a. the sign of the cross
b. the Council of Nicaea I?
THE
ANSWER IS…..A…..The sign of the cross.
The Council of Nicaea I was
in 325 A.D., long after Christians were signing the cross on themselves)
For example, theologian Tertullian, writing in 211, said, “We furrow our
forehead with the sign [of the Cross]
According to Karl Keating’s “Catholicism and Fundamentalism,” making the
sign was already an old practice when this was written. (p. 38 “Catholicism
& Fundamentalism”
In 386, St. Cyril of
Jerusalem wrote: "Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be
the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in
everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in
our goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we
are traveling, and when we are at rest" (Catecheses, 13).
Archeology of the Cross and
the Crucifix
Catholic Encyclopedia on Sign
of Cross
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