The Sign of the Cross

Catholics make the Sign of the Cross by touching forehead, chest, left shoulder and right shoulder while naming the Holy Trinity. It is a short creed: it professes the Trinity and the cross by which Christ saved us.

It is very old. Around 211 the North African writer Tertullian wrote that Christians “at every forward step and movement… trace upon the forehead the sign” of the cross (De Corona, ch. 3). At first it was a small cross traced with the thumb on the forehead, still done at Baptism and before the Gospel at Mass; the large cross over the body developed later. Eastern Christians touch the right shoulder before the left.

1. With your right hand, touch your forehead: “In the name of the Father,”
2. your chest: “and of the Son,”
3. your left shoulder, then your right: “and of the Holy Ghost (Spirit).”
4. Join your hands: “Amen.”

The Catechism says the Christian begins his day, prayers and activities with the Sign of the Cross, and that it “strengthens us in temptations and difficulties” (CCC 2157); see also CCC 1235. It is listed among the signs used in sacramentals (CCC 1668).