https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdxxTVw758E 3.6K views 118 comments I learned a lot regarding the "history" of the signing of the cross: THANKS FOR THAT. A LOT OF THINGS CAME FROM BUDDHISM. SEEING EVENTS as "signs". The priestly "stole" comes from buddist priests. The "praying hands" come from buddhism which comes from hinduism. Our rosary comes from the Muslim beads which come from the hindu beads though Saint Dominic is given the credit, that a little bit of Catholic Church mythology like Saint James being buried in Compluntenses making it a place of Catholic pilgrimage, a "penace" practice, as Jerusalem was closed to Christian pilgrims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela_Cathedral By the way, THE RECONQUIST OF SPAIN was done in the name of Saint James, San Diego, whose name was "yelled out" in the fire of battle. The use of insense at Mass, also, comes from buddhism. The candles bunched together where money if offered in return to light a candle. The idea of have so many candles making the Church a "lighted" place, a place of light comes from buddhism whose goal is an enlightened soul who loses interest in the material world. THE EMPHASIS OF MAKING THE SIGN OF THE CROSS was the Church's response to Islam: as it distingushed the Church from Islam: for Muslim, whether Jesus resurrected or NOT is A NON ISSUE. FOR CHRISTIANS, IT'S "THE" CENTRAL ISSUE. (Incidentally, I was taught by "Resurrectionist" priests, some of who were American, at Schollard Hall, a private, Catholic boy's school in North Bay, Ontario which lies besides Georgian Bay.) In response to THE VERY SRONG INFLUENCE OF ISLAM IN EUROPE, churches were built in the form of a cross when, historically, they were built in the form of a circle with the altar being in the middle. INTERESTINGLY, Catholic "piety" came from the Spaniards who learned that THEY ONLY WAY TO WIN BACK SPAIN FROM THE MUS- LISMS WAS TO BE "MORE" RELIGIOUS THAN THEM. HENCE, CATHOLIC PIETY under the name of "LA SANTA FE (THE HOLY FAITH). :D BUT THEY WERE IN "NO HURRY" TO TAKE BACK SPAIN FROM THE MUSLIMS BECAUSE WITH THE MUSLIMS CAME PROSPERTY (COMMERCE ALL THE WAY FROM PERSIA). (Ha! Ha!) AFTER THE CRUSADES WITH THE CRUSADERS GOING THROUGH TURKEY 2X, EUROPEAN CULTURE BECAME TURKISH. BY THE WAY, 1/2 THE CRUSADERS STAYED IN THE HOLY LAND BECAUSE OF THE CLIMATE, THE FOOD, THE FRIENDLY MUSLIMS CREATING THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY BY TRADING WITH THOSE CRUSADERS WHO WENT BACK AND BACK RICH BECAUSE OF IT. THE WAS THE STORY OF THE FAMILY OF SAINT FRANCIS' FAMILY WHO RENOUNCE HIS FAMILY'S WEALTH BY TAKING OFF ALL HIS CLOTHES IN THE PUBLIC PLAZA OF ASSISI IN AN ACT OF RENOUNCIATION OF HIS FAMILY'S WEALTH AND DEDICATING HIMSELF TO "SERVING" THE POOR. THE PEOPLE OF ASSISI WOULD GIVE HIM THINGS TO GET THEIR BLESSING AND HE WOULD TURN RIGHT AROUND AND GIVE THEM TO THE "WAITING" POOR BESIDE HIM. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE IN TERMS OF NUMBERS, ISLAM IS ON AN "EQUAL" FOOTING WITH CHRISTIANITY. WHICH IS SUPERIOR? THE MUSLIMS HAVE MORE CHILDREN. (Ha! Ha!) Ken, Toronto, CANADA