|
Thursday, March 24, 2005
The Cross, all in all
* Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano does a cross-cultural profile of the crucifix. Photographed by Allan Cuizon.
All men who believe in Christ carry their own symbolic cross. And from iconic symbolism comes its representation.
As a Christian symbol it commemorates the death of Jesus by crucifixion. Thus, believers of the Christian faith regard the symbol with reverence. Among the ancients, the crucifixion was a means of capital punishment. Because the cross has a direct association with Christ, it has a prominent place in Christian liturgy. Since then the cruciform developed into many variations.
So we find many variants in the depiction of it in ecclesiastical art. There’s the tau cross that’s T shaped. St. Andrew’s cross is an X. The more commonly seen is the version of the Latin cross among crucifixes. Another is the Greek cross, crossed at right angles in the center.
In architecture, the cross is used as the ground plan of most large churches and often ornaments buildings and monuments. Even in the pre-Christian period crosses were icons of great symbolism. Early Egyptians regarded it as a symbol of immortality, and the swastika is found in historic relics. As the cross came with the conquest of the new world, Spanish conquistadors were astounded, when they set foot in America, to discover the cross being used by the natives as the symbol of the rain god. To us Christians, the altars in our homes are never complete without the crucifix which occupies a central part. With each sign of the cross we make we invoke Christ.
(March 24, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
