Sign of the Cross
How Catholics begin and end prayer
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
History and meaning
Christians have marked themselves with the sign of the cross since at least the early third century. Tertullian wrote that Christians traced a cross on their foreheads throughout the day. The larger gesture used by Western Catholics developed later. In the Rosary, the Sign of the Cross opens and closes the prayer in the name of the Trinity.