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moonflower77) wrote2017-09-05 08:43 am
moonflower77) wrote2017-09-05 08:43 am
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he Calvary Cross. The Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia”
This small cross pendant of Greek proportions has short semi-circular bars. The massive spherical hoop of the cross is fixed. The front contains a central medallion with an eight-armed cross mounted on Golgotha over the head of Adam. Nearby one can see the instruments of Christ’s Passion, the spear and the cane.
The free space on the medallion is filled with the traditional inscriptions meant to glorify God. The inscription at the top, translated as “The King of Glory”, testifies to the true royal nature of Christ and speaks of the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension. The edges of the horizontal bar bear the letters that stand for the shortened name, Jesus Christ, attesting to the fact that our Lord is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. At the bottom, one can see the inscription НИКА (“The Victor”), which testifies to Christ’s victory over hell and death. Over the Cross of Calvary there is the abbreviation М.Л.Р.Б., which stands for “Место Лобно Рай Бысть” and is translated as the “place of execution turned into paradise”. This refers to mankind regaining the paradise it had once lost. The Church Slavonic letters “К” and “Т” stand for the instruments of the Savior’s Passion, the spear (“копие”) and a cane (“трость”), while the letters “Г” and “А” stand for the head of Adam (“главa Адамова”). The bars of the cross are decorated with a Byzantine ornament of lilies, an ancient symbol of life and renewal of nature. Thus the cross also represents the Tree of Life.
The entire back of the cross is occupied by the relief icon of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, with the saints' names written on the frame around the icon in Church Slavonic. The faces of the martyrs seem to be embedded in the cross, as if in a reliquary. As a result, the whole composition of the icon set harmoniously replicates the shape of the cross. In the center of the composition, one can see St. Sophia with the cross of martyrdom in her hands. This cross serves as a projection of the Holy Cross on the front of the pendant. Moreover, being placed above the head of St. Love, it illustrates the words of the Apostle Paul: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13).
Sophia was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters after the three Christian virtues. At the time of their martyrdom, Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. St. Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and they did not hide their faith, openly confessing it in front of everyone. An official named Antiochus denounced them to Emperor Hadrian, who ordered them to be brought to Rome. Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis, but the girls were strong in their faith and did not yield. The emperor then ordered them to be tortured. After undergoing unspeakable torment, the holy virgins were beheaded. In order to intensify St. Sophia’s suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters for burial. She buried them on a high hill and gave up her soul to the Lord after sitting by their grave for three days. Christian believers buried her body beside her daughters. Their relic of the saintly family have rested at El’zasa, in the Church of Esho, since the year 777.
Reliquary cross “The Savior in Majesty”
This gilded silver reliquary cross continues the traditions of the 14th-15th centuries. In Ancient Russia, reliquary pectorals were part of a prince’s set of throat, neck and chest jewelry (which was known in Russian as “grivnaya utvar’”). Russian princes and the most aristocratic of the hereditary gentry, or boyars, wore them in plain sight on their chests, over their clothes. Reliquary crosses were seen as family heirlooms and were handed down from father to son. Such reliquaries had a quadrifolial (four-leaved) shape with keel-like ends and were similar the depiction of the angelic forces. Therefore, wearing a cross in this shape is tantamount to the confession of one’s faith in the second coming of the Lord in His Glory, in His Majesty, surrounded by forces of Heaven.
The front of the cross contains the icon “The Savior in Majesty” in an ornamental frame, crowned by another icon known as “The Face of the Savior Not Made by Human Hands”. On the reverse one can see the Blossoming Cross of the Lord surrounded by the words of the prayer: “Guard me, O Lord, by the power of Your Precious and Life-Giving Cross, and deliver me from all evil”.
The iconographic images on the inner side of the wings repeats the images found on the ancient travel panagia or arcs, which were directly linked to the sequence of actions performed during the Exaltation of the Panagia. Later on, they often functioned as reliquaries and contained the relics of a saint. The internal side of the first wing contains a replica of the icon of the Holy Trinity painted by Andrei Rubliov. Along the edge of the wing one can see the troparion of the feast: “Blessed are You, O Christ our God, Who made the simple fishermen wise, having sent them the Holy Spirit, and through them ensnared the universe in their nets. Glory be to You, O One Who loves mankind.”
On the second wing one can see the icon of the Theotokos known as “The Sign (Omen)”. Inscribed along the edge of the wing there is a laudatory hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Worthy of greater honor than the cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the seraphim, One who gave birth to the Word of God without infirmity, we sing praise to You as the true Mother of God.”
Encolpion cross "Holy Face not Made by Human Hands. The Light and the Life" (1)
The Greek word “enkolpion” is translated as “worn on the chest, upon the heart" and refers to a cross with two wings (closable doors) containing embedded particles of holy relics or other sacred items venerated by Christians. The very name and purpose of these crosses suggest that they are among the most essential personal shrines. As such they have always been characterized by profound sacred content and were crafted with superb skill, using the most elaborate techniques.
In creating this cross, we have attempted to replicate the external shape of the ancient Byzantine encolpia that were common in Russia in the 10th-13th centuries. What is more, we have tried to construct the item in accordance with the basic theological ideas of the time and to express them through shape, iconography, color and numerical symbols.
Crosses in this shape were commonly encountered in Eastern Christian ecclesiastical art. The cross consists of four bars that thicken towards the ends and resemble four expanding streams of light, which emanate from a single center. This shape conveys the idea of the cross as a source of light, which was sung about in many ancient hymns and mentioned in the teachings of the Church Fathers: “O, the brilliance of the cross! The sun is darkened, and the stars fall down like leaves, and the cross outshines all of them and encompasses the entire sky” (St. John Chrysostom, “A word to the tempted”). Moreover, it indicates that Christ Himself is the source of life-giving light: “I am the light of the world; He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). The bars end in teardrop-shaped extensions, which are interpreted as the drops of blood shed by Christ on the cross or as plant elements (leaf or flower buds) that demonstrate the life-giving power of the Cross. In keeping with the shape chosen for the cross, in the center inside a circle one can find an image of the Savior, the One who defeated hell and death. Both above and beneath the circular medallion there is the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА, which means “Jesus Christ is the Victor”. This is the most ancient inscription, established by Emperor Constantine and found on numerous crosses. It complements the image of the cross on prosphora bread and is present on many Orthodox pectorals.
The image of Christ is rendered in accordance with the ancient tradition of depicting Christ as the Eternal Priest. The round medallion, which represents the sky or the sphere of the universe, also delineates the circumference of the Savior’s cruciform halo and speaks of His sacrifice on the cross. “O extraordinary miracle! The latitude and longitude of the cross are equal to the heavens, for it sanctifies all with Divine Grace” (Sticheron on praise, Tone 8). Particularly noteworthy are the medallions depicted against the background of the cruciform halo, which stem from the Apocrypha about the Image of the Holy Face not Made by Human Hands and are invariably present on many ancient icons of Christ. A.N. Ovchinnikov explains their meaning in his article “Christ the Priest” as he analyzes the 13th century icon known as the “Golden-Haired Savior”: “The number and arrangement of the medallions, akin to the shape of the constellations, represent the great mysteries and sacraments, the seven large seals in the background and on the cross itself are the seven seals in the book of the “One seated on the throne” (Rev. 5:6). They also stand for the seven sacraments and the seven sources of light on the candlestick with seven candles - that is, the seven planets. However, this seven-fold unity, divided into two parts, forms the three great seals on the cross - the image of the Trinity, and the four great seals - the four elements of the earth, which were assimilated by Christ at Incarnation. The twelve small seals on the three blades of the cross are the twelve apostles.”
The above symbolism is developed and supplemented on the plane of the four widening bars. On each bar one can see a cross inside a round medallion, with a dot in the center, which stands for Christ, and four diagonal ornamental elements, which symbolize the four evangelists and the four Gospels, the light of which is spreading in all the four cardinal directions. This serves to enhance the theme of luminosity. The dots in the middle of the circles denote Christ. In the free space on the cross there are twelve dots, which represent the twelve apostles who function as vessels for the Light of Christ and pass it on to the rest of the world.
The top part of an encolpion has a barrel shape, which is fairly common. As a vessel that contains wine derived from a grapevine, the barrel is often encountered in early Christian art. According to the opinion expressed by Duke A.S. Uvarov in “Christian symbolism, “the barrel, along with the cup, should be understood as a symbol of Holy Communion and the Church of Christ. This meaning stems from the symbolism of the vine, which was founded by the Savior, Who compared Himself to a vine and likened his disciples to its fruit (John 15: 1-5).
The reverse of the encolpion contains five round medallions with the two Greek words ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ (“fos” and “zoe”), which mean, respectively, “light” and “life”. Here, φως is not the sensory light emanating from material sources, but “immaterial light”, while ζωή is not biological life but “spiritual life”. These concepts, which were introduced in in the Gospel and revealed as the names of the Lord in the treatise “On divine names” by Dionysius the Areopagite, essentially denote Christ. When these words are written in a cruciform shape, they acquire the additional meaning of the cross. The combination of several concepts within the same sign was used to enhance its effect. This was the reason why the cross-shaped formula φως and ζωή was widespread in Byzantium and throughout the Christian East and was present on priests’ vestments, encolpia, pectoral crosses and papyrus amulets. In addition to the medallions with the Greek formula, there are symbolic elements on the reverse of our encolpion that mirror those found on the front, along with a floral ornament to mark the cross as the Tree of Life.
The aforementioned symbolism has also determined our choice of precious materials for the cross, which in ancient times were understood as projections of the concepts pertaining to the “world on high” or its prototypes. An important role was ascribed to the quality and color of the material. In accordance with the Byzantine tradition, we used gold or gilded silver and hot multicolored enamel. It should be remembered that in Byzantium, as well as in Ancient Russia (Rus), its spiritual heir, gold occupied a special position and was seen as a representation of the divine impenetrable light, or an “absolute metaphor” of God: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Furthermore, as a symbol of the sun and an attribute and emblem of royal dignity, gold reflects the image of Christ as the “Sun of Truth” and the “King of Glory” The color of the enamel is also symbolic and may acquire certain shades of meaning depending on the intrinsic meaning of the colored element, or on the color combinations. Color may be used to express the following concepts:
Red stands for blood and the Savior’s sacrifice, and, at the same time, for the heavenly cleansing fire and life-giving warmth, for Life and Resurrection;
Green stands for the Life Eternal given to us by the Savior, for the Cross as the Tree of Life and Christ as the Life-Giver;
Blue is the heavenly color of Sophia, or the Wisdom of God, it stands for truth and fairness and for the incomprehensible nature of the divine;
White stands for purity and holiness, for Heaven and for the transfigured and risen Christ.
The inside of the wing that serves as a lid for the encolpion carries an ornamental cross. Inside the other wing, which is a repository for the holy relics, the Jesus prayer is inscribed in Church Slavonic: “O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The incessant repetition of the Jesus prayer was taught by the hesychast fathers, the devotees of Egypt, Sinai and Athos who created a prayer technique that requires the simultaneous involvement of the heart and the intellect. They found that the apostolic commandment to “pray without ceasing“ (Thess. 5:17) was easiest to observe if a brief prayer was used, and that the Jesus prayer was particularly effective. According to Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem (+ 430), “as wheat grows in the valleys and bears fruit in abundance, so the Jesus prayer shall give birth to an abundance of all things good in your heart; or, better still, you will receive them from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, without Whom we can create nothing. At first you will find that the prayer is a ladder, then a book you will be able to read, and then, finally, as you ascend to greater and greater heights, you will find it to be the Heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the King of Heavenly Forces with His consubstantial Father and the worshipped Holy Spirit”. Many pages of “Philokalia” are dedicated to the Jesus prayer, as is “The Frank Stories of a Wanderer as Told to His Spiritual Father”, one of the most beloved books on prayer in Russia.
Encolpion cross "Holy Face not Made by Human Hands. The Light and the Life" (2)
With regard to its shape and content, this pectoral cross decorated with hot multicolored enamel resembles the ancient Russian encolpia of the 12th-13th centuries. It has straight bars with rounded ends and paired protrusions known as “teardrops”. The proportions of the cross are close to the the Greek ones, albeit with a slightly elongated vertical bar. As with most crosses of this type, it represents a fourfold model of the world saved by the Lord.
On the front, in the center of the cross, one can see the Holy Image not Made by Human Hands, which illustrates the words of the ancient prophecy: “God is our King since before the beginning of time: he created salvation in the middle of the earth” (Psalm 73.12). The Image of the Holy Face has a protective meaning, and, in addition, serves as a symbol and guarantee of victory. This is connected to the history of the icon, which was created by the Lord to help a suffering person (Abgar, the king of Edessa), and later, having been hung above the city gates, would ward off enemies.
At the ends of the bars, which point at the four directions of the world, inside round medallions, one can see the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА (Jesus Christ the Victorious), which affirms Christ’s victory. The free space on the cross is filled with an ancient geometrical ornament ("gorodki" in Russian) resembling several adjacent flights of stairs.
The composition of the reverse is much like that on the obverse and consists of five round medallions distributed in a cruciform shape and separated by the “gorodki” pattern. The reverse of the encolpion contains five round medallions with the two Greek words ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ (“fos” and “zoe”), which mean, respectively, “light” and “life”. Here, φως is not the sensory light emanating from material sources, but “immaterial light”, while ζωή is not biological life but “spiritual life”. These concepts, which were introduced in in the Gospel and revealed as the names of the Lord in the treatise “On divine names” by Dionysius the Areopagite, are essentially used to denote Christ. “I am the light of the world; He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Recorded in the form of a cross, they acquire an even deeper meaning. Therefore, the cross-shaped formula ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ was widespread in Byzantium and throughout the Christian East. Among other things, it was attributed with a special protective significance. Such inscriptions are found on papyrus amulets, on encolpia and crosses, even on episcopal vestments (the epitrachel of Metropolitan Photius, XV century).
The cross is crowned by a movable top part in a traditional barrel-like shape, decorated with the stair-shaped geometrical pattern.
Reliquary cross “The Lord Almighty. Our Lady of Kazan”
The shape of this miniature reliquary cross made from gilded silver is known as a quadrifolium (four-leaf shape), where a cross of Greek proportions with rounded ends is overlaid upon a square. The bars of the cross end in globular projections (referred to as “kasty” in Russian), the lowermost of which functions as a locking screw. So do the angles of the square. Reliquary crosses in this shape were common in Russia from the fourteenth century onward.
The front of the cross depicts the Lord Almighty and the symbols of the Evangelists, which are grouped into what is known as a tetramorph - the four animals said to surround the throne of the Almighty in the Revelation of St. John (4, 7-8). The reverse contains the icon of the Theotokos “Our Lady of Kazan” and the images of the four evangelists. The inside of the front wing contains the icon “Christ in the Tomb”, while on the back of the second wing there is an ornamental image of the cross.
As with the crosses made in the 14th-15th centuries, the shape of the reliquary and the iconographic images on the surface are interrelated, symbolic and polysemantic. They follow the rules of the established ecclesiastical and liturgical symbolism, as well as the teaching of the Church about the veneration of the holy relics. Thus, the shape of the quadrifolium as such, which is used in church ripida as well as in reliquaries, was seen as similar to the images of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore, the shape was a confession of faith in eternal life in the Heavenly City. Moreover, as with any cross of Greek proportions, it represents a quadripartite model of the world created and ordered by the Lord, the One Who was embodied in created flesh consisting of the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. The central image of Christ is enclosed in a sphere, a symbol of eternity, which, in turn, is situated inside a square; the latter, like rectangular prosphora stamps, signifies the incarnation of the Lord. The connection to the prosphora stamp is emphasized by the inscriptions of І&С Х&С НИКА in the corners of the square. The images of the evangelists at the ends of the bars help one perceive the cross as a model of the Christ’s new world, enlightened by the light of the Gospel doctrine, whereas the evangelists themselves are its keepers and represent the parts or cardinal directions of the world.
The iconography of the Lord Almighty replicates the ancient Byzantine images of the Pantokrator found in the domes of Greek and Old Russian temples.
A distinctive feature of the this iconography is the position of the fingers on the Savior’s hand, which is folded into a gesture of blessing. In the Novgorod lands, a special protective significance was attributed to this gesture.
If the front of the cross has a pronounced cosmic character owing to the image of the Almighty and the apocalyptic animals, the reverse, whose symbolism is essentially the same, shows the world as the Church of Christ. This is aided by the image of the Blessed Virgin, the embodiment of Christ’s Church, and the images of the evangelists as its pillars and keepers. The particular image of the Theotokos chosen for this cross is the icon known as “Our Lady of Kazan”, which is especially revered in Russia. It is found inside a square, which signifies the incarnation of the Lord. The names of the evangelists are written on the margins of the square.
The front wing of the reliquary cross serves as a container for the holy relics. Therefore, the similarity to a prosphora stamp aside, the central square on the wing represents the most significant place inside the altar (the holiest of the holy) and serves as its prototype. It was under a rectangular altar (known as a “trapeza”) that a saint’s relics were reposed under church custom. The symbolism of the throne is emphasized by the image of the Lord Almighty in the front square and the icon known as “Christ in the Tomb” on the inside, since, according to the teachings of the Church Fathers, the holy altar is both the throne of the Lord and the grave of Christ. The theme of Christ in the tomb is traditional for the antimins, fabric covers used during the liturgy instead of an altar. Antimins were also used as repositories for the relics of saints. The ornamental cross on the inside of the second wing may be understood as an obligatory accessory of the holy altar – a cross that is either situated behind the altar or rests on top.
Thus, the reliquary cross represents the universal model of Christ’s world and demonstrates an abstract image of the Church, as well as a physical church complete with the holy altar, where the imperishable relics of the saints reside in Christ without dissolution or decay, serving as a temple of the Holy Spirit and a particle of the mystical body of Christ. By venerating the holy relics, we receive prayerful assistance from the saints and are strengthened in the belief in the final universal resurrection promised by the Savior. According to St. John of Damascus: “Through them [the holy relics of the saints] demons are driven away, diseases flee, the infirm are healed, the blind gain their sight back, lepers are cleansed, temptations and sorrows cease, all manner of good gifts from the fathers of light come down through them to those who ask with unshakable faith.”
Cross “Crucifixion. Lord, Have Mercy”
The pectoral cross with a movable top part is characterized by a four-pointed shape of Latin proportions, where the length of the vertical bar exceeds that of the horizontal one. The bars of the cross are straight, with bulb-shaped ends modeled after church domes. Individual crosses in this shape can be encountered in Russia from the 15th century onward; starting from the 17th century, several more complex versions began to appear and a whole group of crosses, by then already mass-produced in series of several at a time, came into existence. The main distinguishing feature of the crosses manufactured in the 17th century was the lack of iconographic subjects and the rich ornamental detail in the center.
Because of the dome-shaped ends of the bars, the main symbolic meaning of our cross may be defined by the words from the laudatory hymns to the Cross: “The Cross is the beauty of the Church.” The ornament, executed in the 12th century Byzantine style and comprised of winding vines that are decorated with multi-colored enamel and frame the cross along the entire perimeter, is consistent with this meaning. The vine is known to be a symbol not only of Christ, but of Christ’s Church, which bears spiritual fruit.
The figure of the Savior, crucified on an eight-pointed cross, has been placed on the front, in the center. Above the cross, as a testament to the whole world’s tribulation and universal mourning, one can see the sun and the moon, whose light has grown dim with sorrow. On either end of the horizontal bar there are the waist-length images of the Theotokos and St. John the Theologian in mourning. In the lower part of the cross, one can see Mount Calvary with the skull of Adam and the Slavic abbreviation "М.Л.Р.Б." or "место лобно рай бысть", translated as "the place of execution has turned into paradise", which refers to the fact that the Savior has restored the long-lost paradise. The upper part contains an image of the Prepared Throne (Hetoimasia), understood in the given iconographic tradition as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, where the throne itself stands for God the Father, the Gospel is the Word of God and the dove is the Holy Spirit.
The reverse carries a floral ornament in the 12th-century Byzantine style, which indicates that the cross is the Tree of Life, and, like the one on the front, is a symbol of the spiritually fruitful Church of Christ. Inscribed in the center of the cross is the prayer: “Lord, have mercy”. This prayer is the shortest of all and has been known since the time of the Apostles. These words are known to have been cried out by the crowds during the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross by Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem after Its recovery by Empress Helena. In order to better appreciate the sheer depth of the prayer, let us quote St. John Chrysostom: “He who says: Have mercy on me, has been absolved, for those who have been pardoned shall not be punished. He who says: Have mercy on me, has gained the Kingdom of Heaven, for those pardoned by God are not only spared punishment, but are granted all things good in the future”.
Cross “Holy Face not Made by Human Hands with the Symbols of the Evangelists”
This four-ended pectoral cross of Greek proportions with a movable top part has been decorated using the technique of recessed hot enamel. Its shape can be traced back to Byzantine crosses with bars that widened from the center outward and had teardrop-like protrusions at the edges and circles in the middle of each end. The shape of our cross is peculiar in that, in keeping with the iconographic composition, the bars are shaped like the wings of angelic beings that represent the four evangelists.
The iconographic composition we have chosen for the front, with the image of the Savior inside the central circle and the symbols of the evangelists placed on the four bars of the cross, can be encountered on numerous Byzantine and Ancient Russian crosses. The theme was particularly popular in European church art in the early Middle Ages. Apart from crosses, it was often found on miniatures in manuscripts, on the salaries of the Gospels and on the frescoes or mosaics inside cathedrals. Owing to the cosmic symbolism, such compositions were used to decorate the domes of many Byzantine churches.
The origins of the symbolism characteristic for this iconography stem from book of the prophet Ezekiel (1, 4-26) and the Revelation of St. John the Theologian (4, 6-7), which describe four fantastic winged creatures akin to a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle surrounding the throne of the Almighty. In the book of Ezekiel, they merge into a single four-faced image referred to as the tetramorph. In the Bible, these “four animals” personify the Glory of God and the Will of God, which emanate in the four chief directions of the world. In the Christian tradition, they soon came to be associated with the four Gospels and the four Evangelists, since their number (four) was also connected to the four cardinal parts or directions of the world and pointed at the universal and complete nature of the Christian teaching. According to St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century): “It would be impossible for the Gospels to have been any more or any fewer in number. For as the there are four parts to the world in which we live and four main winds, and as the church is scattered all over the earth, and the pillar and affirmation of the Church is the Gospel and the Spirit of Life, it is mandatory that the Church have four pillars.”
As with any other the unilateral crosses, and perhaps to an even greater extent owing to the iconography we have chosen, our cross represents a model of the world that was created and ordered by the Lord, Who was embodied Himself in created flesh comprised by the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. It is known that in ancient times the “four animals” were attributed with the symbolism of the four elements (or forces) of nature. For instance, the Blessed Jerome (4th century) believed that the lion stood for fire, the eagle stood for water, the man stood for air and the bull stood for earth.
Starting from the center, the four winged symbolic beings form the four bars of the cross - the New World of Christ, permeated with God’s energy, and, at the same time, serve as its guardians, one for each part of the world. In order not to be confused by the fact that some of the images seem to be inverted, please note that compositions like ours cannot be perceived as directed from top to bottom or from left to right, but only as east to west and north to south, like the compositions found in church domes. In contemporary church practice, Catholic as well as Orthodox, in keeping with the writings of Blessed Jerome (4th century), the symbols for the evangelists are distributed as follows: the man is Matthew, the lion is Mark, the bull is Luke, the eagle is John. In Old Believer practice, the eagle stands for Mark and the lion stands for John. In ancient times, other distributions were also permitted, as the question had no dogmatic significance. Moreover, apart from regarding the tetramorph as the combined symbols of the four Evangelists, the Fathers of the Church would sometimes offer other interpretations. For example, St. Ephraim the Syrian (4th century) and St. Gregory the Great (6th century) regarded it as a symbol of Christ himself during the different phases of His life: at birth He was as a man, at death he was as a sacrificial bull, at Resurrection He was as a lion, at Ascension He was as an eagle. According to Herman of Constantinople (8th century), the four symbolic beings signify the activities of the Son of God: “The first creature is akin to a lion and represents His power and royal might. The second, akin to a calf, signifies His priestly rank. The third, which has a human face, illustrates His coming in the form of a man. And the fourth, akin to a flying eagle, refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The reverse of our cross is characterized by a cosmological symbolism similar to that on the front. In the center there is a circle with a four-pointed cross and the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА (Jesus Christ is victorious).
At the ends of the bars there are smaller circles with similar crosses. This conveys a model of the new world of Christ, or the New Jerusalem. To convey the unearthly nature of the sight, we have chosen a multicolored geometrical ornament resembling several flights of stairs, which fills the free space on the bars. Its strict geometrical nature seems to be somewhat at odds with the smooth curves of the bars. The discrepancy is intentional, however, as it is an artistic analogy to the antinomic verbal description of Heavenly Jerusalem by St. John the Theologian. The principle of antinomy (contradiction) is often used in theology when formulating the dogmas of the Church. According to the famous Orthodox theologian V.N. Lossky: “The task is not to eliminate the antinomy by adapting the dogma to our understanding, but in altering our minds so that we can arrive at the contemplation of the reality that shall reveal God to us, and, in doing so, ascend to God and become one with Him to a greater or lesser extent.” Since church art is a form of theology, one that uses images, shapes and colors, it also widely employs the principle of antinomy, which helps the human mind develop the ability to “soar from the world down below to that which is on high”.
This small cross pendant of Greek proportions has short semi-circular bars. The massive spherical hoop of the cross is fixed. The front contains a central medallion with an eight-armed cross mounted on Golgotha over the head of Adam. Nearby one can see the instruments of Christ’s Passion, the spear and the cane.
The free space on the medallion is filled with the traditional inscriptions meant to glorify God. The inscription at the top, translated as “The King of Glory”, testifies to the true royal nature of Christ and speaks of the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension. The edges of the horizontal bar bear the letters that stand for the shortened name, Jesus Christ, attesting to the fact that our Lord is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. At the bottom, one can see the inscription НИКА (“The Victor”), which testifies to Christ’s victory over hell and death. Over the Cross of Calvary there is the abbreviation М.Л.Р.Б., which stands for “Место Лобно Рай Бысть” and is translated as the “place of execution turned into paradise”. This refers to mankind regaining the paradise it had once lost. The Church Slavonic letters “К” and “Т” stand for the instruments of the Savior’s Passion, the spear (“копие”) and a cane (“трость”), while the letters “Г” and “А” stand for the head of Adam (“главa Адамова”). The bars of the cross are decorated with a Byzantine ornament of lilies, an ancient symbol of life and renewal of nature. Thus the cross also represents the Tree of Life.
The entire back of the cross is occupied by the relief icon of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, with the saints' names written on the frame around the icon in Church Slavonic. The faces of the martyrs seem to be embedded in the cross, as if in a reliquary. As a result, the whole composition of the icon set harmoniously replicates the shape of the cross. In the center of the composition, one can see St. Sophia with the cross of martyrdom in her hands. This cross serves as a projection of the Holy Cross on the front of the pendant. Moreover, being placed above the head of St. Love, it illustrates the words of the Apostle Paul: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13).
Sophia was a pious Christian widow who named her daughters after the three Christian virtues. At the time of their martyrdom, Faith was twelve, Hope was ten, and Love was nine. St. Sophia raised them in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and they did not hide their faith, openly confessing it in front of everyone. An official named Antiochus denounced them to Emperor Hadrian, who ordered them to be brought to Rome. Hadrian urged them to offer sacrifice to the goddess Artemis, but the girls were strong in their faith and did not yield. The emperor then ordered them to be tortured. After undergoing unspeakable torment, the holy virgins were beheaded. In order to intensify St. Sophia’s suffering, the emperor permitted her to take the bodies of her daughters for burial. She buried them on a high hill and gave up her soul to the Lord after sitting by their grave for three days. Christian believers buried her body beside her daughters. Their relic of the saintly family have rested at El’zasa, in the Church of Esho, since the year 777.
Reliquary cross “The Savior in Majesty”
This gilded silver reliquary cross continues the traditions of the 14th-15th centuries. In Ancient Russia, reliquary pectorals were part of a prince’s set of throat, neck and chest jewelry (which was known in Russian as “grivnaya utvar’”). Russian princes and the most aristocratic of the hereditary gentry, or boyars, wore them in plain sight on their chests, over their clothes. Reliquary crosses were seen as family heirlooms and were handed down from father to son. Such reliquaries had a quadrifolial (four-leaved) shape with keel-like ends and were similar the depiction of the angelic forces. Therefore, wearing a cross in this shape is tantamount to the confession of one’s faith in the second coming of the Lord in His Glory, in His Majesty, surrounded by forces of Heaven.
The front of the cross contains the icon “The Savior in Majesty” in an ornamental frame, crowned by another icon known as “The Face of the Savior Not Made by Human Hands”. On the reverse one can see the Blossoming Cross of the Lord surrounded by the words of the prayer: “Guard me, O Lord, by the power of Your Precious and Life-Giving Cross, and deliver me from all evil”.
The iconographic images on the inner side of the wings repeats the images found on the ancient travel panagia or arcs, which were directly linked to the sequence of actions performed during the Exaltation of the Panagia. Later on, they often functioned as reliquaries and contained the relics of a saint. The internal side of the first wing contains a replica of the icon of the Holy Trinity painted by Andrei Rubliov. Along the edge of the wing one can see the troparion of the feast: “Blessed are You, O Christ our God, Who made the simple fishermen wise, having sent them the Holy Spirit, and through them ensnared the universe in their nets. Glory be to You, O One Who loves mankind.”
On the second wing one can see the icon of the Theotokos known as “The Sign (Omen)”. Inscribed along the edge of the wing there is a laudatory hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Worthy of greater honor than the cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the seraphim, One who gave birth to the Word of God without infirmity, we sing praise to You as the true Mother of God.”
Encolpion cross "Holy Face not Made by Human Hands. The Light and the Life" (1)
The Greek word “enkolpion” is translated as “worn on the chest, upon the heart" and refers to a cross with two wings (closable doors) containing embedded particles of holy relics or other sacred items venerated by Christians. The very name and purpose of these crosses suggest that they are among the most essential personal shrines. As such they have always been characterized by profound sacred content and were crafted with superb skill, using the most elaborate techniques.
In creating this cross, we have attempted to replicate the external shape of the ancient Byzantine encolpia that were common in Russia in the 10th-13th centuries. What is more, we have tried to construct the item in accordance with the basic theological ideas of the time and to express them through shape, iconography, color and numerical symbols.
Crosses in this shape were commonly encountered in Eastern Christian ecclesiastical art. The cross consists of four bars that thicken towards the ends and resemble four expanding streams of light, which emanate from a single center. This shape conveys the idea of the cross as a source of light, which was sung about in many ancient hymns and mentioned in the teachings of the Church Fathers: “O, the brilliance of the cross! The sun is darkened, and the stars fall down like leaves, and the cross outshines all of them and encompasses the entire sky” (St. John Chrysostom, “A word to the tempted”). Moreover, it indicates that Christ Himself is the source of life-giving light: “I am the light of the world; He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). The bars end in teardrop-shaped extensions, which are interpreted as the drops of blood shed by Christ on the cross or as plant elements (leaf or flower buds) that demonstrate the life-giving power of the Cross. In keeping with the shape chosen for the cross, in the center inside a circle one can find an image of the Savior, the One who defeated hell and death. Both above and beneath the circular medallion there is the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА, which means “Jesus Christ is the Victor”. This is the most ancient inscription, established by Emperor Constantine and found on numerous crosses. It complements the image of the cross on prosphora bread and is present on many Orthodox pectorals.
The image of Christ is rendered in accordance with the ancient tradition of depicting Christ as the Eternal Priest. The round medallion, which represents the sky or the sphere of the universe, also delineates the circumference of the Savior’s cruciform halo and speaks of His sacrifice on the cross. “O extraordinary miracle! The latitude and longitude of the cross are equal to the heavens, for it sanctifies all with Divine Grace” (Sticheron on praise, Tone 8). Particularly noteworthy are the medallions depicted against the background of the cruciform halo, which stem from the Apocrypha about the Image of the Holy Face not Made by Human Hands and are invariably present on many ancient icons of Christ. A.N. Ovchinnikov explains their meaning in his article “Christ the Priest” as he analyzes the 13th century icon known as the “Golden-Haired Savior”: “The number and arrangement of the medallions, akin to the shape of the constellations, represent the great mysteries and sacraments, the seven large seals in the background and on the cross itself are the seven seals in the book of the “One seated on the throne” (Rev. 5:6). They also stand for the seven sacraments and the seven sources of light on the candlestick with seven candles - that is, the seven planets. However, this seven-fold unity, divided into two parts, forms the three great seals on the cross - the image of the Trinity, and the four great seals - the four elements of the earth, which were assimilated by Christ at Incarnation. The twelve small seals on the three blades of the cross are the twelve apostles.”
The above symbolism is developed and supplemented on the plane of the four widening bars. On each bar one can see a cross inside a round medallion, with a dot in the center, which stands for Christ, and four diagonal ornamental elements, which symbolize the four evangelists and the four Gospels, the light of which is spreading in all the four cardinal directions. This serves to enhance the theme of luminosity. The dots in the middle of the circles denote Christ. In the free space on the cross there are twelve dots, which represent the twelve apostles who function as vessels for the Light of Christ and pass it on to the rest of the world.
The top part of an encolpion has a barrel shape, which is fairly common. As a vessel that contains wine derived from a grapevine, the barrel is often encountered in early Christian art. According to the opinion expressed by Duke A.S. Uvarov in “Christian symbolism, “the barrel, along with the cup, should be understood as a symbol of Holy Communion and the Church of Christ. This meaning stems from the symbolism of the vine, which was founded by the Savior, Who compared Himself to a vine and likened his disciples to its fruit (John 15: 1-5).
The reverse of the encolpion contains five round medallions with the two Greek words ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ (“fos” and “zoe”), which mean, respectively, “light” and “life”. Here, φως is not the sensory light emanating from material sources, but “immaterial light”, while ζωή is not biological life but “spiritual life”. These concepts, which were introduced in in the Gospel and revealed as the names of the Lord in the treatise “On divine names” by Dionysius the Areopagite, essentially denote Christ. When these words are written in a cruciform shape, they acquire the additional meaning of the cross. The combination of several concepts within the same sign was used to enhance its effect. This was the reason why the cross-shaped formula φως and ζωή was widespread in Byzantium and throughout the Christian East and was present on priests’ vestments, encolpia, pectoral crosses and papyrus amulets. In addition to the medallions with the Greek formula, there are symbolic elements on the reverse of our encolpion that mirror those found on the front, along with a floral ornament to mark the cross as the Tree of Life.
The aforementioned symbolism has also determined our choice of precious materials for the cross, which in ancient times were understood as projections of the concepts pertaining to the “world on high” or its prototypes. An important role was ascribed to the quality and color of the material. In accordance with the Byzantine tradition, we used gold or gilded silver and hot multicolored enamel. It should be remembered that in Byzantium, as well as in Ancient Russia (Rus), its spiritual heir, gold occupied a special position and was seen as a representation of the divine impenetrable light, or an “absolute metaphor” of God: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Furthermore, as a symbol of the sun and an attribute and emblem of royal dignity, gold reflects the image of Christ as the “Sun of Truth” and the “King of Glory” The color of the enamel is also symbolic and may acquire certain shades of meaning depending on the intrinsic meaning of the colored element, or on the color combinations. Color may be used to express the following concepts:
Red stands for blood and the Savior’s sacrifice, and, at the same time, for the heavenly cleansing fire and life-giving warmth, for Life and Resurrection;
Green stands for the Life Eternal given to us by the Savior, for the Cross as the Tree of Life and Christ as the Life-Giver;
Blue is the heavenly color of Sophia, or the Wisdom of God, it stands for truth and fairness and for the incomprehensible nature of the divine;
White stands for purity and holiness, for Heaven and for the transfigured and risen Christ.
The inside of the wing that serves as a lid for the encolpion carries an ornamental cross. Inside the other wing, which is a repository for the holy relics, the Jesus prayer is inscribed in Church Slavonic: “O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The incessant repetition of the Jesus prayer was taught by the hesychast fathers, the devotees of Egypt, Sinai and Athos who created a prayer technique that requires the simultaneous involvement of the heart and the intellect. They found that the apostolic commandment to “pray without ceasing“ (Thess. 5:17) was easiest to observe if a brief prayer was used, and that the Jesus prayer was particularly effective. According to Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem (+ 430), “as wheat grows in the valleys and bears fruit in abundance, so the Jesus prayer shall give birth to an abundance of all things good in your heart; or, better still, you will receive them from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, without Whom we can create nothing. At first you will find that the prayer is a ladder, then a book you will be able to read, and then, finally, as you ascend to greater and greater heights, you will find it to be the Heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the King of Heavenly Forces with His consubstantial Father and the worshipped Holy Spirit”. Many pages of “Philokalia” are dedicated to the Jesus prayer, as is “The Frank Stories of a Wanderer as Told to His Spiritual Father”, one of the most beloved books on prayer in Russia.
Encolpion cross "Holy Face not Made by Human Hands. The Light and the Life" (2)
With regard to its shape and content, this pectoral cross decorated with hot multicolored enamel resembles the ancient Russian encolpia of the 12th-13th centuries. It has straight bars with rounded ends and paired protrusions known as “teardrops”. The proportions of the cross are close to the the Greek ones, albeit with a slightly elongated vertical bar. As with most crosses of this type, it represents a fourfold model of the world saved by the Lord.
On the front, in the center of the cross, one can see the Holy Image not Made by Human Hands, which illustrates the words of the ancient prophecy: “God is our King since before the beginning of time: he created salvation in the middle of the earth” (Psalm 73.12). The Image of the Holy Face has a protective meaning, and, in addition, serves as a symbol and guarantee of victory. This is connected to the history of the icon, which was created by the Lord to help a suffering person (Abgar, the king of Edessa), and later, having been hung above the city gates, would ward off enemies.
At the ends of the bars, which point at the four directions of the world, inside round medallions, one can see the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА (Jesus Christ the Victorious), which affirms Christ’s victory. The free space on the cross is filled with an ancient geometrical ornament ("gorodki" in Russian) resembling several adjacent flights of stairs.
The composition of the reverse is much like that on the obverse and consists of five round medallions distributed in a cruciform shape and separated by the “gorodki” pattern. The reverse of the encolpion contains five round medallions with the two Greek words ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ (“fos” and “zoe”), which mean, respectively, “light” and “life”. Here, φως is not the sensory light emanating from material sources, but “immaterial light”, while ζωή is not biological life but “spiritual life”. These concepts, which were introduced in in the Gospel and revealed as the names of the Lord in the treatise “On divine names” by Dionysius the Areopagite, are essentially used to denote Christ. “I am the light of the world; He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Recorded in the form of a cross, they acquire an even deeper meaning. Therefore, the cross-shaped formula ΦωΣ and ΖωΗ was widespread in Byzantium and throughout the Christian East. Among other things, it was attributed with a special protective significance. Such inscriptions are found on papyrus amulets, on encolpia and crosses, even on episcopal vestments (the epitrachel of Metropolitan Photius, XV century).
The cross is crowned by a movable top part in a traditional barrel-like shape, decorated with the stair-shaped geometrical pattern.
Reliquary cross “The Lord Almighty. Our Lady of Kazan”
The shape of this miniature reliquary cross made from gilded silver is known as a quadrifolium (four-leaf shape), where a cross of Greek proportions with rounded ends is overlaid upon a square. The bars of the cross end in globular projections (referred to as “kasty” in Russian), the lowermost of which functions as a locking screw. So do the angles of the square. Reliquary crosses in this shape were common in Russia from the fourteenth century onward.
The front of the cross depicts the Lord Almighty and the symbols of the Evangelists, which are grouped into what is known as a tetramorph - the four animals said to surround the throne of the Almighty in the Revelation of St. John (4, 7-8). The reverse contains the icon of the Theotokos “Our Lady of Kazan” and the images of the four evangelists. The inside of the front wing contains the icon “Christ in the Tomb”, while on the back of the second wing there is an ornamental image of the cross.
As with the crosses made in the 14th-15th centuries, the shape of the reliquary and the iconographic images on the surface are interrelated, symbolic and polysemantic. They follow the rules of the established ecclesiastical and liturgical symbolism, as well as the teaching of the Church about the veneration of the holy relics. Thus, the shape of the quadrifolium as such, which is used in church ripida as well as in reliquaries, was seen as similar to the images of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore, the shape was a confession of faith in eternal life in the Heavenly City. Moreover, as with any cross of Greek proportions, it represents a quadripartite model of the world created and ordered by the Lord, the One Who was embodied in created flesh consisting of the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. The central image of Christ is enclosed in a sphere, a symbol of eternity, which, in turn, is situated inside a square; the latter, like rectangular prosphora stamps, signifies the incarnation of the Lord. The connection to the prosphora stamp is emphasized by the inscriptions of І&С Х&С НИКА in the corners of the square. The images of the evangelists at the ends of the bars help one perceive the cross as a model of the Christ’s new world, enlightened by the light of the Gospel doctrine, whereas the evangelists themselves are its keepers and represent the parts or cardinal directions of the world.
The iconography of the Lord Almighty replicates the ancient Byzantine images of the Pantokrator found in the domes of Greek and Old Russian temples.
A distinctive feature of the this iconography is the position of the fingers on the Savior’s hand, which is folded into a gesture of blessing. In the Novgorod lands, a special protective significance was attributed to this gesture.
If the front of the cross has a pronounced cosmic character owing to the image of the Almighty and the apocalyptic animals, the reverse, whose symbolism is essentially the same, shows the world as the Church of Christ. This is aided by the image of the Blessed Virgin, the embodiment of Christ’s Church, and the images of the evangelists as its pillars and keepers. The particular image of the Theotokos chosen for this cross is the icon known as “Our Lady of Kazan”, which is especially revered in Russia. It is found inside a square, which signifies the incarnation of the Lord. The names of the evangelists are written on the margins of the square.
The front wing of the reliquary cross serves as a container for the holy relics. Therefore, the similarity to a prosphora stamp aside, the central square on the wing represents the most significant place inside the altar (the holiest of the holy) and serves as its prototype. It was under a rectangular altar (known as a “trapeza”) that a saint’s relics were reposed under church custom. The symbolism of the throne is emphasized by the image of the Lord Almighty in the front square and the icon known as “Christ in the Tomb” on the inside, since, according to the teachings of the Church Fathers, the holy altar is both the throne of the Lord and the grave of Christ. The theme of Christ in the tomb is traditional for the antimins, fabric covers used during the liturgy instead of an altar. Antimins were also used as repositories for the relics of saints. The ornamental cross on the inside of the second wing may be understood as an obligatory accessory of the holy altar – a cross that is either situated behind the altar or rests on top.
Thus, the reliquary cross represents the universal model of Christ’s world and demonstrates an abstract image of the Church, as well as a physical church complete with the holy altar, where the imperishable relics of the saints reside in Christ without dissolution or decay, serving as a temple of the Holy Spirit and a particle of the mystical body of Christ. By venerating the holy relics, we receive prayerful assistance from the saints and are strengthened in the belief in the final universal resurrection promised by the Savior. According to St. John of Damascus: “Through them [the holy relics of the saints] demons are driven away, diseases flee, the infirm are healed, the blind gain their sight back, lepers are cleansed, temptations and sorrows cease, all manner of good gifts from the fathers of light come down through them to those who ask with unshakable faith.”
Cross “Crucifixion. Lord, Have Mercy”
The pectoral cross with a movable top part is characterized by a four-pointed shape of Latin proportions, where the length of the vertical bar exceeds that of the horizontal one. The bars of the cross are straight, with bulb-shaped ends modeled after church domes. Individual crosses in this shape can be encountered in Russia from the 15th century onward; starting from the 17th century, several more complex versions began to appear and a whole group of crosses, by then already mass-produced in series of several at a time, came into existence. The main distinguishing feature of the crosses manufactured in the 17th century was the lack of iconographic subjects and the rich ornamental detail in the center.
Because of the dome-shaped ends of the bars, the main symbolic meaning of our cross may be defined by the words from the laudatory hymns to the Cross: “The Cross is the beauty of the Church.” The ornament, executed in the 12th century Byzantine style and comprised of winding vines that are decorated with multi-colored enamel and frame the cross along the entire perimeter, is consistent with this meaning. The vine is known to be a symbol not only of Christ, but of Christ’s Church, which bears spiritual fruit.
The figure of the Savior, crucified on an eight-pointed cross, has been placed on the front, in the center. Above the cross, as a testament to the whole world’s tribulation and universal mourning, one can see the sun and the moon, whose light has grown dim with sorrow. On either end of the horizontal bar there are the waist-length images of the Theotokos and St. John the Theologian in mourning. In the lower part of the cross, one can see Mount Calvary with the skull of Adam and the Slavic abbreviation "М.Л.Р.Б." or "место лобно рай бысть", translated as "the place of execution has turned into paradise", which refers to the fact that the Savior has restored the long-lost paradise. The upper part contains an image of the Prepared Throne (Hetoimasia), understood in the given iconographic tradition as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, where the throne itself stands for God the Father, the Gospel is the Word of God and the dove is the Holy Spirit.
The reverse carries a floral ornament in the 12th-century Byzantine style, which indicates that the cross is the Tree of Life, and, like the one on the front, is a symbol of the spiritually fruitful Church of Christ. Inscribed in the center of the cross is the prayer: “Lord, have mercy”. This prayer is the shortest of all and has been known since the time of the Apostles. These words are known to have been cried out by the crowds during the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross by Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem after Its recovery by Empress Helena. In order to better appreciate the sheer depth of the prayer, let us quote St. John Chrysostom: “He who says: Have mercy on me, has been absolved, for those who have been pardoned shall not be punished. He who says: Have mercy on me, has gained the Kingdom of Heaven, for those pardoned by God are not only spared punishment, but are granted all things good in the future”.
Cross “Holy Face not Made by Human Hands with the Symbols of the Evangelists”
This four-ended pectoral cross of Greek proportions with a movable top part has been decorated using the technique of recessed hot enamel. Its shape can be traced back to Byzantine crosses with bars that widened from the center outward and had teardrop-like protrusions at the edges and circles in the middle of each end. The shape of our cross is peculiar in that, in keeping with the iconographic composition, the bars are shaped like the wings of angelic beings that represent the four evangelists.
The iconographic composition we have chosen for the front, with the image of the Savior inside the central circle and the symbols of the evangelists placed on the four bars of the cross, can be encountered on numerous Byzantine and Ancient Russian crosses. The theme was particularly popular in European church art in the early Middle Ages. Apart from crosses, it was often found on miniatures in manuscripts, on the salaries of the Gospels and on the frescoes or mosaics inside cathedrals. Owing to the cosmic symbolism, such compositions were used to decorate the domes of many Byzantine churches.
The origins of the symbolism characteristic for this iconography stem from book of the prophet Ezekiel (1, 4-26) and the Revelation of St. John the Theologian (4, 6-7), which describe four fantastic winged creatures akin to a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle surrounding the throne of the Almighty. In the book of Ezekiel, they merge into a single four-faced image referred to as the tetramorph. In the Bible, these “four animals” personify the Glory of God and the Will of God, which emanate in the four chief directions of the world. In the Christian tradition, they soon came to be associated with the four Gospels and the four Evangelists, since their number (four) was also connected to the four cardinal parts or directions of the world and pointed at the universal and complete nature of the Christian teaching. According to St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century): “It would be impossible for the Gospels to have been any more or any fewer in number. For as the there are four parts to the world in which we live and four main winds, and as the church is scattered all over the earth, and the pillar and affirmation of the Church is the Gospel and the Spirit of Life, it is mandatory that the Church have four pillars.”
As with any other the unilateral crosses, and perhaps to an even greater extent owing to the iconography we have chosen, our cross represents a model of the world that was created and ordered by the Lord, Who was embodied Himself in created flesh comprised by the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. It is known that in ancient times the “four animals” were attributed with the symbolism of the four elements (or forces) of nature. For instance, the Blessed Jerome (4th century) believed that the lion stood for fire, the eagle stood for water, the man stood for air and the bull stood for earth.
Starting from the center, the four winged symbolic beings form the four bars of the cross - the New World of Christ, permeated with God’s energy, and, at the same time, serve as its guardians, one for each part of the world. In order not to be confused by the fact that some of the images seem to be inverted, please note that compositions like ours cannot be perceived as directed from top to bottom or from left to right, but only as east to west and north to south, like the compositions found in church domes. In contemporary church practice, Catholic as well as Orthodox, in keeping with the writings of Blessed Jerome (4th century), the symbols for the evangelists are distributed as follows: the man is Matthew, the lion is Mark, the bull is Luke, the eagle is John. In Old Believer practice, the eagle stands for Mark and the lion stands for John. In ancient times, other distributions were also permitted, as the question had no dogmatic significance. Moreover, apart from regarding the tetramorph as the combined symbols of the four Evangelists, the Fathers of the Church would sometimes offer other interpretations. For example, St. Ephraim the Syrian (4th century) and St. Gregory the Great (6th century) regarded it as a symbol of Christ himself during the different phases of His life: at birth He was as a man, at death he was as a sacrificial bull, at Resurrection He was as a lion, at Ascension He was as an eagle. According to Herman of Constantinople (8th century), the four symbolic beings signify the activities of the Son of God: “The first creature is akin to a lion and represents His power and royal might. The second, akin to a calf, signifies His priestly rank. The third, which has a human face, illustrates His coming in the form of a man. And the fourth, akin to a flying eagle, refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The reverse of our cross is characterized by a cosmological symbolism similar to that on the front. In the center there is a circle with a four-pointed cross and the inscription І&С Х&С НИКА (Jesus Christ is victorious).
At the ends of the bars there are smaller circles with similar crosses. This conveys a model of the new world of Christ, or the New Jerusalem. To convey the unearthly nature of the sight, we have chosen a multicolored geometrical ornament resembling several flights of stairs, which fills the free space on the bars. Its strict geometrical nature seems to be somewhat at odds with the smooth curves of the bars. The discrepancy is intentional, however, as it is an artistic analogy to the antinomic verbal description of Heavenly Jerusalem by St. John the Theologian. The principle of antinomy (contradiction) is often used in theology when formulating the dogmas of the Church. According to the famous Orthodox theologian V.N. Lossky: “The task is not to eliminate the antinomy by adapting the dogma to our understanding, but in altering our minds so that we can arrive at the contemplation of the reality that shall reveal God to us, and, in doing so, ascend to God and become one with Him to a greater or lesser extent.” Since church art is a form of theology, one that uses images, shapes and colors, it also widely employs the principle of antinomy, which helps the human mind develop the ability to “soar from the world down below to that which is on high”.