The Symbolism of the Cross in the Catholic Church Religious groups throughout the world have used symbols to represent the historical events, deities, and beliefs of a faith. Symbols express the moral values of the teachings of religion and bring the ones who practice the belief closer to the divine. The catholic church uses the cross or crucifix to represent the belief that Jesus died on the cross to redeem humanity. The crucifix is similar to the cross, but depicts the body of Jesus Christ, representing his sacrifice. While the cross and the crucifix differ because of the image of Jesus Christ, the meaning of the image is a sacramental sign that prepares Catholics to receive the grace of God. In the following, a history of the cross will …show more content…
When the sign is made, a Catholic is professing the belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a sacrament for Catholics which signifies a rebirth, similar to what Jesus Christ did on the cross. When the sign of the cross is made during baptism, it symbolizes how the individual died with Christ and rose back to life. This act is similar to the meaning of the circumcision. Discipleship is marked by the cross and according to the book of Luke shows obedience to the scripture. Catholics also use the cross as a symbol of ownership, meaning a Catholic belongs to, obeys, and is obedient to God and the law of God. This is also an example of self-denial, one is going under the ownership of Christ and no longer belongs to themselves. When suffering occurs, the sign of the cross is a symbol of acceptance. When suffering occurs or when one feels like God is no longer there, the sign of the cross bring the presence of God to the individual and acknowledges to the individual God is with them in his or her time of need. In Catholicism, the greatest defense against Satan is the cross. When a Catholic believes that protection is needed from Satan, he or she will make the sign of the cross showing Satan that he or she is willingly owned by God and the He is protecting them. In modern times, this is portrayed in cinematic displays such as movies and books. The movie “The Exorcism”, portrays how Satan is expelled from a young child using the Holy Bible, a cross, and the words of Christ done by a priest of the Catholic church. Lastly, the cross signifies the triumph over self-indulgence. The temptation of the flesh, such as lust, fear, greed, and anger, can all be destroyed and conquered through the cross. To a Catholic, the sign of the cross is sacred and reminds them daily of his or her obedience to God and
On the two outside wings, the six enamel medallions, read from bottom to top. They provide a link to the Byzantine triptychs. These medallions tell the story leading up to the drama of the miracle of the Cross and the conversion of Constantine, the Roman emperor, who was the first to recognize Christianity. The medallions on the left-wing show how Constantine converted to Christianity based on a dream in which an angel points to the cross and tells him he will be victorious over Maxentius, under that symbol. The middle medallion is him along with his soldiers defeating Maxentius in the battle at Milvian Bridge. After this he becomes the sole ruler of the western empire. The upper medallion is when Constantine is baptized near his death. In this medallion the artists use dark enamel lines to accentuate the anatomical parts of Constantine, for example his muscles. From as early as this piece, there are signs of the development of naturalism in Roman art. On the other hand, the medallions on the right tell the story of Saint Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother, who was believed to have discovered the True Cross. In the lower medallion, Helena questions the Jews. In the middle she digs up the cross and in the top she brings it back to the imperial court. The middle reliquaries, which are static and iconic images, are much more symbolic,
Some people think the swastika, a cross with four arms of equal length, with the ends of each arm bent at a right angle, was created by Nazi Germany, but it wasn’t. The swastika is actually an ancient symbol that is used in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In the Western part of world, the swastika since the 1930’s has mostly been associated with the infamous flag of Nazi Germany and the Nazi Party. The swastika was also created 5,000 years before it was used by the Nazi Party, and the symbol represents “good fortune.”
The iconic Irish trinity symbol a.k.a. the trinity or Celtic knot has been a revered symbol in Ireland for centuries. The trinity represents the Power of Three or triquetra (try-KET-ra). The Power of Three is an immutable law that when three entities combine powers, they increase their power far greater than three times.
...eligious institution, they are not typically identified with religion, as crosses are general markers of death and sacredness rather than purely Christian symbols. Traditionally, these small white crosses were used to mark the rest areas for a funeral procession. In the religious sense, a cross can be used with the Christian intent of forgiveness. While there could be an argument about how crosses violates the constitutional principle of separation of church and state by promoting religion, crosses used at roadside shrines are merely there to mark a solemn event. In recent years, the use of a cross has become a secular representation of a passing and burial. Outside the roadside memorial, crosses are seen at military, Jewish, and irreligious gravesites. The cross has come out of the church has now transformed into a worldwide meaning of sacredness and reverence.
Early Christian art during the period of Roman persecution was highly circumspect, and innocuous objects—the fish and the dove—were used to symbolize Christ and the Holy Spirit. Later Christian art, however, became replete with iconographic symbols. In particular, many of the saints became associated with specific objects—Saint Peter with two keys, for instance, or Saint Catherine with a broken wheel.
Symbols are used as a means to express specific ideologies, social structures and represent characteristics of specific cultures. Symbols represent a place, person, legend, group or club. A symbol can be more than just a a picture or logo or brand. An example of one of these is the leprechaun, the leprechaun is a symbol of Ireland and is always associated with Ireland and Irish culture. The leprechaun has
Saint Sebastian was regarded as one of the most popular plague Saints in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. He was the chief defender of the plague because of his endurance and defense of his faith. Death was considered God’s punishment for sin, so devotees sought pictorial and spiritual methods using Sebastian’s imagery to appease God. Louise Marshall’s, The Body of a Plague Saint, focused on the invention of two pictorial devices that shifted the way St. Sebastian was seen as an object of prayer. Sheila Barker’s, Making of a Plague Saint, discussed how Sebastian’s imagery evolved from religious and secular themes over the course of the threat of plague. Different methods of iconography involving political, therapeutic,
The prayer evokes the many theological events about the relationship between God and man, and the omnipresence and power God encompasses. The prayer reveals the prefiguration of the sacrament of baptism and how the power and purpose of water, created by God, has through theological history and its relationship with present faithful. The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the redemption Christ won for man by his cross. The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy
For the world, the cross stands for the “bond of unity”. It reconciles the relationship between the Jew and the Gentile and ultimately, between God and humanity, through the atonement of the cross. In my interpretation of the theology of the cross; the cross metaphorically builds a bridge for humanity to cross the river of the law to reach God. The river, the law, which once hydrated young humanity, now drowns it. Christ’s suffering on that cross builds a restorative bridge for all of humanity.
Christianity and Judaism are the few examples of religions that are originated from Western Traditions. These religions take different approaches to representational art and iconography which is found in their religious festivals. The Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish Passover differentiate in their approaches to these icons in the history, the celebration and the symbols used during the commemoration of these holidays.
...the icon is not the sacred. It is simply a pathway to find the sacred. If the believer makes the sacred into the icon, the whole purpose of the icon is lost. As Besançon states, “The painted face does not ‘circumscribe’ divine nature, or even human nature: it circumscribes the composite hypostasis of the incarnate Word”.
Christians believe that God’s son, Jesus, sacrificed his life on the cross to save everyone's souls from sin. Buddist are told to sacrifice their well being to end other people's suffering. Hindus offer a sacrifice of various spices and wood into a fire to express their devotion to their religion. They do this at weddings and other special events. The Jews would sacrifice animals to God in the past for the forgiveness of their sins. Muslims in the past would sacrifice an animal that is a goat, sheep, cow, or camel to their God, Allah. The animal must be
a symbol of man to a symbol of Jesus Himself in order to show His
There is a circle in the center of the symbol, which represents the circle of life.
The death of Jesus forms the idea of liberation for his people. Christians understand the idea of "Christ's death and resurrection setting man free from his bondage to sin and death" (McGrath 120). Jesus saved his people by sparing himself, and the cross represents this courageous act that he partook in. For the Christian people, the cross has a significant identity: It is the symbol of Christ bringing about the idea of life rather than death, love rather than hatred and joy rather than...