Crucifix

Information about Crucifix

A crucifix (from Latin cruciare meaning "to torture") is a cross with a representation of Jesus' body, or corpus. It is a principal symbol of the Christian religion. It is primarily used in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox Churches and emphasizes Christ's sacrifice— his death by crucifixion.

The Crucifix

On some crucifixes a skull and crossbones are shown below the corpus, referring to Golgotha (Calvary), the site at which Jesus was crucified—"the place of the skull." It was probably called "Golgotha" because it was a burial-place, or possibly because of a legend that the place of Jesus' crucifixion was also the burial place of Adam. The standard, four-pointed Latin crucifix consists of an upright stand and a crosspiece to which the sufferer's arms were nailed. The Eastern Christian crucifix includes two additional crossbars: the shorter nameplate, to which INRI was affixed; and the shorter stipes, to which the feet were nailed, which is angled upward toward penitent thief St. Dismas (to the viewer's left) and downward toward impenitent thief Gestas (to the viewer's right). It is thus eight-pointed. The corpora of Eastern Orthodox crucifixes tend to be two-dimensional icons that show Jesus as already dead, as opposed to the depictions of the still-suffering Jesus that can be found in some other Churches.

Another type of depiction of the body on the cross is what might be called a "resurrection cross" or "resifix" depicting a triumphant risen Christ (clothed in robes, rather than stripped as for his execution) with arms raised, appearing to rise up from the cross, sometimes accompanied by "rays of light."

Usage

Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, and confessional Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services. They believe the crucifix is in keeping with Scripture, which states that “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.”^[1]

Prayer in front of a crucifix is often part of devotion for Christians, especially those worshipping in a church, and private devotion in a chapel. The person may sit, stand, or kneel in front of the crucifix, sometimes looking at it in contemplation, or merely in front of it with head bowed or eyes closed. In the Catholic Mass, and Anglican Holy Eucharist, a procession begins Mass in which a crucifix is carried forward into the church followed by the priest, deacon, lector and servers, along with some of the other items used in the service such as the Gospels and the altar candles. The crucifix is also one of the most effective means of averting or opposing demons, as stated by many exorcists, including the famous exorcist of the Vatican, Father Gabriele Amorth. In folklore, it is considered to ward off vampires, incubi and succubi.

Gallery

crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in Košice, Slovakia	A handheld crucifix	A crucifix in a church, with votive candles.
A crucifix outside an Anglican churchIn Petersfield,Hampshire

References

1. ^ [1]

Christianity

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Jesus Christ
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Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE),^[2] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity, and is also an important figure in several other religions.
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religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience.
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Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general; universal" (cf. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon) .
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Anglicanism most commonly refers to the beliefs and practices of the Anglican Communion, a world-wide affiliation of Christian Churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority, since each national or regional church has full autonomy.
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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Church launched the Protestant Reformation and, though it was not
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Eastern Christianity

History
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Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution, where the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead.

This form of execution was widely practiced in Ancient Rome and in neighbouring Mediterranean cultures; similar methods were invented in
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skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two bones crossed together under the skull. Today, it is generally used as a warning of danger (usually in regard to poisonous substances).
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Corpus (plural corpora) is Latin for body. It can refer to:

The body of Christ
A text corpus in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts
Corpus callosum, a structure in the brain

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Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם‎, Adam, "man"; Arabic: آدم
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INRI is an acronym of the Latin phrase IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM , which translates to English as: "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews". It appears in the New Testament of the Christian Bible in the Gospel John (19:19).
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icon (from Greek εἰκών, eikon, "image") is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; by
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For the '60s progressive rock band, see .

A procession (via Middle English processioun, French procession, derived from Latin, processio, itself from procedere
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Mass is a fundamental concept in physics, roughly corresponding to the intuitive idea of "how much matter there is in an object". Mass is a central concept of classical mechanics and related subjects, and there are several definitions of mass within the framework of relativistic
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Gospel, from the Old English god-spell "good tidings" is a calque of Greek ευαγγέλιον (
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Fr. Gabriele Amorth (born May 1, 1925) is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the senior exorcist of Vatican City.

Amorth was born in Modena, Italy in 1925. He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest in 1954 and became an official Vatican exorcist in June 1986 under the
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Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that are renowned for subsisting on human blood or lifeforce, but in some cases may prey on animals. Although vampires have different characteristics depending on which lore one reads, in most cases, they are described as reanimated
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incubus (plural incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. They are also believed to do this in order to spawn other incubi.
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succubus (plural succubi) or succuba (plural succubae) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men (especially monks) in dreams to have sexual intercourse.
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Holy Spirit Church is the name of numerous churches, including:

Holy Spirit Church (Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra);
Holy Spirit Church (Košice);
Holy Spirit Church (Yaroslavl).

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Anthem
Nad Tatrou sa blıska
"Lightning over the Tatras"

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St. Peter's Church is the Anglican parish church in Petersfield, Hampshire, England. It is within the Diocese of Portsmouth. The ancient church is still very much a focal point within Petersfield, and is located in the centre of town, on the south side of the Square.
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Crucifix

Information about Crucifix

The Crucifix

Usage

Gallery

References

See also

External links