the word ‘spirit’ most accurately describing that all these dead people were spirits without bodies (the condition that all humanity has after death until the day of the resurrection of the body). Even though in the Mass this dialogue is reversed in that the priest (who represents Christ) says “The Lord be with you” and it is the people who say “and with your spirit,” nevertheless this is a formula that has been with the Church from the earliest days of the Church and its phrases, however mystical, ought not be tampered with by translators.

Whenever a bishop celebrates Mass, he alone is privileged to pronounce the words of the risen Jesus to the people: “Peace be with you (Jn 20:19)” in place of the other greeting formulas.

A final word concerns gesture. The priest (or bishop) opens and closes his hands when he greets the people. The signification should be obvious enough: what gifts the priest possess by his ordination he imparts to the people as if from his hands, communicating them in gesture as well as in words. In the former Tridentine rite of Mass, the priest also made a richly symbolic act here. Before turning from the altar towards the people to greet them, he kissed the altar, as if he were drawing from the altar (which is a symbol of Christ) our Lord’s kiss and then passing it on to the congregation. With the priest’s new position at the chair, this lovely touch (and so it literally was) had to go.

To sum up then: Mass begins by invoking the Three Persons in God while applying the power of the Christ cross upon ourselves. The priest and people exchange greetings, again in God’s name, and now all are ready for their meeting with God. The Church has carefully cultivated this ritual in order that the Mass might be a most blessed and spiritually rewarding act. We should be grateful for being heirs of this rich liturgical heritage and strive to promote it by our reverent participation in these sacred mysteries.