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Show 0 The Origirv of the Cross o o 0000000000000000000000000000000000000O The origin of tne cross ah a symbol Is shrouded In the dim minis of almost prehistoric antliiulty. Centur-les Centur-les before the (lalllr and Cymric Celts , (warmed over Kngland. centuries uo- " fore the lowly Naxarcne began pro mulgating his doctrines, centuries before be-fore the beginning of the Old Testament Testa-ment history, the cross whs an Important Im-portant factor In the lives of men. It i forms part of the lore of the most ancient of religions. Never Is a great excavation made but that nmny varla-1 varla-1 (Ions of the cross forma are exhumed and under circumstances which prove that they have been religious sym-' sym-' vols. There are many evidences to prove (hat prior to the time of Christ tae - Cross w as with the Jew a sign of I aalvatlon. The braen serpent was f Moses Instructed the people of Israel to mark their doorposts with thu Mood of the sacrificial lamb ha told them to make the mark In the form - of t cross. The slrn of the cross Is frequently found nn ancient Jewish monuments near I'crscapolls. I What became, of t.in true cross Is ; vno of the greatest miracles of all Itmo. It Is true that tuere are In many Old and New World cathedrals ', tilts of wood purporting to be purt of the true cross. In some cases, notably , that which concerns the fruKinent of I the tablet placed over tae cross by i lllates order, and which Is now In 1 the ancient church of Santu Croce at Home, their authenticity seems fairly well established; hul so minute min-ute are the fragments that, according to nnc ancient writer, If all were collected col-lected and put togeiner they would only niuke a block oi wihhI about twenty Inches lung, eight lin lies wide i and three Inches llilrk. ' It wan three centuries nftcr the crucifixion of Christ i.i-lore the cross was found. Its discovery wus due to the devout ll.iei a, vil" of t ie Kin-, Kin-, lieror Constantino, who lll.nllslicil 4,-riirlflitoi and to whom the Chris- ! tlau religion owes the original adoption adop-tion of the cross as a symbol. Over the spot where the cross was discovered discov-ered a chapel was erected and the sacred wood was retained by Helena In Jerusalem and deposited under tne great church or basilica erected by Constantlne over the place of cruel Mi Ion and burial. For three Hundred peaceful years the cross remained In tue custody nt the Bishop Bish-op of Jerusalem. Bvcry Easter It was e: hi hi led to the pilgrims who thronged throng-ed the Holy City. Tftun came three hundred years of comparative obscurity, obscur-ity, from whlcb the cross emerged to become the center of upheavals that convulsed the entire clvllired world, arrayed the West against the Kast, and caused the spilling nt oceans ot blood the wars of Uie Crusades. The story of the valiant crusaders and their series of atlempta to rearuo the holy wood from Moslem hands Is woll known. After a series of vicissitudes, vicissi-tudes, victory finally perched on the banners of the Karacens, who. under the great Hnladln, defeated the Christinas Chris-tinas at Iluttln, In a buttle of frightful fright-ful currant-. On that day, the 61 h of July, 11X7, the cross was lost to the Christluns. It was never aguln recovered. Klchard the 1-lon Hearted and ninny other warriors wont to the rescue, but to no avail. Final! the cross disappeared. Of Its fate nothing noth-ing Is known. For hundreds of years a scHrch was maintained, but without success. It Is generally believed that the superstitious Moslems, fearing the powers of the cross, destroyed it In onlcr to prevent Its possible ro-cupture ro-cupture by the Christians. This, In brief. Is all that Is known of the history his-tory of the tree croi a Itself. After ihe crucifixion over threw centuries cen-turies eliipsed before the croHs as a symbol in any form became a purt of the church I'list-rviinee, und seven coctitrlcs pusscd before trie crucifix wns lli:ally uilnplcd. This prolonged deUv proceeded from two main causes. The early Christiana 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 ot Christian ay mix) Is was the monogram of Christ. It was woven Into all ecclesiastical vestment and formed a prominent feature of other decorations. About the year 3U3 the first crucifix was Introduced Into the church. It was made of dark red wood and at the Intersection of the two parta bore the figure of the lamb, the objection to the using of the actual figure of Christ being still strong. Somewhat later came the tlreek crucifix, one of the most beautiful of all the forms, and which many contemporary divines contend would form a more fitting purt of church ceremonials than the one In common , use. This Greek cross waa meant to typify the triumph over death, but In such a manner as to divest as far aa possible the entire subject of lis gruesome and morbid aspect. It blossomed with flowers of gold and silver and was richly sludded with gems. In Oil!!, during the reign ot Justinian, the Council of Trullo waa held. The object of the famous conference con-ference was to ib vlse a means by which to circumvent thu mysticism and symbolism that were threatening to undermine tho Christian religion and deprive It of Its true meaning. It was pointed out that tho signs and symbols used In the servlco were becoming be-coming more and more Important than Uio things they stood for. aud that to the Ignorant mind the story of the llto ami sufferings of Christ begun be-gun to bu only a sort of myih, an allegory It was resolved to substitute substi-tute tho aciuul human figure of iho crucified Christ for lliui of the symbolic sym-bolic lumb. This act resulted lu the creation of the orthodox crucifix of to-day. |