MSI Press Blog

  From Morning Prayer: The Breviary indicates multiple times during prayer that require making the sign of the cross. The Sign of the Cross is one of the oldest and most recognizable gestures in Christianity. It is simple enough for a child to learn, yet profound enough to summarize the entire mystery of the Trinity and the saving work of Christ. Its history stretches back to the earliest Christian communities, and its use today remains just as central—especially in the Church’s daily prayer. 1. Where the Sign of the Cross Comes From — and Why Early Christians Used It The Sign of the Cross is ancient—far older than most formal liturgical structures. Early Christian writers testify that believers were marking themselves with the cross long before the Church developed the rites we know today. Earliest Evidence Tertullian (c. 200 AD) describes Christians tracing a small cross on their foreheads “in all our actions… when we come in or go out, when we dress, when we wash, at our meals, ...

  From Morning Prayer:  “Sing a new song unto the Lord.” (Psalm 98:1) Morning Prayer begins with praise. Before petitions, before reflection, before the day’s demands — the Church sings. "Sing a new song" a line that appears often in Scripture — in Psalms 33, 96, 98, 149, and in Isaiah’s vision of renewal. Each time, it signals something more than novelty. The “new” song is not new because it’s never been sung before. It’s new because God has done something new , and the world itself is being remade. What Makes the Song New In Hebrew poetry, “new” does not mean “recent.” It means renewed — fresh with gratitude, alive with grace. When the psalmist calls for a new song, it’s a summons to awaken the heart to what God has just done: deliverance, mercy, creation itself reborn. Morning Prayer, or Lauds , is the hour of resurrection. It greets the dawn not as repetition but as revelation. Every sunrise is a new creation. Every breath is a new song. The Church places this psalm at ...