‘Holy Water’ and the Sign of the Cross

A member of Our Savior’s asks:

I thought when people go to the Baptism font and touch the water and make the sign of the cross sign, isn’t that a catholic practice?

That might be kind of surprising for a Lutheran pastor to be saying, but yes, it is ‘catholic.’ The word catholic should be understood as ‘universal,’ ‘all-encompassing,’ and ‘orthodox.’ It has been the practice of believers since ancient times to make the sign of the cross on our bodies to invoke God’s protection and blessing. In this sense, the Lutheran Church is the Western Catholic Church, purified by the Gospel. So we would say that we Lutherans are catholic, but not Roman Catholic.

Blessed Martin Luther, after whom Lutheran churches take their name, put it this way in the Small Catechism:

In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

Similarly, at night before bed, he suggested this practice:

In the evening, when you go to bed, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

In our church it is by no means required to make the sign of the cross, but many choose to do so. I personally have taught my children to cross themselves because it is a way to pray physically for God’s protection and grace. We need more physical reminders of the faith in our lives.

Similarly, while Lutherans do not practice keeping ‘holy water’ or consecrating special water like the Roman Catholic Church, we do want to remember Dr. Luther’s famous maxim, “Remember your baptism.” Touching the water in the baptismal font (and perhaps also signing a cross on our foreheads with the water) is a way to remember that we are baptized. In fact, we can defiantly announce: “I am baptized!” when we are tempted by the evil one. As Luther writes elsewhere:

Heaven is given unto me freely, for nothing. I have assurance hereof confirmed unto me by sealed covenants, that is, I am baptized, and frequent the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Therefore I keep the bond safe and sure, lest the devil tear it in pieces;

Whether or not you choose make the sign of the cross or touch the water of the baptismal font as a devotional practice is a matter of Christian freedom. I encourage you to consider adding it to your practice of the Faith, but it is not a sin to omit it.

How to make the sign of the cross.