From the young St. Francis de Sales's heroic efforts to bring Calvinists back to the Faith comes this succinct, eloquent defense of the age-old Catholic practice of making the Sign of the Cross, which sixteenth-century Calvinists denounced as a Popish invention and many Protestants scorn even today.
Embodying the zeal of youth and the wisdom of age, this gentle jewel of Catholic apologetics traces the origins of the Sign of the Cross back to the Fathers of the Church, to the Apostles before them, and finally to our Lord Himself.
Along with St. Francis's other lucid explanations of our Catholic Faith and his undaunted love even for those who hated him, this modest book helped restore to their native Catholic faith tens of thousands of heretics who not long before were intent on killing him.
As they did for the Calvinists in St. Francis's day, so in our day these pages will bring you a better understanding and a renewed love the Sign of the Cross, that brief and lively exterior prayer by which, from time immemorial, God has been invoked by serious Christians before all of their endeavors.
Among the other things you'll learn here:
- Why now is always the right time to make the Sign of the Cross
- Why God chooses to attach power to the Sign of the Cross
- Why it is made on the forehead
- How to convince skeptics to value and pray with it
- Two uses of the Sign of the Cross: do you know both of them?
- How the Sign of the Cross is the antidote to the Mark of the Devil
- Errors in the claims of those who oppose this practice
- The theological significance of the motions, vertical and horizontal
- Two reasons it has particular power against the Enemy
- Why you should make the Sign of the Cross publicly and often.
Outside the Creed itself, there are few topics to which the Fathers testify as universally and unanimously as the pious practice of making, frequently and well, the Sign of the Cross. With the help of these holy pages, the saints love for it will enkindle yours. Soon you ll be saying with St. Jerome, "With every work, with all of my comings and goings, may my hand make the Sign of the Cross!"
"Saint Francis de Sales is the founder and master of modern Catholic apologetics, and in this little gem we see him at his very best." --Patrick Madrid, leading Catholic author and apologist
"Want to attract attention? Make the Sign of the Cross while dining at a restaurant. You'll surprise everyone, including Christians seated around you. Why don't they--Catholics and Protestants--make the Sign of the Cross? St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of apologists, explains why this simple gesture is an effective tool for spreading the faith, particularly in a culture, such as ours, that has forgotten its Christian roots." --Karl Keating, President of Catholic Answers
"St. Francis de Sales helps us appreciate the Sign of the Cross the way the early Christians did--not merely as a beginning to prayer, but as a sacred rite that forges our Christian identity and shapes our entire lives. Through the testimony of the Church Fathers and their interpretation of Scripture, this work illuminates the meaning and power of the Sign of the Cross." --Edward Sri, The Augustine Institute
St. Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is noted for his deep faith and gentle approach to the religious divisions resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and formation. He was canonized in 1665 and his feast day is celebrated on January 24.
