St. Joseph's Church

Gen 14: 17-20 “When Abram returned from his defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. He blessed Abram with these words: ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand.’

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Gen 22: 11-12 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the angel. “Do not do the least thing to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you did not withhold from me your son, your only one.”

The fifth Glorious Mystery. Jesus places a crown on the head of Mary as Queen of Heaven. After Jesus took Mary, body and soul into heaven, He crowned her Queen of heaven and earth. By her very relationship as the mother of Jesus, Mary is queen because Jesus is King. And Mary is the greatest queen ever for she is the mother of the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

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A lily is a symbol of purity, so St. Joseph holds a lily to represent his holiness and his celibate marriage to the Blessed Virgin. He holds the saw as a symbol of his trade.

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Left: Winged ox: St. Luke; Oxen were used in temple sacrifices. St. Luke begins his Gospel where, the priest Zechariah was offering sacrifice in the Temple (Lk 1). St. Luke also includes the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which the fatted calf is slaughtered, not only to celebrate the younger son’s return, but also to foreshadow the joy we must have in receiving reconciliation through our most merciful Savior who as Priest offered Himself in sacrifice to forgive our sins. Therefore, the winged ox reminds us of the priestly character of our Lord and His sacrifice for our redemption.

Right: Winged Lion: St. Mark; references Isaiah: “Here begins the Gospel ... In Isaiah…it is written: ‘I send my messenger…: a herald’s voice in the desert, crying, “Make ready the way of the Lord, clear Him a straight path.’” “The voice in the desert crying” reminds one of a lion’s roar, and the prophetical spirit descending to earth reminds one of a “winged message.” The lion also signified royalty, an appropriate symbol for the Son of God.

Left: Divine man: St. Matthew; Gospel highlights Jesus’ entry into this world, first by presenting His family lineage — “A family record of Jesus Christ, Son of David, son of Abraham” (Mt 1:1) — and His incarnation and birth: “Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (Mt 1:18). “This then,” according to St. Irenaeus, “is the Gospel of His humanity; for which reason it is, too, that the character of a humble and meek man is kept up through the whole Gospel.”

Right: Rising eagle: St. John; The Gospel “rises” to pierce most deeply the mysteries of God, the relationship between the Father and the Son, and the incarnation. The Gospel of St. John, unlike the other Gospels, engages the reader with the most profound teachings of our Lord, such as the long discourses Jesus has with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, and the beautiful teachings on the Bread of Life and the Good Shepherd. Jesus, too, identified Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and anyone who embraces Him as such will rise to everlasting life with Him.

For more information visit: https://catholicexchange.com/what-are-the-symbols-of-the-four-evangelists

Left: Ave Maria (Hail Mary) Symbol

Ave Maria (Hail Mary)- The first words of the Catholic prayer based on the salutation of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary and the words of Elizabeth to her.

Right:

IHS

Monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ. From Greek, it is an abbreviation of the name IHΣΟΥΣ (Jesus)

Left: Pelican

In medieval Europe, the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the point of providing her own blood by wounding her own breast when no other food was available. As a result, the pelican became a symbol of the Passion of Jesus and of the Eucharist since about the 12th century.

Right: Lamb of God.

 The Lamb of God is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." It appears again in John 1:36. The flag is symbolic of Christ's victory over death in His Resurrection.

For more information, visit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_symbolism#Pelican

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God

https://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu710.htm

Left: The Bible, the Word of God

The Bible is the account of God’s action in the world, and his purpose with all creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty human authors. The Catholic Bible contains a total of 73 books, 46 in the Old Testament (Protestant Bibles have 39) and 27 in the New Testament (the same as Protestant Bibles). It is quite an amazing collection of books with very different styles, all containing the message God desired us to have.

Right: The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, which he entrusted to his Church as the memorial of his death and Resurrection. The column represents that the Eucharist is a bridge connecting Heaven and earth.

For more information, visit:

https://www.biblica.com/resources/bible-faqs/what-is-the-bible/

https://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-Bible.html

http://umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/P/pillar.html