O.M. With perfect thanksgiving it doth help, provided that the soul beareth chastely afflictions, and rejoiceth in our Lord who giveth pleasure; but if it doth not, its good seed is made of no effect because it doth not give fruit beloved of God, and if it endureth and uttereth blessing it hath a reward, but if it lack these things it becometh a mere wandering of the mind, and a sight which is without profit. The best thing of all is the quietness of the mind which is akin to God.
574. B. Since all the creatures of God are holy, why do the fathers make the sign of the blessed Cross over the things which they eat?
O.M. It is true that all the creatures of God were pure [when they came from] Him that created them, but because sin gained dominion everything became polluted; but the advent of our Lord came, and sin was abrogated and righteousness had its rule, and everything was made holy, whether it was in the heavens or on the earth. But because the blessed fathers knew the wiles of Satan, and that they would certainly bring upon them that which would do them harm by means of such things as are employed as food, they signed what they ate with the holy sign of the Great Cross so that they might slay all the craftiness of the Calumniator.
575. One of the fathers said, “On one occasion I was lying down at night, and I thirsted for water to drink; now there was near me one of the holy men who lived in a holy manner, and he saw that I took up the vessel to drink without having made over it the [sign of] the Cross. And he said unto me, ‘Wait, master, wait’; and he made the sign of the Cross over it, and straightway the Calumniator fell from the vessel in the form of a flash of fire, and both he and I saw it. And we wondered at the great might of our Redeemer, and at the marvellous symbol of His merit.”
A variant [reads]:—One of the fathers said, “I was lying down one night, and I thirsted for water to drink. And there was with me a certain widow who lived a chaste life, both when she was with her husband, and afterwards, and she said unto me, ‘Wait, master, wait,’ and she made the sign of the holy Cross over the vessel of water, and straightway there fell from it the Calumniator in the form of a flash of fire, and both she and I saw him. And we wondered at the might of the Redeemer, and at the marvellous symbol of His merit.”
These things were indeed told to us by the blessed mouth which is remote from falsehood; therefore it is required of us necessarily to do this [i.e., make the sign of the Cross] for the protection of our life. Now the Enemy used to wage war openly
