This music video, featuring the song “Behold the Cross” by Gary Pinto & Phil Turcio, gives a snapshot of the thousands of places these two powerful Catholic symbols have visited around the globe during its 21-year-long pilgrimage.
Many animals and fowl have special symbolic meaning to the early Christian church especially when Christians were an “underground society” worshiping in secret meeting places to avoid persecution.
We’ve already looked at the ICHTHUS Fish symbol in a previous post. Other great symbols of early Christianity included the Lamb, Dove, Peacock, Phoenix and even the unicorn. Today we will look at the symbolism behind the Pelican.
The Pelican is a Christian symbol of Christ as the Redeemer having shed His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The pelican was believed to draw blood from her chest and feed the blood to its young. In the hymn Pelican of Mercy, St Thomas Aquinas wrote “Pelican of Mercy, cleanse me in Thy Precious Blood.
Similarly, the Pelican symbolizes the Eucharist, where the bread and wine is transfigured into the body and blood of Christ.
Today, the emblems of both Corpus Christi College in Cambridge and Corpus Christi College in Oxford are pelicans. Corpus Christi means “the body of Christ”.
Many Christian denominations do not pay that much attention to the Epiphany of Jesus Christ. The Epiphany event occurred shortly after Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is celebrated by the Catholic church on January 6th of each year. It commemorates the day when the magi, the three kings came to pay homage to Christ, the king.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world.
The three kings, the wise men if you will, symbolizes the acceptance of Jesus as the salvation of the world through the Incarnation. Their journey to Israel in order to pay homage to Jesus shows that they sought the one who would be king of all nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world.
Here’s what Pope Benedict said in his homily at the Vatican, last year, during the celebration of the feast of the Epiphany:
“The light that shone in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, where Mary, Joseph and the shepherds remained in silent adoration, shines out today and is manifested to all. The Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey. The true source of light, however, the “sun that rises from on high”, is Christ.
In the mystery of Christmas, Christ’s light shines on the earth, spreading, as it were, in concentric circles. First of all, it shines on the Holy Family of Nazareth: the Virgin Mary and Joseph are illuminated by the divine presence of the Infant Jesus. The light of the Redeemer is then manifested to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, informed by an Angel, hasten immediately to the grotto and find there the “sign” that had been foretold to them: the Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
The shepherds, together with Mary and Joseph, represent that “remnant of Israel,” the poor, the anawim, to whom the Good News was proclaimed.
Finally, Christ’s brightness shines out, reaching the Magi who are the first-fruits of the pagan peoples.
The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary, because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples.”
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, many of his followers scattered and went underground. Of course, his apostles and closest disciples were emboldened by the Holy Spirit and set out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Persecution of those who believed that Jesus was Christ, the Christians, occurred almost immediately and it became necessary for Christians to identify one another through the use of symbols. One of the most well known was the symbols of the fish.
This fish symbols has been found by archaeologists in caves and catacombs that were used as meeting places. It has been found in markings of graves and even in dwelling places. It was a symbol that was recognized by other true followers but not by those who were not. Why the fish?
There are several interesting theories surrounding the use of the fish. First off, Jesus preached primarily in Galilee, a fishing town. Many of His first chosen apostles were fishermen, including Simon Peter to whom he entrusted the keys of the church. Jesus, who taught in parables, told his disciples he would make the “fishers of men”. There are several passages in the New Testament that reference fish.
One very popular school of thought concerning the fish comes in the Greek word for fish – IXOYE –iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma. In English the sounds from those letters would be ICHTHUS and you may have heard the fish symbol referred to as the “ichthus fish”. The combination of these letters is an acronym – Iesous Christos Theou Uiou Soter – which translated means Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
Catholic theology has elaborated on the five words of the acronym into the Jesus prayer, which goes, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
One obscure and not so well known Catholic symbol is the Sacrifice Beads.
Have you ever seen them? They are a small string of beads, usually ten, that are used to count the good deeds or sacrifices you perform throughout the day. They are sometimes called Good Deed Beads or St. Therese beads after the saint who first used them. As a matter of fact some of these bead strings may even contain a medal of St. Therese at the end; some may have a crucifix instead.
Sacrifice Beads originated in the childhood of St. Therese of Lisieux. When Therese was a small girl, her older sister gave her a set of beads on which to count the things she offered up for God. This became a regular and consistent practice for St. Therese. To this day many children use these beads as a way of getting into the habit of doing good deeds.
Keeping count of good deeds and sacrifices is not about pride. Tracking the sacrifices is a method of making oneself aware of his or her relationship with God and how he or she is seeking opportunities to do God’s work and act as an instrument of God’s love. Each time one slides a bead he or she should take a moment to offer the deed to God.
Not all Catholic symbols are as well known as the crucifix or rosary. The Sacrifice Beads are one example of a symbol that, unfortunately, is not in wide use today.
