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]

Quadrant Model of Reality

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Quadrant Model of Reality Book 4 Religion

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