Should we make a sign of the cross at the end of the Penitential Rite?

After the greeting at the beginning of Mass, the Priest and the assembly are invited to pause and reflect upon their sinfulness, asking for God’s mercy. In the years prior to the Second Vatican Council, these penitential prayers were said by the priest and altar server at the foot of the altar. After the Council, it was decided to include a Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass in which all the participants would confess their sinfulness to God. The Act of Penitence contains four parts: an invitation to recall our sinfulness, a period of silent reflection, a common proclamation of sinfulness (either a Confiteor or Kyrie) and the concluding prayer said by the priest.

During the Penitential Act, we are invited to recall our sins of the past week and pray for God’s mercy. In so doing, we make ourselves better prepared and more receptive to participate in the rest of the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Act of Penitence the whole assembly, proclaiming itself sinful before a merciful and forgiving God, shows that it is a community ever converting, ever in need of reconciliation with God and others. The people are not called to make an “examination of conscience” but rather a proclamation of faith in a God who is loving, kind, and the source of all reconciliation and healing. The focus is not on us but on the merciful God. The prayer at the end of the Penitential Act is not an absolution from sin such as in confession. For this reason we do not sign ourselves with the sign of the Cross.