Quadrant Model of Reality: Quadrant Model of Reality Book 4 Religion

Religion Chapter

Excerpt from Quadrant Model of Reality

There are four world religions according to historians and sociologists. Some sociologists argue that there is a fifth; Judaism is sometimes considered the fifth, but is most often not included among the world religions because it is an ethnic phenomenon that does not try to convert people. The recognized world religions are:

*Square one: Buddhism--associated with the first quadrant, it is stereotypically about sensation, perception, response, and awareness. It is focused on finding the real self, which is the nature of the first quadrant, and is known for meditation and other activities related to perception, and awareness. Idealists, the first square personality type are often attracted to Buddhism. The Buddha was an Indian priest of the Brahman class. He taught people to get married, have children, not commit adultery, not murder, and not steal. His teachings are very similar to the teachings of the Torah. Many Buddhists deify him often praying to the Buddha for selfish purposes. Buddhists are taught that life is suffering, so they can be sad, an emotion of the first square. The buddha taught that people should seek nirvana, which is separation from the world, and from a destiny of rebirth. Buddhism is associated with asians which is the first square race. Buddhism is associated with non violence and peace which are idealist characteristics. Buddhists are vegetarians like idealists are more inclined to be.

*Square two: Christianity--associated with the second quadrant, is about belief, faith, behavior, and belonging. Messianic Jews teach that Jesus was an orthodox Jew who taught others to follow the Torah precisely. They teach that Paul was also an orthodox Jew who sought to bring the Torah back to the lost tribes of Israel, whom he called gentiles, because they had broken out of covenant--gentile means out of covenant. According to messianic Jews, Black Hebrew Israelites, and even Seventh Day Adventists, Jesus and his disciples taught that belief in Jesus entailed following the commandments of God; the second square focuses on order and homeostasis. Christianity is second square oriented, and associated with the Guardian personality type—wanting to belong. Christianity is characterized a lot by trying to convert people and save people, which is associated with wanting to belong, and it is not known for being related to deep thinking, but more belief, which is characteristic of the second square. Christianity is associated with Europeans and is the second square race. Christians like to say they want a “relationship with Jesus”. The second square is about relationships.

*Square three: Islam--a third quadrant religion. Like Christianity, Islam considers itself an Abrahamic religion--descended from Abraham. The first three squares are always very connected. Many Muslims do not have problems with Buddhists, seeing Buddhists as monotheists. Arabs consider themselves descendants of Ishmael, a son of Abraham. The Israelites descend from Abraham's other son, Issac. Many rabbis think that Europeans are often descendants of Issac's son Esau; Israel descends from Issac's other son Jacob. The third quadrant is thinking, emotion, doing, and dreaming. Thinking challenges beliefs; Islam challenges the beliefs of Christianity, teaching that Jesus is not God, but is a messenger of God. Thinking is considered to be destructive and bad for challenging and breaking down beliefs, and breaking Christians out of the comfort of their beliefs. Islam means submission to God. Islam is often associated with Black people and arabs, which is the third square race. Also Islam is associated around the world as being violent, and the nature of the third square is it is more “destructive” or “bad” or evil. Islam is associated with terrorism and throughout history Arabs fought brutal wars including the massacring of Hindus and the attempt to force convert people. Islam has a lot of African followers but also has white and Asian followers. The third square encompasses the previous two.

*Square four: Hinduism--a “polytheistic” religion, Hindus tend to believe in more than one God, and worship different Hindu Gods. The fourth quadrant encompasses the previous three, while pointing beyond them. The fourth quadrant is contemplation, passion, flowing, and knowing. Hinduism is definitely the most contemplative of the world religions. Also Hinduism encompasses the other world religions, teaching that the messengers of other religions, like Jesus, and Muhammad, and the Buddha, are avatars usually of the Hindu God Vishnu or other Gods. So Hinduism is pluralistic. The fourth square always encompasses the previous three. Many Hindus believe that the ultimate awareness is that humans are Gods. Hinduism is associated with karma sutra, which is a type of meditation based on sexual positions. The fourth quadrant is knowledge; knowledge is associated with sex. Hinduism is associated with fear and surprise, which emerges out of contemplation, which are fourth square emotions. Hinduism is associated with Brown people/Indians, which is the fourth square race. The fourth square is also known for being “bad”. Both Christians and Muslims tend to look down upon Hindus seeing them as polytheists, although there are Hindu sects that are considered monothesitic. Even Buddhists look down upon Hindus seeing them as not accepting the teachings of the Buddha. Hindus tend to say the Buddha was an incarnation of God, but that the Buddha did not contain full revelation and purposefully lead people astray. The Mormons, considered Christians, argue the bible is also polytheistic. Some Hindus reconcile all of the religions, saying that they believe in Allah as the only God Krishna, and believing that Krishna is the Father of Jesus, and that the Buddha was an incarnation of Krishna. Hindus have many creative ways of reconciling all of the religions. Hinduism is a national religion in India, but it has followers from all races. The forth always encompasses he previous three, although it is most associated with brown people. Brown is the forth square race.

The World Religions

Buddhism

Christianity

Islam

Hinduism

Kołomir – the Slavic example of Wheel of the Year indicating seasons of the year. Four-point and eight-point swastika-shaped wheels were more common.

QMRCeltic[edit]

See also: Sun cross

The contemporary Wheel of the Year is somewhat of a modern innovation. Many historical pagan traditions celebrated various equinoxes, solstices, and the days approximately midway between them (termed cross-quarter days) for their seasonal and agricultural significances. But none were known to have held all eight above all other annual, sacred times. The modern understanding of the Wheel is a result of the cross-cultural awareness that began developing by the time of Modern Europe.

Mid-20th century British Paganism had a strong influence on early adoption of an eightfold Wheel. By the late 1950s, the Wiccan Bricket Wood Coven and Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids had both adopted eightfold ritual calendars, for balance and more frequent celebrations. This also had the benefit of more closely aligning celebration between the two influential Pagan orders.[2][3]

Due to early Wicca's influence on Paganism and their syncretic adoption of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic motifs, the most commonly used English festival names for the Wheel of the Year tend to be Celtic and Germanic.

The American Ásatrú movement has adopted, over time, a calendar in which the Heathen major holidays figure alongside many Days of Remembrance which celebrate heroes of the Edda and the Sagas, figures of Germanic history, and the Viking Leif Ericson, who explored and settled Vinland (North America). These festivals are not, however, as evenly distributed throughout the year as in Wicca and other Heathen denominations.

QMRThe Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern Pagans. It consists of either four or eight festivals: either the solstices and equinoxes, known as the "quarter days", or the four midpoints between, known as the "cross quarter days"; syncretic traditions like Wicca often celebrate all eight festivals.

The festivals celebrated by differing sects of modernPaganism can vary considerably in name and date. Observing the cycle of the seasons has been important to many people, both ancient and modern, and many contemporary Pagan festivals are based to varying degrees on folk traditions.[1]

Among Wiccans, the festivals are also referred to as sabbats /ˈsæbət/, with Gerald Gardner claiming this term was passed down from the Middle Ages, when the terminology for Jewish Shabbats was commingled with that of other heretical celebrations. See Witches' Sabbath

In Scotland[edit]

The "Old Scottish term days" corresponded approximately to the old Celtic quarter days:

Candlemas (2 February)

Whitsunday (legislatively fixed for this purpose on 15 May)

Lammas (1 August)

Martinmas (11 November).

These were also the dates of the Quarter Days observed in northern England until the 18th century.[2]

The dates for removals and for the employment of servants of Whitsunday and Martinmas were changed in 1886 to 28 May and 28 November respectively.[4] The Term & Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990 redefined the "Scottish term days", in official use, as the 28th of February, May, August and November respectively. The Act specifies that the new dates take effect on 13 June 1991 (12 months from the date it was passed).

In Ireland[edit]

Prior to the Christianization of Ireland in the 5th century AD, the Celtic quarter days were observed:

Lughnasadh (1 August)

Samhain (1 November)

Imbolc (1 February)

Beltaine (1 May)

These are now called cross-quarter days since they fall about halfway into each of the English quarters.

The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are

Lady Day (25 March)

Midsummer Day (24 June)

Michaelmas (29 September)

Christmas (25 December)

Lady Day was also the first day of the year in British dominions (excluding Scotland) until 1752 (when it was harmonised with the Scottish practice of 1 January being New Year's Day). The British tax year still starts on "Old" Lady Day (6 April under the Gregorian calendar corresponded to 25 March under the Julian calendar : 11 days new style calendar advance in 18th century plus 1 day due to the twelfth skipped Julian leap day in 1800; however it was not changed to 7 April when a thirteenth Julian leap day was skipped in 1900). The dates of the Quarter Days observed in northern England until the 18th century were the same as those in Scotland.[2]

The cross-quarter days are four holidays falling in between the quarter days: Candlemas (2 February), May Day (1 May), Lammas (1 August), and All Hallows (1 November). The Scottish term days, which fulfil a similar role as days on which rents are paid, correspond more nearly to the cross-quarter days than to the English quarter days.

There is a mnemonic for remembering on which day of the month the first three quarter days fall (Christmas being easy to recall): the second digit of the day of the month is the number of letters in the month's name. So March has five letters and Lady Day is 25 March; similarly June has four letters and September nine, with Midsummer Day and Michaelmas falling on the 24th and 29th respectively.

At many schools, class terms would begin on the Quarter days; for example, the autumn term would start on September 29, and thus continues to be called the Michaelmas term well into the 21st century, especially at more traditional universities.[3]

QMRQuarter days

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In British and Irish tradition, the quarter days were the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstices and two equinoxes.

The significance of quarter days is now limited, although leasehold payments and rents for land and premises in England are often still due on the old English quarter days.

The quarter days have been observed at least since the Middle Ages, and they ensured that debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on. Accounts had to be settled, a reckoning had to be made and publicly recorded on the quarter days.[1]

QMRIn southern Austria, in Carinthia among the Slovenes, a male form of Perchta was known as Quantembermann, in German, or Kvaternik, in Slovene (the man of the four Ember days).[6] Grimm thought that her male counterpart or equivalent is Berchtold.[7]

QMRQuarter tense (called in all other English speaking countries "ember days") is a uniquely Irish name for those days set aside in the western Christian church for prayer and fasting to sanctify the liturgical seasons. They are of very ancient and uncertain origin, though are generally believed to have originated in Rome. The dates of their celebration are now normally determined by national Roman Catholic hierarchies and not by the universal calendar of the church. The Saturdays of Quarter Tense were considered especially appropriate for priestly ordination. The days of Quarter Tense were, until the Second Vatican Council, time of obligatory fasting and abstinence. However, in Ireland, the obligation of abstinence (the complete avoidance of meat) on the Saturdays of Quarter Tense outside Lent was removed by the Vatican in 1912.

The term "quarter tense" is derived from the official Latin name; "quattuor tempora" ("the four times").

In the Irish language, Quarter Tense is Cátaoir or Laethanta na gCeithre Thráth (lit. "the days of the four times").

The old dates in the Irish calendar for the observation of Quarter Tense were:

The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following Ash Wednesday, (liturgical colour - Purple).

The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Pentecost Sunday, (liturgical colour - Red).

The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after September 14- the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, (liturgical colour - Purple).

The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following December 13- Feast of Saint Lucy, (liturgical colour - Purple).

Etymology[edit]

The English name for these days, "Ember", derives from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren, a circuit or revolution (from ymb, around, and ryne, a course, running), clearly relating to the annual cycle of the year. The word occurs in such Anglo-Saxon compounds as ymbren-tid ("Embertide"), ymbren-wucan ("Ember weeks"), ymbren-fisstan ("Ember fasts"), ymbren-dagas ("Ember days"). The word imbren even makes it into the acts of the "Council of Ænham"[7] (1009): jejunia quatuor tempora quae imbren vocant, "the fasts of the four seasons which are called "imbren'".[8] It corresponds also with Pope Leo the Great's definition, jejunia ecclesiastica per totius anni circulum distributa ("fasts of the church distributed through the whole circuit of the year").

However, others maintain that the term is derived from the Latin quatuor tempora, meaning "four times" (a year), while folk etymology even cites the phrase "may ye remember (the inevitability of death)" as the source. J. M. Neale's Essays of Liturgiology (1863), Chapter X, explains the etymology:

"The Latin name has remained in modern languages, though the contrary is sometimes affirmed, Quatuor Tempora, the Four Times. In French and Italian the term is the same; in Spanish and Portuguese they are simply Temporas. The German converts them into Quatember, and thence, by the easy corruption of dropping the first syllable, a corruption which also takes place in some other words, we get the English Ember. Thus, there is no occasion to seek after an etymology in embers; or with Nelson, to extravagate still further to the noun ymbren, a recurrence, as if all holy seasons did not equally recur. Ember-week in Wales is Welsh: "Wythnos y cydgorian", meaning "the Week of the Processions". In mediæval Germany they were called Weihfasten, Wiegfastan, Wiegefasten, or the like, on the general principle of their sanctity.... We meet with the term Frohnfasten, frohne being the then word for travail. Why they were named foldfasten it is less easy to say."

"Quattuor tempora" was rendered into Irish quite literally as Laethanta na gCeithre Thráth, meaning "the days of the four times", and into somewhat archaic English as "Quarter tense".

Ordination of clergy[edit]

Main article: Ordination

The present rule which fixes the ordination of clergy in the Ember weeks was set in documents traditionally associated with Pope Gelasius I (492 - 496). In the earlier church ordinations took place whenever necessity required. Gelasius is stated to have been the first who limited them to these particular times. The rule once introduced commended itself to the mind of the church, and its observance spread. We find it laid down in the pontificate of Archbishop Ecgbert of York, A.D. 732 - 766, and referred to as a canonical rule in a capitulary of Charlemagne, and it was finally established as a law of the church in the pontificate of Pope Gregory VII, ca 1085.

Timing[edit]

The Ordo Romanus fixed the spring fast in the first week of March (then the first month), thus loosely associated with the first Sunday in Lent; the summer fast in the second week of June, after Whitsunday; the autumnal fast in the third week of September following the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14; and the winter fast in the complete week next before Christmas Eve, following St. Lucy's Day (Dec. 13).

Other regulations prevailed in different countries, until the inconveniences arising from the want of uniformity led to the rule now observed being laid down under Pope Urban II as the law of the church, at the Council of Piacenza and the Council of Clermont, 1095.

These dates are given in the following mnemonic:

Dant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia

Ut sit in angariâ quarta sequens feria

Or in an old English rhyme

"Fasting days and Emberings be

Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie."

The ember days began on the Wednesday immediately following those days. This meant, for instance, that if September 14 were a Tuesday, the ember days would occur on September 15, 17, and 18. As a result the ember days in September could fall after either the second or third Sunday in September. This, however, was always the liturgical Third Week of September, since the First Sunday of September was the Sunday closest to September 1 (August 29 to September 4). As a simplification of the liturgical calendar, Pope John XXIII modified this so that the Third Sunday was the third Sunday actually within the calendar month. Thus if September 14 were a Sunday, September 24, 26 and 27 would be ember days, the latest dates possible; with September 14 as a Saturday, however, the ember days would occur on September 18, 20 and 21 - the earliest possible dates.

Prior to the reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church mandated fasting (only one full meal per day plus two partial, meatless meals) on all Ember Days (which meant both fasting and abstinence from meat on Ember Fridays), and the faithful were encouraged (though not required) to receive the sacrament of penance whenever possible. On February 17, 1966, Pope Paul VI's decree Paenitemini excluded the Ember Days as days of fast and abstinence for Roman Catholics.[3]

The revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969 laid down the following rules for Ember Days and Rogation days:

In order to adapt the rogation and ember days to various regions and the different needs of the people, the conferences of bishops should arrange the time and plan of their celebration.

Consequently, the competent authority should lay down norms, in view of local conditions, on extending such celebrations over one or several days and on repeating them during the year.

On each day of these celebrations the Mass should be one of the votive Masses for various needs and occasions that is best suited to the intentions of the petitioners.[4]

They may appear in some calendars as "days of prayer for peace".[5]

They were made optional by churches of the Anglican Communion in 1976. In the Episcopal Church, the September Ember Days are still (optionally) observed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Holy Cross Day,[6] so that if September 14 is a Tuesday, the Ember Days fall on September 15, 17, and 18, a week before the dates observed by the Roman Catholic Church.

Some Lutheran church calendars continue the observation of Ember and Rogation days though the practice has diminished over the past century.

Origins[edit]

Ember days are possibly related to similar observances in pre-Christian Rome. In pagan Rome, offerings were made to various gods and goddesses of agriculture in the hope that the deities would provide a bountiful harvest (the feriae messis in July), a rich vintage (the feriae vindimiales in September), or a productive seeding (the feriae sementivae in December). At first, the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December. The Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Pope Callixtus I (217-222) a law regulating the fast, although Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Pope Gelasius I (492-496) speaks of all four.

The earliest mention of four seasonal fasts is known from the writings of Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (died ca 387) (De haeres. 119). He also connects them with the great Christian festivals.

The Christian observation of this seasonal observance of the Ember days had its origin as an ecclesiastical ordinance in Rome and spread from there to the rest of the Western Church. They were known as the jejunium vernum, aestivum, autumnale and hiemale, so that to quote Pope Leo's words (A.D. 440 - 461) the law of abstinence might apply to every season of the year. In Leo's time, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were already days of special observance. In order to tie them to the fasts preparatory to the three great festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, a fourth needed to be added "for the sake of symmetry" as the Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 has it.

From Rome the Ember days gradually spread unevenly through the whole of Western Christendom. In Gaul they do not seem to have been generally recognized much before the 8th century.

Their observation in Britain, however, was embraced earlier than in Gaul or Spain, interestingly, and Christian sources connect the Ember Days observations with Augustine of Canterbury, AD. 597, said to be acting under the direct authority of Pope Gregory the Great. The precise dates appears to have varied considerably however, and in some cases, quite significantly, the Ember Weeks lost their connection with the Christian festivals altogether. Spain adopted them with the Roman rite in the eleventh century. Charles Borromeo introduced them into Milan in the sixteenth century.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church ember days have never been observed.[2]

Ember Weeks[edit]

The Ember Weeks, the weeks in which the Ember Days occur, are these weeks:

between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent (although the Common Worship lectionary of the Church of England places them in the week following the second Sunday in Advent);

between the first and second Sundays of Lent;

between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday; and

the liturgical Third Week of September. According to an old way of counting, as first Sunday of a month (an information important to determine the appropriate Matins readings) was considered the Sunday proximate to, not on or after, the first of the month, so this yielded as Ember Week precisely the week containing the Wednesday after Holy Cross Day (September 14), and as Ember Days said Wednesday and the following Friday and Saturday. It has been preserved in that order by Anglicans,[1] while for Roman Catholics, a 20th century reform of the Breviary shifted the First Sunday in September to what the name literally implies, and by implication, Ember Week to the Week beginning with the Sunday after Holy Cross day. Therefore, in a year that September 14 falls on a Monday or Tuesday, the Ember Days for Anglicans are a week sooner than for those of modern day Catholics.

QMRIn the liturgical calendar of the Western Christian churches, Ember days are four separate sets of three days within the same week — specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday — roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, that are set aside for fasting and prayer. These days set apart for special prayer and fasting were considered especially suitable for the ordination of clergy. The Ember Days are known in Latin as the quattuor anni tempora (the "four seasons of the year"), or formerly as the jejunia quattuor temporum ("fasts of the four seasons").

The four quarterly periods during which the ember days fall are called the embertides.

End of Services[edit]

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, and at some other services as well, it is customary for the faithful to come forward and venerate the "Blessing Cross" (hand-cross) which is held by the bishop or priest, and to kiss his hand. This practice is also called the "Veneration of the Cross", though it does not involve making prostrations. The cross which is venerated is small (typically 10-16 inches). This cross is usually metal, often gold or gold-plated, and can be enameled and/or decorated with jewels. The figure of Jesus on the Cross (the soma) is usually engraved, enameled, or painted on the cross, rather than being a separate three-dimensional figure as is found on a crucifix. This is due to the Orthodox practice of using icons rather than statues in church.

Wednesday and Friday[edit]

In addition to all of the above commemorations, Orthodox also hold Wednesday and Friday throughout the year as a commemoration of the Cross.

Veneration of the Cross[edit]

Feast Days[edit]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, on several of the feast days mentioned above, there is a public veneration of the cross. It may take place at matins, after the cross is brought out, at the end of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, or at the end of one of the Little Hours, depending upon the particular feast and local custom.

The faithful come forward and make two prostrations, make the sign of the cross on themselves, and kiss the feet of Christ on the cross, and then make a third prostration. After this, they will often receive a blessing from the priest and bow towards their fellow worshippers on each side of the church (this latter practice is most commonly observed in monasteries).

Moveable Feasts[edit]

In addition to celebrations on fixed days, the Cross may be celebrated during the variable, particularly in Lent and Eastertide.

Eastern Christians celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent. The services for this day are modeled on the Feast of the Exaltation (September 14), and include bringing the cross to the holy table at little vespers and with solemnity out into the center of church at matins, albeit without the ceremony of the Exaltation of the Cross, for veneration by the faithful.[12] It remains in the centre of the church for nearly a week (the Fourth Week of Great Lent). On the Monday and Wednesday of that week, a veneration of the Cross takes place at the First Hour (repeating a portion of the service from matins of the previous Sunday). On Friday of that week, the veneration takes place after the Ninth Hour, after which the priest and deacons return the cross to the sanctuary.[13]

Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and some Anglican churches have a formal Adoration of the Cross during the services on Good Friday.

In the Roman Breviary before the 1961 reform, a Commemoration of the Cross is made during Eastertide except when the office or commemoration of a double or octave occurs, replacing the suffrage of the Saints said outside Eastertide.

May 3[edit]

In the Gallican usage, beginning about the seventh century, the Feast of the Cross was celebrated on May 3, and called "Crouchmas" (for "Cross Mass") or "Roodmas". When the Gallican and Roman practices were combined, the September date was assigned to commemorating the rescue of the Cross from the Sassanid Persians, and the May date was kept as the Finding of the Holy Cross or Invention of the True Cross to commemorate the finding. (In this context "invention" (from Latin invenire, "to find") does not have the modern sense of creating something new.) Pope John XXIII removed this duplication in 1960, so that the General Roman Calendar now celebrates the Holy Cross only on September 14.

May 3 is the date given in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer liturgy, but the new Common Worship liturgy, following the Roman Catholic Church's lead, celebrates Holy Cross Day on September 14.

August 1[edit]

The Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Rite Catholics commemorate the Feast of the Procession of the Venerable Wood of the Cross (or Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of Jesus Christ) on August 1. This day marks the beginning of the Dormition Fast. The propers of the feast are combined with those of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs, the commemoration of whose endurance is deemed appropriate for the first day of a fast. Unlike the September 14 observance, this commemoration is considered to be a minor feast, but it does have the bringing out of the cross and veneration by the faithful like the September feast.

The history of this feast begins in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). It was the custom there to carry the relic of the True Cross through the streets and squares of the city to ask for God's blessing, and for relief from sickness. On the eve of the feast (July 31), which is observed as a forefeast, it was taken out of the imperial treasury, and laid upon the altar of the "Great Church" (Hagia Sophia). On August 1 it was solemnly placed in the middle of the Great Church for the faithful to venerate. The relic was taken in procession daily throughout the city, offering it to the people to venerate until the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15), when it was returned again to the imperial treasury.

In commemoration of this tradition, it is customary to have a crucession (a procession headed by the cross) and celebrate the Lesser Blessing of Water on August 1. It is the first of three "Feasts of the Saviour" in the month of August, the other two being the Transfiguration (August 6) and the Icon of Christ "Not Made by Hands" (August 16). Because of the blessing of holy water, this holy day is sometimes called "Saviour of the Water." There may also be celebrated on this day the Rite of Blessing New Honey, for which reason the day is also referred to as "Saviour of the Honey."

According to Saint Nikolaj Velimirović, this feast was instituted by mutual agreement of the Greeks and Russians to commemorate the simultaneous victories of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos over the Bulgarians and the Russian Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky over the Saracens in the 12th century.[11]

In the Russian Orthodox Church, this feast also celebrates the Baptism of Rus, which occurred on August 1, 988.

October 12[edit]

In the Russian Orthodox Church, October 12 is the commemoration of the Translation of a Portion of the Life-Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina.

A portion of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, as well as the Philermos icon of the Mother of God and the right hand of St. John the Baptist were preserved on the island of Malta by the Knights of the Catholic Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who controlled the island.

In 1798, when the French seized the island, the Maltese Knights turned to the Russian Empire for defense and protection. To this end, they elected Paul I, the Tsar of Russia, as Grand Master of the Order. The Tsar accepted his election. On October 12, 1799, Maltese knights came to their new Priory Palace, just built for them by Paul in Gatchina (45 km. [27 miles] south of St. Petersburg), and offered these ancient and holy treasures to their new Grand Master, the tsar.

In the autumn of 1799 the holy items were transferred to St. Petersburg and placed in the Winter Palace within the internal church dedicated to the Icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands. The feast for this event was established in 1800.[10]

March 6[edit]

On the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church, this day commemorates the Uncovering of the Precious Cross and the Precious Nails by Empress Saint Helen—that is to say, the anniversary of the actual discovery; the date for the September 14 feast was determined by the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a lesser feast, and does not have any of the liturgical peculiarities of the September 14 feast.

Icon

September 13[edit]

The Assyrian Church of the East celebrates the finding of the Cross on September 13, and considers it to be a major feast. The Assyrian Church considers the Sign of the Cross to be a seventh sacrament, by which all of the other sacraments are sealed and perfected (it takes the place of marriage, which they do not name in their traditional list of sacraments). Saranaya (Assyrians) hold a shara every year in cities like Chicago, Illinois, and Modesto, California, and other parts of the world. The shara in Modesto is held every Sunday prior to September 13 at East La Loma Park, where they sacrifice lambs in remembrance of the Feast Of the Cross. People gather and feast and sing and dance to celebrate a happy day.

Oriental orthodox practice[edit]

Armenian Apostolic Church[edit]

The Armenian Apostolic Church observes a five-day fast, called the Fast of the Holy Cross from September 10 through September 14, in preparation for the Feast of the Holy Church in view of the Holy Cross, which they celebrate on September 15. September 16 is observed as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Khachverats in Armenian), a feast which continues for several days thereafter. It is counted as one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Church, and the most important of the four feasts of the Holy Cross. According to Armenian tradition, the first one to "exalt" the Cross was the Apostle James of Jerusalem, the "Brother of the Lord". On the Sunday nearest September 14, the liturgy is marked with an antasdan service (blessing of the fields) during which the processional cross is adorned with basil (a symbol of royalty) and the four corners of the church are blessed as a sign of the sanctification of the world.

On the Sunday nearest September 28 (always two weeks after the Exaltation) the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Cross of Varak (Varaka Khach) commemorating the third century placement of an authentic relic of the cross in Armenian soil at Varagavank. This is a cross feast unique to the Armenian Church.

On the Sunday closest to October 26, the Armenian Church celebrates the Discovery of the Holy Cross (Kyood Khach), commemorating the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena (327 AD).

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Coptic Church of Alexandria[edit]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Coptic Church of Alexandria, commemorate the finding of the true cross on Meskerem 17 of the Ethiopian Calendar (17 Thoout in the Coptic Calender) correspondng to September 27 in the Julian Calendar (or, in leap years, one day later). The eve of this day is popularly called "Demera" in Amharic - meaning Bonfire. The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lights a large bonfire in Maskal Square, Addis Ababa's greatest open arena, and smaller bonfires are lit by individuals and local parishes throughout the country. Thousands attend the colourful and vibrant ceremony of religious chantings around the bonfire in Maskal Square, which owes its name to the ceremony, maskal meaning in Ge'ez "cross". According to tradition, the bonfire commemorates how Queen Helena, as legend has it, found with the smoke of a bonfire, where to search for the true cross in Jerusalem, or how, by a series of bonfires, she signalled to her son Constantine in Constantinople her success in finding it.

Malankara[edit]

In the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church a special offering called panchasarayumanda is made on this day, in particular at the Akaparambu Mor Sabor-Mor Aphroth Church in the Ernakulam District, Kerala.

Eastern Orthodox practice[edit]

Orthodox Cross set for special veneration on the feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross.

In Byzantine liturgical observance, the Universal Exaltation (also called Elevation in Greek Churches) of the Precious and Life-creating Cross commemorates both the finding of the True Cross in 326 and its recovery from the Persians in 628, and is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the church year. September 14 is always a fast day and the eating of meat, dairy products and fish is prohibited. The Feast of the Exaltation has a one-day forefeast and an eight-day afterfeast. The Saturday and Sunday before[note 3] and after[6] September 14 are also commemorated with special Epistle and Gospel readings[note 4] about the Cross at the Divine Liturgy.

On the eve of the feast before small vespers the priest, having prepared a tray with the cross placed on a bed of fresh basil leaves or flowers, covered with an aër (liturgical veil), places it on the table of prothesis; after that service, the priest carries the tray on his head preceded by lighted candles and the deacon incensing the cross, processes to the holy table (altar), in the centre whereof he lays the tray, in the place of the Gospel Book, the latter being set upright at the back of the altar.[7] Those portions of the vespers and matins which in sundry local customs take place before the Icon of the Feast (e.g.,the chanting of the Polyeleos and the Matins Gospel[note 5]) instead take place in front of the Holy Table.[8] The bringing out of the cross and the exaltation ceremony occur at matins.[7]

The cross remains in the centre of the temple throughout the afterfeast, and the faithful venerate it whenever they enter or leave the church. Finally, on the leave-taking (apodosis) of the feast, the priest and deacon will incense around the cross, there will be a final veneration of the cross, and then they will solemnly bring the cross back into the sanctuary through the Holy Doors. This same pattern of bringing out the cross, veneration, and returning the cross at the end of the celebration is repeated at a number of the lesser Feasts of the Cross mentioned below.[9]

Western practices[edit]

Exaltation of the Cross from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly)

In Roman Catholic liturgical observance, red vestments are worn at church services conducted on this day, and if the day falls on a Sunday, its Mass readings[note 2] are used instead of those for the occurring Sunday in Ordinary Time. The lectionary of the Church of England (and other Anglican churches) also stipulates red as the liturgical colour for 'Holy Cross Day'.[4]

Until 1969, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the calendar week after the one in which 14 September falls were designated as one of each year's four sets of Ember days by the Church in the West. Organization of these celebrations is now left to the decision of episcopal conferences in view of local conditions and customs.

September 14 is the titular feast of the Congregation of Holy Cross, The Companions of the Cross and the Episcopal Church's Order of the Holy Cross. This date also marked the beginning of the period of fasting, except on Sundays and ending on Easter Sunday, that was stipulated for Carmelites in the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert of 1247.[5] The Rule of St. Benedict also prescribes this day as the beginning of monastic winter (i.e., the period when there are three nocturns of psalms and readings at matins) which also ends at Easter.

Eastern

September 14[edit]

This feast is called in Greek Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου καὶ Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ[1] ("Raising Aloft of the Honored and Life-Giving Cross"), in Russian Воздвижение Креста Господня' and in Latin Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. In English, it is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day, a name also used by Lutherans. The celebration is also sometimes called Feast of the Glorious Cross.[2]

According to legends that spread widely, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross[note 1] placed inside it. Other legends explain that in 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, and remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. Initially taken to Constantinople, the cross was returned to the church the following year.

The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335.[3] This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.

QRMOrthodox Cross set for special veneration on the feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross.

QMRExaltation of the Cross from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Musée Condé, Chantilly)

QMRFeast of the Cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russian icon of Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (icon from Yaroslavl by Gury Nikitin, 1680. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).

In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. While Good Friday is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the Crucifixion, these days celebrate the cross itself, as the instrument of salvation.

Detail from a carved portal, 6th century, Basilica of Santa Sabina all'Aventino, Rome.

Crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in Košice, Slovakia

A handheld crucifix

A crucifix in a church, with votive candles.

Russian Orthodox crucifix, brass

Orthodox crucifix in Vilnius

Old crucifix in Żukowo, Kashubia

Crucifix, ca. 1795-1862, Brooklyn Museum

Lutheran crucifix with the portrait of Luther at Saint George's church in Immeldorf, Lichtenau

modern crucifix in the road church Baden-Baden, Germany

Modern[edit]

In 2005, a mother accused her daughter's school in Derby, England of discriminating against Christians after the teenager was suspended for refusing to take off a crucifix necklace.[21]

A British prison ordered a multi-faith chapel to remove all crucifixes, presumably to avoid offending Muslims.[22]

In 2008 in Spain, a local judge ordered crucifixes removed from public schools to settle a decades-old dispute over whether crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings in a non-confessional state.[23] A 2008 Quebec government-commissioned report recommended that the crucifix of the National Assembly be removed to achieve greater pluralism, but the Liberal government refused.[24]

On 18 March 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the Lautsi v. Italy case, that the requirement in Italian law that crucifixes be displayed in classrooms of state schools does not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.[25][26][27]

Crucifixes are common in most other Italian official buildings, including courts of law.

On 24 March 2011, the Constitutional Court of Peru ruled that the presence of crucifixes in courts of law does not violate the secular nature of the state.[28]

Buddhism Chapter

Christianity Chapter

Unlike many other Protestants, Lutherans retained the use of the crucifix, Martin Luther church in Oberwiesenthal, Germany

Protestant Reformation[edit]

Early Protestants generally rejected the use of the crucifix, and indeed the unadorned cross, along with other traditional religious imagery, as idolatrous. Martin Luther did not object to them, and this was among his differences with Andreas Karlstadt as early as 1525. Luther at the time of the Reformation retained the crucifix in the Lutheran Church. Only in America, where Lutheranism came under the influence of Calvinism, was the plain cross used.[18] Calvin was violently opposed to both cross and crucifix.[19] In England the Royal Chapels of Elizabeth I were most unusual among English churches in retaining crucifixes, following the Queen's personal conservative preferences. Under James I these disappeared, and their brief re-appearance in the early 1620s when James' heir was seeking a Spanish marriage was the subject of rumour and close observation by both Catholics and Protestants; when the match fell through they disappeared.[20]

Usage[edit]

Prayer in front of a crucifix, which is seen as a sacramental, is often part of devotion for Christians, especially those worshipping in a church, and also privately. The person may sit, stand, or kneel in front of the crucifix, sometimes looking at it in contemplation, or merely in front of it with head bowed or eyes closed. During the Middle Ages small crucifixes, generally hung on a wall, became normal in the personal cells or living quarters first of monks, then all clergy, followed by the homes of the laity, spreading down from the top of society as these became cheap enough for the average person to afford. By the 19th century displaying a crucifix somewhere in the general reception areas of a house became typical of Catholic homes.

Roman Catholic (both Eastern and Western), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and other Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services. They believe use of the crucifix is in keeping with the statement by Saint Paul in Scripture, "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God".[11]

In the West altar crosses and processional crosses began to be crucifixes in the 11th century, which became general around the 14th century, as they became cheaper. The Roman Rite requires that "either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, a cross clearly visible to the assembled people. It is desirable that such a cross should remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations, so as to call to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord."[12] The requirement of the altar cross was also mentioned in pre-1970 editions of the Roman Missal,[13] though not in the original 1570 Roman Missal of Pope Pius V.[14] The Rite of Funerals says that the Gospel Book, the Bible, or a cross (which will generally be in crucifix form) may be placed on the coffin for a Requiem Mass, but a second standing cross is not to be placed near the coffin if the altar cross can be easily see from the body of the church.[15]

Eastern Christian liturgical processions called crucessions include a cross or crucifix at their head. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the crucifix is often placed above the iconostasis in the church. In the Russian Orthodox Church a large crucifix ("Golgotha") is placed behind the Holy Table (altar). During Matins of Good Friday, a large crucifix is taken in procession to the centre of the church, where it is venerated by the faithful. Sometimes the soma (corpus) is removable and is taken off the crucifix at Vespers that evening during the Gospel lesson describing the Descent from the Cross. The empty cross may then remain in the centre of the church until the Paschal vigil (local practices vary). The blessing cross which the priest uses to bless the faithful at the dismissal will often have the crucifix on one side and an icon of the Resurrection of Jesus on the other, the side with the Resurrection being used on Sundays and during Paschaltide, and the crucifix on other days.

Exorcist Gabriele Amorth has stated that the crucifix is one of the most effective means of averting or opposing demons. In folklore, it is believed to ward off vampires, incubi, succubi, and other evils.

Modern iconoclasts have used an inverted (upside-down) crucifix when showing disdain for Jesus Christ or the Catholic Church which believes in his divinity.[16] According to Christian tradition, Saint Peter was martyred by being crucified upside-down.[17]

Description[edit]

Cimabue's Crucifix, 1287-1288, Panel, 448 cm × 390 cm (176.4 in × 153.5 in)

Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence.

The standard, four-pointed Latin crucifix consists of an upright post or stipes and a single crosspiece to which the sufferer's arms were nailed. There may also be a short projecting nameplate, showing the letters INRI (Greek: INBI). The Russian Orthodox crucifix usually has an additional third crossbar, to which the feet are nailed, and which is angled upward toward the penitent thief Saint Dismas (to the viewer's left) and downward toward the impenitent thief Gestas (to the viewer's right). The corpus of Eastern crucifixes is normally a two-dimensional or low relief icon that shows Jesus as already dead, his face peaceful and somber. They are rarely three-dimensional figures as in the Western tradition, although these may be found where Western influences are strong, but are more typically icons painted on a piece of wood shaped to include the double-barred cross and perhaps the edge of Christ's hips and halo, and no background. More sculptural small crucifixes in metal relief are also used in Orthodoxy (see gallery examples), including as pectoral crosses and blessing crosses.

Western crucifixes may show Christ dead or alive, the presence of the spear wound in his ribs traditionally indicating that he is dead. In either case his face very often shows his suffering. In Orthodoxy he has normally been shown as dead since around the end of the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm.[7] Eastern crucifixes have Jesus' two feet nailed side by side, rather than crossed one above the other, as Western crucifixes have shown them for many centuries. The crown of thorns is also generally absent in Eastern crucifixes, since the emphasis is not on Christ's suffering, but on his triumph over sin and death. The "S"-shaped position of Jesus' body on the cross is a Byzantine innovation of the late 10th century,[8] though also found in the German Gero Cross of the same date. Probably more from Byzantine influence, it spread elsewhere in the West, especially to Italy, by the Romanesque period, though it was more usual in painting than sculpted crucifixes. It's in Italy that the emphasis was put on Jesus' suffering and realistic details, during a process of general humanization of Christ favored by the Franciscan order. During the 13th century the suffering Italian model (Christus patiens) triumphed over the traditional Byzantine one (Christus gloriosus) anywhere in Europe also due to the works of artists such as Giunta Pisano and Cimabue. Since the Renaissance the "S"-shape is generally much less pronounced. Eastern Christian blessing crosses will often have the Crucifixion depicted on one side, and the Resurrection on the other, illustrating the understanding of Orthodox theology that the Crucifixion and Resurrection are two intimately related aspects of the same act of salvation.

Another, symbolic, depiction shows a triumphant Christ (Latin: Christus triumphans), clothed in robes, rather than stripped as for His execution, with arms raised, appearing to rise up from the cross, sometimes accompanied by "rays of light", or an aureole encircling His Body. He may be robed as a prophet, crowned as a king, and vested in a stole as Great High Priest.

On some crucifixes a skull and crossbones are shown below the corpus, referring to Golgotha (Calvary), the site at which Jesus was crucified, which the Gospels say means in Hebrew "the place of the skull."[9] Medieval tradition held that it was the burial-place of Adam and Eve, and that the cross of Christ was raised directly over Adam's skull, so many crucifixes manufactured in Catholic countries still show the skull and crossbones below the corpus.

Very large crucifixes have been built, the largest being the Cross in the Woods in Michigan, with a 31 feet (9.4 m) high statue.[10]

QMRA crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body").[1][2]

The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, but is also used in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, in Coptic, Armenian[3] and other Oriental Orthodox churches, as well as in Methodist, Lutheran[4][5] and Anglican churches, but less often in churches of other Protestant denominations, which prefer to use a cross without the figure of Jesus (the corpus). The crucifix emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, such as a Tau cross or a Coptic cross.

Western crucifixes usually have a three-dimensional corpus, but in Eastern Orthodoxy Jesus' body is normally painted on the cross, or in low relief. Strictly speaking, to be a crucifix, the cross must be three-dimensional, but this distinction is not always observed. An entire painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus including a landscape background and other figures is not a crucifix either.

Large crucifixes high across the central axis of a church are known by the Old English term rood. By the late Middle Ages these were a near-universal feature of Western churches, but are now very rare. Modern Roman Catholic churches often have a crucifix above the altar on the wall; for the celebration of Mass, the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church requires that, "on or close to the altar there is to be a cross with a figure of Christ crucified".[

QMR Statue of Jesus Christ in Świebodzin. His arms are outstretched like a cross

QMRStained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor

The depiction has the cross halo behind Jesus head

Authenticity[edit]

In 1997, the German author and historian Michael Hesemann performed investigation of the relic. Hesemann presented the inscription of the title to seven experts on Hebrew, Greek and Latin palaeography: Dr. Gabriel Barkay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Prof. Dr. Hanan Eshel, Prof. Dr. Ester Eshel and Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Dr. Israel Roll and Prof. Dr. Benjamin Isaac of the University of Tel Aviv and Prof. Carsten Peter Thiede of Paderborn/Germany and the University of Beer Sheva, Israel. According to Hesemann, none of the consulted experts found any indication of a mediaeval or late antique forgery. They all dated it in the timeframe between the 1st and the 3-4th century AD, with a majority of experts preferring and none of them excluding the 1st century. Hesemann concluded that it is very well possible that the Titulus Crucis is indeed the authentic relic.[7]

Carsten Peter Thiede suggested that the Titulus Crucis is likely to be a genuine part of the Cross, written by a Jewish scribe. He cites that the order of the languages match what is historically plausible rather than the order shown in the canonical New Testament because had it been a counterfeit, the forger would surely have remained faithful to the biblical text.[3] Joe Nickell refers to this argument as "trying to psychoanalyze the dead," saying that "Forgers — particularly of another era — may do something cleverer or dumber or simply different from what we would expect."[6]

In 2002, the Roma Tre University conducted radiocarbon dating tests on the artifact, and it was shown to have been made between 980 and 1146 AD. The carbon dating results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Radiocarbon.[8] The Titulus Crucis recovered from the residence of Helena is therefore most likely a medieval artifact; some have proposed that it is a copy of the now-lost original.

History[edit]

The Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was built about 325 AD by Saint Helena (the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great) after her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, during which she reportedly located the True Cross and many other relics which she gave to the new church. The Titulus Crucis is alleged to have been among these relics. At the time of Egeria's pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 383 a "title" (titulus) was shown as one of the relics at Jerusalem : "A silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and (the wood) is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table."[4] The 6th-century pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza describes a titulus in Jerusalem and its inscription: it said Hic est rex Iudaeorum ("Here is the king of the Jews"), while the one kept in Rome shows Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum ("Jesus the Nazarene king of the Jews").[5] He also described the wood as nut.

Sometime before 1145 the relic was placed in a box which has the seal of Cardinal Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, raised to the cardinalate in 1124 as cardinal priest of this church, who became Pope in 1144, as Lucius II, thus dating the seal.[6] It was apparently forgotten until February 1, 1492, when it was discovered by workmen restoring a mosaic, hidden behind a brick with the inscription Titulus Crucis.[6]

QMRTitulus Crucis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the titulus crucis as described in the Gospels, see INRI.

Titulus Crucis (Latin for "Title of the Cross") is a piece of wood, claimed to be a relic of the True Cross, kept in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome. Christian tradition claims that the relic is half of the cross's titulus (inscription) and a portion of the True Cross.[citation needed] It is generally either ignored by scholars[1] or considered to be a medieval forgery.[2]

The board is made of walnut wood, 25x14 cm in size, 2.6 cm thick and has a weight of 687 g. It is inscribed on one side with three lines, of which the first one is mostly destroyed. The second line is written in Greek letters and reversed script, the third in Latin letters, also with reversed script

QMRPublications[edit]

Cru publishes several books, booklets, and other materials for ministry. The Four Spiritual Laws booklet was authored by Bill Bright in 1952 and one hundred million copies have been distributed.[24]

QMRThe crossed keys in the coat of arms of the Holy See symbolise the keys of heaven entrusted to Simon Peter. The keys are gold and silver to represent the power of loosing and binding. The gold key alludes to the power in the kingdom of the heavens and the silver key indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The cord with the bows that unites the grips alludes to the bond between the two powers. The triple crown (the tiara) represents the pope's three functions as "supreme pastor", "supreme teacher" and "supreme priest". The gold cross on a monde (globe) surmounting the tiara symbolizes the sovereignty of Jesus.

The crossed keys form a cross and within the keys are crosses

In ecclesiastical heraldry, papal coats of arms (those of individual popes) and those of the Holy See and Vatican City State include an image of crossed keys to represent the metaphorical keys of the office of Saint Peter, the keys of heaven, or the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, that, according to Roman Catholic teaching,[1] Jesus promised to Saint Peter, empowering him to take binding actions.[2] In the Gospel of Matthew 16:19, Jesus says to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

QMRThe Cross of St. Peter or Petrine Cross is an inverted Latin cross traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times also used as an anti-Christian symbol.

Contents [hide]

1 In Christianity

2 Anti-Christian imagery

3 References

4 External links

In Christianity[edit]

Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio

Peter's Cross on a Lutheran church

The origin of the symbol comes from the Catholic tradition that Simon Peter was crucified upside down,[1] as told by Origen of Alexandria. The tradition first appears in the "Martyrdom of Peter", a fragmented text found in, but possibly predating, the apocryphal Acts of Peter, which was written no later than 200 A.D. It is believed that Peter requested this form of crucifixion as he felt he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner that Jesus died. As such, some Catholics use this cross as a symbol of humility and unworthiness in comparison to Jesus.

According to Roman Catholicism, the pope is Peter's successor as Bishop of Rome. Therefore the Papacy is often represented by symbols that are also used to represent Peter — one example being the Keys of Heaven, another the Petrine Cross.

Anti-Christian imagery[edit]

See also: Anti-Christian sentiment

By inverting the primary symbol of Christianity, the upside-down cross has become popular within anti-religion groups[2] and has appeared in films such as The Masque of the Red Death, Rosemary's Baby, Exorcist: The Beginning, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Ghost, The Devil Inside, Paranormal Activity, Constantine, Devil, Phoonk, The Omen, The Conjuring, Omen, Annabelle, V/H/S: Viral and Gummo.

The inverted cross is also a recurring motif in punk rock, black metal, and heavy metal, where it is embraced as symbol of anti-authoritarianism and defiance (but not necessarily Anti-Christian), and is featured in the iconography of punk-themed fashion label Cheap Monday, hip-hop collective Odd Future, worn by fictional bassist Murdoc Niccals of Gorillaz, and throughout the rock opera American Idiot based on the music of Green Day.

A Cross of Peter is an inverted Latin cross

Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio

Peter's Cross on a Lutheran church

QMRAccording to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, since he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His remains are said to be those contained in the underground Confessio of St. Peter's Basilica, where Pope Paul VI announced in 1968 the excavated discovery of a first-century Roman cemetery. Every June 29 since 1736, a statue of Saint Peter in St. Peter's Basilica is adorned with papal tiara, ring of the fisherman, and papal vestments, as part of the celebration of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. According to Catholic doctrine, the direct papal successor to Saint Peter is Pope Francis.

QMRThe symbols of the four Evangelists are here depicted in the Book of Kells. The four winged creatures symbolize, clockwise from top left, Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke.

They are within a quadrant

QMRThe labarum (Greek: λάβαρον) was a vexillum (military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (Greek: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) — Chi (χ) and Rho (ρ).[1] It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine I. Since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize the crucifixion of Christ.

Ancient sources draw an unambiguous distinction between the two terms "labarum" and "Chi-Rho", even though later usage sometimes regards the two as synonyms. The name labarum was applied both to the original standard used by Constantine the Great and to the many standards produced in imitation of it in the Late Antique world, and subsequently.

QMRThe Chi Rho (/ˈkaɪ ˈroʊ/) is one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is used by some Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" = KRistos = Christ in such a way to produce the monogram.[1] Although not technically a Christian cross, the Chi-Rho invokes the authority of Jesus, as well as symbolising his status as the Christ.[citation needed]

The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by pagan Greek scribes to mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning "good."[2] Some coins of Ptolemy III Euergetes (r. 246–222 BC) were marked with a Chi-Rho.[3]

The Chi-Rho symbol was used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as part of a military standard (vexillum), Constantine's standard was known as the Labarum. Early symbols similar to the Chi Rho were the Staurogram (Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 2.jpg) and the IX monogram (Christliche Symbolik (Menzel) I 193 4.jpg).

QMRChrismon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaanit

This article is about Christian symbolism. For the German Lutheran magazine called "Chrismon", see Chrismon (magazine).

It has been suggested that this article be merged with Christogram. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2012.

The Chi Rho Chrismon with Alpha and Omega, c. 1467

A chrismon is a Christian symbol representing Jesus Christ.[1] As in the case of Christogram, the term chrismon comes from the Latin phrase "Christi monogramma", meaning "monogram of Christ".[2]

Since early Christianity, the term chrismon has traditionally referred to any symbol or figure reminiscent of the name of Christ, by contrast with the basic christogram consisting of plain letters typically implying the presence of some kind of calligraphic ornamentation.[3][4]

In the 20th century the term also started to be used in a wider sense to refer to ornaments that are "symbols for Christ or some part of Christ's ministry"; these are often used during Advent and Christmas,[5] to decorate a Chrismon tree (or a Christmas tree), and include "the crow, descending down, fish, Celtic cross, Jerusalem cross, shepherd's crook, chalice, shell, and others".[6][7]

Traditional usage[edit]

A prominent chrismon is the Chi Rho symbol, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" =Christ.[8]

The Alpha and Omega symbols may at times accompany a chrismon.[9] In the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine, the terms chrismon and christogram only referred to the Chi Rho symbol.[10][dubious – discuss]

Chrismon tree[edit]

A Chrismon tree in the nave of St. Alban's Anglican Cathedral in Oviedo

A Chrismon tree is an evergreen tree often found in the chancel or nave of a church during Advent and Christmastide.[7][11] The Chrismon tree was first used by North American Lutherans in 1957,[12] although the practice has rapidly spread to other Christian denominations,[13] including Anglicans,[14] Catholics,[6] Methodists,[15] and the Reformed.[16] As with the Christmas tree,[17][18] the evergreen tree itself, for Christians, "symbolizes the eternal life Jesus Christ provides".[19] However, the Chrismon tree differs from the traditional Christmas tree in that it "is decorated only with clear lights and Chrismons made from white and gold material", the latter two being the liturgical colours of the Christmas season.[7][11] The Chrismon tree is adorned with Chrismons, "ancient symbols for Christ or some part of Christ's ministry: the crow, descending down, fish, Celtic cross, Jerusalem cross, shepherd's crook, chalice, shell, and others."[7][20] Laurence Hull Stookey writes that "because many symbols of the Chrismon tree direct our attention to the nature and ultimate work of Christ, they can be helpful in calling attention to Advent themes."[21]

QMRInsular Gospel books[edit]

In Insular Gospel books the beginning of Matthew 1:18, at the end of his account of the genealogy of Christ and introducing his account of the life, so representing the moment of the Incarnation of Christ, was usually marked with a heavily decorated page, where the letters of the first word "Christi" are abbreviated and written in Greek as "XPI", and often almost submerged by decoration.[16] Though the letters are written one after the other and the "X" and "P" not combined in a monogram, these are known as Chi-Rho pages. Famous examples are in the Book of Kells and Book of Lindisfarne.[17] The "X" was regarded as the crux decussata, a symbol of the cross; this idea is found in the works of Isidore of Seville and other patristic and Early Medieval writers.[18] The Book of Kells has a second Chi-Rho abbreviation on folio 124 in the account of the Crucifixion of Christ,[19] and in some manuscripts the Chi-Rho occurs at the beginning of Matthew rather than mid-text at Matthew 1:18. In some other works like the Carolingian Godescalc Evangelistary, "XPS" in sequential letters, representing "Christus" is given a prominent place.[20]

QMRMariner's Cross. It is represented as a quadrant anchor

QMRThe anchored cross, or mariner's cross, is a stylized cross in the shape of an anchor. It is a symbol which is shaped like a plus sign with anchor-like protrusions at the end of each arm, hence the name. The symbol can be used to signify 'fresh start' or 'hope', as in The Bible, Hebrews 6.19: "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil".[1]

The mariner's cross is also referred to as St. Clement's Cross in reference to the way he was martyred.

QMRA "fiddleback" chasuble from the church of Saint Gertrude in Maarheeze in the Netherlands. It is a cross.

Neo-Gothic "solar" monstrance at the hermitage church of Warfhuizen.

It is a cross

QMRMitre of Bishop Sztojkovics, Hungary, c. 1860, stolen in 1989. It is topped with a cross

QMRChristian Flag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Christian flag)

The Christian Flag

The Christian Flag is a flag designed in the early 20th century to represent all of Christianity and Christendom,[1] and has been most popular among Protestant churches in North America, Africa and Latin America. [2] The flag has a white field, with a red Latin cross inside a blue canton. The shade of red on the cross symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary.[3] The blue represents the waters of baptism as well as the faithfulness of Jesus.[4] The white represents Jesus' purity.[5] In conventional vexillology, a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description of Jesus' non-violence and surrender to God.[6] The dimensions of the flag and canton have no official specifications.

The Christian Flag was first conceived on September 26, 1897, at Brighton Chapel on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York in the United States. The superintendent of a Sunday school, Charles C. Overton, gave an impromptu lecture to the gathered students, because the scheduled speaker had failed to arrive for the event. He gave a speech asking the students what a flag representing Christianity would look like.[7] Overton thought about his improvised speech for many years afterward. In 1907, he and Ralph Diffendorfer, secretary of the Methodist Young People's Missionary Movement, designed and began promoting the flag.[8] With regard to the Christian symbolism of the Christian Flag:

The ground is white, representing peace, purity and innocence. In the upper corner is a blue square, the color of the unclouded sky, emblematic of heaven, the home of the Christian; also a symbol of faith and trust. in the center of the blue is the cross, the ensign and chosen symbol of Christianity: the cross is red, typical of Christ's blood.[7]

The ecumenical Christian organization, Federal Council of Churches, now succeeded by the National Council of Churches and Christian Churches Together, adopted the flag on 23 January 1942.[1] The Christian Flag intentionally has no patent, as the designer dedicated the flag to all of Christendom.[9] The famous hymn writer, Fanny J. Crosby, devoted a hymn titled “The Christian Flag”, with music by R. Huntington Woodman, in its honour;[1] like the flag, the hymn is also free use.[10] On the Sunday nearest 26 September 1997, the Christian Flag celebrated its one hundredth anniversary.[11]

Usage[edit]

The Christian Flag displayed alongside the flag of the United States next to the pulpit in a church in California. Note the eagle and cross finials on the flag poles.

The flag was first accepted by the mainline Protestant denominations in the United States, and by the 1980s many institutions had described policies for displaying it inside churches. During World War II the flag was flown along with the U.S. flag in a number of Lutheran churches, many of them with German backgrounds, who wanted to show their solidarity with the United States during the war with Germany.

The Christian Flag spread outside North America with Protestant missionaries. It can be seen today in or outside many Protestant churches throughout the world, particularly in Latin America and Africa, It has so far been adopted by some churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa as well.[2] Eastern Orthodox, especially parishes in the Western Rite tradition have only recently started to use the flag.[12]

Pledge[edit]

A version of the Christian Flag, specialized for the Eastern Orthodox Church

Some churches practice a "pledge of allegiance" or "affirmation of loyalty" to the Christian Flag, which is similar to the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. The first pledge was written by Lynn Harold Hough, a Methodist minister who had heard Ralph Diffendorfer, secretary to the Methodist Young People's Missionary Movement, promoting the Christian flag at a rally.[13] He wrote the following pledge:

I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Saviour for whose kingdom it stands; one brotherhood, uniting all mankind in service and in love.[13]

Some more conservative churches may use an alternative version of the pledge:

I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Saviour for whose Kingdom it stands; one Saviour, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.[13]

Denominational flags[edit]

Many Christian denominations have their own denominational flag and display it alongside the Christian Flag or independent from it.[14]

Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See often display the Vatican flag along with their respective national flag, typically on opposite sides of the sanctuary, near the front door, or hoisted on flagstaffs outside. Individual dioceses may also fly flags based on the diocesan coat of arms.

Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly jurisdictions of the Greek Orthodox Church under the direct authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch, often display his flag, which is a Byzantine double-headed eagle on a yellow (Or) field.

Parishes in the Episcopal Church frequently fly the Episcopal flag, a Cross of St. George with the upper-left canton containing a Cross of St. Andrew formed by nine cross-crosslets (representing the nine original dioceses) on a blue background.

The Salvation Army has a flag with a blue border (symbolizing the purity of God the Father), a red field (symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christ), and a gold eight-pointed star (symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit). The star bears the Salvation army's motto, "Blood and Fire".

The Anglican Communion have a blue flag with a St George's Cross in the centre surrounded with a gold band with the wording, "The Truth shall make you free." in New Testament Greek on it. From the band sprout the points of a compass (symbolising the spread worldwide of Anglicanism). On the "North" of the compass is a mitre (a symbol of apostolic order essential to all Churches and Provinces constituting the Anglican Communion).

The Church of Scotland use a Flag of Scotland depicting the Burning Bush (or Unburnt Bush, in some traditions).

The Church in Wales use a blue Cross of St George defaced with a gold Celtic Cross.

The Church of Ireland use the St Patrick's Saltire but also use the Compass-rose Flag of the Anglican Communion equally.

Additionally, many Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches maintain the use of the Labarum, a historical symbol of Christianity, which is rarely used as a flag at present.

Flag of Vatican City

Flag of the Greek Orthodox Church

Flag of the Georgian Orthodox Church

Flag of the Episcopal Church

Flag of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Flag of the Copts - the Christians of Egypt

Armenian Apostolic Church flag

Standard of The Salvation Army

Flag of the Anglican Communion

Flag of the Albanian Orthodox Church

Flag of the Church in Wales

Flag of the Anglican Church of Canada

National flags[edit]

All the flags based on the Dannebrog, including the Flag of Finland, Flag of the Faroe Islands, Flag of Iceland, Flag of Norway and Flag of Sweden contain a Christian cross, representing Christianity.[15][16] The Union Jack of Great Britain, as well as its descendant flags, "makes reference to three Christian patron saints: the patron saint of England, represented by the red cross of Saint George, the patron saint of Ireland, represented by the red saltire of Saint Patrick, and the patron saint of Scotland, represented by the saltire of Saint Andrew."[17] In addition, the Flag of Greece, as well as the Flag of Switzerland, contain a Christian cross to represent the faith.[18] The "cross on the flag of Dominica represents Christianity while the three colours of which the cross consists stand for the Trinity" and the "coat of arms depicted on the Flag of Slovakia shows a double cross".[19] The Flag of the Dominican Republic also depicts a Bible and a cross.[19] The Flag of Georgia, Flag of Moldova and Flag of Serbia all display a cross representing Christianity.[19] The Flag of Portugal also has Christian symbolism, bearing the five wounds of Christ.[20]

Flag of Denmark

Flag of Sweden

Flag of Norway

Flag of Iceland

Flag of Finland

Flag of the Faroe Islands

Flag of the United Kingdom

Flag of Switzerland

Flag of Greece

Flag of Dominica

Flag of the Dominican Republic

Flag of Slovakia

Flag of Georgia

Flag of Moldova

Flag of Serbia

Flag of Portugal

Flag of Tonga

QMRAltar crucifix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Altar cross)

An altar cross in the center of an altar table of a Methodist chapel in Kent, Ohio, United States. The center of the altar cross contains the christogram "IHS".

An Altar Crucifix or Altar Cross is a cross placed upon an altar, and is the principal ornament of the altar.[1

History[edit]

The first appearances of a cross upon the altar occurred approximately in the 6th century, although it remained unusual for several centuries, and even discouraged. When it was used, it seems to have been only during actual services, and probably a processional cross which was detachable from its staff, and placed on the altar after processing. This would at first almost always a cross rather than a true crucifix; these began to be made specifically for altars in the late 11th century,[2] and became more common from the 12th century, though they may have been expensive at first. By the start of the 13th century, treatises by Pope Innocent III expect there to be a cross between two candles on the altar during the mass.[3] This period was also the era when candlesticks, also probably carried in procession at the start of a service, started appearing upon altars instead of nearby, and as such marked a rather large evolution in the adornment of altars. Around the 14th century, altar crosses were almost universally replaced by crucifices, probably now affordable by all churches, however, it was not until the Roman Missal of Pius V in 1570 that there is any mention of an obligation to have the crucifix on the altar.

Early Christians were not accustomed to publicly expose the cross or crucifix due to fear of subjecting it to the insults of pagans or scandalizing the weak. To avoid this, they often used symbols like the anchor or trident.

Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches[edit]

Altar with crucifix in the Armenian cathedral in Echmiatsin.

The crucifix placed upon the altar is intended to serve as a reminder to the people in attendance and the celebrant of the believed nature of the Eucharist as the actual body of Christ; the altar itself symbolically represents Golgotha. It is for this reason that Roman Law decrees it necessary to have the crucifix upon the altar whenever Mass is celebrated. Specifically, it is placed directly in between the Candlesticks in such a way that it is conveniently seen by the people. In some cases, to better fulfill this requirement, the crucifix is instead hung on the wall behind the altar, so that when the priest is facing the congregation the crucifix is not obstructed. In some churches the crucifix is suspended mid-air via strong, nearly invisible metal cords, directly above the altar itself.

While the crucifix is demanded to be upon or at least near the altar at all times, during the period of time from the first Vespers of Passion Sunday to the unveiling of the cross on Good Friday it is expected to be covered with a violet veil, except for the High Mass on the altar, when the veil is white, and Good Friday, when the veil is usually black. After Good Friday, until Holy Saturday it is necessary for all, including the bishop, the canons of the cathedral, and the celebrant to genuflect to the crucifix, which is in contrast to any other time of the year when the aforementioned are not required to genuflect.

Protestant Churches[edit]

In many of the mainline Protestant denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention and United Methodist,[4] also have altar crosses; usually a cross without the body of Jesus Christ, as Protestantism to be more austere when it comes to use of religious imagery.[5] These crosses are traditionally, but not always, brought in as processional crosses at the beginning of the religious service and placed at the altar in the sanctuary.[6] When approaching the altar, the acolyte is to bow at the cross to show respect toward the Lord.

Altar with crucifix in the Armenian cathedral in Echmiatsin.

QMRProcessional cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Processional Cross)

Ottonian processional crucifix, 10th century Essen cathedral.

A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions.[1] Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to Bede. Other sources suggest that all churches were expected to possess one. They became detachable from their staffs, so that the earliest altar crosses were processional crosses placed on a stand at the end of the procession. In large churches the "crux gemmata", or richly jewelled cross in precious metal, was the preferred style. Notable early examples include the Cross of Justin II (possibly a hanging votive cross originally), Cross of Lothair, and Cross of Cong.[2]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are different traditions surrounding the use of the processional cross. Traditional practice, still followed among churches of the Russian or other Slavic traditions, is that the use of the processional cross during the normal cycle of divine services is a primatial privilege, and will only be done when the Patriarch or First Hierarch is serving. In the modern Greek tradition, the processional Cross is often carried during the Entrance at Vespers, and during the Lesser and Great Entrances at the Divine Liturgy, regardless of whether the celebrant is a primate.

In all traditions, the cross is carried in outdoor processions, known as cross-processions for such events as Palm Sunday, Paschal Matins, during Bright Week, processions to honour the relics or icon of a saint, or on other festal occasions. On its patronal feast day a parish church or monastery will often serve a moleben (intercessory prayer service) during which a cross-procession will take place around the outside of the church. The processional cross is also used at funerals.

During an outdoor procession, the cross will usually be preceded by a large processional lantern and a deacon with thurible (incense). Religious banners and icons will follow. Then the chanters and clergy, and finally the people.

When not in use, the processional cross may be placed in the sanctuary, behind the Holy Table (altar).

Some Orthodox processional crosses will have an icon of the Crucifixion on one side, and the Resurrection on the other. The side with the Resurrection will face forward on Sundays and during the Paschal season, the Crucifixion will face forward on other days.

Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism[edit]

Catholic Processional crucifix

In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, processional crosses are used in processions preceded by incense and flanked or followed with candles. The cross is brought up to the altar by an altar server who has been chosen to serve as crucifer.

Among Roman Catholics and High Church Anglicans, the processional cross will usually be a crucifix; in more Protestant-leaning parishes the processional cross will usually be an empty cross.

Methodism, Lutheranism and Reformed[edit]

In some Methodist, Lutheran and Reformed (Presbyterian) churches the processional cross is brought up to the altar or Chancel by a crucifer at the beginning of the service and placed at the altar, then acting as an Altar cross.[3] The acolytes that follow then bow to the cross at the altar. The Cross represents the Lord's presence at the altar.[4]

QMRCrucifer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the vegetable family, see Cruciferae.

"Cross-bearer" redirects here. For the 2012 film, see Cross Bearer.

A crucifrice

A crucifer is, in some Christian churches (particularly the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutherans), a person appointed to carry the church's processional cross, a cross or crucifix with a long staff, during processions at the beginning and end of the service.[1] However, while it is used in several different denominations, the term is most common within Anglican churches.

The term "crucifer" comes from the Latin crux (cross) and ferre (to bear, carry). It thus literally means "cross-bearer". Before the Roman Catholic reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the function of the crucifer was carried out by a subdeacon.

QMRFour medieval relics[edit]

During the Middle Ages, three major contenders for the position of Holy Chalice stood out from the rest, one in Jerusalem, one in Genoa and the third in Valencia. A fourth medieval cup was briefly touted as the Holy Chalice when it was discovered in the early 20th century; it is known as the Antioch Chalice and is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

The Jerusalem Chalice[edit]

The earliest record of a chalice from the Last Supper is the account of Arculf a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon pilgrim who described it in De locis sanctis as being located in a reliquary in a chapel near Jerusalem, between the basilica of Golgotha and the Martyrium. He described it as a two-handled silver chalice with the measure of a Gaulish pint. Arculf kissed his hand and reached through an opening of the perforated lid of the reliquary to touch the chalice. He said that the people of the city flocked to it with great veneration. (Arculf also saw the Holy Lance in the porch of the basilica of Constantine.) This is the only mention of the Holy Chalice being situated in the Holy Land.

The Genoa Chalice[edit]

Of two vessels that survive today, one is at Genoa, in the cathedral. The hexagonal vessel is known as the sacro catino, the holy basin. Traditionally said to be carved from emerald, it is in fact a green Egyptian glass dish, about fourteen inches (35 cm) across. It was sent to Paris after Napoleon’s conquest of Italy, and was returned broken, which identified the emerald as glass. Its origin is uncertain; according to William of Tyre, writing in about 1170, it was found in the mosque at Caesarea in 1101: "a vase of brilliant green shaped like a bowl." The Genoese, believing that it was of emerald, accepted it in lieu of a large sum of money. An alternative story in a Spanish chronicle says that it was found when Alfonso VII of Castile captured Almería from the Moors in 1147 with Genoese help, un vaso de piedra esmeralda que era tamanno como una escudiella, "a vase carved from emerald which was the size of a dish". The Genoese said that this was the only thing they wanted from the sack of Almería. The identification of the sacro catino with the Holy Chalice is not made until later, however, by Jacobus de Voragine in his chronicle of Genoa, written at the close of the 13th century.

The Valencia Chalice[edit]

The Valencia Chalice in its chapel in Valencia Cathedral

The other surviving Holy Chalice vessel is the santo cáliz, an agate cup in the Cathedral of Valencia. It is preserved in a chapel consecrated to it, where it still attracts the faithful on pilgrimage.

The piece is a hemispherical cup made of dark red agate which is mounted by means of a knobbed stem and two curved handles onto a base made from an inverted cup of chalcedony. The agate cup is about 9 centimeters/ 3.5 inches in diameter and the total height, including base, is about 17 centimeters/ 7 inches high. The agate cup, without the base, fits a description by Saint Jerome.[citation needed] The lower part has Arabic inscriptions.

After an inspection in 1960, the Spanish archaeologist Antonio Beltrán asserted that the cup was produced in a Palestinian or Egyptian workshop between the 4th century BC and the 1st century AD.[citation needed] The surface has not been dated by microscopic scanning to assess recrystallization.

The Chalice of Valencia comes complete with a certificate of authenticity,[citation needed] an inventory list on vellum, said to date from AD 262, that accompanied a lost letter of which details state-sponsored Roman persecution of Christians that forces the church to split up its treasury and hide it with members, specifically the deacon Saint Lawrence. It goes on to enumerate all precious items. The physical properties of the Holy Chalice are described and it is stated the vessel had been used to celebrate Mass by the early Popes succeeding Saint Peter.[citation needed]

The first explicit inventory reference to the present Chalice of Valencia dates from 1134, an inventory of the treasury of the monastery of San Juan de la Peña drawn up by Don Carreras Ramírez, Canon of Zaragoza, December 14, 1134: "En un arca de marfil está el Cáliz en que Cristo N. Señor consagró su sangre, el cual envió S. Lorenzo a su patria, Huesca". According to the wording of this document, the Chalice is described as the vessel in which "Christ Our Lord consecrated his blood".[3]

Reference to the chalice is made in 1399, when it was given by the monastery of San Juan de la Peña to king Martin I of Aragon in exchange for a gold cup. By the end of the century a provenance for the chalice can be detected, by which Saint Peter had brought it to Rome.[clarification needed]

Pope John Paul II himself celebrated mass with the Holy Chalice in Valencia in November 1982, causing some uproar both in skeptic circles and in the circles that hoped he would say accipiens et hunc praeclarum Calicem ("this most famous chalice") in lieu of the ordinary words of the Mass taken from Matthew 26:27). For some people, the authenticity of the Chalice of Valencia failed to receive papal blessing.

In July 2006, at the closing Mass of the 5th World Meeting of Families in Valencia, Pope Benedict XVI also celebrated with the Holy Chalice, on this occasion saying "this most famous chalice", words in the Roman Canon said to have been used for the first popes until the 4th century in Rome, and supporting in this way the tradition of the Holy Chalice of Valencia. This artifact has seemingly never been accredited with any supernatural powers, which legend apparently confines to other relics such as the Holy Grail, the Holy Lance and the True Cross.

In Saint Laurence and the Holy Grail, Janice Bennett claims to trace the chalice's history, carried on Saint Peter's journey to Rome, entrusted by Pope Sixtus II to Saint Lawrence in the third century, sent to Huesca in Spain when the Hispanic saint was martyred on a gridiron during the Valerian persecution in Rome in AD 258, sent to the Pyrenees for safekeeping, where it passed from monastery to monastery, in accordance with all the claims to former possession of the Chalice, and venerated by the monks of the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña. Emerging there into the light of history, the monastery's agate cup was acquired by King Martin I of Aragon in 1399 who kept it at Zaragoza. After his death, King Alfonso V of Aragón brought it to Valencia, where it has remained.

Bennett presents as historical evidence a 17th-century Spanish text entitled Life and Martyrdom of the Glorious Spaniard St. Laurence from a monastery in Valencia, which is supposed to be a translation -as the original manuscript does not exist- of a 6th-century manuscript Latin entitled Vita, written by Donato, an Augustinian monk who founded a monastery in the area of Valencia, which contains circumstantial details of the life of Saint Laurence and details surrounding the transfer of the Chalice to Spain. Her claims are not corroborated by the main source for the life of St. Laurence, the poem Peristephanon by the 5th-century poet Prudentius, which does not mention the Chalice that was later said to have passed through his hands.

In 1960 the Spanish archeologist Antonio Beltrán studied the Chalice and concluded: "Archeology supports and definitively confirms the historical authenticity".[citation needed] "Everyone in Spain believes it is the cup," Bennett said to a reporter from the Denver Catholic Register. "You can see it every day that the chapel is open."

The Antioch Chalice[edit]

A photo of a large ovoid vessel standing on a short knobbed stem. The cup comprises a silver body enclosed in an openwork layer of gold. The gold ornamentation represents vine scrolls enclosing small seated and praying figures.

The Antioch Chalice, first half of the 6th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The silver-gilt object originally identified as an early Christian chalice is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was apparently made at Antioch in the early 6th century and is of double-cup construction, with an outer shell of cast-metal open work enclosing a plain silver inner cup. When it was first recovered in Antioch in 1910, it was touted as the Holy Chalice, an identification the Metropolitan Museum characterizes as "ambitious". It is no longer identified as a chalice, having been identified by experts at Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, believed to be a standing lamp, of a style of the 6th century.[4]

Holy Cross Abbey[edit]

A fragment of the Holy Rood was brought to a Cistercian Abbey in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland by Isabella of Angoulême, widow of King John of England, and thenceforth the Abbey was called Holy Cross Abbey. The relic was lost following the Cromwellian war in Ireland. However, it was later found and is currently in the Abbey.

Waltham Abbey[edit]

The term is also applied to the black flint cross formerly held at Waltham Abbey in Essex, England. The Holy Rood or Cross was the subject of veneration and pilgrimage in the middle ages, but disappeared when the Abbey was dissolved in 1540.[4]

Black Rood of Scotland[edit]

Saint Margaret (c.1045–1093), a Saxon Princess of England, was born in Hungary. Following the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066, she fled to Scotland, where she married Malcolm III Canmore, King of Scotland. She is said to have brought the "Holy Rood", a fragment of Christ's cross, from Hungary or England to Scotland with her. It was known as the Black Rood of Scotland.

The Catholic Encyclopedia reports that Saint Margaret brought the cross from Waltham Abbey, after which it was kept in Holyrood Abbey, which her son erected in Edinburgh.[1]

The relic was removed from Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296, along with the Stone of Scone and other treasures, but the Black Rood was returned in 1328. It was lost to the English again following the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, after which it was held in Durham Cathedral until the Reformation of 1540, when it was presumably destroyed.[2]

An inventory made in England described the cross and its case in Latin soon after it was taken from Edinburgh Castle in 1296 as; "Unum scrinium argenteum deauratum in quo reponitur crux que vocatur le blake rode", which can be translated as "A silver-gilt casket in which lies the cross called the Black Rood".[3]

QMRHolyrood (cross)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holyrood or Holy Rood is a Christian relic considered to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died. The word derives from the Old English rood, meaning a cross, or from the Scots haly ruid ("holy cross"). Several relics venerated as part of the True Cross are known by this name, in England, Ireland and Scotland.

QMRDream of the Rood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The mediaeval manuscript of The Dream of the Rood

The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English literature and an example of the genre of dream poetry. Like most Old English poetry, it is written in alliterative verse. Rood is from the Old English word rod 'pole', or more specifically 'crucifix'. Preserved in the 10th century Vercelli Book, the poem may be as old as the 8th century Ruthwell Cross, and is considered one

of the oldest works of Old English literature.

The Charlton-on-Otmoor Garland[edit]

The Charlton-on-Otmoor rood in 2011

Two corn-dolly-like garlands formerly stood in the rood loft, as illustrated in 1823.[citation needed]

The single garland in the rood loft at Charlton-on-Otmoor, illustrated by J.H. Parker in 1840.

A unique rood exists at St Mary's parish church, Charlton-on-Otmoor, near Oxford, England, where a large wooden cross, solidly covered in greenery, and known as the Garland, stands on the early 16th-century rood screen (said by Sherwood and Pevsner to be the finest in Oxfordshire).[14] The cross is redecorated twice a year, on 1 May and 19 September (the patronal festival, calculated according to the Julian Calendar), when children from the local primary school, carrying small crosses decorated with flowers, bring a long, flower-decorated, rope-like garland. The cross is dressed or redecorated with locally obtained box foliage. The rope-like garland is hung across the rood screen during the "May Garland Service".[15]

An engraving from 1823 shows the dressed rood cross as a more open, foliage-covered framework, similar to certain types of corn dolly, with a smaller attendant figure of similar appearance. Folklorists have commented on the garland crosses' resemblance to human figures, and noted that they replaced statues of St Mary and Saint James the Great which had stood on the rood screen until they were destroyed during the Reformation. Until the 1850s, the larger garland cross was carried in a May Day procession, accompanied by morris dancers, to the former Benedictine Studley priory (as the statue of St Mary had been, until the Reformation). Meanwhile, the women of the village used to carry the smaller garland cross through Charlton,[15] though it seems that this ceased some time between 1823 and 1840, when an illustration in J.H. Parker's A Glossary of Terms Used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic Architecture shows only one garland cross, centrally positioned on the rood screen.[16]

Representative examples[edit]

Cross from Linde Church on Gotland (today in the Swedish History Museum) also displays the symbol of a ruler, demonstrating the origin of the name.

Triumphal cross of Notke in Lübeck Cathedral

Triumphal cross (Christ's side) in Doberan Minster

The "plate cross" (Scheibenkreuz) in St. Mary's (Hohnekirche) in Soest (around 1200)

Forked cross in St. Peter's at Merzig

Representative examples[edit]

Cross from Linde Church on Gotland (today in the Swedish History Museum) also displays the symbol of a ruler, demonstrating the origin of the name.

Triumphal cross of Notke in Lübeck Cathedral

Triumphal cross (Christ's side) in Doberan Minster

The "plate cross" (Scheibenkreuz) in St. Mary's (Hohnekirche) in Soest (around 1200)

Forked cross in St. Peter's at Merzig

Rood screens[edit]

Rood screens developed in the 13th century, as a wooden or stone screens, also usually separating the chancel or choir from the nave, upon which the rood now stood. The screen may be elaborately carved and was often richly painted and gilded. Rood screens were found in Christian churches in most parts of Europe by the end of the Middle Ages, though in Catholic countries the great majority were gradually removed after the Council of Trent, and most were removed or drastically cut down in areas controlled by Calvinists and Anglicans. The best medieval examples are now mostly in the Lutheran countries such as Germany and Scandinavia, where they were often left undisturbed in country churches.

Rood screens are the Western equivalent of the Byzantine templon beam, which developed into the Eastern Orthodox iconostasis. Some rood screens incorporate a rood loft, a narrow gallery or just flat walkway which could be used to clean or decorate the rood or cover it up in Lent, or in larger examples by singers or musicians. An alternative type of screen is the Pulpitum, as seen in Exeter Cathedral, which is near the main altar of the church.

The rood itself provided a focus for worship, most especially in Holy Week, when worship was highly elaborate. During Lent the rood was veiled; on Palm Sunday it was revealed before the procession of palms and the congregation knelt before it. The whole Passion story would then be read from the rood loft, at the foot of the crucifix, by three ministers.

No original medieval rood now survives in a church in the United Kingdom.[13] Most were deliberately destroyed as acts of iconoclasm during the English Reformation and the English Civil War, when many rood screens were also removed. Today, in many British churches, the "rood stair" that gave access to the gallery is often the only remaining sign of the former rood screen and rood loft.

In the nineteenth century, under the influence of the Oxford Movement, roods and screens were again added to many Anglican churches.

Attendant figures[edit]

A triumphal cross may be surrounded by a group of people. These people may include Mary and John, the "beloved disciple" (based on John's Gospel (John 19:25-27, Matthew 27:25f, Mark 15;40f and Luke 23:49)), but also apostles, angels and the benefactor.

The triumphal cross of the Church of Öja in Gotland stands on a transverse beam beneath the triumphal arch and is flanked by two people: Mary and John.

The triumphal cross in the abbey church of Wechselburg stands in an elevated position on the rood screen and also has the same pair of attendant figures.

The triumphal cross in Schwerin Cathedral is also flanked by Mary and John. At the end of the cross' beam the Evangelist's symbols may be seen.

In St. Mary's Church in Osnabrück there are only the empty stone pedestals of the attendant figures.

The triumphal cross above the screen in Halberstadt Cathedral is not flanked by Mary and John, but by two angels.

On the supporting beam of the triumphal cross in Lübeck Cathedral there is also a bishop, presumably the benefactor of the cross.

Components[edit]

Rood cross on rood screen at Albi Cathedral, France

Image of Christ[edit]

In the Romanesque era the crucified Christ was presented as ruler and judge. Instead of a crown of thorns he wears a crown or a halo, on his feet he wears "shoes" as a sign of the ruler. He is victorious over death. His feet are parallel to each other on the wooden support ("Four nail type") and not one on top of the other.[11] The perizoma (loincloth) is highly stylized and falls in vertical folds.

In the transition to the Gothic style, the triumphant Christ becomes suffering Christ, the pitiful Man of Sorrows. Instead of the ruler's crown, he wears the crown of thorns, his feet are placed one above the other and are pierced with a single nail. His facial expression and posture express his pain. The wounds of the body are often dramatically portrayed. The loincloth is no longer so clearly stylized. The attendant figures Mary and John show signs of grief.[12]

History[edit]

Numerous near life-size crucifixes survive from the Romanesque period or earlier, with the Gero Cross in Cologne Cathedral (AD 965–970) and the Volto Santo of Lucca the best known. The prototype may have been one known to have been set up in Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen, apparently in gold foil worked over a wooden core in the manner of the Golden Madonna of Essen,[8] though figureless jeweled gold crosses are recorded in similar positions in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in the 5th century. Many figures in precious metal are recorded in Anglo-Saxon monastic records, though none now survive. Notables sometimes gave their crowns (Cnut the Great at Winchester Cathedral), necklaces (Lady Godiva to the Virgin accompanying the rood at Evesham Abbey), or swords (Tovi the Proud, Waltham Abbey) to decorate them.[9] The original location and support for the surviving figures is often unclear but a number of northern European churches preserve the original setting in full — they are known as a Triumphkreuz in German, from the "triumphal arch" (or "chancel arch") of Early Christian architecture. As in later examples the Virgin and Saint John often flank the cross, and cherubim and other figures are sometimes seen. A gilt rood in the 10th-century Mainz Cathedral was only placed on a beam on special feast days.[10]

Position[edit]

In church architecture the rood, or rood cross, is a life-sized crucifix displayed on the central axis of a church, normally at the chancel arch. The earliest roods hung from the top of the chancel arch (rood arch), or rested on a plain "rood beam" across it, usually at the level of the capitals of the columns. This original arrangement is still found in many churches in Germany and Scandinavia, although many other surviving crosses now hang on walls.

If the choir is separated from the church interior by a rood screen, the rood cross is placed on, or more rarely in front of, the screen.[6][7] Under the rood is usually the altar of the Holy Cross.

Derivation[edit]

Rood is an archaic word for pole, from Old English rōd "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda "rod".[3]

Rood was originally the only Old English word for the instrument of Jesus Christ's death. The words crúc and in the North cros (from either Old Irish or Old Norse) appeared by late Old English; "crucifix" is first recorded in English in the Ancrene Wisse of about 1225.[4] More precisely, the Rood was the True Cross, the specific wooden cross used in Christ's crucifixion. The word remains in use in some names, such as Holyrood Palace and the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood. The phrase "by the rood" was used in swearing, e.g. "No, by the rood, not so" in Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 4).

The alternative term triumphal cross (Latin: crux triumphalis, German: Triumphkreuz), which is more usual in Europe, signifies the triumph that the resurrected Jesus Christ (Christus triumphans) won over death.[5]

QMR A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross,[1] is a cross or crucifix, especially the large Crucifixion set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.[2] Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.

QMRThe Papal ferula (from Latin ferula, "rod") is the pastoral staff used by the pope. It is a rod with a knob on top surmounted by a cross. This is in contrast to other bishops, who use a crosier which is shaped like a shepherd's crook: bent or crooked at the top and pointed at the lower end.

QMRCloisters Cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cloisters Cross, 2009

The Cloisters Cross, also referred to as the Bury St Edmunds Cross, is an unusually complex 12th century ivory Romanesque altar cross in The Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The cross is carved from walrus ivory and measures 225⁄8 × 141⁄4 in. (57.5 × 36.2 cm).

The carvings which cover both front and back sides include ninety-two intricately carved figures and ninety-eight inscriptions. The figures, each of which is only about one-half inch tall, illustrate a number of Biblical scenes, and on the back a number of the Old Testament prophets with banderoles containing quotations from their books. There is debate over whether or not these inscriptions are chosen with an anti-Semitic intent. The Metropolitan website currently says: "Prominent among the inscriptions are several strong invectives against Jews. Though it is impossible to know precisely who commissioned this piece and with what aims, the cross certainly offers some indication of the anti-Semitism prevalent in England at this time. Indeed, by the end of the thirteenth century, Jews were expelled from the country".[1] This theme was developed in a book by Thomas Hoving, the curator involved when the Metropolitan acquired the cross, and later Director. This was unkindly described in an academic review of Parker and Little as "an autobiographical romance ... written in Raymond Chandler style".[2]

Elizabeth C. Parker and Charles T. Little, in a book also published by the Metropolitan, disagree with Hoving and think that it is doubtful that the cross, a sophisticated theological object, was specifically designed for the purpose of either castigating or converting any member of the small Jewish population in England in the mid-twelfth century.

The sculptor is not known. Thomas Hoving, who managed the acquisition of the cross while he was Associate Curator at The Cloisters, concluded that it was carved by Master Hugo at the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk. However, there is no certain evidence to suggest that the cross was even made in England, although this is accepted by most scholars, and other places of origin such as Germany have been proposed.

The history of the cross before it was acquired by Ante Topić Mimara is unknown. He sold it to the Metropolitan Museum in 1963. The British Museum also had an interest in acquiring the cross.

QMRHoly Face of Lucca

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Volto Santo of Lucca

The legend of the fiddler in a Parisian miniature of 1400-20

The Holy Face of Lucca (Italian: Volto Santo di Lucca) is a venerated wooden corpus (body) of a crucifix in Lucca, Italy. Medieval legends stated that it had been sculpted by that Nicodemus who assisted Joseph of Arimathea in depositing Christ in the tomb and specifically dated its arrival in Lucca to AD 742.

The present Holy Face itself is an early thirteenth-century copy of the original ascribed to the circle of Benedetto Antelami.[1] It appears that the original was chipped away beyond repair by relic-seeking pilgrims. The earliest copies date from the early twelfth century, which may suggest that the original in fact dates only from the 11th century. Its presence in Lucca can only be securely documented from about 1100, although Abbot Leofstan of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, who died in 1065, recorded that the inspiration for a life-size crucifix he had made for Bury St Edmunds was one he saw at Lucca on his way to Rome.[2]

The Holy Face is located in the free-standing octagonal Carrara marble chapel (the tempietto or "little temple"), which was built in 1484 by Matteo Civitali, the sculptor-architect of Lucca, to contain it. The tempietto stands in the right-hand nave of the cathedral of San Martino in Lucca, Italy.

Copies of a similar size from the 12th century are found widely spread across Europe. These include the Cross of Imervard in the Brunswick Cathedral at Braunschweig, Germany, the Holy Face of Sansepolcro at Sansepolcro, Italy and possibly the Batlló Crucifix of Barcelona, Spain.[3]

Arguments[edit]

Concerns over the quarter system include faculty dislike of the brevity of the term, the loss of faculty research and collaboration time, the shortness of student internship periods, difficulties in recovering from illness-linked absence, and the heavy administrative workload.[3]

A quarter system calendar also may put schools at a disadvantage in competing for prospective students, who wish to keep in-step with friends, and offer more opportunities for students to "disconnect from school."[3]

Quarter systems do allow students to enroll in a richer variety of courses and school-coordinated internships and may encourage students to take on double majors, minors, concentrations, and the like.[3] A quarter system can maximize the use of college facilities in a time of enrollment growth, as it allows for four regular periods of academic instruction.[13] Also, quarters allow for faculty to engage in terms with a relatively light course load of teaching and greater opportunities for short sabbaticals.[5]

QMRAcademic quarter (year division)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An academic quarter refers to the division of an academic year into four parts, found in a minority of universities in the United States and in some European and Asian countries.

Contents [hide]

1 Background and trends

2 Arguments

3 See also

4 References

Background and trends[edit]

In the United States, quarters typically comprise 10 weeks of class instruction,[1] although they have historically ranged from eight to 13 weeks.[2] Academic quarters first came into existence as such when William Rainey Harper organized the University of Chicago on behalf of John D. Rockefeller in 1891. Harper decided to keep the school in session year-round and divide it into four terms instead of the then-traditional two.[2]

Of the four traditional academic calendars (semester, quarter, trimester, and 4-1-4), the semester calendar is used the most widely, at over 60% of U.S. higher learning institutions, with fewer than 20% using the quarter system.[3] This number has stayed fairly constant since 1930, when 75% of U.S. institutions surveyed indicated they used a semester plan, with 22% on the quarter system.[4]

During the 1960s, a number of U.S. statewide educational systems made a switch from a semester to quarter system, typically in an attempt to accommodate the Tidal Wave I enrollment boom, most prominently the University of California system.[5] Since then, UC Berkeley switched back to semesters in 1983,[6] the new UC Merced branch opened with the semester system, and some UC professional schools have switched back to semesters at various points.[5] At various points since, committees have been established and official discussions have taken place within the UC system to discuss a systemwide switch back to the semester system.[5][7]

In recent years, a number of higher education institutions have considered or already approved a switch to a semester system including the higher education systems of Ohio[8][9] and Georgia,[10] and individual public colleges.[11] Rochester Institute of Technology has announced their intention to convert to semesters by Fall 2013, although the decision is highly controversial, overriding a student vote to remain with quarters.[12]

South Africa[edit]

See also: Education in South Africa

All South African public schools have a four-term school year as determined by the national Department of Education. Each term is between 10 and 11 weeks long. The terms are roughly structured as follows:

First Term

Begins mid-January and ends before Good Friday (Usually in March or April).

Followed by the Easter Holidays, which usually last 10 days.

Second Term

Begins mid-April and ends June

Followed by the Winter Holidays, which usually last 21 days.

Third Term

Begins mid-July and ends September

Followed by the September Holidays, also sometimes called the Spring Holidays, which usually last 10 days.

Fourth Term

Begins early October and ends early December

Followed by the Christmas Holidays, also sometimes called the December or Summer Holidays, which usually last approximately 40 days.

The academic year is approximately 200 school days in duration and runs from January to December.

Private schools follow a similar calendar, but slightly alter it according to their academic and religious needs. Some independent (private) schools have a three-term year instead [3].

The dates of the school year for coastal schools are slightly different from those for inland schools.[18]

The National Education Department proposed a five-week-long school break in June–July 2010 for the 2010 Soccer World Cup-hosted in South Africa-to avoid pupil and teacher absenteeism and a chaotic transport system.[19]

South African universities have a year consisting of two semesters, with the first semester running from early February to early June, and the second semester from late July to late November. Each semester consists of twelve or thirteen teaching weeks, interrupted by a one-week short vacation, and followed by three or four weeks of examinations. In the first semester the short vacation often falls around the Easter weekend, while in the second semester it occurs in early September.

QMRTrue Cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from True cross)

For detailed information regarding the Crucifixion itself, see Crucifixion of Jesus.

Christ crucified, painted by Giotto, circa 1310.

The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.[1]

According to post-Nicene historians such as Socrates Scholasticus, the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, travelled to the Holy Land in 326–28, founding churches and establishing relief agencies for the poor. Historians Gelasius of Caesarea and Rufinus claimed that she discovered the hiding place of three crosses that were believed to be used at the crucifixion of Jesus and of two thieves, St. Dismas and Gestas, executed with him, and that a miracle revealed which of the three was the True Cross.

Many churches possess fragmentary remains that are by tradition alleged to be those of the True Cross. Their authenticity is not accepted universally by those of the Christian faith and the accuracy of the reports surrounding the discovery of the True Cross is questioned by some Christians.[2] The acceptance and belief of that part of the tradition that pertains to the Early Christian Church is generally restricted to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The medieval legends that developed concerning its provenance differ between Catholic and Orthodox tradition. These churches honour Helena as a saint, as does also the Anglican Communion.

Provenance of the True Cross[edit]

The Queen of Sheba venerates the wood from which the Cross will be made (fresco by Piero della Francesca in San Francesco, Arezzo).

The Golden Legend[edit]

In the Latin-speaking traditions of Western Europe, the story of the pre-Christian origins of the True Cross was well established by the 13th century when, in 1260, it was recorded, by Jacopo de Voragine, Bishop of Genoa, in the Golden Legend.[3]

The Golden Legend contains several versions of the origin of the True Cross. In The Life of Adam, Voragine writes that the true cross came from three trees which grew from three seeds from the "Tree of Mercy" which Seth collected and planted in the mouth of Adam's corpse.[4] In another account contained in Of the invention of the Holy Cross, and first of this word invention, Voragine writes that the True Cross came from a tree that grew from part of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or "the tree that Adam ate of", that Seth planted on Adam's grave where it "endured there unto the time of Solomon".[5]

After many centuries the tree was cut down and the wood used to build a bridge over which the Queen of Sheba passed, on her journey to meet King Solomon. So struck was she by the portent contained in the timber of the bridge that she fell on her knees and revered it. On her visit to Solomon she told him that a piece of wood from the bridge would bring about the replacement of God's Covenant with the Jewish people, by a new order. Solomon, fearing the eventual destruction of his people, had the timber buried. But after fourteen generations, the wood taken from the bridge was fashioned into the Cross used to crucify Christ. Voragine then goes on to describe its finding by Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine.[6]

Acceptance of this tradition[edit]

In the late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, there was a wide general acceptance of the origin of the True Cross and its history preceding the Crucifixion, as recorded by Voragine. This general acceptance is confirmed by the numerous artworks that depict this subject, culminating in one of the most famous fresco cycles of the Renaissance, the Legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca, painted on the walls of the chancel of the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo between 1452 and 1466, in which he reproduces faithfully the traditional episodes of the story as recorded in The Golden Legend.

Eastern Christianity[edit]

The Golden Legend and many of its sources developed after the East-West Schism of 1054,[citation needed] and thus is unknown in the Greek- or Syriac-speaking worlds. The above pre-Crucifixion history, therefore, is not to be found in Eastern Christianity.[citation needed]

According to the Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the True Cross was made from three different types of wood: cedar, pine and cypress.[7] This is an allusion to Isaiah 60:13: "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box [cypress] together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious." The link between this verse and the Crucifixion lies in the words, "the place of my feet", which is interpreted as referring to the suppendaneum (foot rest) on which Jesus' feet were nailed (see Orthodox cross).

There is a tradition that the three trees from which the True Cross was constructed grew together in one spot. A traditional Orthodox icon depicts Lot, the nephew of Abraham, watering the trees.[7] According to tradition, these trees were used to construct the Temple in Jerusalem ("to beautify the place of my sanctuary"). Later, during Herod's reconstruction of the Temple, the wood from these trees was removed from the Temple and discarded, eventually being used to construct the cross on which Jesus was crucified ("and I will make the place of my feet glorious").

Finding the True Cross[edit]

The Finding of the True Cross, Agnolo Gaddi, Florence, 1380.

According to Eusebius[edit]

Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Life of Constantine,[8] describes how the site of the Holy Sepulchre, originally a site of veneration for the Christian community in Jerusalem, had been covered with earth and a temple of Venus had been built on top. Although Eusebius does not say as much, this would probably have been done as part of Hadrian's reconstruction of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina in 135, following the destruction during the Jewish Revolt of 70 and Bar Kokhba's revolt of 132–135. Following his conversion to Christianity, Emperor Constantine ordered in about 325–326 that the site be uncovered and instructed Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, to build a church on the site. In his Life of Constantine, Eusebius does not mention the finding of the True Cross.

According to Socrates Scholasticus[edit]

Socrates Scholasticus (born c. 380), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a full description of the discovery[9] that was repeated later by Sozomen and by Theodoret. In it he describes how Saint Helena, Constantine's aged mother, had the pagan temple destroyed and the Sepulchre uncovered, whereupon three crosses and the titulus from Jesus's crucifixion were uncovered as well. In Socrates's version of the story, Macarius had the three crosses placed in turn on a deathly ill woman. This woman recovered at the touch of the third cross, which was taken as a sign that this was the cross of Christ, the new Christian symbol. Socrates also reports that, having also found the nails with which Christ had been fastened to the cross, Helena sent these to Constantinople, where they were incorporated into the emperor's helmet and the bridle of his horse.

According to Sozomen[edit]

Sozomen (died c. 450), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives essentially the same version as Socrates. He also adds that it was said (by whom he does not say) that the location of the Sepulchre was "disclosed by a Hebrew who dwelt in the East, and who derived his information from some documents which had come to him by paternal inheritance" (although Sozomen himself disputes this account) and that a dead person was also revived by the touch of the Cross. Later popular versions of this story state that the Jew who assisted Helena was named Jude or Judas, but later converted to Christianity and took the name Kyriakos.

According to Theodoret[edit]

The proving of the True Cross, Jean Colombe in the Très Riches Heures.

Theodoret (died c. 457) in his Ecclesiastical History Chapter xvii gives what had become the standard version of the finding of the True Cross:

When the empress beheld the place where the Saviour suffered, she immediately ordered the idolatrous temple, which had been there erected, to be destroyed, and the very earth on which it stood to be removed. When the tomb, which had been so long concealed, was discovered, three crosses were seen buried near the Lord's sepulchre. All held it as certain that one of these crosses was that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the other two were those of the thieves who were crucified with Him. Yet they could not discern to which of the three the Body of the Lord had been brought nigh, and which had received the outpouring of His precious Blood. But the wise and holy Macarius, the president of the city, resolved this question in the following manner. He caused a lady of rank, who had been long suffering from disease, to be touched by each of the crosses, with earnest prayer, and thus discerned the virtue residing in that of the Saviour. For the instant this cross was brought near the lady, it expelled the sore disease, and made her whole.

With the Cross were also found the Holy Nails, which Helena took with her back to Constantinople. According to Theodoret, "She had part of the cross of our Saviour conveyed to the palace. The rest was enclosed in a covering of silver, and committed to the care of the bishop of the city, whom she exhorted to preserve it carefully, in order that it might be transmitted uninjured to posterity."

Syriac tradition[edit]

Another popular ancient version from the Syriac tradition replaced Helena with a fictitious first-century empress named Protonike.

Scholarly opinion[edit]

Historians[who?] consider these versions to be apocryphal in varying degrees. It is certain, however, that the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre was completed by 335 and that alleged relics of the Cross were being venerated there by the 340s, as they are mentioned in the Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem (see below).

The relics of the Cross in Jerusalem[edit]

After Empress Helena[edit]

The silver reliquary that was left at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in care of the bishop of Jerusalem was exhibited periodically to the faithful. In the 380s a nun named Egeria who was travelling on pilgrimage described the veneration of the True Cross at Jerusalem in a long letter, the Itinerario Egeriae that she sent back to her community of women:

Then a chair is placed for the bishop in Golgotha behind the [liturgical] Cross, which is now standing; the bishop duly takes his seat in the chair, and a table covered with a linen cloth is placed before him; the deacons stand round the table, and a silver-gilt casket is brought in which is the holy wood of the Cross. The casket is opened and [the wood] is taken out, and both the wood of the Cross and the title are placed upon the table. Now, when it has been put upon the table, the bishop, as he sits, holds the extremities of the sacred wood firmly in his hands, while the deacons who stand around guard it. It is guarded thus because the custom is that the people, both faithful and catechumens, come one by one and, bowing down at the table, kiss the sacred wood and pass through. And because, I know not when, some one is said to have bitten off and stolen a portion of the sacred wood, it is thus guarded by the deacons who stand around, lest any one approaching should venture to do so again. And as all the people pass by one by one, all bowing themselves, they touch the Cross and the title, first with their foreheads and then with their eyes; then they kiss the Cross and pass through, but none lays his hand upon it to touch it. When they have kissed the Cross and have passed through, a deacon stands holding the ring of Solomon and the horn from which the kings were anointed; they kiss the horn also and gaze at the ring...[10]

Before long, but perhaps not until after the visit of Egeria, it was possible also to venerate the crown of thorns, the pillar at which Christ was scourged, and the lance that pierced his side.

During Persian-Byzantine war (614-630)[edit]

In 614 the Sassanid Emperor Khosrau II ("Chosroes") removed the part of the cross held in Jerusalem as a trophy, when he captured the city. Thirteen years later, in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius defeated Khosrau and regained the relic from Shahrbaraz. He placed the cross in Constantinople at first, and took it back to Jerusalem on 21 March 630.[11] Some scholars disagree with this narrative, Professor Constantin Zuckerman going as far as to suggest that the True Cross was actually lost by the Persians, and that the wood contained in the allegedly still sealed reliquary brought to Jerusalem by Heraclius in 629 was a fake. In his analysis, the hoax was designed to serve the political purposes of both Heraclius and his former foe, recently turned ally and co-father-in-law, Persian general and soon-to-become king, Shahrvaraz.[12]

Fatimids, Crusaders and loss of the Cross[edit]

Around 1009, the year in which Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christians in Jerusalem hid part of the cross and it remained hidden until the city was taken by the European knights of the First Crusade. Arnulf Malecorne, the first Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, had the Greek Orthodox priests who were in possession of the Cross tortured in order to reveal its position.[13] The relic that Arnulf discovered was a small fragment of wood embedded in a golden cross, and it became the most sacred relic of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with none of the controversy that had followed their discovery of the Holy Lance in Antioch. It was housed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under the protection of the Latin Patriarch, who marched with it ahead of the army before every battle.

Reliquary of the True Cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

After King Baldwin I of Jerusalem presented King Sigurd I of Norway with a splinter of the True Cross following the Norwegian Crusade in 1110, the Cross was captured by Saladin during the Battle of Hattin in 1187, and while some Christian rulers, like Richard the Lionheart,[14] Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos and Tamar, Queen of Georgia, sought to ransom it from Saladin,[15] the cross was not returned and subsequently disappeared from historical records. The True Cross was last seen being paraded through the streets of Damascus upside down by the victorious Muslims after the Battle of Hattin. [16]

Current relic[edit]

Currently the Greek Orthodox present a small True Cross relic shown in the so-called Greek Treasury at the foot the Golgotha, within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[17]

Dispersal of relics of the True Cross[edit]

An enamelled silver reliquary of the True Cross from Constantinople, c. 800.

One of the largest purported fragments of the True Cross is at Santo Toribio de Liébana in Spain. (photo by F. J. Díez Martín).

A "Kreuzpartikel" or fragment of True Cross in the Schatzkammer (Vienna).

An inscription of 359, found at Tixter, in the neighbourhood of Sétif in Mauretania, was said to mention, in an enumeration of relics, a fragment of the True Cross, according to an entry in Roman Miscellanies, X, 441.

Fragments of the Cross were broken up, and the pieces were widely distributed; in 348, in one of his Catecheses, Cyril of Jerusalem remarked that the "whole earth is full of the relics of the Cross of Christ,"[18] and in another, "The holy wood of the Cross bears witness, seen among us to this day, and from this place now almost filling the whole world, by means of those who in faith take portions from it."[19] Egeria's account testifies to how highly these relics of the crucifixion were prized. Saint John Chrysostom relates that fragments of the True Cross were kept in golden reliquaries, "which men reverently wear upon their persons." Even two Latin inscriptions around 350 from today's Algeria testify to the keeping and admiration of small particles of the cross.[20] Around the year 455, Juvenal Patriarch of Jerusalem sent to Pope Leo I a fragment of the "precious wood", according to the Letters of Pope Leo. A portion of the cross was taken to Rome in the seventh century by Pope Sergius I, who was of Byzantine origin. "In the small part is power of the whole cross", so an inscription in the Felix Basilica of Nola, built by bishop Paulinus at the beginning of 5th century. The cross particle was inserted in the altar.[21]

The Old English poem Dream of the Rood mentions the finding of the cross and the beginning of the tradition of the veneration of its relics. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also talks of King Alfred receiving a fragment of the cross from Pope Marinus (see: Annal Alfred the Great, year 883).[22] Although it is possible, the poem need not be referring to this specific relic or have this incident as the reason for its composition.

Most of the very small relics of the True Cross in Europe came from Constantinople. The city was captured and sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204: "After the conquest of the city Constantinople inestimable wealth was found, incomparably precious jewels and also a part of the cross of the Lord, which Helena transferred from Jerusalem and was decorated with gold and precious jewels. There it attained highest admiration. It was carved up by the present bishops and was divided with other very precious relics among the knights; later, after their return to the homeland, it was donated to churches and monasteries."[23][24][25] A knight Robert de Clari wrote: "Within this chapel were found many precious relics; for therein were found two pieces of the True Cross, as thick as a man's leg and a fathom in length."[26]

By the end of the Middle Ages so many churches claimed to possess a piece of the True Cross, that John Calvin is famously said to have remarked that there was enough wood in them to fill a ship:

"There is no abbey so poor as not to have a specimen. In some places there are large fragments, as at the Holy Chapel in Paris, at Poitiers, and at Rome, where a good-sized crucifix is said to have been made of it. In brief, if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load. Yet the Gospel testifies that a single man was able to carry it."

— Calvin, Traité Des Reliques.

Conflicting with this is the finding of Charles Rohault de Fleury, who, in his Mémoire sur les instruments de la Passion of 1870 made a study of the relics in reference to the criticisms of Calvin and Erasmus. He drew up a catalogue of all known relics of the True Cross showing that, in spite of what various authors have claimed, the fragments of the Cross brought together again would not reach one-third that of a cross which has been supposed to have been three or four metres in height, with transverse branch of two metres wide, proportions not at all abnormal. He calculated: supposing the Cross to have been of pine-wood (based on his microscopic analysis of the fragments) and giving it a weight of about seventy-five kilogrammes, we find the original volume of the cross to be 0.178 cubic metres (6.286 cubic feet). The total known volume of known relics of the True Cross, according to his catalogue, amounts to approximately 0.004 cubic metres (0.141 cubic feet) (more specifically 3,942,000 cubic millimetres), leaving a volume of 0.174 m3 (6.145 cu ft) lost, destroyed, or otherwise unaccounted for.[27]

Four cross particles – of ten particles with surviving documentary provenances by Byzantine emperors – from European churches, i.e. Santa Croce in Rome, Notre Dame, Paris, Pisa Cathedral and Florence Cathedral, were microscopically examined. "The pieces came all together from olive."[28] It is possible that many alleged pieces of the True Cross are forgeries, created by travelling merchants in the Middle Ages, during which period a thriving trade in manufactured relics existed.[citation needed]

Gerasimos Smyrnakis[29] notes that the largest surviving portion, of 870,760 cubic millimetres, is preserved in the Monastery of Koutloumousiou on Mount Athos, and also mentions the preserved relics in Rome (consisting of 537,587 cubic millimetres), in Brussels (516,090 cubic millimetres), in Venice (445,582 cubic millimetres), in Ghent (436,450 cubic millimetres) and in Paris (237,731 cubic millimetres). (For comparison, the collective volume of the largest of these sets of fragments would be equivalent to a cube of a little less than 4 inches per side, while the smallest of these would have an equivalent cubic dimension of about 2.5 inches per side. The volume figures given by Smyrnakis for these objects -- six significant figures and to the cubic millimeter -- are undoubtedly the result of multiplying slightly approximate numbers and should not be seen as implying scientific accuracy of the highest order in a book written over a century ago.)

Fragments of True Cross in Serbian Monastery of Visoki Dečani

Santo Toribio de Liébana in Spain is also said to hold the largest of these pieces and is one of the most visited Roman Catholic pilgrimage sites. Another portions of the True Cross is believed to be in the Monasterio de Tarlac at San Jose, Tarlac, Philippines and one at National Shrine of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina in San Pedro, Santo Tomas, Batangas, Philippines.[30]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church also claims to have the right wing of the true cross buried in the monastery of Gishen Mariam. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has an annual religious holiday, called Meskel or Demera, commemorating the discovery of the True Cross by Queen Helena. Meskel occurs on 17 Meskerem in the Ethiopian calendar (September 27, Gregorian calendar, or September 28 in leap years). "Meskel" (or "Meskal" or "Mesqel", there are various ways to transliterate from Ge'ez to Latin script) is Ge'ez for "cross".[31]

The festival is known as Feast of the exaltation of the holy cross in other Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant churches. The churches that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate the feast on September 14

Veneration of the Cross[edit]

St John Chrysostom wrote homilies on the three crosses:

Kings removing their diadems take up the cross, the symbol of their Saviour's death; on the purple, the cross; in their prayers, the cross; on their armour, the cross; on the holy table, the cross; throughout the universe, the cross. The cross shines brighter than the sun.

A relic of the True Cross being carried in procession through the Piazza San Marco, Venice. Gentile Bellini 15th century.

The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and a number of Protestant denominations, celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, the anniversary of the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In later centuries, these celebrations also included commemoration of the rescue of the True Cross from the Persians in 628. In the Galician usage, beginning about the seventh century, the Feast of the Cross was celebrated on May 3. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, when the Galician and Roman practices were combined, the September date, for which the Vatican adopted the official name "Triumph of the Cross" in 1963, was used to commemorate the rescue from the Persians and the May date was kept as the "Invention of the True Cross" to commemorate the finding.[32] The September date is often referred to in the West as Holy Cross Day; the May date (See also Roodmas.) was dropped from the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church in 1970 as part of the liturgical reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The Orthodox still commemorate both events on September 14, one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the liturgical year, and the Procession of the Venerable Wood of the Cross on 1 August, the day on which the relics of the True Cross would be carried through the streets of Constantinople to bless the city.[33]

In addition to celebrations on fixed days, there are certain days of the variable cycle when the Cross is celebrated. The Roman Catholic Church has a formal 'Adoration of the Cross' (the term is inaccurate, but sanctioned by long use) during the services for Good Friday, while Eastern Orthodox churches everywhere, a replica of the cross is brought out in procession during Matins of Great and Holy Friday for the people to venerate. The Orthodox also celebrate an additional Veneration of the Cross on the third Sunday of Great Lent.

Photo gallery[edit]

Reliquary of the True Cross at Notre Dame de Paris.

Base of reliquary of the True Cross and nail of the crucifixion. Notre Dame de Paris.

Reliquary of the True Cross and a nail of the crucifixion. Notre Dame de Paris.

Fragment, treasury of the former Premonstratensian Abbey in Rüti in Switzerland.

True Cross at Visoki Dečani, Serbia.

QMRLouis IX's Sainte-Chapelle (1245), built as a reliquary to house the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True Cross, enclosed within the mid 19th century Palais de Justice.

QMRMeskel (Ge'ez: መሰቀል) is an annual religious holiday in the Ethiopian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox Churches commemorating the discovery of the True Cross by Queen Helena (Saint Helena) in the fourth century. Meskel occurs on the 17 Meskerem in the Ethiopian calendar (September 27, Gregorian calendar, or on 28 September in leap years). "Meskel" (or "Meskal" or "Mesqel", there are various ways to transliterate from Ge'ez to Latin script) is Ge'ez for "cross".

The festival is known as Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in other Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant churches. The churches that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate the feast yearly on September 14.

QMRRelic from the shrine of Saint Boniface of Dokkum in the hermit-church of Warfhuizen: bone fragment in middle is from Saint Boniface; little folded papers on the left and right contain bone fragments of Saint Benedict of Nursia and Bernard of Clairvaux

QMRGrapevine cross of Saint Nino of Georgia (Sioni Cathedral, Tbilisi, Georgia)

QMRRelics of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified in the Catholicon of Mar Saba Monastery in the Kidron Valley

QMRThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre[1] (Latin: ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri; Hebrew: כנסיית הקבר הקדוש, Knesiyyat HaKever HaKadosh), also called the Church of the Resurrection i.e. Church of the Anastasis by Orthodox Christians (Arabic: كنيسة القيامة, kanīssat al Qi'yāma; Armenian: Սուրբ Յարութեան տաճար, Surb Harut’ian tačar; Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως, Naós tēs Anastáseōs), is a church within the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan.

The church contains, according to traditions dating back at least to the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christendom: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified,[2] known as "Calvary" in Latin and "Golgotha" in Greek,[3] and Jesus's empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. Within the church proper are the last four (or, by some definitions, five) Stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus' Passion. The church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the fourth century, as the traditional site of the Resurrection of Christ, thus its original Greek name, Church of the Anastasis.

QMRThe Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Latin: Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem, Italian: Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy.

QMRThe Ball and the Cross is a novel by G. K. Chesterton. The title refers to a more worldly and rationalist worldview, represented by a ball or sphere, and the cross representing Christianity. The first chapters of the book were serialized from 1905 to 1906[1] with the completed work published in 1909. The novel's beginning involves debates about rationalism and religion between a Professor Lucifer and a monk named Michael. A part of this section was quoted in Pope John Paul I's Illustrissimi letter to G. K. Chesterton.[2] Much of the rest of the book concerns the dueling, figurative and somewhat more literal, of a Jacobite Catholic named Maclan and an atheist Socialist named Turnbull.[3] Lynette Hunter has argued that the novel is more sympathetic to Maclan, but does indicate Maclan is also presented as in some ways too extreme.[4] Turnbull, as well, is presented in a sympathetic light: both duelists are ready to fight for and die for their antagonistic opinions and, in doing so, develop a certain partnership that evolves into a friendship. The real antagonist is the world outside, which desperately tries to prevent from happening a duel over "mere religion" (a subject both duelists judge of utmost importance).

QMRThe thurible (Greek: Θυμιατο, Thymiato; Church Slavonic: Кадилница, kadilnitsa) used is often gold plated (combining in itself at the offering of incense the three gifts of the Biblical Magi: gold, frankincense, and myrrh). The thurible consists of a metal bowl (usually with a base so it can stand upright) into which the charcoal and incense are placed, and a lid (often topped with a cross), pierced by holes to allow the fragrance from the incense to escape. The censer will usually have three outer chains (for the Holy Trinity) attached to the bowl, and a fourth inner chain (for the Oneness of God) attached to the lid. The three outer chains are gathered together and attached to a round conical plate attached to a ring; the inner chain passes through a hole in the conical plate and is attached to another ring to make it easier to lift the lid. In the Greek and some Russian practice twelve bells will be attached to the chains (their ringing symbolizes the teaching of the twelve Apostles).[1] Sometimes the bowl and lid of the thurible are decorated with crosses or icons in repousse, and may even be decorated with semi-precious stones. When not in use the thurible is usually hung from a hook in the sanctuary.

The fourth square is always different.

When censing, the priest or deacon holds the censer below the conical plate with only one hand (the right hand) allowing it to swing freely. He will make the Sign of the Cross with the censer by making two vertical swings and a third horizontal swing (the three swings together symbolizing the Holy Trinity).

QMRThe sign of the cross (Latin: signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with the right hand, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of the trinitarian formula.

Gold coin made under the rule of Emperor Justinian II. (Byzantium. 7th century.)

The motion is the tracing of the shape of a cross in the air or on one's own body, echoing the traditional shape of the cross of the Christian Crucifixion narrative. There are two principal forms: the one—three fingers, right to left—is exclusively used in the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church of the Byzantine and Chaldean Tradition; the other—left to right, other than three fingers—is the one used in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Methodism, Lutheranism and Oriental Orthodoxy (see below). The ritual is rare within other Christian traditions.

Many individuals use the expression "cross my heart and hope to die" as an oath, making the sign of the cross, in order to show "truthfulness and sincerity" in both personal and legal situations.[1

QMRThe flag of Vatican City was adopted on June 7, 1929, the year Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Italy, creating a new independent state governed by the Holy See. The Vatican flag is modeled on the flag of the earlier Papal States. The Vatican (and the Holy See) also refer to it, interchangeably, as "flag of the Holy See".[1]

Contents [hide]

1 The flag

2 Usage

3 History

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

The flag[edit]

The flag consists of two vertical bands, one of gold or yellow (hoist side) and one of white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the Papal Tiara centered in the white band. The crossed keys consist of a golden and a silver key, in which the silver key is placed in the dexter position. The flag is one of only two square country flags in the world, the other being the flag of Switzerland.

The crossed keys are a cross

QMR

The nature of the quadrant model is the first three squares are connected. The fourth is always different and transcendent (yet contains the previous three)

There have four major relics that are claimed to be the Holy Lance or parts of it. The Holy Lance is the lance that punctured Jesus during the crucifixion.

Rome[edit]

A mitred Adhémar de Monteil carrying one of the instances of the Holy Lance in one of the battles of the First Crusade

The Holy Lance in Rome is preserved beneath the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica, although the Catholic Church makes no claim as to its authenticity. The first historical reference to the lance was made by the pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza (AD 570) in his descriptions of the holy places of Jerusalem, writing that he saw in the Basilica of Mount Zion "the crown of thorns with which Our Lord was crowned and the lance with which He was struck in the side".[2] A mention of the lance occurs in the so-called Breviarius at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence in Jerusalem of the relic is attested by Cassiodorus (c. 485–585)[3][4] as well as by Gregory of Tours (c. 538–594), who had not actually been to Jerusalem.

In 615, Jerusalem and its relics were captured by the Persian forces of King Khosrau II (Chosroes II). According to the Chronicon Paschale, the point of the lance, which had been broken off, was given in the same year to Nicetas, who took it to Constantinople and deposited it in the church of Hagia Sophia, and later to the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos. This point of the lance, which was now set in an icon, was acquired by the Latin Emperor, Baldwin II of Constantinople, who later sold it to Louis IX of France. The point of the lance was then enshrined with the crown of thorns in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. During the French Revolution these relics were removed to the Bibliothèque Nationale but subsequently disappeared.[5] (The present "Crown of Thorns" is a wreath of rushes.)

The statue of St Longinus by Gianlorenzo Bernini sits above the relic in St Peter's Basilica

As for the larger portion of the lance, Arculpus claimed he saw it at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around 670 in Jerusalem, but there is otherwise no mention of it after the sack in 615. Some claim that the larger relic had been conveyed to Constantinople in the 8th century, possibly at the same time as the Crown of Thorns. At any rate, its presence at Constantinople seems to be clearly attested by various pilgrims, particularly Russians, and, though it was deposited in various churches in succession, it seems possible to trace it and distinguish it from the relic of the point. Sir John Mandeville declared in 1357 that he had seen the blade of the Holy Lance both at Paris and at Constantinople, and that the latter was a much larger relic than the former; it is worth adding that Mandeville is not generally regarded as one of the Middle Ages' most reliable witnesses, and his supposed travels are usually treated as an eclectic amalgam of myths, legends and other fictions. "The lance which pierced Our Lord's side" was among the relics at Constantinople shown in the 1430s to Pedro Tafur, who added "God grant that in the overthrow of the Greeks they have not fallen into the hands of the enemies of the Faith, for they will have been ill-treated and handled with little reverence."[6]

Whatever the Constantinople relic was, it did fall into the hands of the Turks, and in 1492, under circumstances minutely described in Pastor's History of the Popes, the Sultan Bayezid II sent it to Pope Innocent VIII to encourage the pope to continue to keep his brother and rival Zizim (Cem Sultan) prisoner. At this time great doubts as to its authenticity were felt at Rome, as Johann Burchard records,[7] because of the presence of other rival lances in Paris (the point that had been separated from the lance), Nuremberg (see Holy Lance in Vienna below), and Armenia (see Holy Lance in Echmiadzin below). In the mid-18th century Pope Benedict XIV states that he obtained from Paris an exact drawing of the point of the lance, and that in comparing it with the larger relic in St. Peter's he was satisfied that the two had originally formed one blade.[8] This relic has never since left Rome, and its resting place is at Saint Peter's.

Vienna[edit]

The Holy Lance, displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria

The Holy Lance in Vienna is displayed in the Imperial Treasury or Weltliche Schatzkammer (lit. Secular Treasure Room) at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. In the tenth century, the Holy Roman Emperors came into possession of the lance, according to sources from the time of Otto I (912–973). In 1000, Otto III gave Boleslaw I of Poland a replica of the Holy Lance at the Congress of Gniezno. In 1084, Henry IV had a silver band with the inscription "Nail of Our Lord" added to it. This was based on the belief that this was the lance of Constantine the Great which enshrined a nail used for the Crucifixion.

In 1273, the Holy Lance was first used in a coronation ceremony. Around 1350, Charles IV had a golden sleeve put over the silver one, inscribed Lancea et clavus Domini (Lance and nail of the Lord). In 1424, Sigismund had a collection of relics, including the lance, moved from his capital in Prague to his birthplace, Nuremberg, and decreed them to be kept there forever. This collection was called the Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien).

When the French Revolutionary army approached Nuremberg in the spring of 1796 the city councilors decided to remove the Reichskleinodien to Vienna for safe keeping. The collection was entrusted to one "Baron von Hügel", who promised to return the objects as soon as peace had been restored and the safety of the collection assured.[citation needed] However, the Holy Roman Empire was disbanded in 1806 and the Reichskleinodien remained in the keeping of the Habsburgs. When the city councilors asked for the Reichskleinodien back, they were refused. As part of the imperial regalia it was kept in the Imperial Treasury and was known as the lance of Saint Maurice.

During the Anschluss, when Austria was annexed to Germany, the Reichskleinodien were returned to Nuremberg and afterwards hidden. They were found by invading U.S. troops and returned to Austria by American General George S. Patton after World War II.

The inscription on the Holy Lance

Dr. Robert Feather, an English metallurgist and technical engineering writer, tested the lance for a documentary in January 2003.[9] He was given unprecedented permission not only to examine the lance in a laboratory environment, but was allowed to remove the delicate bands of gold and silver that hold it together. In the opinion of Feather and other academic experts, the likeliest date of the spearhead is the 7th century A.D. – only slightly earlier than the Museum's own estimate. However, Dr. Feather stated in the same documentary that an iron pin – long claimed to be a nail from the crucifixion, hammered into the blade and set off by tiny brass crosses – is "consistent" in length and shape with a 1st-century A.D. Roman nail. According to Paul the Deacon, the Lombard royal line bore the name of the Gungingi,[10] which Karl Hauck[11] and Stefano Gasparri[12] maintain identified them with the name of Odin’s lance, Gungnir (a sign that they probably claimed descent from Odin, as did most of the Germanic royal lines). Paul the Deacon notes[13] that the inauguration rite of a Lombard king consisted essentially of his grasping of a sacred/royal lance. Milan, which had been the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the time of Constantine, was the capital of the Lombard kings Perctarit and his son Cunipert, who became Catholic Christians in the 7th century. Thus it seems possible that the iron point of the Lombardic royal lance might have been recast in the 7th century in order to enshrine one of the 1st-century Roman nails that St. Helena was reputed to have found at Calvary and brought to Milan, thus giving a more Christian sacred aura to the old pagan royal lance. If Charlemagne’s inauguration as the King of the Lombards in 774 had likewise included his grasping of this Christian sacred lance or royal lance, this would explain how it would have eventually become the oldest item in the German imperial regalia. The Iron Crown of Lombardy (dated to the 8th century), which eventually became the primary symbol of Lombardic kingship, takes its name from the tradition that it contains one of the holy nails. Gregory of Tours in his Libri Historiarum VII, 33, states that in 585 the Merovingian king Guntram designated his nephew Childebert II his heir by handing him his lance; it is possible that a royal lance was a symbol of kingship among the Merovingian kings and that a nail from Calvary was in the 7th century incorporated into this royal lance and thus eventually would have come into the German imperial regalia.

Echmiadzin[edit]

The Holy Lance in Echmiadzin

The Holy Lance in Echmiadzin (Armenian: Geghard) is conserved in Vagharshapat, Armenia (Echmiadzin), the religious capital of the country. The first source that mentions it is a text Holy Relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in a thirteenth-century Armenian manuscript. According to this text, the spear which pierced Jesus was to have been brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus. The manuscript does not specify precisely where it was kept, but the Holy Lance gives a description that exactly matches the lance, the monastery gate, since the thirteenth century precisely, the name of Geghardavank (Monastery of the Holy Lance).[clarification needed]

In 1655, the French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier was the first Westerner to see this relic in Armenia. In 1805, the Russians captured the monastery and the relic was moved to Tchitchanov Geghard, Tbilisi, Georgia. It was later returned to Armenia at Echmiadzin, where it is always visible in the museum Manoogian, enshrined in a 17th-century reliquary.

Antioch[edit]

During the June 1098 Siege of Antioch, a poor monk named Peter Bartholomew reported that he had a vision in which St. Andrew told him that the Holy Lance was buried in the Church of St. Peter in Antioch. After much digging in the cathedral, Peter apparently discovered a lance. Despite the doubts of many, including the papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy, the discovery of the Holy Lance of Antioch inspired the starving Crusaders to break the siege and secure the city.

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Judaism Chapter

QMRThe picture of Gehenna as the place of punishment or destruction of the wicked occurs frequently in the Mishnah in Kiddushin 4.14, Avot 1.5; 5.19, 20, Tosefta t. Bereshith 6.15, and Babylonian Talmud b.Rosh Hashanah 16b:7a; b. Bereshith 28b. Gehenna is considered a Purgatory-like place where the wicked go to suffer until they have atoned for their sins. It is stated that the maximum amount of time a sinner can spend in Gehenna is one year. There are also four people who do not get a share in Olam Ha-Ba.[19] Those people are Doeg the Edomite, Ahitophel, Balaam, and Gehazi.

QMRGehazi, Geichazi, or Giezi (Douay-Rheims) (Hebrew: גֵּיחֲזִי; Tiberian: Gêḥăzî; Standard: Geẖazi; "valley of vision") is a figure found in the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. As a servant of Elisha he was in a position of power but he was corrupt, and misused his authority and cheated Naaman the Syrian, a leper. As a punishment, Elisha cursed him, transferring Naaman's leprosy to him and his descendants for ever. In Rabbinic Literature, Gehazi is identified as one of four commoners who forfeited his share in the afterlife because of his wickedness. He is the subject of a poem by Rudyard Kipling.

QMRIn the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of western Europe described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into four distinct parts: Hell of the Damned,[2] Purgatory, Limbo of the Fathers or Patriarchs, and Limbo of the Infants. However, Limbo of the Infants is not an official doctrine of the Catholic Church.

QMRA monde, meaning "world" in French, is an orb located near the top of a crown. Representing, as the name suggest, the world that the king rules. The only thing that can traditionally be placed above the monde is the Christian cross representing God.

It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either with a national or religious symbol, for example a cross in Christian countries.

Quadrant Model of Reality

Monday, February 22, 2016

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