The Maronite Cross is also referred to as an Antiochene Cross. Antioch, an ancient city in present day Turkey, was converted to Christianity through the ministry of the apostle Paul and fellow missionary Barnabas.

Saint Peter was the first bishop and the Church extended its territory, becoming one of the original patriarchates. These were the first people to be called ‘Christians’ and the Church of Antioch can justifiably claim to be Pretty Old.

A few hundred years passed and by 518, dogmatic squabbling split the Church into two groups: the Chalcedonians and the monophysitic anti-Chalcedonians. A century later, the Chalcedonians divided into the Syriacs, the Maronites and the Melkites each of which had its own Patriarch. By the 7^th century, the Assyrians and the Armenians also had their own Patriarch, and by the 12^th century the Latin Patriarch was established.