Bulletin Q&A Article, published 10-22-23:
The sign that we make prior to the gospel being read is called what? What is the meaning and what is the prayer that we say as we make a cross on our forehead, lips and heart?
In the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (often referred to as the GIRM), we are given this instruction in Paragraph 134: “At the ambo, the Priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says, The Lord be with you, to which the people reply, And with your spirit. Then he says, A reading from the holy Gospel, making the Sign of the Cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well. The people acclaim, Glory to you, O Lord. … Then he proclaims the Gospel and at the end pronounces the acclamation The Gospel of the Lord, to which all reply, Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. The Priest kisses the book, saying quietly the formula Per evangelica dicta (Through the words of the Gospel [may our sins be wiped away]).”
It is interesting that the GIRM gives instruction on words for the priest, or deacon, to say when he kisses the book after the gospel, but gives no instruction on what he is to say when signing the book, or his forehead, lips, and breast. There is no official prayer. It does not have a name.
Signing before the gospel has a long tradition, however. Josef Jungmann and Francis Brunner, in their book, The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, write: “In the ninth century for the first time do we come across this practice of the faithful signing a cross on their foreheads after the deacon greets them. Then we hear of another custom, the deacon and all those present imprinting the cross on forehead and breast after the words Sequentia sancti evangelii. About the eleventh century mention is made of forehead, mouth and breast, and since that time also of the signing of the book. … The original idea of this signing of oneself is probably indicated in the scriptural text frequently cited in this connection, the quotation about the wicked enemy who is anxious to take the seed of the word of God away from the hearts of the hearers.”
With regard to the meaning, they write: “For the word which Christ brought and which is set down in this book we are willing to stand up with a mind that is open; we are ready to confess it with our mouth; and above all we are determined to safeguard it faithfully in our hearts.”
Since the GIRM does not specify that the priest or deacon say anything when making the sign of the cross before the gospel, it would not be proper for them to say a prayer aloud, even quietly, during Mass. However, they can say a prayer silently, as can the laity. Here is the simple prayer I learned as a child: “May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart.”
I have modified it a bit. I now pray silently: “May the Lord be on my mind, and on my lips, but most of all in my heart.”