The Worship of the Church Part 3

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Symbolic Ornaments of the Church

The use of symbols for conveying and enforcing truth goes back to earliest ages. G.o.d said to Noah, "I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth."

The ritual and appointments of the Tabernacle and its worship were an elaborate system of symbolism.

So, also, we find the use of symbolism in Christianity. The need of appealing to the eye as well as to the ear, by visible signs for sacred truths, led the early Christians to employ a number of such symbols as an effective means of imparting instruction. But their use was not wholly a matter of choice. Anxious to seek and to support one another {52} under persecution, they were compelled to find some common signs of recognition which might be known only to themselves, and under which their new Faith might be safely concealed.

_The Cross._--The Cross comes first in order. It is the especial emblem of Christianity. "It glitters on the crown of the monarch. It forms the ensign of nations. It crowns alike the loftiest spires of Christendom and the lowliest parish churches. It marks the resting-place of the departed who have died with faith in its efficacy, as it was the sign in Baptism of their admission to the kingdom of the Crucified." It is the symbol of Christ's atonement and of the salvation of men, and represents the Christian Faith, its demands and its triumphs. As might be expected, many fantastic stories were woven about this symbol in the middle ages. Yet back of their extravagance was often a true feeling. We see this even in the absurd legend of the tree from which our Saviour's cross was made.

This legend was as follows: "for four hundred and thirty-two years after his expulsion from Paradise, Adam had tilled the ground in the valley of Hebron, when he felt his end approaching, and determined to send his son Seth to the gates of Paradise to demand from their keeper, 'the angel called {53} Cherubim,' the oil of mercy which had been promised to Adam when he was driven from the garden. Seth accordingly set forth, finding his way by the footprints of Adam and Eve, upon which no gra.s.s had grown since they pa.s.sed from Paradise to Hebron.

"The angel, after hearing the message, ordered Seth to look beyond the gate into the garden and to tell him what he saw. He beheld a place of inexpressible delight and beauty, with the four great rivers proceeding from a fountain in the center; and, rising from the edge of the fountain, an enormous tree, with wide-spreading branches, but without either bark or leaves. He was ordered to look a second time, when he saw a serpent twisted round the tree; and a third time, when the tree had raised itself to heaven, and bore on its summit a Child wrapped in glittering vestments.

"It was this Child, said the angel, who would give to Adam the oil of mercy when the due time should come. Meanwhile the angel gave Seth three seeds from the fruit of the tree of which Adam had eaten. These were to be placed in the mouth of Adam before his burial, and three trees would spring from them--a cedar, a cypress, and a pine. The trees were symbolical of the Holy Trinity."

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"It happened as the angel foretold. The trees were hardly a foot above the ground in the days of Abraham. Moses, to whom their true nature was revealed, took them up carefully, carried them with him during the years of wandering in the desert, and then replanted them in a mysterious valley named Comprafort (Comfort?). From Comprafort David was directed to bring them to Jerusalem. He planted them close to a fountain, and within thirty years they had grown together so as to form a single tree of wonderful beauty, under the shade of which David composed his psalms and wept for his sins. In spite of its beauty, Solomon cut it down in order to complete his temple, for which a single beam was wanted, of a size such as no other tree could furnish. But in fitting the beam to its place, it was found, after repeated trials, either too long or too short, and this was accepted as a sign that it was not to be so employed."

It was then, says one version of the story, reverently preserved in the temple. According to another version, when it was found too short or too long "it was flung aside into a certain marsh, where it served as a bridge. But when the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and was about to cross the marsh, she {55} saw in a vision how the Saviour of the world was to be suspended on that tree, and so would not walk over it. It was buried in the earth on the spot where the Pool of Bethesda was afterward made, so that it was not only the descent of the angel, but the virtues of the buried wood, which gave to the water its healing qualities. At the time of the pa.s.sion the wood rose and floated on the surface. The Jews took it to make the cross of our Lord."

More attractive is the legend of how the cross was found, deeply buried in the ground at Jerusalem, by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. All three crosses were found, according to the story, and that of our Lord was recognized by certain miracles which it wrought on those who touched it.

In representations of the cross we trace two princ.i.p.al forms, the Latin and the Greek cross, from which a great variety, with various significations, have been produced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Latin cross]

The _Latin_ or _Pa.s.sion Cross_ has the lower limb considerably longer than the other three. "It is doubtless most nearly the shape of the very instrument on which Christ suffered, {56} and is therefore most suitable to symbolize the Atonement and to express suffering." When it is placed on steps it is called a "Calvary cross." The steps are generally three in number, and are said to typify faith, hope, and charity, the great Christian virtues.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Calvary cross]

When all four arms are of equal length it is a _Greek Cross_, the cross in most frequent use among Eastern Christians. "The Latin cross suggests the actual form, while the Greek cross is idealized, the Greeks being essentially an artistic and poetic race." "The Greek cross is a symbol of the spread of the Gospel and of its triumphs in the four quarters of the world. It is the usual form wherever it is intended to express victory or is used as an ornament."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Greek cross]

Another interesting form of the cross is the _Tau-cross_, so called because shaped like the Greek letter tau (T). The figure found in the tau-cross was the symbol of eternal life with the ancient Egyptians.

The early Christians of Egypt adopted it and at first used it instead of other forms of the cross. It is yet seen in the early Christian sepulchers of that country. "It has been urged, with {57} at least great probability, that this symbol of life was the form made by the children of Israel in blood upon their door-posts when the angel of death pa.s.sed through the land of Egypt to smite the first-born, and it was perhaps the form of the cross on which the brazen serpent in the wilderness was lifted up."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tau-cross]

It is known, from these a.s.sociations, as the cross of the Old Testament and as the "antic.i.p.atory cross"; also as the "cross of St. Anthony,"

the great hermit of Egypt and the father of monasticism.

It is sometimes called the "cross potent" from its shape, "potent"

being an old English word for a crutch. It is then said to signify the Cross as the sure support of all who trust in it.

Four tau-crosses joined foot to foot form a "Jerusalem cross." Such a cross was part of the armorial bearing of the first Christian king of Jerusalem. The four conjoined tau-crosses, forming a Greek cross, are said to be symbolical of the displacement of the Old Testament by the New, the Law by the Gospel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jerusalem cross]

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Many forms of the cross originated in the wars of the Cross, the crusaders in their eastward wanderings engrafting many variations upon the original Greek cross. Many of these heraldic crosses tell some story of religious feeling. In their varied and fanciful forms the simple faith and holy purpose out of which they sprang may yet be traced.

The "cross moline" is so named from resemblance to the moline, or crossed iron, in the center of the upper millstone. Its ends are divided and curved backward. As they are turned in all directions, they are said to express the universal diffusion of the blessings of the Cross; or, as they decline both to the right and the left, they express willingness to do exact justice and give to all their due.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross Moline. Cross Recercele.]

The "cross recercele" resembles the cross moline, but with its floriations more expanded.

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The "cross bottone" (budded) or "trefle" (like trefoil), the "cross patonce" (like the paw of the ounce, or panther), and the "cross flory"

(like the fleur-de-lis), all with limbs ending in threefold figures, have evident reference to the Holy Trinity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross Bottone, or trefle. Cross Patonce. Cross flory.]

The "cross pommee" has ends terminating in circles suggestive of apples, as the name shows. It is said to express the fruitful reward of devotion to the Cross.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross pommee. Cross crosslet. Cross fitche.]

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The "cross crosslet" is formed of four Latin or Pa.s.sion crosses placed foot to foot.

It is said that the "cross fitche" (sharpened and so fixable in the ground) was carried in pilgrimages so that it might be readily set up while performing devotions.

The "cross patte" (broad-footed) is much like the "Maltese cross," the cross of Knights Templars and Hospitalers, which differs from it simply in having its extremities indented or notched. The eight points thus formed are said to symbolize the eight Beat.i.tudes of our Lord.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross patte]

The "floriated cross," which is developed in many ornamental forms, as the cross bursting into bloom or adorned with garlands, alludes to the triumph of Christ and to our future triumph and glory through Him. It symbolizes also our holy religion growing with perpetual vitality.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Maltese cross]

One of the most singular, as well as most ancient, of the many forms and modifications of the cross is the "fylfot." It is found, probably as a disguised form of the cross, on the tombs in the catacombs. {61} Its use ill.u.s.trates the adoption by the early Christians, as in the case of the tau-cross, of prechristian symbols. By its employment they simply "diverted to their own purpose a symbol centuries older than the Christian era, a symbol of early Aryan origin, found in Indian and Chinese art, and spreading westward, long before the dawn of Christianity, to Greece and Asia. It was on the terra-cotta objects dug up by Dr. Schliemann at Troy, and conjectured to date from 1000 to 1500 B.C." It is thought to represent in heathen use a revolving wheel, the symbol of the great sun-G.o.d, or to stand for the lightning wielded by the omnipotent deity, Manu, Thor, or Zeus. The Christians saw in it a cross concealed from the eyes of their heathen enemies.

The fylfot is frequently found in the Greek Church on the vestments of the clergy. The Greek fret or key pattern, with which all are familiar, is a decorative development of the fylfot.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fylfot]

Another interesting form of the cross is that known as the "cross of Iona" or "Irish cross." It is said to be the earliest form known in {62} Great Britain and Ireland. The antique wayside crosses are of this shape. "Because this style of cross partakes more of Greek character than of Latin, it has been contended that it argues an Eastern rather than Western origin for the introduction of Christianity into Great Britain." The circle is the emblem of eternity, as having neither beginning nor end, and when combined with the cross, as in this form, it speaks of the perpetuity of the Christian faith and the eternity of its hope.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Irish cross]

The "St. Andrew's cross," in form like the letter X, conveys the idea of humility as well as that of suffering. When St. Andrew was condemned to be crucified, he begged that his cross might be unlike that on which his Lord had died, not deeming himself worthy to die on a cross of the same form as that on which He had suffered.