The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross
Recovering the Power of the Ancient Prayer
by Bert Ghezzi
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Winner of the CMA 2024 Book Award for Spirituality: Classical
The sign of the cross finds its roots in the earliest centuries of the Church and is used today by millions of Christians worldwide. But it is all too easy to make this sign in a routine and superficial way at the beginning and end of a prayer, failing to recognize its true significance.
In The Sign of the Cross: Recovering the Power of the Ancient Prayer, Bert Ghezzi reminds us that the sign of the cross is a prayer in itself—one that bears great spiritual power. Ghezzi offers a short history of the sign of the cross and then highlights several key truths to reflect upon as we make this sign. By making the sign of the cross, we open ourselves to God and confess our faith in the Trinity; we renew our Baptism, choosing to live the supernatural life that we received through it; we affirm and declare ourselves as disciples of Christ, and accept and embrace suffering in union with his suffering; we repel the devil, reminding him of the victory of Christ on the cross; and we resist our self-indulgence and tendency toward sin.
The sign of the cross sums up our Christian life and vocation, and calls us to embrace the will of God and to reject everything that is opposed to it. This simple but profound act of faith affirms God’s love for us and opens us up to the spiritual power he wants to release in our lives.
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What People are Saying
“As we accumulate years, the movement of grace most often challenges us to unclutter our life in God. The invitation is not to search for what is trendy and novel but to dive deeper into the tried and true. Bert Ghezzi’s short but immensely rich Sign of the Cross leads us to do just that. This simplest of prayers that most of us learned as children calls us at every repetition to enter into the heart of our Baptism and claim the power of the cross and Resurrection right where we are. What could be more grace-filled and powerful than that?”
—Fr. Brad A. Milunski, OFM Conv., Rector, Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Chicopee, Massachusetts
“In his inimitable way, bestselling author Bert Ghezzi examines what seems to be a small, humble thing and reveals it to be in fact an immense, magnificent thing. The Sign of the Cross connects the dots for us between a familiar sacramental and a number of beautiful, powerful aspects of our life with God. Read this book, and you’ll come to treasure in a whole new way this ancient and profound gesture of faith.”
—Paul Thigpen, author of The Life of Saint Joseph as Seen by the Mystics
“Bert Ghezzi has placed the jewel of the prayer of the sign of the cross in a setting that reveals its beauty, inspiration, and holy energy.”
—Fr. Alfred McBride, O. Praem, author of Essentials of the Faith and Images of Jesus
“Though brief in pages, this book is long on wisdom and insight. It deepened my experience of praying the sign of the cross.”
—Johnette Benkovic Williams, EWTN host and Founder and Director of Women of Grace