my child,
with the sign
of the living cross.
Do not go out
the door of your house
till you have
signed the cross.
Whether in eating
or in drinking,
whether in sleeping
or in waking,
whether in your house
or on the road,
or again
in the season of leisure,
do not neglect this sign;
for there is
no guardian like it.
It shall be to you
as a wall,
in the forefront
of all your doings.'
St. Ephrem the Syrian
Painting: Helen Allingham,
in US public domain due to age
