In making the sign of the cross , we receive a blessing

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III


In making the sign of the cross , we receive a blessing
The whole world was cursed and under the penalty of death. But on the Cross the Lord carried all our curses to give us the blessing of reconciliation with God (Rom.5: 10), the blessing of the new pure life; the blessing of membership in His body. All the graces of the New Testament are derived from the cross. That is why the clergymen use the cross in giving the blessing, signifying that the blessing does not come from them but from the Cross of the Lord who entrusted it to them to use in giving the blessing. In addition, they use the cross because they derive their priesthood from the Priesthood of the Crucified. All the blessings of the New Testament sprang from the Lord's Cross and from its efficacious