This is a wonderful article, from an Orthodox source which I'm sure is true if done with faith. It reminds me to bless everything around me! http://holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/sc_power.html The power of the sign of the cross “We have confirmed that the ancient custom of making the sign of the cross over food and drink before a meal has profound mystic meaning, – says physicist Angelina Malakhovskaya. – A practical benefit is hidden behind it: food becomes purified literally in a single moment. This is a great miracle which happens literally every single day.” Angelina Malakhovskaya has been conducting research into the power of the sign of the cross for almost 10 years. A major series of experiments was conducted, and these were checked out numerous times before the results were published. They are phenomenal: unique bactericidal properties were discovered, which appear in water after it is sanctified by prayer and the sign of the cross. A new and hitherto unknown property of the Word of God to transform the structure of water, significantly increasing its optical density in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum, has been discovered. For Angelina Malakhovskaya and her colleagues in St. Petersburg the very possibility of this research was a miracle – it was not financed, was not a subject pursued by any scientific research institute. But the scientists performed an enormous amount of work gratis – for the sole purpose of giving people the possibility to experience and see the healing power of God. The scientists tested the effect of the Lord’s Prayer and the sign of the cross on pathogenic bacteria. For this research samples of water were taken from diverse water reservoirs – wells, rivers, lakes. All of the samples contained E. coli bacteria and staphylococcus aureus. But it turned out that when the Lord’s Prayer was read over the samples and the sign of the cross was made over them, the number of harmful bacteria decreased sevenfold, tenfold, a hundredfold, and even over a thousandfold! Under the conditions of the experiment, in order to exclude the influence of possible mental suggestion, the prayer was read by both believers and non-believers; however, the number of pathogenic bacteria in various mediums (with diverse arrays of bacteria) still decreased in comparison to the control sample. The power of prayer and the sign of the cross are beneficial for man as well – in all tested individuals their blood pressure stabilized and blood indicators improved. It is an extraordinary fact that the indicators change in the exact direction needed for healing: for hypotension sufferers the pressure increases, for hypertension sufferers it decreases. It was noticed that if a person made the sign of the cross carelessly, not folding three fingers together firmly or not touching the requisite points (middle of the forehead, center of the solar plexus, right and left shoulders), then the positive result of the effect was much less or was altogether absent. The scientists measured the optical density of water before and after the sign of the cross was made over it and it was blessed. “It turns out that the optical density increases in comparison to its initial value before the blessing, – explains Angelina Malakhovskaya. – This means that the water appears to “distinguish” the meaning of the prayers being said over it, remembers this effect, and retains it any amount of time – in the form of an increase in the value of optical density. It appears to become saturated with light. The human eye is naturally unable to perceive these healing changes in the structure of water, but the spectrograph provides an objective assessment of this manifestation.” The sign of the cross changes the optical density of water practically instantaneously. The optical density of tap water, blessed by the making of the sign of the cross over it by a plain believer, increases almost 1.5-fold! And when blessed by a priest – almost 2.5-fold! In other words, it appears that water “distinguishes” the degree of blessing – whether by a layman or by a priest, whose fingers of the right hand are folded for the blessing in such a way that they represent the first letters of Christ’s name. The result of water being blessed by a baptized but unbelieving person, who does not wear a body cross, is interesting. It turned out that water “distinguishes” even the degree of faith – the optical density changed by only 10%! It has been truly said that “according to your faith let it be to you” (Matt. 9:29). Since the human body consists of over two-thirds water, this means that when we were created God placed within us a system of physical channels, regulating all biochemical processes in the body, which distinctly “recognize” the name of Jesus Christ! It may be said that the sign of the cross is a generator of light. Under no other folding of the fingers of the hand (with the palm, or with carelessly folded fingers, or a quick and irreverent waving of the hand) were any changes (increase) in the optical density of tap water discovered.
I wonder if a measure was done when actually saying “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit “ when making the sign of the cross— if that made a difference.
I have for some time been conscious of how we make the sign of the cross. I would love for someone to post a picture of how we should hold our fingers. I make a conscious decision to ensure the distance from my forehead and across the shoulders does not effectively make a cross upside down, which I notice many people unwittingly do. By that I mean the vertical movement needs to be such that the horizontal movement is crossing more than half way up from what would represent the foot of the cross; hope that makes sense. Us humans are so witless when you come to think of it. God has left us so much to be grateful for. I sometimes say to our Loving Heavenly Father, You are such a genius Lord, so full of ingenuity, I can't get over Your extraordinary intelligence. I love being Your child and don't deserve such a wonderful Father. I think God created us to know, love and serve Him in this life and rejoice forever with Him in the next. What happens in reality, we clap ourselves on the back every time we think we get something right. And God spends the whole time picking up after us when we fail; forgiving our stubbornness (sin) healing our brokenness (bandaging our wounds inflicted on ourselves and others), and renewing our hearts and souls. Which causes me to ask, who serves who. I must stop the waffle now, it could go on ad infinitum, because my Daddy is a hero.
A prayer I often say is "I love you God, I'm sorry God, Thank you God" Always seems to help. Plus making the sign of the cross regularly seems to help too.
Claims such as . . . The water distinguishes the degree of a person's faith . . . among others, gives me no faith in this study.
And yet, Christ said that we could if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. Have you tried moving mountains lately? Nature knows its creator.
The above article actually reminds me of the water experiments of Masaru Emoto or the rice experiment, which suggest that thoughts and words have a certain effect over matter. On a related subject, French virologist and Nobel laureate, Pr Luc Montagnier, moved to China 10 years ago to pursue what was then considered "radical ideas" of water having "memory". He was studying the residual electromagnetic signature of DNA in water. And I presume that a blessing could easily affect an electromagnetic signature. If Catholics have trouble accepting the power of this, I tell you people of science and no faith will come to embrace our truths in a way that we in the Church don't seem able to do anymore. Editing to add an important detail for us today: Montagnier was actually studying the electromagnetic signature of the DNA of pathogens in the water. Because DNA is more than what we think it is, it emits a signal. And we are letting the elite tamper with it...
So why was it that Jesus said to people who were healed by Him, "your faith has made you whole," I do think there must be something in this with all due respect.
This is funny. I have gone to confession on different occasions and confessed among other things to have sinned against Faith. And said exactly that to the Priest. "Have you seen any mountains move around here?"
Yes, it does seem awkward. Perhaps if we rephrase it: The water responds to the degree of a person's faith, or in our scientific, Western mindset: the effect on water is contingent on the person's faith. The variations in optical density indicate an ability to measure such, though I am unsure what optical density means. Praised be our Creator God!
It is the sign by which every Holy Mass begins and ends, also the first prayer we learn to speak as children.Its also the sign with which we begin and end our mortal lives
I wasn't going to include any of my among others that made me dismiss the study as bogus, but here you go. 1. A quick Google search explains Optical Density measures the speed of light through a transparent material. Also, the higher the concentration of bacteria in a liquid culture, the higher the optical density of that culture when measured. However, the sign of the cross study says the optical density of water goes up after the sign of the cross is made over it. This means the purity of the water didn't increase after the sign of the cross, but decreased. Since Jesus is the Truth and the Light, if the sign of the cross truly changed the water in a scientifically measurably way, I'd expect the Optical Density to decrease rather than increase, allowing the Light to be less impeded as it traveled through the water rather than more. Not being a scientist, I could be misinterpreting the data. However, there is no disputing the next among others is a big red flag. 2. The power is only displayed when the sign of the cross is made in the Greek Orthodox fashion. If the sign of the cross is made it in the traditional Roman Catholic way it produced little or no measurable results. Perhaps the water's ability to distinguish the degree of a person's faith is telling the world that Greek Orthodox is the only way to go. A Roman Catholic's faith is lesser. I think not, but all are welcome to draw their own conclusions.
People make the sign of the cross in the Catholic Church using a flat hand with all five fingers stretched out, to signify the Five Wounds of Christ. I tried to download a photo and it was not the size for the download. I just relax my hand and use the five fingers in a relaxed position.
