Palms and Hosannas and the Sign of the Cross. . .

Perhaps you have noticed that many pastors cross themselves as we sing Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.  It is not a novel or modern practice but an ancient one and not simply for the clergy or those presiding.  As we sing (or say) during the Sanctus: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, we are referencing Jesus.  HE is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord.  When the crowds gathered (as in Matt. 21:9) as Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, their hearts were drawn to  Psalm 118:26.  Their words were a confession of faith.  They were naming the One who alone comes in the name of the Lord.  This is a confession of who Christ is -- the “He” refers to Jesus who has come from the Father in order to do His Father's will.  That is the second part of this.  We are confessing not merely our Lord's arrival (which happened at His conception in the womb of the Virgin) but His coming for the cross where sin and its death would be overcome and the devil defeated once for all.  So the sign of the cross at this point is not simply about who Jesus is but why He has come -- for ME.   "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini."  

Probably the earliest patristic reference to the sign of the cross is from Tertullian (155-220 AD).  Though he is speaking in the third century, he is addressing what traditional customs have come down to him and his time.  He mentions the sign of the cross in such way that it is routine and known by all and commends the practice as ancient and worthy of our continued use.

And how long shall we draw the saw to and fro through this line, when we have an ancient practice, which by anticipation has made for us the state, i.e., of the question? If no passage of Scripture has prescribed it, assuredly custom, which without doubt flowed from tradition, has confirmed it. For how can anything come into use, if it has not first been handed down? Even in pleading tradition, written authority, you say, must be demanded. Let us inquire, therefore, whether tradition, unless it be written, should not be admitted. Certainly we shall say that it ought not to be admitted, if no cases of other practices which, without any written instrument, we maintain on the ground of tradition alone, and the countenance thereafter of custom, affords us any precedent. To deal with this matter briefly… At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign.

If, for these and other such rules, you insist upon having positive Scripture injunction, you will find none. Tradition will be held forth to you as the originator of them, custom as their strengthener, and faith as their observer. That reason will support tradition, and custom, and faith, you will either yourself perceive, or learn from some one who has. Meanwhile you will believe that there is some reason to which submission is due.

Tertullian, The Chaplet 3-4

I write this only to show that this is both a universal custom and a salutary one, especially for a Church and the people of God entering into the contemplation of the holy mysteries of this week.  Under it all is the assurance that Jesus is whom the Father sent and that He has come for you, for me, and for every sinner.  It is a joyful affirmation that we are under the banner of the love that Holy Week begins to unfold with all of its loveless acts of betrayal, suffering, and death.  As we enter into that season devoted to the cross, we make the sign of the cross to note who fulfills the promise of that cross and to note that we are those for whom He has come.