<P> The Cross is a symbol representing Christ 's victory over sin and death . The sign of the cross was originally made in some parts of the Christian world with the right - hand thumb across the forehead only . In other parts of the early Christian world it was done with the whole hand or with two fingers . Around the year 200 in Carthage ( modern Tunisia , Africa ) , Tertullian wrote : `` We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross '' . Vestiges of this early variant of the practice remain : in the Roman Rite of the Mass in the Catholic Church , the faithful make this gesture on the forehead , on the lips , and on the heart at the proclamation of the Gospel ; on Ash Wednesday a cross is traced in ashes on the forehead ; holy oil ( called chrism ) is applied on the forehead for the sacrament of Confirmation ( called the Holy Mystery of Chrismation in the Eastern Orthodox Church , as Orthodox call the Sacraments by the name `` Holy Mystery '' ) . By the 4th century , the sign of the cross involved other parts of the body beyond the forehead . </P>
<P> The Cross is a symbol representing Christ 's victory over sin and death . The sign of the cross was originally made in some parts of the Christian world with the right - hand thumb across the forehead only . In other parts of the early Christian world it was done with the whole hand or with two fingers . Around the year 200 in Carthage ( modern Tunisia , Africa ) , Tertullian wrote : `` We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross '' . Vestiges of this early variant of the practice remain : in the Roman Rite of the Mass in the Catholic Church , the faithful make this gesture on the forehead , on the lips , and on the heart at the proclamation of the Gospel ; on Ash Wednesday a cross is traced in ashes on the forehead ; holy oil ( called chrism ) is applied on the forehead for the sacrament of Confirmation ( called the Holy Mystery of Chrismation in the Eastern Orthodox Church , as Orthodox call the Sacraments by the name `` Holy Mystery '' ) . By the 4th century , the sign of the cross involved other parts of the body beyond the forehead . </P>
where did the sign of the cross originated
where did the sign of the cross originated
The Cross is a symbol representing Christ 's victory over sin and death .
The Cross is a symbol representing Christ 's victory over sin and death .