I was helping the pastor out today by taking pictures of the Crismons that hang on our Christmas tree in the sanctuary during Advent and Christmas. The word "crismon" is a composite of Christ and monogram and it means a concise symbol that pictures something about Christ. This crismon is made up of the two Greek letters, the X (pronounced "key") and the P (Rho, pronounced "row") which may look like a "p" to you, but is more like an "r". The X and P are the first two letters in the Greek word "Christos" (Crease-tahss), or Christ in English. Hanging on the left and right are two more Greek letters- the alpha and omega. These letters refer to the Book of Revelation where Christ says, "I am the Alpha and Omega" meaning He is the beginning and the end. So this Crismon speaks to the central nature of Christ.
@homeschoolmom Thanks Lisa! The last three churches we were in (over a span of about 12 years) didn't do Advent either. But our current church (Presbyterian church) does. It's a long story how we ended up there, but the short end of it is that I'm loving the stained glass windows an a lot of the beautiful symbols I grew up with-such as Advent!
So interesting and what beautiful symbolism well explained. I had to learn the Greek alphabet backwards and forwards in college so it is interesting to see the meaning. X was pronounced Chi (kai) Any way, this is definitely a fav. Beautiful image and certainly would be a treasure to place on a Christmas tree. Have never seen or heard of this before.
@twr Thank you Timothy! @alia_801 Thank you Alia! @maggiemae Thank you Maggie! They were created and became popular in here in the South in the early 1950's. But the symbols themselves are much older- some going all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity. @sangwann Thank you Dione! @digitalrn Thanks Rick! As you probably know, there are quite a few words in the medical profession that are based on Greek. @cimes1 Thank you Carole! Yes, in some circles X will be pronounced that way and it's acceptable but it is really an Anglicized way of saying it. Our Greek professor in Seminary was insistent that we pronounce it the way they would say it in Greece. But it's really very much like "You say toe-may-toe and I say toe-mah-toe..." ! And thank you so much for the fav!! @kerristephens Thank you Kerri! @henrir Thank you Henri! @taffy Thank you Taffy! You are right- as far as I know all fraternities and sororities are named with letters from the Greek alphabet. I don't know if there's a XP fraternity or sorority but I wouldn't be surprised if there was. My undergrad campus had a dozen or two, but I was not into them- although I had many friends that did join. @archaeofrog Thanks Katie! @mzzhope Thanks Hope!
@eudora Thank you Diane! I'm sure they were beautiful. These were made by a women's group some time ago. Many show signs of their age, but thankfully they are also easy to repair.
November 24th, 2013
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@alia_801 Thank you Alia!
@maggiemae Thank you Maggie! They were created and became popular in here in the South in the early 1950's. But the symbols themselves are much older- some going all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity.
@sangwann Thank you Dione!
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! As you probably know, there are quite a few words in the medical profession that are based on Greek.
@cimes1 Thank you Carole! Yes, in some circles X will be pronounced that way and it's acceptable but it is really an Anglicized way of saying it. Our Greek professor in Seminary was insistent that we pronounce it the way they would say it in Greece. But it's really very much like "You say toe-may-toe and I say toe-mah-toe..." ! And thank you so much for the fav!!
@kerristephens Thank you Kerri!
@henrir Thank you Henri!
@taffy Thank you Taffy! You are right- as far as I know all fraternities and sororities are named with letters from the Greek alphabet. I don't know if there's a XP fraternity or sorority but I wouldn't be surprised if there was. My undergrad campus had a dozen or two, but I was not into them- although I had many friends that did join.
@archaeofrog Thanks Katie!
@mzzhope Thanks Hope!