The Cross with the representation of
our Lord's Body attached to it is called a crucifix one without it is simply a cross. Both claim the Christian's veneration and love because they are
memorials of the true Cross and of Christ who died on it. Leontins, Bishop of
Cyprus, thus explained.
The Church commemorates the finding of the Holy Cross on the
3rd of May, and its recovery from the Persians on the 14th of September. The
second Council of Nicea, held in 787, the adoration paid to the cross and the
crucifix: He who receives an official document from the emperor venerates the
seal, not because of the paper on which it is impressed, nor of the lead with
which it is formed, but because of the emperor whose seal it is. In like
manner, we Christians, when adoring the figure of the cross, adore not the nature
of wood, but the sign and the seal of Christ. Looking at it, we salute and
adore Him who was crucified on it. As children, when they see the staff, or the
chair, or the robe of beloved and absent father, kiss it with tears, through
desire and veneration for their father so we adore the cross as the staff of
Christ.
"The Church exposes the crucifix on Good Friday to the
public and solemn adoration of the faithful. Benedict XIV., influenced by the
testimony of St. Paulinus of Nola, in a letter written to Severus, (the 31st in
the collection of the Saint's letters,) thinks that this ceremony originated in
the rite of the Church of Jerusalem of exposing the true Cross to adoration on
Good Friday. Those of the Western Churches which were not so happy as to have a portion of the sacred relic performed the ceremony with a common crucifix.
As long as the punishment of the cross continued to frequent
amongst the Pagans, the early Christians were careful not to show in public the
image of the God-Man attached to what was still considered a famous
instrument of death; but they adorned the cross itself with precious stones, in
order that the sign of malediction might gradually become in the eyes of the
new converts sign of glory and of triumph. What better use could be made of
earth's jewels than in beautifying the sacred emblem of that Cross which was
once gemmed with Precious Blood Certain busy-bodies complained to St. Francis
of Sales that noble lady, who had placed herself under his spiritual direction,
was guilty of great vanity in adorning with diamonds golden cross that she
wore. What you call vanity, “said the mild and prudent saint, edifies me much.
Would that all the crosses in the world were adorned with diamonds and other
precious stones !"The crosses of the first ages had some tiresome their
top the figure of a dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost. copious stream of water
flowed from its beak, typifying the abundant grace diffused in our hearts by
the Spirit of Love. On the right of the cross was the Blessed Virgin, on the left
St. John the Evangelist, and at its foot was lamb, from the breast and feet of
which flowed blood, thus symbolizing the True Lamb crucified for our sins. The
head of the lamb was surmounted by a cross, and the blood issuing from its breast was received in chalice. This manner of representing Jesus Christ was preserved until 680, when the third Council of Constantinople, held during the pontificate
of Pope St. Agatho, ordered that for the future our Lord should be represented
attached to the cross under the figure of man.
Stags and lambs were sometimes depicted at the foot of the
cross, eagerly drinking of the water which bubbled up on all sides. The stags
represent the Gentiles who, by virtue of the cross, have been delivered from the
darkness of idolatry, and purified from their sins. The lambs are the faithful,
who come to draw from the sacred sign of salvation the graces which they need to
preserve their purity and innocence. Nor was it rare to paint on the cross twelve
doves, emblems of the twelve Apostles, whom their Divine Master bid be wise as
serpents and simple as doves. (St. Matt. x. 16.) There were also crosses from the
extremities of which crowns were suspended hence they were called crowned
crosses. These wreath signify that to be crowned in heaven we must bear the
cross on earth. The crown which was on the summit of the cross was upheld by
hand, a symbol of the glorious victory which the Hand of the Risen Jesus gained,
with the banner of the cross, by snatching the crown of empire from the pallid
brow of Death. It was also an allusion to what was practised amongst the Romans
another's handheld suspended over the head of the conquering general, as he
marched through Rome instantly triumph, the wreath of victory. On most of the
ancient crosses, when our Saviour is represented under human shape, the figure is
not in relief but painted on the cross itself. Sometimes He is depicted, not in
an attitude of suffering and death, but of triumph. Instances are not wanting in
the Western Church of crucifixes which represent our Lord hanging to the cross
entirely clothed.
Our holy ancestors in the faith had great respect and love
for the image of Jesus Crucified; and in this they have been imitated by the
peasantry of Catholic Europe. On the roadside and in the forest, in the valley
and on the mountain, stands the cross of Christ, preaching its silent but eloquent
sermon on the Passion, bringing tears from the eyes and prayers from the heart of
the Christian traveller. The Vendeans, children of Catholic France's most
Catholic province, evinced, in their heroic struggle against the God-despising French
republic of the last century, the most touching devotion to the symbol of man's redemption.
When rushing like lions to the charge, if they espied on the road cross or an
image of Mary, the ranks simultaneously halted, as if checked by an invisible
power. The peasant warriors fell on their knees and begged for Jesus crucified to
bless their arms. Nor was their prayer in vain they arose with fire in their hearts that no danger could quench, with strength in
their arms that no enemy could resist. Let them pray," said their gallant
leader Lescure, they will fight all the better.
"The cross crowns the Catholic steeple, as a sign that
Christ, by His death on the cross, has joined heaven and earth, the Church
Militant and the Church Triumphant. The crucifix must, by positive law of the
Church, be on or over the altar during the celebration of the Holy Mass, to show
us that the Sacred Rite is the unblood renewal of Calvary's bloody Sacrifice.
The cross or the crucifix was, in the Catholic States, the brightest gem in the
monarch's crown, and it was stamped on the coin of the currency.
We ought to make this holy sign ubiquitous. It should be in
our houses, at our bedsides, around our necks. If we cannot reach the height of
Christian perfection of bearing about Christ's Passion in our bodies by
practising great austerities, let us, at least, bear it on our bodies by having a crucifix about our persons. Let us put our Lord as a seal on our hearts," that
He may grant us the precious grace of having those hearts like His.
Various indulgences have been granted by the Popes for good
works performed in presence of the cross or crucifix or when a person has one about
him. These indulgences may be gained by being instate of grace, and renewing
from time to time one's intention of gaining them. Bouvier, in his Treatise on Indulgences, Bays that crosses of paper, card, wood, iron, lead, or glass, cannot
be indulgenced, but only those of gold, silver, brass, or other metal.
"According to Benedict XIV., and the Elenchus of Pius VII., it is not required
that the whole cross be of gold, silver, brass, etc., but it suffices that the image
of our Saviour be of some of these metals. An answer from Borne decides that indulgences
may be attached to ivory images. Another answer of April 11,1840, decides that
the indulgence is attached only to the image of our Saviour so that the figure
may be transferred only from one cross to another without prejudice to the
indulgence." Only he for whom cross, medal, or rosary was blessed, or to
whom it was given, can gain the indulgence.
The most common way of showing reverence to the cross is by
making its sign on our persons or blessing ourselves. This holy rite is the epitome of the whole Christian religion because it is declaration of our belief
in the three great mysteries of faith, the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Redemption.
The mention of three Divine Persons, in the formula of words which we use, is
declaratory of the Trinity, whilst the figure of the cross sets forth our faith
in Christ, the Man-God, dying for us.
There are two ways among Latin Catholics of making the sign
of the cross. The first consists of touching the forehead with all the fingers of
the right hand, then drawing the hand in a straight line to the breast, thence to
the left, and from it to the right shoulder, pronouncing the word whilst we are
performing this ceremony. Do not laugh, dear reader we know how to make the sign
of the cross, but do we always put that how into practice We often make flourish
in the air with our fingers, but do we truly and reverently make on our bodies
the representation of Christ's cross?
By drawing the hand from the forehead to the heart we symbolize the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity descending from heaven and
becoming Man in the breast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The passage of the hand
from the left to the right shoulder shows forth how Christ has brought us from
darkness to light; how He has merited for us place on His right hand on the
judgment day, instead of leaving us on His left, whereby our sins we deserved
to be. Let us cooperate with His grace, and that blessed right-hand station will
be ours there all our crosses will end.
The other way of making the holy sign, in use amongst us, and
which the Church prescribes for her minister when reading the first and last
Gospel at Mass, is to make, with the thumb of the right hand, a cross on the
forehead, lips, and breast. Thereby we profess to believe the truths of the
Gospel, to be ready to confess them with our lips, and to love them in our hearts.
The Greek Christians bless themselves with the thumb and the
first two fingers of the right hand; and their cross terminates on the left
shoulder. This manner was inuse down to very late period, even in the Latin
Church. Pope Innocent III., in 1191, says: "The sign of the cross is to be
made with three fingers, so that it may descend from top to bottom, and then pass over from right to left Some persons, however, draw the sign of the cross from
left to right."
The Jacobites, heretics who admit only one nature in Jesus
Christ, make the sign of the cross with but one finger. Theftestorians, who hold
that there are two persons in our Lord, whereas Catholic faith teaches that there
is but one, use two fingers in signing themselves with the cross, and draw them
from the right to the left shoulder, to signify the victory of good over evil.
The custom of making the sign of the cross is most ancient.
Tertullian, who lived towards the end of the second century, writes thus in his
book De Corona Militia At every step and movement, whenever we come in or go out,
when WordPress and put on our shoes, at bath, at table, when lights are brought
in, on lying or sitting down, whatever employment engages our attention, we make
the sign of the cross upon our foreheads."
The first Christians used this holy sign to terrify the
devils and to shield themselves from all dangers of soul and body. It is
related to the impious Emperor Julian, the Apostate, that upon certain occasion
when he went down into a cavern, in company with a famous magician, to go through the
impure rites of pagan worship, he was dreadfully terrified, by unholy voices and
apparitions. Apostate though he was, he made the sign of the cross, and the demon
army fled. But when he and his companion resumed their unlawful incantations the
devils came again, and again the sign of the cross drove them back to hell.
If ever there was a saint against whom the Devil raged in all
his fury, it was St. Anthony the Hermit. Phantoms the most hideous and unholy
beset the servant of God, but never did the sign of the holy cross fail him in
his need it was to him heavenly buckler warding off the fiery darts of the most
wicked one.
With the sign of the cross St. Benedict Broken cup that-was
presented to him full of poisoned liquid and St. Hilarion drove back into its
native boundaries raging sea which an earthquake had precipitated on the land.
Under the persecution of Diocletian, St. Tiburtius was brought before the
imperial prefect, Fabian. The pagan judge ordered him to offer incense to the gods
of Borne or walk on burning coals. The Saint made the holy sign on his forehead,
and then, in bare feet, passed unscathed over the glowing embers.
See what the cross did when used inspirit of faith and love
We make its sign often enough, but not with reverence enough, not with faith
enough. How many temptations would disappear, how many sorrows of soul and body
would be soothed, if the heart went travelling for an instant to heaven or to Calvary,
before the hand made the sign of Christ's cross You that have sick relatives or
friends, remember the power of the cross keep it before the eyes of those
suffering ones, offer it to the loving impress of their lips, and like the good
Samaritan, you will thus be pouring into their grieving spirits balm, whose
sweetly-soothing power only the sick and the sorrowing can fully feel. There is
one devotion to the cross most appropriate for the holy time of Lent, that of the
Way of the Cross. In it we accompany one sorrowing Jesus through all the stages
of His Holy Passion and the Church grants us as many indulgences for this
devotion as we should gain by going on pilgrimage to Palestine.
Source: The Sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church - Rev. William J Barry
.