We were at a picnic for families at a local park this afternoon, at which everyone gathered to pray the rosary at a certain point. Hubby, putting our chaplain --who hasn't gotten used to his sense of humor-- on, complained about having to make the sign of the cross in public and call attention to ourselves (joke being: how could a silent sign of the cross add any to the spectacle 150 people praying aloud were already making?).
Anyway, in his Angelus today, the Pope rebuked my husband.
the cross is the tangible manifestation of the infinite act of love with which the Son of God has saved man and the world from sin and death. Because of this the sign of the cross is the fundamental gesture of the Christian's prayer. To make the sign of the cross is to pronounce a visible and public yes to him who died for us and who is risen, to the God who in the humility and weakness of his love is omnipotent, stronger than all the power and intelligence of the world.
Zenit has the whole thing --including his message to English-speaking pilgrims for 9/11.
