Catholic [and Christian] Symbols

Hubpage.com ^ | not given | MM Del Rosario

[Salvation]

Catholic Symbols

 

By MM Del Rosario

Since the earliest times, the concept of symbolism has appeared in every human culture, social structure and religious system. Signs and symbols play a vital role in all of the world's religions as object on which thoughts and prayers can be focused.

Symbols point a way through the spiritual world, they act as badges of faith, teaching tools and aids on the journey towards an understanding of complex philosophies.

See all 9 photos

CRUCIFIX

The crucifix is a Cross with the figure of the body of Jesus Christ attached to it. This is a very common Catholic symbol. it is placed on or above the altar where the Eucharist is celebrated.

A crucifix often has the letters INRI written across the top.

These letters are short for a Latin phrase which translates as "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

These are the words in which Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea ordered to be written over the cross in which Jesus Christ was crucified.

A crucifix is a symbol of sacrifice.

ALPHA AND OMEGA

These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

In the book of revelation 22:13, Christ refers himself as the Alpha and the Omega, that is the first and the last.

Christ is the beginning and the end of all creation. The Alpha and Omega symbols are used at various times in the Church liturgical year.

THE CROSS

The most famous and widespread Christian symbol is the Cross. It is found wherever there is a Christian presence.

In Roman times, the Cross was seen as an instrument of torture and public humilation. Criminals were put to death on cross.

For Christians however, the Cross became a symbol not only of Jesus' death but also of his Resurrection.

THE SACRED HEART

The Sacred Heart is a symbol of the love of Jesus for all of humanity. The heart is a symbol of love. When depicted as the Sacred Heart it is shown as pierced with a cross and thorns twisted around it.

This shows the depth of Jesus love. He was prepared to suffer and die for all people. His love is eternal.

 

 

                  

IHS AND CHI-RHO

The letters IHS often appear on liturgical items, building plaques and gravestones and sacred vessels. IHS is a shortened form of the Greek word for Jesus.

The letters X and P are often used as another symbol for "Christ". The first two letters of Christ's name in Greek are X and P. In the Greek alphabet X equals CH and P equals R.

Also known as the CHi-RHO cross, the letters are usually inscribed one over the other sometimes enclosed within a circle becoming both a cosmic and a solar symbol.

THE FISH

One of the oldest Christian symbols was the fish. It was used by Christians to identify themselves, often in times of persecution. It is often found in the Roman catacombs, secret meeting place when the Christians were persecuted by the Romans for their faith.

It is based on the acrostic, of the initial letters of the Greek words for Jesus Christ. To understand this symbol you need to know what is the meaning of the acronym.

The Greek word for fish is ICHTHUS. This is an acronym for Jesus. Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter - this translates as "Jesus Christ, Son of God , Saviour."

Christ also referred to his apostles as "Fishers of Men" while the early Christian fathers called the faithful pisculi (fish).

THE DOVE

The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. When Christ was baptised by John the Baptist, a dove descended on him (Matthew 3:16 and Mark 1:10).

The dove is sometimes depicted with an olive branch in its mouth, as a symbol of peace. It also symbolises God's grace.

Do you remember Noah's story, God had sent a great flood and after the rain stopped, Noah sent out a dove to search for dry land, it returned carrying an olive brach from the Mount of Olives, a symbol of God's forgiveness.

THE LAMB

One of the most important symbols of Christ is the Lamb. Christ as the Lamb of God is mentioned in John 1:35-36 and revelation 5:6-14 and in the words of the Mass.

The whiteness of the Lamb symbolises innocence and purity. Lambs are often associated with scrifice in the Old Testament. Christ, the sacrificial lamb, died for the sins of humanity.

The lamb is sometimes portrayed with a flag, symbolic of Christ's victory over death in his Resurrection.

FLEUR DE LIS

This is one example of a symbol of Mary. The whiteness anbd beauty of the lily is a symbolic of the purity of Mary Immaculate.

The lily is often used to decorate shrines,chapels or grottos dedicated to Mary.

[Salvation]

With all the talk about the "IHS" symbol being painted over at Georgetown, I thought it would be interesting to post this article to a thread.

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

[pillut48]

I worry that if HolyO has his way (read: his puppeteer) these
beautiful symbols will be abolished/destroyed, much like the Taliban destroyed those ancient, giant Buddha statues carved in the side of a mountain just before 9/11!!

[Salvation]

Or like the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem, or like the Germans descrated and destroyed Catholic Churches during the Nazi Regime, or ??????

How about Mao and China and destroying humans by running over them with tanks?

[Salvation]

descrated
desecrated

[RegulatorCountry]

The most surprising exposition upon the usage of Christian symbols, imbedded in the very architecture of old churches and cathedrals, that I've ever read I stumbled upon by surprise. The author's name is Jonathan Hale and the book is The Old Way Of Seeing.

It was amazing to be reading an interesting, but rather dry book on just why old buildings are so aesthetically pleasing, only to be transported into what seems like a vision. Hale waxed especially poetic upon what he, and apparently the old designers of sacred Christian spaces referred to as the Vesica Piscis, repeated as he termed "like an incantation," throughout the entire structure, above and below ground.

Hale, as I recall, didn't seem entirely Christian in his outlook, veering into slightly pagan territory at times, but it was an extremely interesting book to read. If you ever encounter it, and especially if you're a fan of architecture, pick it up and give it a try. You're just plodding along with him, nice old guy but sort of fusty, inventorying this or that nice old building with explanations about the Golden Section and their preference for pattern, and then ... boom, off you go into some sort of dream world. Happens several times throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as you can likely tell.

[Salvation]

Sounds like an interesting book, but not one that I might easily digest.

The Vesica Piscis part of it sounds very intriguing, however. A place of holiness.

[RegulatorCountry]

A short excerpt:

There is a shape in architecture that symbolizes life, that represents the materialization of spirit. That shape is a place where symbol and geometry, body and spirit come together. In this way the shape is what architecture is. The shape is to be found everywhere in plants and animals. It is the shape of a flame, or a seed, or a fish. In sacred architecture it is known as the vesica piscis, vessel - literally bladder - of the fish, and it is also called the mandorla (Italian for almond). The vesica piscis is made when two circles overlap.

It may seem questionable whether we should pattern our buildings after fish or nuts or flames. But the Gothics did just that. At Chartres, Christ sits in a vesica piscis above the West Portal. And the Gothic pointed arch is half of a vesica piscis. In every Gothic church, the shape is repeated like an incantation, wherever one looks, and it may persist invisibly in the building's cross section, where it becomes an enclosing geometry of regulating arcs. The geometry of a Gothic building is an efflorescence of overlapping circles. We almost never see the complete circles, but only the places at which they join. The area where the circles overlap is the most important part of the pattern; it represents the place of harmony, awakening, grace. The vesic piscis is an emblem of unity achieved from duality. It represents the joining of the temporal and the spiritual - as architecture itself does.

He then proceeds at length about various cathedrals, providing beautiful examples of exactly what he's espousing, and then somehow slips off seamlessly into Wilhelm Reich (a highly controversial figure and quite odd though intelligent) and Reich's "orgonome" theories about energy flow. From there, it's off into wonderland for a while, then eventually back to Earth and the task at hand. Ebb and flow.

[Salvation]

My guess wasn’t too far off.

I can see the overlapping circles in the fish symbol above, but that is the only one here.

Have you ever looked at a love knot? It’s like an intricate pretzel, and you definitely can see the overlapping circles. The Marriage Encounter symbol also comes to mind. I’ll post it in the next post.

[Salvation]

[RegulatorCountry]

There’s a lot of meaning contained in the symbols we’ve come to almost take for granted. The richness of the history behind what most know only as the “Christian fish” is something with which we all should become familiar. It’s why those fictional quadruped “Darwin fish” irritate me so. Such smugness, so certain of superior intelligence, but it’s they who are ignorant. Go deface some other ancient symbol, I say. They’re no better than Obama’s “tollybonn” blowing up Buddhas carved into cliff faces in Afghanistan.

[MaggieCarta]

Thank you very much.

[tob2]

What about butterflies? Aren’t they the symbol of therisen Christ?

[To Hell With Poverty]

Fascinating! That is sooo right up my alley, I’ll have to check it out (Medieval art history class changed my life). Thanks!

[RegulatorCountry]

You might want to try Ken Follett's The Pillars Of The Earth too, then, if you haven't read it already. Not your typical Follett paperback, it's an immense book. It's historical fiction set in the decades leading up to Henry VIII's break with Rome, and features a great deal of cathedral building and political/church intrigue, not that there was much way to distinguish the two at the time.

[To Hell With Poverty]

That’s so weird...my mother was just reading that book. She says she had read it about 20 years ago and had forgotten until she began rereading it and realized it was awfully familiar...well I’ll have her hold onto it for me!

[RegulatorCountry]

I'm not so sure it's the same book. First New American Library Printing was in 2002. But, Follet copyrighted it in 1989.

An excerpt from the overleaf:

The Pillars Of The Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known ... of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul ... of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame ... and of a struggle between good and evil that wil turn chuch against state and brother against brother.

[Salvation]

Glad you liked it. Very interesting to me too. And I’m in no way connected to art.

(I just like the hidden meaning in these symbols.)

[dangus]

I’m sure there will be people who see in it Delphi inscriptions, but you gotta admit, as a Venn diagram, it’s pretty cool.

[dangus]

... not to knock any heritage of Delphi inscriptions, the “Jesus fish,” the earliest known abstracted Christian image, is a Delphi (=fish) inscription.