In May 2010, Bob and I, Mary Ferree, and my Orthodox brother Mark were fortunate enough to join an Orthodox pilgrimage to the ancient monastic sites of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Aran Isles. We saw hundreds and hundreds of Celtic crosses, from the small stone slabs that were simply etched with the circled cross to towering and highly carved 25-foot-high crosses which mark sacred sites. The Monasterboice (“monastery of St. Boice”) example is remarkable. About 30 of these 10th century high crosses still exist. On Inish Mor, the largest of the Aran Isles, is an intensely moving and very ancient cemetery with over 120 graves of monastic monks in the sandy remains of one 5th-8th century churchyard (the monasteries only ended there with the Viking raids). On that island, only nine miles long, were eight monasteries; the first was founded in 484 by St. Enda. Over a dozen early canonized saints were buried there; many monks who trained there went on to found other Christian sites.
The cross itself only emerged as the predominant Christian symbol in the 4th century. Before that the dove, the ship, the anchor, the rose, and other symbols were often used. By the 5th century, the first example of the “nimbus cross” (the cross surrounded by a circle, ring, or halo) appeared in Ireland. One legend tells that St. Patrick took the pagan standing stone circles (honoring the sun and moon) and drew a cross within those circles as he converted Druids. He thus illustrated God’s endless, eternal love surrounding the symbol of the greatest sacrifice made for that love. A severely truncated version of St. Patrick’s prayer—“God above me, God below me, God within me, God behind me, God before me”—describes a circle. St. Bridget’s “caim” (caim = a loop or an invisible protective circle) augmented Patrick’s version and is used yet in Ireland. Some builders note that the circle around the carved cross also strengthens and supports the intersecting arms of stone crosses.
Whatever or however the nimbus Celtic cross started and flourished and flourishes still, it is quite meaningful to me and is an apt Chrismon.
—Pat Muckle
No comments:
Post a Comment