(East) Orthodox Church Visit Part 2｜Dove, Fish, Symbol

 

Continue to part 1 (please read part 1 before reading this~)

Earlier we introduced why (Eastern) Orthodox crosses look different from others

And the halo on Jesus’ head has the exclusive three Greek letters ΟΩΝ

when i started to look through old photos

I just saw it carefully~ I went to the church so many times in Russia before, but I didn’t notice it!

Sure enough, under normal circumstances

When we go to museums (European churches are museums for me), it is easy to walk around and see flowers~

If there is an explanation, it will immediately rise to another level!

“Imperial Gate” represents the gate to heaven in Orthodox belief

And the icon in front of the “Imperial Gate” will change with the festivals of each month/season

The picture above was taken when we went to Moscow in July 2019

What looks like an icon of the Virgin and Child

The picture below was placed during the visit a few days after the Epiphany on January 19.

Father Kirill introduced us halfway

Suddenly took out “a thing”

Immediately caught the eyes of all the children…

Yes! “Dove”

(Actually, it looks like a turtledove?)

Why are there doves in a church?

It turned out that a few days before our visit, we happened to meet the church holding a ceremony.

If you look closely at the picture below

You will find that in the light (representing the Holy Spirit) that falls from the sky in the icon that symbolizes John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River, the messenger who brings the good news is a dove! When I was looking at this icon, I actually wanted to ask

Does it have any special meaning to draw Jordan’s reasonable “fish 🐟” in particular?

And there are people who are as thin as wood…. Does it feel like a symbol of hell? !

But when I wanted to ask questions, I found that several of our students raised their hands to ask the priest.

Wait until the answer is complete

I forgot to ask…@@…but I’m too brooding about this 🐟

Because I vaguely remember that Jesus had a special connection with fish

And in the Orthodox Ramadan if it’s not very strict

It is possible to eat “pescetarian”…. (Is it still vegetarian after eating fish…? It feels a bit like the concept of egg lacto-vegetarian?)

Anyway, at the time of writing this article

Let me turn to the photo of the notes I went to the lecture before!

Yay~~~ Sure enough! Jesus has a special relationship with fish~ 🐟 Not only the Lord’s staple food, but also His symbol

(But please don’t ask Lara why….XDD)

And #jesusfish is a very important “password” during the persecution of Christianity in history

See the following Wikipedia description:

The Jesus fish (Greek: ΙΧΘΥΣ, ikhthýsἰχθύς ikʰˈtʰys, common Greek 1st century AD) is a symbol of Christianity

It was first used by Christians to avoid religious persecution in the Roman Empire.

With the issuance of the Edict of Milan

Christianity is legalized

This symbol has also become one of the representative symbols of Christianity because of its historical significance

This symbol is in the shape of a fish, in Greek “fish” = “ΙΧΘΥΣ”

For Christians, the word can consist of exactly 5 initials

Symbolizes the core of faith and confession of Christianity

Because Lara herself is ♓️ Pisces, she may be particularly familiar with the fish symbol

When you see the “Jesus Fish” symbol

I was stunned for a moment… Ah, isn’t this the pattern I liked to draw on my graduation album when I was in elementary school?

Constellation: Pisces – will draw two fishes with very simple lines

I didn’t expect that what I painted back then might be the Jesus fish… (But I still draw the eyes….)

Symbols exist almost all the time in our lives: the cross, the Star of David, Tai Chi, to the medical totem

Even the swastika of Buddhism, take a look at the following world religious symbols, how many do you know?

Maybe we have all seen it invisibly.

The world is really interesting~There are so many thematic associations that can be extended from visiting a church~

Let’s string together seemingly unrelated life experiences or special memories

None of our learning was in vain

just like life

No day is meaningless ~ every moment is the accumulation of life

I like to enrich life with these bits and pieces

Also record it in words and share it with more people in the classroom~

(Eastern) Orthodox Church Tour Postscript part 3 to be continued… (Actually, I was going to write about baptism today, but I digressed again XDD)