The Sign of the Cross
A traditional Catholic prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Laurent Girardin
c. 1460, The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this painting
In Latin
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Where it comes from
The Father holds the Cross by its arms, the Dove hangs between His face and the Son's, and at the four corners four angels fold their hands. The whole mystery of the Trinity goes into one movement of the hand, forehead, breast, shoulder, shoulder: three Persons, and the gesture is one. Its words are the words Christ gave the apostles when He sent them to baptize, in the verse below, and every Catholic first heard them spoken over the water of baptism. The water ran off, and our hands still remember the words.
19Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 28:19, Douay-Rheims (Challoner)
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c. 1638, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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Hendrik van Balen
c. 1620, Cleveland Museum of Art
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Masaccio
c. 1427, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
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El Greco
1577–79, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
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The traditional prayers · The Rosary
Today's masterwork, each morning
One sacred painting a day, chosen by the liturgical calendar and captioned only from the museum's record: the feast, the color of the day, and the Scripture the scene depicts.
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