Christogram

A Christogram () is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church.

One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho (☧). It consists of the superimposed Greek letters chi and rho , which are the first two letters of the Greek , 'Christ'. It was displayed on the military standard used by Constantine I in 312 AD. The IX monogram () is a similar form, using the initials of the name , 'Jesus (the) Christ', as is the ΙΗ monogram (), using the first two letters of the name , 'JESUS' in uppercase.

There were a very considerable number of variants of "Christograms" or monograms of Christ in use during the medieval period, with the boundary between specific monograms and mere scribal abbreviations somewhat fluid.

The name ''Jesus'', spelt in Greek capitals, has the abbreviations ''IHS'' (also written ''JHS, IHC'', or ''ΙΗΣ''). The name ''Christus'' , spelt , has ''XP'' (and inflectional variants such as ''IX, XPO, XPS, XPI, XPM''). In Eastern Christian tradition, the monogram ΙϹΧϹ (with Overline indicating scribal abbreviation) is used for in both Greek and Cyrillic tradition.

A Middle Latin term for abbreviations of the name of Christ is . Similarly, the Middle Latin , refers to the Chi-Rho monogram specifically.

Symbols

Chi (Χ)

In antiquity, the cross, i.e. the instrument of Christ's crucifixion (, ), was taken to be T-shaped, while the X-shape (" chiasmus") had different connotations. There has been scholarly speculation on the development of the Christian cross, the letter Chi used to abbreviate the name of Christ, and the various pre-Christian symbolism associated with the chiasmus interpreted in terms of "the mystery of the pre-existent Christ".

In Plato's , it is explained that the two bands which form the "world soul" () cross each other like the letter Chi, possibly referring to the ecliptic crossing the celestial equator:

Justin Martyr in the 2nd century makes explicit reference to Plato's image in in terms of a prefiguration of the Holy Cross. An early statement may be the phrase in '' Didache'', "sign of extension in heaven" ().

An alternative explanation of the intersecting celestial symbol has been advanced by George Latura, claiming that Plato's "visible god" in is the intersection of the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light, a rare apparition important to pagan beliefs. He said that Christian bishops reframed this as a Christian symbol.

The most commonly encountered Christogram in English-speaking countries in modern times is the Χ (or more accurately, Chi), representing the first letter of the word ''Christ'', in such abbreviations as '' Xmas'' (for "Christmas") and '' Xian'' or ''Xtian'' (for "Christian").

Iota Chi (IX)

An early form of the monogram of Christ, found in early Christian ossuaries in Palaestina, was formed by superimposing the first (capital) letters of the Greek words for Jesus and Christ, i.e. iota Ι and chi Χ, so that this monogram means "Jesus Christ".

Chi Rho (ΧΡ)

The Alpha and Omega symbols may at times accompany the Chi-Rho monogram. Since the 17th century, (; also ) has been used as a Neo-Latin term for the Chi Rho monogram.

Because the was used as a kind of "invocation" at the beginning of documents of the Merovingian period, the term also came to be used of the " cross-signatures" in early medieval charters. in this context may refer to the Merovingian period abbreviation ''I. C. N.'' for , later (in the Carolingian period) also ''I. C.'' for , and still later (in the high medieval period) just ''C.'' for .

St Cuthbert's coffin (late 7th century) has an exceptional realisation of the Christogram written in Anglo-Saxon runes, as ᛁᚻᛋ ᛉᛈᛋ, transliterated to the Latin alphabet as 'IHS XPS', with the ''chi'' rendered as the '' eolh'' rune (the old ''z'' or ''algiz'' rune) and the ''rho'' rendered as the p-rune.

IHS

In the Latin-speaking Christianity of medieval Western Europe (and so among Catholics and many Protestants today), the most common Christogram became "IHS" or "IHC", denoting the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, , ''iota- eta-sigma'', or .''Christian sacrament and devotion'' by Servus Gieben 1997 page 18''The Continuum encyclopedia of symbols'' by Udo Becker 2000 page 54

The Greek letter ''iota'' is represented by 'I', and the ''eta'' by 'H', while the Greek letter ''sigma'' is either in its lunate form, represented by 'C', or its final form, represented by 'S'. Because the Latin-alphabet letters ''I'' and ''J'' were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, "JHS" and "JHC" are equivalent to "IHS" and "IHC".

"IHS" is sometimes interpreted as meaning or in Latin (or ) , ('Jesus, Saviour of men r: of Jerusalem in Latin)Maere, René. "IHS." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. or connected with . English-language interpretations of "IHS" have included "In His Service". Such interpretations are known as backformed acronyms.

Used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of ''IHS'' in an English document dates from the fourteenth century, in '' Piers Plowman''. In the 15th century, Saint Bernardino of Siena popularized the use of the three letters on the background of a blazing sun to displace both popular pagan symbols and seals of political factions like the Guelphs and Ghibellines in public spaces (see Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus).

The IHS monogram with the H surmounted by a cross above three nails and surrounded by a Sun is the emblem of the Jesuits, according to tradition introduced by Ignatius of Loyola in 1541.

IHS has been known to appear on gravestones, especially among Irish Catholics.

Gallery with different formats of the symbol

File:IHS with cross.jpg, IHS or JHS Christogram of western Christianity
File:IHC-monogram-Jesus-medievalesque.svg, Medieval-style IHC monogram
File:Interlaced IHS monogram on ceiling of church of Saint-Martin de L'Isle-Adam.jpg, Intertwined IHS monogram, Saint-Martin's Church, L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise
File:Clontuskert Priory Doorway IHC Monogram 2009 09 16.jpg, IHC monogram from Clontuskert Abbey, Ireland
File:Jesuit emblem 1586.jpg, The Jesuit emblem from a 1586 print
File:ReformationWallGeneva IHS cropped.jpg, ΙΗΣ on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland
File:Church Door, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania).jpg, Door at Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania) showing (from left) arms of the parish; Marian monogram; the IHS Christogram; and arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania

ICXC

In Eastern Christianity, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation, ΙϹ ΧϹ—a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for 'Jesus Christ' (i.e., the first and last letters of each of the words , with the lunate sigma 'Ϲ' common in medieval Greek), and written with titlo (diacritic) denoting scribal abbreviation ().

On icons, this Christogram may be split: 'ΙϹ' on the left of the image and 'ΧϹ' on the right. It is sometimes rendered as 'ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ' (), meaning 'Jesus Christ Conquers'. 'ΙϹΧϹ' may also be seen inscribed on the Ichthys.

File:ICXC NIKA.svg, Depiction of the 'ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ' arrangement in medieval Greek tradition
File:Spahr 63 1140 133312.jpg, 'ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ' cross on the obverse of a 12th-century Sicilian coin ( Roger II)
File:The Greek Pantokrator on the Hungarian Holy Crown.jpg, Christ Pantocrator on the Holy Crown of Hungary (12th century)
File:Christ Pantocrator, Church of the Holy Sepulchre.png, Christ Pantocrator, Church of the Holy Sepulchre (1810)

Lhq

After Francis Xavier landed in Kagoshima, Japan, in 1549, his missionary work grew and became widely distributed throughout Japan under the patronage of the . However, during the Edo period (1603–1867), Christians were persecuted and forced to hide. Because they were forbidden to openly reverence the images of Christ or Mary, it is believed that they transferred their worship to other carved images and marked them with secret symbols understood only by the initiates. Certain Japanese lanterns, notably the (, 'Christian lanterns'), did bear the "Lhq" monogram, which, a quarter turned, was engraved on the shaft (), which was buried directly into the soil without basal platform (). Th
'Lhq'
monogram corresponds to the distorted letters 'IHS'.

Archaeology

In 2016 a 1,300-year-old corpse, was found in a cemetery near a medieval monastery in Ghazali, Sudan, whose right foot bore a tattoo from medieval Nubia, a region that covered parts of modern-day Egypt and Sudan, depicting a Chi Rho and an Alpha Omega. The person, most likely male, lived sometime between 667 and 774.

See also

* Christian symbolism
* Holy Name of Jesus
* INRI
* Little Sachet
* Names and titles of Jesus
* Nomina sacra

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

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External links

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{{Christian crosses

Christian iconography
Christian symbols
Christian terminology
Monograms
Names of Jesus