[Ill.u.s.tration: Lord"s t.i.tle monogram]
The more familiar monogram IHS (_IHS_) is the abbreviated form of the Greek word for our Saviour"s human name, Jesus, _IESOUS_. The first two and the last letters are those used. Sometimes this is written "IHC." The two forms are synonymous, the C being simply another form of the Greek S. Sometimes the letters are intertwined, the I being lengthened and formed into a cross by a bar at the top.
[Ill.u.s.tration: IHS monogram]
These three letters are often read as signifying the Latin words, _Jesus hominum Salvator_, that is, "Jesus the Saviour of men"; but appropriate and beautiful as this reading is, it is not the original meaning, but an afterthought, and is said to have been first suggested about the year 1380.
Another monogram contains the initial letters, IX, of our Lord"s full name, Jesus Christ, in Greek. The X (Chi) is combined with the I (Iota). Sometimes a horizontal bar is placed through the middle {74} of the figure, thus giving the initials of our Lord"s full name, united with the cross.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Full name monograms]
Another form of monogram for our Lord"s full name, Jesus Christ, is made by taking the first and the last letters of each of the Greek words. The lines above are the signs of contraction.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Contracted monogram]
_I. N. R. I._ These letters stand for the Latin form of the t.i.tle placed on our Saviour"s cross, _Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum_, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
_Symbols of the Holy Ghost._--The seven-branched _Candlestick_ of the tabernacle, and the _Seven Burning Lamps_ which St. John saw before {75} the throne of G.o.d, and which he declares to be the seven Spirits of G.o.d, that is, the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold manifestations of grace, are often used as symbols of the Holy Spirit, the source of all true illumination for men.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Seven-branched candlestick]
The most familiar emblem, however, is the _Dove_, which from the early centuries to the present day has constantly symbolized the third Person of the Holy Trinity. Its warrant and justification are based on the account in the Gospel of our Lord"s baptism and the descent upon Him of the Spirit "in bodily shape like a dove."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Dove]
The picture of the holy dove in the decorations of the church tells of the coming of the same Spirit as the fruit of the intercession of our ascended Lord and according to His most true promise, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may {76} abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth." It reminds of that abiding presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church, making it the "habitation of G.o.d through the Spirit," and giving living power to its sacraments as channels of saving and sanctifying grace.
Other symbols in frequent use are the following:
The _Crown of Thorns_ and the _Nails_ of crucifixion are symbols of our Saviour"s pa.s.sion.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Crown of thorns and nails]
The three _Interlaced fishes_ and the _Escallop Sh.e.l.l_, the badge of a pilgrim, are both emblems of Holy Baptism: the one, as Baptism is in the Name {77} of the Holy Trinity; the other, as we therein confess that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth, who seek "a better country, that is, an heavenly."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Interlaced fishes. Escallop.]
The phoenix is the symbol of immortality and the resurrection. The phoenix was a fabulous bird of the ancients. It was believed that, "after living a thousand years or so, it committed itself to the flames that burst, at the fanning of its wings, from the funeral pyre of costly spices which it had itself constructed, and that from its ashes a new phoenix arose to life."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Phoenix]
The _Anchor_ is the symbol of steadfastness and hope. "A strong consolation,... which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Anchor]
The _Crown_ is the symbol of victory and sovereignty.
The _Wreath_, commonly of laurel, is another symbol of victory. As an expression of triumph won, it is one of the commonest of symbols in the catacombs--the underground and secret burying-places of the early Christians in times of persecution.
{78}
In this connection we may note the symbolism attached to certain plants and flowers. In the ornamentation of G.o.d"s house we reproduce, as far as the art of man can, the forms and colors with which the love of G.o.d has arrayed the earth with so much beauty. We also use the natural plant and flower to beautify the church on the great Christian days of gladness and rejoicing. They mark such days as festival days. In a special way they tell at Easter, by their fresh, pure life out of the death of winter, the story of the resurrection.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Crown]
But, besides this, an emblematic meaning is also attached to particular flowers and plants. The use by the early Christians of plants and flowers in an emblematic way was simply a matter of reverent memory and the carrying over of past a.s.sociations. Their remembrance of the words of the Lord Jesus would make the _Vine_, His own similitude of Himself in relation to them,--"I am the vine, ye are the branches,"--a symbol of frequent use to represent the Saviour.
The _Wheat_ and the _Grapes_ would not only be {79} the emblems of abundance and rejoicing, but would be enriched with suggestions of the Holy Eucharist.
The _Olive-branch_, borne by the dove, recalling the story of the flood, would stand for the thought of security and peace.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Olive-branch]
The _Almond_, with name derived from a word meaning haste, in allusion to its hasty growth and early maturity, was the symbol of hopefulness even in the days of Jeremiah. "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten My word to perform it."
The _Palm_ is the emblem of victory. This symbolism attached to it not only from the familiar a.s.sociations of its pagan use as such, but from a very early period, as seen on ancient mosaics, a reference to the palm was recognized in St. John"s description of the Tree of Life, "which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month." "Thus the palm-branch of Christian martyrs was not only the emblem of victory adopted from the well-known heathen use of it, but typified still more {80} strikingly their connection with the tree of divine life, "whose leaves were for the healing of the nations.""
The palm, however, was not the only instance of such adoption into Christian symbolism from pagan use. The influence of Christianity was felt in many like cases. Trees and plants held sacred to heathen G.o.ds became a.s.sociated with holier names and ideas.
Thus the _Laurel_, "the meed of mighty conquerors and poets sage,"
became for the humble Christian who had "fought a good fight, and finished his course," the emblem of triumph and glory.
The _Pomegranate_, with mystic a.s.sociation from remote antiquity with the idea of life, became the symbol of a hopeful future, the emblem of immortality.
The _Oak_ is the representative of supernatural strength and power. In pagan antiquity it was especially dedicated in the West to Thor, the thunder-G.o.d. The familiar story of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, relates how he found in the country of the Hessians an enormous tree, called the Oak of Thor, greatly revered by the people and held inviolably sacred. St. Boniface cut it down in token of the triumph of Christ. When it fell with a mighty crash, and Thor gave no sign, the {81} heathen folk, who stood about in awe, accepted the token and were converted. The stroke of St. Boniface"s ax overthrew Thor, but could not altogether destroy the a.s.sociations of the ancient belief. The reverence for the oak long survived; and the veneration for it, Christianized in meaning, led to its reproduction, with symbolic reference to the power of the G.o.d of G.o.ds, in many beautiful forms of leaf and spray and cl.u.s.tered acorn, in church decoration.
In like manner, we find flowers held sacred to heathen G.o.ddesses lifted out of that a.s.sociation and invested with higher and purer emblematic meaning.
The _Lily_, the flower of Juno, became the flower of the holy Virgin, and its snowy whiteness the symbol of Christian purity. It is often seen in the conventional form of the fleur-de-lis.
The _Rose_ before the coming of Christianity was a mystic flower among Northern races. Among the Greeks and Romans it was the flower of Venus and the symbol of earthly love. Its symbolism felt also the redeeming touch of Christian sentiment. The love of which it is the emblem became not an earthly, but a heavenly love. As the lily tells of her purity, so the rose tells of the love that was in the heart of the Blessed Virgin. But this was but the reflection {82} of a higher and a divine love, of which the rose was also the symbol.
How that thought of the love of heaven coming down to earth was expressed emblematically by the rose, we may see in the story of its origin which the Christian fancy of the middle ages invented. It was said that a holy maiden of Bethlehem, "blamed with wrong and slandered, was doomed to the death; and as the fire began to burn about her she made her prayers to our Lord that, as she was not guilty of that sin, He would help her and make it to be known to all men, of His merciful grace. And when she had thus said, anon was the fire quenched and out, and the brands that were burning became red roseries, and the brands that were not kindled became white roseries, full of roses. And these were the first roseries and roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw."
So the rose became the flower of martyrs, the presage of the beauty and joy of Paradise. With the same thought, the early Christians decorated with roses the graves of martyrs and confessors on the anniversary of their death. It has been conjectured that it is from this connection of the rose with Paradise, and with the thought of the love which accomplished our salvation, that the rite of {83} the "golden rose" has been derived--the rite in which the Pope, on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, blesses a golden rose adorned with jewels, which he afterward bestows upon some person he desires especially to honor. In the prayers which are used in this rite, our Lord is alluded to as the "eternal Rose that has gladdened the heart of the world."
The interesting plant known as the _Pa.s.sion-flower_, although of comparatively modern origin, is now freely used to symbolize the pa.s.sion of our Lord. The ten faithful apostles,--omitting St. Peter who denied and Judas who betrayed our Lord,--the hammer and the nails, the cross, the five sacred wounds, the crown of thorns, the cords which bound Him, are all, by an exaggerated symbolism and straining after a.n.a.logy, supposed to be represented by its various parts. It was discovered by early Spanish settlers in America, and was welcomed by them as useful in teaching Christianity to the Indians. It is the one contribution of the new continent to the ecclesiastical symbolism of flowers.
_Symbols of the Evangelists and Apostles._--The Evangelists are often represented by four scrolls, four open books, or four streams of water issuing from Christ the Rock; but most commonly the Evangelistic symbols are the _Man_, the _Lion_, the {84} _Ox_, and the _Eagle_.
These figures refer to the mysterious creatures described by the prophet Ezekiel, and afterward by St. John, as adoring ceaselessly before the throne of G.o.d. "They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The man is a.s.signed to St. Matthew and his Gospel, because of the manner in which the manhood of our Lord is set forth, the lion to St. Mark, because he shows {85} His royal dignity and power; the ox to St. Luke, because his is the sacrificial Gospel and dwells on the Atonement; and the eagle to St. John, because his Gospel rises to the contemplation of the sublimest mysteries of the Christian faith.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Man, Lion, Ox, Eagle symbols]
All these symbols are winged, as showing that the message of the Gospels is to go to all the earth as the concern of all men everywhere.
All four symbols are sometimes combined into one, called a Tetramorph.
Each Apostle has also his own appropriate symbol.