Sign of the Cross

I asked myself why do we do signing of the cross? Honestly I am just doing it because, I was doing it ever since I am a child. On this year, year of faith. It is good to trace back how did this start.

Well first of all, the always available wikipedia and here it goes:

According to newadvent.org

The course of development seems to have been the following. The cross was originally traced by Christians with the thumb or finger on their own foreheads. This practice is attested by numberless allusions in Patristic literature, and it was clearly associated in idea with certain references in Scripture, notably Ezekiel 9:4 (of the mark of the letter Tau); Exodus 17:9-14; and especially Apocalypse 7:3, 9:4 and 14:1.

see more. www.newadvent.org

Ezekiel 9:4

Then the Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem. Put a mark on the forehead of everyone who feels sad and upset about all the terrible things people are doing in this city.”