the injurious influence of the evil spirit, to unite them with the
divine blessing and thus make them salutary. The grace before meals of
Christians has the same purpose. It is indeed a sad token of ignorance,
of indifference, or lack of faith, when in Christian homes grace before
meals is disregarded, as not infrequently happens in our days. We know
from the testimony of history that the sign of the Cross was also
employed successfully against bodily evils. When St. Benedict was
handed a glass of poisoned wine, the saint made the sign of the Cross
over it, and behold the glass broke in his hand, and he was saved from
death. St. Gregory of Nissa testifies that his sister during an illness
desired her mother to make the sign of the Cross over her; and when it
was done the illness left her. Through the sign of the Cross Bishop
Fortunatus restored the sight to a blind man; St. Lawrence cured
several others similarly affected. St. Roch cured the plague stricken,
and the legend says that St. Corbinian brought the dead back to life by
this same sign. The lives of the saints are replete with examples that
testify to the miraculous power of the sign of the Cross.

Because the Cross is then a sign of honor, of blessing and power,
because it is an effective remedy against evils of body and soul, the
Church has always exhorted the faithful by word and example to make
zealous use of the same at all times. Since the time of the Apostles
the sign of the Cross has been made by the faithful in all their
undertakings. Through this sign they dedicated their work to God and
invoke the divine blessing upon it.

The Fathers teach that this custom originated with the Apostles; it is
related even by a pious legend that Christ Himself at His ascension
into heaven blessed the Apostles with this sign. How universal this
custom was among Christians of the early centuries may be learned from