| Show ah at v at ift erwi aft I 1 ay T 1 a 0 va CC 4 4 41 41 1 0 artl ai 40 jt A W 07 TO lift j the ori origin of the cross 4 r S S J W 4 ift ift aft 4 F UT V the origin of tae cross as a symbol Is shrouded in the dim mists of almost prehistoric antiquity centar les before the gallic and celts warmed swarmed over england centuries be tore fore the lowly nazarene began pro cill gating his doctrines cen cent irles be fore the beginning of the old testa inert history the cross was an ip fin factor in the lives of men it forms part of the lore of the most ancient of religions never is a great excavation made but that many varia eions of the cross forms are exhumed and under circumstances which prove that they have been deligio is sym bols there are many evidences to proe prone that prior to the time of christ tae cross was with the jews a sign of saha tion the brazen serpent was moses instructed the people of israel to mark their doorposts mith ith tle tl e blood of the sacrificial lamb he told them to make inake the mark in the form of it a cross the siam of the cross is frequently found on ancient jewish monuments near Perse apol s what became of tae cie tr e choss is one of the greatest in eracles of all time it Is true that anere aie in many old and new world cathedrals bits of wood purporting to be part of the true cross in some cases i 1 notably that which concerns the fragment of the tablet placed over tae cross by pilate s order and which is now in the ancient church of santa croce it at rome their authenticity seems fairly well established but so mm min ute are the fragments that according to one ancient writer if all were col lecter and put together to getner they would enly only make a block ol 01 wood about twenty inches long e grit inches m ide and inches thick it was three centuries ceL tunes after the crucifix on of cl r st before the cross was mas found its discovery was w s due to the degout helena gilfe of tae toe em geror constantine alo NN I 1 0 abolished crucifixion and to alora tle the chris tian religion omas oes the original adap tion of the cross as a symbol over the spot where the cross was dincov ered a chapel was erected and the sacred wood was retained by helena in jerusalem and deposited under ane great church or basilica erected by constantine over the place of crt and burial for three hundred peaceful years the cross remained in tue custody of the bish op of jerusalem every easter it was e habited to the pilgrims who throng ed the holy city then came three h adred years of comparative obscure ity from which the cross emerged to become the center of upheavals that convulsed the entire civilized world arrayed the west against the east and caused the spilling of oceans of blood the wars mars of the crusades the story of the valiant crusaders and their series of attempts to rescue the holy wood from moslem hands is well known after a series of tudes audes victory finally perched on the banners of the saracens who under the great saladin defeated the chris dars at hattin in a battle of fright ful carnage on that day the ath of july 1187 the choss was lost to the christians it was mas never again reco recovered ered richard the lion hearted and many other warriors went to the rescue but to no avail finally the cross disappeared of its fate noth ing is known for hundreds of years a search was maintained but without success it is generally believed that the he superstitious moslems fearing the he po vers of the cross destroyed it in n order to prevent its possible recapture by the christians this in brief is all that is known of the his tory of tl e tr e cros crocs itself after the crucifixion over three cen con elapsed before the cross as a symbol in any form became a part of the church observance and seven centuries passed before the crucifix was finally adopted this prolonged delay proceeded from two main A causes ube early christians had not fully eradicated the old prejudice against the cross and they thought the scene of the crucifixion too sacred to be pictured in images prior to the fourth century the holiest of christian symbols was the monogram of christ it was woven into all ecclesiastical vestments and formed a prominent feature of other decorations about the year the first crucifix was introduced into the church it was made of dark red wood and at the intersection of the two parts bore the figure of the lamb the objection to the using of the actual figure of christ being still strong somewhat later came the greek crucifix one of the most beautiful of all the forms and which many contemporary divines contend would form a more fitting part of church ceremonials than the one in common use this greek cross was meant to typify the triumph over death but in such a manner as to divest as far as possible the entire subject of its gruesome and morbid aspect it blossomed with flowers of gold and silver and was richly studded with gems in during the reign of justinian the council of was held the object of the famous con ference was to devise a means by which to circumvent the mysticism and symbolism that were threatening to undermine the christian religion and deprive it of its true meaning it was pointed out that the signs and symbols used in the service were be coming more and more important than the things they stood for and that to the ignorant mind the story of the life and sufferings of christ began to be only a sort of myth an allegory it was resolved to tute the actual human figure of the crucified christ for that of the sym bolic lamb this act resulted in the creation of the orthodox crucifix of today to day |
