The Bible does not specifically state which day of the week Jesus was crucified. The two most widely held views are Friday and Wednesday. Some, however, using a synthesis of both the Friday and Wednesday arguments, accept Thursday as the day.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Those who argue for a Friday crucifixion say that there is still a valid way in which He could have been considered in the grave for three days. In the Jewish mind of the First Century, a part of day was considered as a full day. Since Jesus was in the grave for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday—He could be considered to have been in the grave for three days. One of the principal arguments for Friday is found in Mark 15:42 that notes that Jesus was crucified "the day before the Sabbath." If that was the weekly Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, then that fact leads to a Friday crucifixion. Another argument for Friday says that verses such as Matthew 16:21 and Luke 9:22 teach that Jesus would rise on the third day; therefore, He wouldn't need to be in the grave a full three days and nights. But while some translations use "on the third day" for these verses, not all do and not everyone agrees that that is the best way to translate these verses. Furthermore, Mark 8:31 says that Jesus will be raised "after" three days.
The Thursday argument expands on the Friday view and argues mainly that there are too many events (some count as many as twenty) happening between Christ's burial and Sunday morning to occur from Friday evening to Sunday morning. They point out that this is especially a problem when the only full day between Friday and Sunday was Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. An extra day or two eliminates that problem. The Thursday advocates could reason: Suppose you haven't seen a friend since Monday evening. The next time you see him it is Thursday morning and you say, “I haven’t seen you in three days” even though it had technically only been 60 hours (2.5 days). If Jesus was crucified on Thursday, this example shows how it could be considered three days.
The Wednesday opinion states that there were two Sabbaths that week. After the first one (the one that occurred on the evening of the crucifixion, Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52-54), the women purchased spices--note that they made their purchase after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1). The Wednesday view holds that this "Sabbath" was the Passover (see Lev 16:29-31; 23:24-32, 39 where high holy days that are not necessarily the seventh day of the week are referred to as the Sabbath). The second Sabbath that week was the normal weekly Saturday. Note that in Luke 23:56, the women who had purchased spices after the first Sabbath, returned and prepared the spices then "rested on the Sabbath" (Luke 23:56). The argument states that they could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath, yet prepare those spices before the Sabbath—unless there were two Sabbaths. With the two-Sabbath view, if Christ was crucified on Thursday, then the high holy Sabbath (the Passover) would have begun Thursday at sundown and ended at Friday sundown—at the beginning of the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. Purchasing the spices after the first Sabbath (Passover) would have meant they purchased them on Saturday and were breaking the Sabbath.
Therefore, this view states, the only explanation that does not violate the biblical account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40, is that Christ was crucified on Wednesday. The Sabbath that was a high holy day (Passover) occurred on Thursday, the women purchased spices (after that) on Friday and returned and prepared the spices on the same day, they rested on Saturday which was the weekly Sabbath, then brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday. He was buried near sundown on Wednesday, which began Thursday in the Jewish calendar. Using a Jewish calendar, you have Thursday night (night one), Thursday day (day one), Friday night (night two), Friday day (day two), Saturday night (night three), Saturday day (day three). We don't know exactly when He rose, but we do know that it was before sunrise on Sunday (John 20:1, Mary Magdalene came "while it was still dark" and the stone was rolled away and she found Peter and told him that "they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb"), so He could have risen as early as just after sunset Saturday evening, which began the first day of the week to the Jews.
A possible problem with the Wednesday view is that the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did so on "the same day" of His resurrection (Luke 24:13). The disciples, who do not recognize Jesus, tell Him of Jesus' crucifixion (24:21) and say that "today is the third day since these things happened" (24:22). Wednesday to Sunday is four days. A possible explanation is that they may have been counting since Wednesday evening at Christ's burial, which begins the Jewish Thursday, and Thursday to Sunday could be counted as three days.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified. If it were very important, then God's Word would have clearly communicated the day. What is important is that He did die, and that He physically, bodily rose from the dead. What is equally important is the reason He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. John 3:16 and 3:36 both proclaim that believing, or putting your trust, in Him results in eternal life!
Recommended Resource: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas.
What day was it when Jesus was crucified?
That Great City
And the great city was divided into three parts...
Revelation 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Revelation 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Revelation 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Isaiah 348. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
14. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
15. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
outside 
Fault lines - 
The most frequent and dangerous
seismic activity in the world
European Volcanoes
The Un-Holi-Day Season
1John 2:15 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
James 2:5 - Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
1John 3:1 - Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
“Santa” and “The Tammuz Tree”
Every year as the world honors the holidays (holy days), Christians continue to follow the ancient Babylonian ritual of placing an evergreen tree in their home and decorating it. Clearly, many believers are aware the Christmas tree is associated with Pagan religious idolatry, but they continue to rationalize their involvement because they claim that God has now "sanctified" the holiday and somehow redeemed it. This is, of course, apostasy of the worst kind for the practice of convincing oneself of the acceptability of anything they desire to do when the Bible clearly instructs them not to, places them in deadly spiritual peril.
The Lord says "my spirit will not always strive with a man," so we should be earnest in our efforts to submit everything to God lest we eventually cross some 
undesirable spiritual threshold. The Old Testament book of Jeremiah explicitly tells us "Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax; They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4)
In ancient Babylon, the goddess figure Semiramus was the mother of the Sumerian deity Tammuz. Other surrounding cultures have differing names for Tammuz. He is Attis to the Phoenicians, and Adonis to the Greeks, etc. In each legend, he dies young and his birth and death are honored on his birthday which coincided with the Winter Solstice. This was celebrated on December 25th. Part of the religious ritual involved cutting down a young green evergreen tree, which kills the tree, as a way of commemorating the premature death of Tammuz.
This tree is then decorated in the fashion Jeremiah described. A corollary to the "Tammuz tree," was the rite in which the women cried for the dead god. Shortly after Jeremiah's time, we find the idolatry has penetrated the Jewish temple where we see sun worship and "women weeping for Tammuz." (Ezekiel 16:14) The sun worship is closely related to the end of the Winter Solstice when the sun begins to stay in the sky longer.
The boughs of holly and related accouterments are descended from Celtic and Druidic rituals associated with the Wiccans or witchcraft.
Even the "yule" log that's placed on the fire is a Babylonian word. Obviously, the concept of a jolly immortal fellow dressed in red leaving gifts under the tree has a serious occultist flavor, but naming him a saint seems to make him acceptable with worldly Christians.
Christmas is but one of the pagan holy days that have infiltrated the Christian calendar and replaced the only holy day that God ordained, the seventh day.
Easter, which is derived from the name Ishtar, is actually closely related to the Tammuz tree. Indeed, the common
"Christians" routinely defend the sunrise Easter service as honoring the discovery of the resurrection of JESUS that occurred 3 days after Passover. With many of them not realizing they are honoring the ancient pagan holy day of Easter that predated Christianity by many centuries. In fact, the New Testament clearly shows the Apostles honored Passover, while the evil king Herod honored the Easter celebration. (Acts 12:2)
The day of Resurrection
The Bible states that the first day of the crucifixion is the day before the High Jewish Sabbath of the Seventh day.
State churches and World Christians refuse to repent of this pagan practice even as they assign the label of cultist to the various groups that seek to tell them the truth. "Satan" Claus continues to cast his spell as churches across the country produce pageants & programs like The Singing Christmas Tree. These extravaganzas are commercially marketed through seemingly respectable Christian organizations. Some churches, such as the Wesleyan Church, produce a variation. In San Diego, the Skyline Wesleyan has a pageant called The Living Christmas Tree. Tickets are available by calling 619-462-TREE.
Even without a formal choir program, literally thousands of Christian churches actually place Christmas trees right in their sanctuary every year. In our area, we have the Festival of Trees wherein every charitable group in the county gets involved as a community effort. At the Festival of Trees, they follow the Druidic ceremonies and even name each tree.
Christmas Trees reign in so-called American "Christian" culture. Sacramentalist & scriptural renegade Chuck Colson's Prison
There are thousands of examples of Christian T-Shirts, greeting cards, and even sheet music of Gospel songs incorporating the evergreen paganism. Even examples of Christian musician's newsletters are decorated with boughs of holly. There have been expensive print ads running in national Christian magazines that feature Christmas trees behind the printed pitch. There are seasonal catalogs from Christian book publishers with holiday titles that show manger like scenes in groves of Christmas trees.
In a Christmas drama catalog put out by Lillenas (the Nazarene church media arm,) 3 of the 5 book covers shown features Christmas trees. Sandi Patty's Word book (released by Thomas Nelson, the largest Christian publisher) "Merry Christmas, With Love," features a boy dragging a tree into his house on the cover. "Let's Keep Christmas" published by NavPress & written by revered pastor Peter Marshall has the whole family dragging the abomination to their house.
Children's ministry figure Rob Evans has a Christmas tree on the cover of his video from Integrity Press. Praise Banners has a 40" banner of a Christmas tree that is marketed specifically to churches.
Top Christian music artist Brian Duncan is pictured in front of his tree on his new Christmas CD. Even the print ads for the farewell version of the Young Messiah tour featured the evergreen motif in the form of boughs of holly while a drama produced by the Lamb's Players has the same Babylonian artifacts. There are literally hundreds of other examples, but the question is, what’s wrong with this picture?
The refusal of Christians to recognize the importance of relinquishing such demonic associations is a powerful indicator the church has gone astray. Following a pagan practice is sin, but the more dangerous sin is the steadfast refusal to recognize that the Bible tells us to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is (our) reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
This conflict illustrates the very real problem of how we interpret works versus grace.
But the Word of God is pure and always true. God is not mocked, thus we would do well do take to heart the already cited passage concerning the Tammuz Tree and what will happen to those that refuse to hear His warning: "Learn not the way of the heathen...in the time of their visitation they shall perish." (Jeremiah 10:2, 15)
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Satan's Clothes - Santa's Claus
Revelation 13
8.And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.
2 Thessalonians 2
3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
History
Pre-Christian origins of holiday
Christmas has its origins in several pagan holidays.
The Roman celebration known as Saturnalia included the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia). This holiday was observed over a series of days beginning on December 17 (the birthday of Saturn) and ending on December 25 (the birthday of Sol Invictus, the "unconquered sun").
The combined festivals resulted in an extended winter holiday season. Business was postponed and even slaves feasted.
There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and nudity was relatively common.
It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus.
During the time in which Christianity was spreading throughout the
another similar religion known as Mithraism was also gaining widespread acceptance.
The followers of Mithraism worshipped Mithras, a god of Persian origin, who was identified with Sol Invictus.
The followers of Mithraism, consequently, adopted the birthday of Sol Invictus as the birthday of
Mithras. In 274 AD, due to the popularity of Mithraism, Emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus.
After the death of Emperor Constantine, three of his sons inherited the
Those who were non-Christians or followers of Mithras were eventually forced to convert under these laws. In spite of their conversion they adapted many elements of their old religions into Christianity. Among these was the celebration of the birth of Mithras on December 25 which was now observed as the birthday of Jesus.
Christian origins of holiday
Around 220 AD, the theologian Tertullian declared that Jesus died on March 25, 29, but was resurrected three days later. Although this is not a plausible date for the crucifixion, it does suggest that March 25, nine months before December
25th, had significance for the church even before it was used as a basis to calculate Christmas. Modern scholars favor a crucifixion date of April 3, 33, which was also the date of a partial lunar eclipse (These are Julian calendar dates. Subtract two days for a Gregorian date.).
By 240 AD, a list of significant events was being assigned to March 25, partly because it was believed to be the date of the vernal equinox.
These events include creation, The Fall of Adam and Eve, and, most relevantly, the Incarnation.
The view that the Incarnation occurred on the same date as crucifixion is consistent with a Jewish belief that prophets died at an "integral age," either an anniversary of their birth or of their conception.
The idea that December 25 is Jesus' birthday was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (221 AD), an early reference book for Christians.
This identification did not at first inspire feasting or celebration. In 245 AD, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating the birthday of Jesus "as if he were a king pharaoh." Only sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays, Origen contended.
As
gave the church an opportunity to promote the intermediate view that Christ was divine from the time of his incarnation. Mary, a minor figure for early
Christians, gained prominence as the theotokos, or god-bearer.
There were Christmas celebrations in
Medieval Christmas and related winter festivals
Christmas soon outgrew the Christological controversy that created it and came to dominate the medieval calendar.
The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of
Former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent. Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the "twelve days of Christmas"
(i.e. Christmas to Epiphany).
The fortieth day after Christmas was Candlemas.
The Egyptian Christmas celebration on January 6 was adopted as Epiphany, one of the most prominent holidays of the year during the Early Middle Ages. Christmas Day itself was a relatively minor holiday, although its prominence gradually increased after
Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in 800 AD.
Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul (Yule), originally the name of a twelve-day pre-Christian winter festival. Logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, hence the "Yule log." In
By the High Middle Ages, Christmas had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various magnates "celebrated Christmas." King Richard II
of
Christmas feasts. Caroling also became popular, and was originally a group of dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned caroling as
lewd, largely due to overtones reminiscent of the traditions of Saturnalia and Yule). "Misrule” drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling — was also an important
aspect of the festival. In
The Reformation and the 1800s
Santa Claus hands out gifts to Union soldiers during the US Civil War in Thomas Nast's first Santa Claus cartoon, Harper's Weekly, 1863.During the Reformation,
Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and
the "rags of the Beast". The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in
a more religiously oriented form.
When a Puritan parliament triumphed over the King, Charles I of
Pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities.
For several weeks,
The Restoration (1660) ended the ban, but Christmas celebration was still disapproved of by the Anglican clergy.
By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased and British writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. They imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday.
The book A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens played a major role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion (as opposed to communal celebration and hedonistic excess).
Father Christmas persuades the jury of his innocence in The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas (1686) by Josiah King The Puritans of
disapproved of Christmas and celebration was outlawed in
Meanwhile,
Interest was revived by several short stories by
depict harmonious warm-hearted holiday traditions
in
describes, they were imitated by his American readers.
German immigrants and the homecomings of the Civil War helped promote the holiday.
Rome, the Nativity and the Sun God
Early celebrations of Christ's birth
First of all, the commemoration of Christ’s birth became an independent feast only in the fourth century when it was separated from the Epiphany (the Magi’s visit to Jesus, ie, the pagan recognition of Christ’s divinity). In the early Christian Church, in fact, the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi and the Theophany (the manifestation of Christ’s divinity at his baptism) were all celebrated together on 6 January.
The Cronografo of 354, containing, among other things, lists of Roman feasts, of consoles, city prefects, and burial dates of Roman bishops and martyrs, is the first written evidence that Christ’s Nativity was celebrated on 25 December and that it marked the beginning of the liturgical year in Rome from 336. Some scholars even believe that this celebration was first established around 300, possibly not in Rome, but in North Africa.
Influential pagan practices
It is certain that in Rome the institution and celebration of Christmas was strongly influenced by pre-existing pagan practices. Since 45 BC, Romans used to celebrate the winter solstice (from Latin sol stitium, ie, 'sun standstill') on 25 December, when the duration of daylight first begins to increase. All ancient religions were indeed very sensitive to the movement of the sun and the other celestial bodies, which were fundamental for all human activities (not only agriculture, but also war and peace, social organisation, etc.) since they determined the change of seasons and, thus, the whole cycle of life. This is shown in Greco-Roman art as well as in some ancient Jewish synagogues (eg, the zodiac of Beth Alpha synagogue). Representations of the sun-god Helios/Apollo, personifications of Seasons and seasonal activities (such as harvesting putti) were indeed quite widespread.
Helios/Sol Invictus
One of the most common theories is that the Christmas festivity originated from the pagan feast of Sol Invictus (the undefeated sun). This god counted among his many adepts the first Christian emperor, Constantine, whose syncretistic tendencies (ie, melding the traditions of various faiths) are well known. It is not surprising that the ceremony of dedication of Constantinople in 330 was half–pagan, half-Christian: the chariot of the sun-god was set in the market square with the Cross of Christ over its head, while the Kyrie Eleison (Greek for 'Lord have mercy' and a liturgical rite) was sung.
As a matter of fact, Romans had developed a local Sun cult much earlier (at least from the first century BC, according to written evidence), which was centred on the Quirinal hill but did not have any preferential day for its festivities. This local cult was replaced in the second century AD by Oriental sun cults, namely Mithraism and Sol Invictus Elagabal. Neither of them, however, had a public celebration day on the winter solstice. Apparently, it was only in 274 with the Emperor Aurelian that 25 December became the day dedicated to Sol Invictus, whose cult, in the meanwhile, had been reformed and “Romanised” as an attempt at religious “monotheism” unifying the various cults diffused throughout the empire.
“The Sun of justice”
However, the reason why Christians adopted a day which had such strong “solar” connotations for the Birth of Christ is not merely linked to the cult of Sol Invictus. There are biblical references that justify these developments. Early Christians attributed to Christ the words of the Old Testament’s prophet Malachi: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of justice will rise with healing in his rays (Ml 3:20)”. In a Christian text of an unknown author (Pseudo-Cyprian) called De pascha computus of 243, drawing a parallel between the creation of the world and the events of Christ’s life, we read: “O how admirable and divine is the providence of the Lord, that on that day on which the sun was made on the same day was Christ born, the 5th of the Kalends of April, the fourth day of the week, and so rightly did the prophet Malachi say to the people: ”the sun of righteousness shall rise upon you, with healing in his wings”. Despite the fact that the date for Christ’s nativity was not considered to be 25 December, but 28 March (25 March, ie, the Spring equinox, was thought to indicate the first day of creation; the sun was created on the fourth day according to Genesis), the comparison between Christ and the sun was clearly stated. Christ was greeted as the Sun of righteousness, the beginning of a new era, and his resurrection was associated with the dawn. He was the Saviour and the Lord of the universe, the Light and Life of the whole creation. This dimension of Christian worship is shown, for example, in the third century mosaic of the grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica, on the ceiling of the tomb of the Julii, where Christ is represented with a radiated crown as the sun-god Helios/Sol Invictus riding in his chariot (see photo).
Thus, Christmas is the celebration of Christ the Sun of the world, in a moment of the year when the sun starts “growing” again, and the darkness slowly makes room for the light... Nature and religion, astrology and liturgy are perfectly combined. Once again, early Christians anchored their faith in the “instinctive” and creative intelligence of the many generations and cultures that had preceded them.
Raffaela Fazio*
December 2006
*Author note: Raffaela Fazio holds degrees in Modern European Languages, Religious Sciences, and a Master of Arts in the Cultural Heritage of the Church from the Pontifical Gregorian University. She works for the Holy See's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.
___________________________________________________________
News of The End TimesWorld Alliance of Reformed Churches News Updates
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
WARC NEWS UPDATES
| Dialogues Lutheran Oriental Orthodox Orthodox Roman Catholic |
The Mark of the Beast is.....
The Mark of the Beast is...
"The Roman Catholic Sign of the Cross"
The Catholic Encyclopedia says: Under "sign of the cross"
"We have positive evidence in the early Fathers that such a practice was familiar to Christians in the second century. "In all our travels and movements", says Tertullian [200AD] (De cor. Mil., iii), "in all our coming in and going out, in putting of our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross"."
"On the whole it seems probable that the ultimate prevalence of the larger cross is due to an instruction of Leo IV in the middle of the ninth century."
"Most commonly and properly the words "sign of the cross" are used of the large cross traced from forehead to breast and from shoulder to shoulder, such as Catholics are taught to make upon themselves when they begin their prayers, and such also as the priest makes at the foot of the altar when he commences Mass with the words: "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti". (At the beginning of Mass the celebrant makes the sign of the cross by placing his left hand extended under his breast; then raising his right to his forehead, which he touches with the extremities of his fingers, he says: In nomine Patris; then, touching his breast with the same hand, he says: et Filii; touching his left and right shoulders, he says; et Spiritus Sancti; and as he joins his hands again adds: Amen.) The same sign recurs frequently during Mass, e.g. at the words "Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini", at the "Indulgentiam" after the Confiteor, etc., as also in the Divine Office, for example at the invocation "Deus in adjutorium nostrum intende", at the beginning of the "Magnificat", the "Benedictus", the "Nunc Dimittis", and on many other occasions." … "On the whole it seems probable that the ultimate prevalence of the larger cross is due to an instruction of Leo IV in the middle of the ninth century. "Sign the chalice and the host", he wrote, "with a right cross and not with circles or with a varying of the fingers, but with two fingers stretched out and the thumb hidden within them, by which the Trinity is symbolized. Take heed to make this sign rightly, for otherwise you can bless nothing" (see Georgi, "Liturg. Rom. Pont.", III, 37)." (Sign of the cross, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII, Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company)
The sign of the cross - of the Roman Catholic Church - Prophecy
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand,or in their foreheads:
Below is another example of Catholic teaching of
"the sign of the cross"
The Sign of the Cross is made thus: First choose your style:
* Option A. With your right hand, touch the thumb and ring finger together, and hold your index finger and middle finger together to signify the two natures of Christ. This is the most typical Western Catholic practice.
* Option B. Hold your thumb and index finger of your right hand together to signify the two natures of Christ
* Option C. Hold your thumb, index finger, middle finger of your right hand together (signifying the Trinity) while tucking the ring finger and pinky finger (signifying the two natures of Christ) toward your palm. This is the typically Eastern Catholic practice.
* Option D: Hold your right hand open with all 5 fingers -- representing the 5 Wounds of Christ -- together and very slightly curved, and thumb slightly tucked into palm
Then:
* touch the forehead as you say (or pray mentally) "In nomine Patris" ("In the name of the Father")
* touch the breastbone or top of the belly as you say "et Filii" ("and of the Son")
*
touch the left shoulder, then right shoulder, as you say "et Spiritus Sancti" ("and of the Holy Ghost"). Note that some people end the Sign by crossing the thumb over the index finger to make a cross, and then kissing the thumb as a way of "kissing the Cross."
An optional prayer to pray after signing yourself in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is this one, said to be favored by St. Benedict:
By the Sign of the Cross, deliver me from my enemies, O Lord.
Note that Eastern Catholics (and Orthodox) go from right shoulder to left and end sometimes by touching their right side, above the hip, to symbolize Christ's being pierced by the sword. The Bridgettine nuns in their Myroure of our Ladye write of the mystical reasons for the Latin practice, and how it summarizes the Incarnation, the Passion, and the Ascension:
And then ye bless you with the sygne of the holy crosse, to chase away the fiend with all his deceytes. For, as Chrysostome sayth, wherever the fiends see the signe of the crosse, they flye away, dreading it as a staffe that they are beaten withall. And in thys blessinge ye beginne with youre hande at the hedde downwarde, and then to the lefte side and byleve that our Lord Jesu Christe came down from the head, that is from the Father into erthe by his holy Incarnation, and from the erthe into the left syde, that is hell, by his bitter Passion, and from thence into his Father's righte syde by his glorious Ascension. (Catholic Encyclopedia)
With the Sign, we send a visible sign to the world and follow the advice of St. Ephrem of Syria (died A.D. 373):
Mark all your actions with the sign of the lifegiving Cross. Do not go out from the door of your house till you have signed yourself with the Cross. Do not neglect that sign whether in eating or drinking or going to sleep, or in the home or going on a journey. There is no habit to be compared with it. Let it be a protecting wall round all your conduct, and teach it to your children that they may earnestly learn the custom.
When the Sign is Made
A partial indulgence is gained, under the usual conditions, when piously making the Sign of the Cross
Catholics should begin and end their prayers with the Sign of the Cross and should cross themselves when passing a church to honor Jesus in the Tabernacle, upon entering a church, and after receving Communion. The sign is made, too, in times of trouble or fear (e.g., when receiving bad news, in times of temptation, when hearing an ambulance or fire truck go by), when passing a cemetery or otherwise recalling the dead, when seeing a Crucifix -- any time one wishes to honor and invoke God, or ward away evil, fear, and temptation.
Just for information's sake, the "Distaff Gospels," a collection of old wives tales collected ca. 1470, relate the following in its fifteenth chapter.
If in the morning, when getting up, a person crosses themselves and washes their hands before leaving the house, the devil will not have the power of harming him or her. Otherwise, whatever the work is done on that day will not be profitable.
...About that, Geffrine Tost Preste said that the devil sits on the table of whoever does not say grace before eating, then eats and drinks there.
Other Signs of the Cross
There are other signs of the Cross that Catholics make, too. One is made by tracing a small Cross with the thumb of the right hand on people and things. This sign is especially used by parents when blessing children by tracing the sign on the children's foreheads..1 Sometimes the sign is traced by the thumb on a book of Sacred Scripture and then kissed before reading. The sign is also carved onto loaves of bread before cutting, etc.
Another sign is the large sign made in the air by bishops and priests when blessing persons or material objects.
Yet another is the series of three small Crosses traced by the thumb of the right hand -- one small Cross on the forehead, one small Cross on the lips, and one small Cross on the breast -- just before the Gospel reading at Mass. The sign on the forehead is to show that we believe the Gospel, the sign on the lips is to show that we respect the Gospel and desire to spread the Good News, and the sign on our breast is to show that we love the Gospel and want it kept in our hearts. 2
Make the Sign of the Cross and make it often! Teach it to your children -- even the tiniest of children. If they're infants, take their hands and make the movements for them! Making the Sign should feel as natural as breathing...
Footnotes:
1 The use of "bless" here refers to a parental blessing -- i.e., a prayer for God's grace for a child. Priests alone have the power to bless in the name of the Church and with the power of the Church, to bless liturgically, to bless objects rendering them sacramentals, etc.
2 When passing by or upon entering a church, many Mexicans make this form of the sign (with the thumb laid over the index finger to form a cross) -- on the forehead, lips, and mouth -- while praying the words, "Por la senal de la Santa Cruz, de nuestros enemigos libranos Señor Dios Nuestro" -- "By the sign of the Holy Cross deliver us, Lord, from our enemies." This is followed by the regular sign of the Cross outlined above (whose words in Spanish are, "En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espiritu Santo, amen") and the kissing of the Cross made by the thumb laid over the index finger. They refer to the first sign as "signing oneself" ("signarse") and the second action as "blessing oneself" ("santiguarse").
