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MAR THOMA CROSSES PROF. M. M. NINAN Unlike crosses in other traditions, the St. Thomas Cross does not carry the effigy of the Christ. A crucifix is an emphasis on the death of Jesus on the cross as a sacrifice. Generally the Cross without the figure of Jesus on it symbolizes life - incarnation of Jesus - rather than death and suffering. The declaration is the “God became man, so that man can become god”. The death of Adam was ordained as a blessing so that children of Adam - the sons of the son of God - may not eternally suffer because of the selfishness of individuals within the society. resurrected body of Jesus we regain immortality and become part of the body of Christ. It represents victory over death. It is through the The cross represent Jesus, the Son of God with his welcoming arms wide open inviting every man to come and enter to be part of his body. “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.” Nicene Creed DESCENDING DOVE Traditionally dove represents the Holy Spirit. “And the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily shape, like a dove on Him.” Luke 3:22 61
MAR THOMA CROSSES PROF. M. M. NINAN “And We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.” Nicene Creed “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63 Thus the Holy Spirit that descends upon the Mar Toma Sliba is yet another symbol of resurrection unto eternal life - the redemptive power of God. As St. Paul teaches, Holy Spirit transforms Jesus’ decaying material flesh-body into undecaying Spirit-body that is connected to the infinite supply of life giving ordering spirit which abolishes the second law of thermodynamics and reverses it to a decreasing entropial system. Thus it representts the victory of Jesus over death and the way to immortality through his flesh. Jesus Christ (Rome 8, 11). At the top is a descending dove, representing the Holy Spirit of God, - the life giving spirit- coming down to live in our hearts, through the resurrected body of Jesus, enabling us to live a righteous and faithful life. With the inflowing of life continuously, it provides eternal life. This is the fruit of the tree of life. The use of the dove above the cross is found contemporaneously outside India, therefore it provides a connecting the imagery of the Saint Thomas cross to the wider Syriac/Orthodox world at the time. One example is the on the marble sarcophagus of Byzantine Archbishop Theodore in Ravenna, Italy, c. 677-688. Another is the sarcophagus of Aelia Galla Placidia (392-450), the daughter of Roman emperor Theodosius. TREFOIL, BLOOMING BUDS AND THE POMEGRANATES. Each of the four arms of the cross terminates in a rare form of trefoil. It is interpreted variously. Trefoil is a small European plant of the pea family, with yellow flowers and three-lobed clover-like leaves. a plant with three-lobed leaves that is similar or related to the trefoil. an ornamental design of three rounded lobes like a clover leaf, used typically in architectural tracery. Trefoil symbolism is used usually to denote Trinity. 62
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