Making the sign of the Cross before a meal

[Liudmilla]

gphadraig wrote

a sign of the cross should not be confused with the Greek response to a central chest irritation or the Russian wind mill imitation, the latter being an especial hazard for passing waiters..................

Thank you....that's the best description I have seen in a long time....the Russian versions of this BAD HABIT are a bit more sarcastic, but this is very good.

Seriously though... we should all remember that a sign of the cross is your prayer when no other can be said. A sloppy cross is a poor prayer and a sign of disrespect. It could also be taken for shame.....
Milla

[gphadraig]

It was not meant to be sarcastic, but simply a feeling that such an 'exaggerated' sign of the cross might, (1) engender an immediate & deeply unhelpful response from your neighbours, (2) literally by a hazard at table - especially to those not expecting it, and (3) perhaps a sign of pride rather than the earnest seeking of God's blessing on the bounty He has provided.

My own feelings about the 'windmill' in Church is that it is often carried out by those who are very careful in all their movements during worship. Not something I would wish to 'knock'. On the other hand the scratching of a central chest irritation leaves me wondering is there an intent or some ancestoral memory only part remembered being enacted.

And before any see some national slight in all this, I am in too much debt to both peoples to even think of such a thing. So please forgive any unintended offence........

[Pedro]

We are not doing these things so that others can see us and if we are doing these things so that others wil see and think that we are pious then we are doing his for the wrong reason, but as Father Deacon said we can not allow this to stop pur requirements to our God. Intent and intention are the focus here. All for the Honor and Glory of God!

Well said, Juvenaly Martinka.

I make the sign of the cross over my lunch at the school I teach at every day, and no one has said anything negative. Which wouldn't matter, since I'm not doing it for them anyway. In fact, some folks have said some things, but they've only been polite inquiries. Got some good conversations about the Faith started.

[joasia]

Another question, which I hope doesn't sound silly, but as a former Catholic, I always wondered when the West started practicing crossing themselves from left to right.

I've never found any documentation for that. I just ask because I need the backup for an explanation to Catholics about the difference.

A sloppy cross is a poor prayer and a sign of disrespect. It could also be taken for shame.....

And I've been told that the devil laughs everytime we do it incorrectly.

As to Pedro's comment, should we cross our food too? I only cross myself.

Joanna

[Mor Ephrem]

You can bless your own food, your children, etc. with the sign of the cross, as long as you bless with your fingers joined as if you were going to cross yourself (and not the way priests arrange the fingers of their right hand when blessing).

I must admit, like one other poster, that remembering to make the sign of the cross and pray before and after eating is something I struggle with all the time. I'm not even as good as the one who said he does it as soon as he remembers he didn't do it!

I used to worry about how it would come across in public. I thought I'd be making myself look pious or "holier than thou" or what have you. And, to an extent, this is a danger if you are tempted to pride as I am. I think the important thing, however, is to do these things in spite of such feelings, and pray always that you will do them in the right spirit (or at least come to do them in the right spirit).

[Ephraem]

The Jordanville Prayer book instructs us to bless our beds before sleep.

I don't know too much about blessings, but I've been taught that when we (as laity) bless something that the way to hold the hand is to put two fingers together (thumb and index finger) and three fingers curled into the palm--different than how we cross ourselves when we bring three fingers together (thumb, index, and middle). I asked my priest why that was so. He didn't know, but that was how he'd been taught.

[Chrysostomos]

My family and I, whether or not at home or eating out, pray
before eating and make the sign of the cross. We are
very comfortable with that. What I was uncomfortable with,
was the idea that one must "stand" and pray before eating,
whether at home, or out eating. I remember a long time ago
going to McDonalds with our priest and others, and standing
and praying, that was uncomfortable, and I remember thinking
to myself, whether I should be doing this at home - standing
and praying. But alas, we sit down, pray, and partake.

So sad, when I think about it. I get carried away sometimes
with something like this issue, yet let love wax cold in my
heart towards others and accept that more readily.

Rd. Chrysostomos