\n\u201cI crossed Germany from north to south, <\/em>from east to west.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2013Pope Benedict XVI, speaking about
\nhis apostolic visit to his homeland<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are a people of hope and a people of symbol.<\/strong><\/p>\n
This was made apparent once again when Pope Benedict XVI, <\/strong>traveling by air during his recent apostolic trip to his homeland, flew from Berlin to Erfurt, from Eichsfeld to Freiburg\u2014thus drawing the Sign of the Cross over the country of Germany.\u00a0 Amid the flurry of state visits, papal processions and encounters with abuse victims, the Pope had thoughtfully overlaid this symbol of grace and faith.<\/p>\n
The imagery of Pope Benedict\u2019s large-scale aerial blessing<\/strong> was largely overlooked, as news reports focused instead on his messages to Jewish rabbis, Muslim leaders, and victims of clergy sexual abuse.\u00a0 It was the Pope himself who called attention to this significant detail in the planning.<\/p>\n
The Sign of the Cross\u2014drawn with the Pope\u2019s hand and with his airplane\u2014had marked Germany for Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Read more<\/a> about the Sign of the Cross, about its use in the earliest days of the Church, and about what the Catechism teaches about this ancient prayer, in my post at the Patheos website.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI crossed Germany from north to south, from east to west.\u201d \u2013Pope Benedict XVI, speaking about his apostolic visit to his homeland \u00a0 We are a people of hope and a people of symbol. This was made apparent once again when Pope Benedict XVI, traveling by air during his recent apostolic trip to his homeland, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,95,112,195,199],"tags":[2792,2866,2869,663],"class_list":["post-4478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic","category-faith","category-germany","category-pope-benedict-xvi","category-prayer","tag-germany","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-prayer","tag-sign-of-the-cross"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Cross Over Germany, the Cross on Our Hearts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the early days of the Church, the Sign of the Cross has been our proud symbol of Christ's victory and our fidelity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2011\/10\/the-cross-over-germany-the-cross-on-our-hearts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Cross Over Germany, the Cross on Our Hearts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the early days of the Church, the Sign of the Cross has been our proud symbol of Christ's victory and our fidelity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2011\/10\/the-cross-over-germany-the-cross-on-our-hearts\/\" 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