catholic church symbols

My professor wants us to write a 12 page essay on the topic and any help with symbols would be greatly appreciated. I need this for a ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH as I am at a Roman Catholic University.
What rituals are special to this celebration of first communion?

I can give you a little help, but if this is for a twelve page paper, you're really going to want to do a lot of additional research. Are there a lot of symbols unique to FIRST communion? Some of the symbols for communion in the Roman Catholic Church:

White clothes: purity, innocence
Blessing with holy water: Baptism, rebirth
Priest's stole: patience
Priest's chasuble: charity
Images of bread/wheat and wine/grapes: the Eucharist
Washing of hands: interior purification
Breaking of the bread: unity (one bread is shared among many)
Mixing water with the wine: How blood and water flowed from Christ's side

2009-05-04 19:13:05 by Muscle_master_06

quot;You must not make for yourselves a graven image, or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the Earth beneath or ...

there is always catholic symbols on candles and the priest's uniform but what are the three symbols for Baptism in the Catholic Church???

In addition to the above answers, sometimes one sees a shell with 3 drops of water, a dove, a pitcher.

2008-08-21 23:41:44 by Riah

Price: $99.95 $99.95

I know there is obviously the crucifix which is present in most if not all Christian Churches but I wanted to find out if there are any signs/symbols in a Catholic Church that are not in other Christian churches.

Advent Wreaths
Saint Statues
Baptism Fonts
Confessionals
Communion Chalices
Crucifixes
First Communion Dresses
Holy Water Fonts
Missals
Rosaries
Patron Saint Medals
Prayer Boxes
Prayer Cards
Prayer candles
Rosaries
Saints
Stations of the Cross
Virgin Mary Veneration

2008-10-20 18:07:29 by xodustbunnieox

Price: $18.95 $14.78

The Roman Catholic Church exists in nearly every country on Earth, ministering to millions of worshippers worldwide. In addition to the original Latin, the Catholic Mass is served in hundreds of languages. However, even if a Catholic travels to a foreign country, where he or she is unfamiliar with the language, some gestures and symbols remain universal. These similarities make the unfamiliar, familiar.

* Symbols *



Ashes

Every year, on the Wednesday following Palm Sunday, Catholics receive the ashes of the previous year's palms as a blessing, traced into the form of a cross on their foreheads. These ashes symbolize the dust from which humankind came, and the dust to which we all shall return, a concept familiar to many people through the phrased "ashes to ashes, dust to dust." By using the ashes of the previous year's palms, the ashes come to symbolize both the joy of Christ's entry into Jerusalem and the regret over His sacrifice. Ashes were once a symbol of both penance and mourning. At the time Christ lived, both were expressed by sitting in dust and ashes, as well as placing dust and ashes on one's forehead.


Cross

The cross is a powerful Christian symbol, not limited to Catholics. It represents the cross upon which Christ died. The cross is present all around the church's interior: on the altar cloth, in the Stations of the Cross, and even on the priest's vestments.


Crucifix

The Crucifix differs from the cross, in that it depicts the image of Christ being crucified, rather than that of the empty cross. The addition of His figure to the empty cross is intended to emphasize His human nature, which enabled him to suffer physical pain and death.


Not all crucifixes are identical. Depending on the mission of the church, the depiction of Jesus may evoke various emotions ranging from sorrow, to fear, or to awe. However, the purpose of the crucifix remains the same: to remind Catholics of the price Christ paid for humanity's redemption.


Incense

Catholics use incense during important services to symbolize the prayers of the congregation rising to heaven. One of the gifts traditionally associated with the Magi was frankincense. This aromatic resin was part of the traditional incense associated with the Old Testament Temple of Solomon. Frankincense represents the continuity of faith between the Old and New Testaments.


Monstrance

A monstrance is a kind of vessel intended to display the consecrated Host to the Catholic faithful. One important part of the Catholic Mass is the Elevation of the Host. The monstrance "elevates" the Host when the priest is unable to do so.


There are two kinds of monstrance. The one most Catholics are familiar with is that which is seen inside the church. This type of monstrance is usually displayed on an altar, or is stored in a tabernacle. The monstrance is usually gold- or silver-plated. Most often, the monstrance has a sun-like appearance, topped by a cross. The Catechism of 1913 recommended this appearance, because the monstrance represents the light of Christ, the "sun of righteousness."


Symbolism exists not just in these things, but also in the written word of the church, itself. The parables of the New Testament are symbolic, rather than literal, teaching lessons through the actions of the people who move through them. Just as the sharing of communion is symbolic of the Last Supper, but is only part of the Mass, none of the symbols are intended to be viewed or used alone, but make up the whole of the Catholic experience.



* Gestures *


Bowing

Catholics often bow or kneel during prayer. At times, they bow as they pass the altar or pray before a painting or statue. Neither the bow nor the prayer is symbolic of worshipping the structure, the painting, or the statue. Rather, the bow is a display of respect for what the altar represents, or for the person represented by the image.


Genuflection

The definition of genuflection is literally, 'to bend the knee.' In the Catholic Church, genuflection is an act of reverence, a sort of minor prostration in which the person touches the floor with the right knee while bending the left knee. In addition, the Catholic makes the sign of the cross while genuflecting. Genuflection is a relatively new form of devotion, added to the church practices during the Middle Ages. Formal recognition of genuflection did not come until 1502, although it was some time before priests were expected to genuflect as part of the Consecration.


Sign of the cross

There are actually three signs of the cross in the Catholic Church. All of them represent the same thing, which is the Cross that Jesus died upon.


The first sign of the cross is that which most people are familiar with, the gesture with which the Catholic faithful cross themselves. The symbolism of this gesture is twofold: first, the sign of the cross asserts the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinit

2009-09-04 23:58:22 by boonks

Websites will be a great help plz
I'll re do it:Catholics understanding of sacraments
I'll re do it:Catholics understanding of sacraments

SACRAMENT - A sensible sign, instituted by Jesus Christ, by which invisible grace and inward sanctification are communicated to the soul. The essential elements of a sacrament of the New Law are institution by Christ the God-man during his visible stay on earth, and a sensibly perceptible rite that actually confers the supernatural grace it symbolizes. In a broad sense every external sign of internal divine blessing is a sacrament. And in this sense there were already sacraments in the Old Law, such as the practice of circumcision. But, as the Council of Trent defined, these ancient rites differed essentially from the sacraments of the New Law, they did not really contain the grace they signified, nor was the fullness of grace yet available through visible channels merited and established by the Savior. (Etym. Latin sacramentum, oath, solemn obligation; from sacrare, to set apart as sacred, consecrate.)

SIGN - Something that leads to something else. It may be an arbitrary or conventional sign that has a connection with what is signified only by agreement among people, as a flag symbolizes a nation. Or it may be a pure sign that leads to the knowledge of something without itself being first known, as our ideas lead to the knowledge of real objects. Instrumental signs give meaning or understanding, as words lead to the knowledge of things and of mental status. Manifestative signs show the existence of something else, as a person's external behavior indicates his or her personality and training.

Each of these types of signs may be either natural or supernatural depending on whetehr its basis is founded on natural reason or divine revelation.

The whole of the Church' liturgy is built on the function of word, action, and object signs as symbols of the sacred. But among the sacred signs the most important are the sacraments, which not only manifest the special presence of God but actually confer the grace they signify. (Etym. Latin signum, mark, sign, characteristic.)

SYMBOL - In general, any object that stands for or represents something else. More particularly, and conventional sign that functions as such because of an agreement, explicit or implicit, between its users. Religious symbols are also called emblems, insofar as they represent some sacred truth or mystery of the faith. (Etym. Greek symbolon, a token, pledge; a sign by which one infers a thing.)

2009-07-15 19:43:24 by snailmail334