{"id":3763,"date":"2015-05-13T11:08:40","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T11:08:40","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-04-12T11:55:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T09:55:54","slug":"christian-symbols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Symbols"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Orthodox Church abounds with the use of symbols. These symbols are those realities which have the power and competence of manifesting God to men, signs which carry us beyond ourselves and themselves into the genuine union and knowledge of things eternal and divine. <br \/> <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the Christian symbols we have already mentioned are the icons, the sign of the cross, and the vestments of liturgical celebration. In addition, we can mention the use of various colors which have their particular significance, as well as the use of <strong>light<\/strong>, normally the natural light of candles, which leads us to Christ, the Light of the world and of the Kingdom of God. Generally speaking, light is a universal symbol for the mystical presence of God as the True, the Beautiful and the Good. This is witnessed in almost all religions, philosophies, and artistic expressions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Orthodox Church follows the Bible in its use of <strong>incense<\/strong> (<em>Ex 30:8, Ps 141:2; Lk 1:9; Rev 8:3<\/em>). Incense is the symbol of the rising of prayers, of spiritual sacrifice and of the sweet-smelling fragrance of the Kingdom of God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Church also uses <strong>bread, wine, wheat, oil, water, flowers<\/strong> and <strong>fruits<\/strong> as signs of God\u2019s love, mercy, goodness, life and the very presence given to man in creation and salvation. Indeed, all elements of creation find the \u201ctruth\u201d of their very being and existence as expressions and manifestations of God, as \u201csymbols\u201d of his presence and action in the world for man. This is the reason for their use in this way in the Church.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the more graphic Christian symbols in the Church are the <strong>initials<\/strong> and <strong>letters of Christ\u2019s name<\/strong>; the <strong>triangle<\/strong> of the Trinity; the <strong>circle<\/strong> of eternity; the <strong>fish<\/strong> which stands for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour; the <strong>eye<\/strong> of God\u2019s omnipresence; the <strong>anchor<\/strong> of hope; the <strong>rock<\/strong> of faith; the <strong>flame<\/strong> of God\u2019s consuming presence; the <strong>vine<\/strong> which Jesus named himself\u2014\u201cI am the vine, you are the branches\u201d (<em>Jn 15:5<\/em>); the <strong>alpha<\/strong> and the <strong>omega<\/strong> (<em>Rev 1:8<\/em>); the <strong>crown<\/strong> and <strong>staff<\/strong> of Christ\u2019s kingship; and many others\u2014all of which indicate some aspect of the saving presence and action of God in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #000000;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The use of symbols is a mode of revelation and communion which passes beyond that of mere verbal or intellectual communication. The death of symbols comes when they are artificially invented, rationally explained, or reduced to mere \u201cillustrations\u201d whose meaning is not immediately grasped by man on the level of his living spiritual vision and experience.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Orthodox Church abounds with the use of symbols. These symbols are those realities which have the power and competence of manifesting God to men, signs which carry us beyond ourselves and themselves into the genuine union and knowledge of things eternal and divine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the Christian symbols we have already mentioned are the icons, the sign of the cross, and the vestments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","inline_featured_image":false,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1884],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-church-building-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Orthodox Church abounds with the use of symbols. These symbols are those realities which have the power and competence of manifesting God to men, signs which carry us beyond ourselves and themselves into the genuine union and knowledge of things eternal and divine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the Christian symbols we have already mentioned are the icons, the sign of the cross, and the vestments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koash1991\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/LogoLastALb-200.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"172\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kisha Orthodhokse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kisha Orthodhokse\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kisha Orthodhokse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/person\/df745f942b70e045b3dc05a30211f0de\"},\"headline\":\"Christian Symbols\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\"},\"wordCount\":440,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"The Church Building\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\",\"name\":\"Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christian Symbols\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/\",\"name\":\"Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\",\"description\":\"Fqja Zyrtare e Kish\u00ebs Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb me lajmet edhe informacionet zyrtare p\u00ebr struktur\u00ebn edhe veprimtarin e saj.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/albania.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/albania.jpeg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":540,\"caption\":\"Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koash1991\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/person\/df745f942b70e045b3dc05a30211f0de\",\"name\":\"Kisha Orthodhokse\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kisha Orthodhokse\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","og_description":"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Orthodox Church abounds with the use of symbols. These symbols are those realities which have the power and competence of manifesting God to men, signs which carry us beyond ourselves and themselves into the genuine union and knowledge of things eternal and divine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the Christian symbols we have already mentioned are the icons, the sign of the cross, and the vestments","og_url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/","og_site_name":"Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koash1991","article_published_time":"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":172,"url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/LogoLastALb-200.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kisha Orthodhokse","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kisha Orthodhokse","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/"},"author":{"name":"Kisha Orthodhokse","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/person\/df745f942b70e045b3dc05a30211f0de"},"headline":"Christian Symbols","datePublished":"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/"},"wordCount":440,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization"},"articleSection":["The Church Building"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/","url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/","name":"Christian Symbols - Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-13T11:08:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-12T09:55:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/en\/2015\/05\/13\/christian-symbols\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christian Symbols"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/","name":"Kisha Orthodh\u03bfkse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","description":"Fqja Zyrtare e Kish\u00ebs Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb me lajmet edhe informacionet zyrtare p\u00ebr struktur\u00ebn edhe veprimtarin e saj.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#organization","name":"Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb","url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/albania.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/albania.jpeg","width":540,"height":540,"caption":"Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqip\u00ebris\u00eb"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koash1991"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/#\/schema\/person\/df745f942b70e045b3dc05a30211f0de","name":"Kisha Orthodhokse","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2676eb8d97178435c9f691a7871595a1da6c33542dec218bce40885573150e28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kisha Orthodhokse"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3763"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17393,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3763\/revisions\/17393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxalbania.org\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}