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PAGE 13 — The Southern Cross, September 12, 1985
Beautiful And Detailed
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(Continued from Page 12)
sacrifice, and by His blood we are saved.
Immediately behind the altar is a painting
of King David. Pictured as he is with the
harp, the instrument whereby he praised
God, David, like Melchisedech and the
Jewish priests of the Old Testament, were
prototypes of Christ.
MAIN SANCTUARY MURALS
By this time your eyes certainly have not
failed to take special notice of the four
largest and most impressive murals in the
Cathedral, those in the main sanctuary.
Towering high above and situated between
the great columns are the four writers of
the Gospels. On the north wall and closest
to the nave of the Cathedral is Saint Mat
thew, Apostle and Evangelist. His Gospel,
the first of the New Testament, has as its
main theme that Christ fulfilled the pro
phecies of Israel’s Savior and is its
Messias,—His kingdom being a spiritual
one. Portrayed with pen and tablet in the
inspired act of writing his life of Christ, the
saint is emblematized by a winged
likeness of a human face,—the symbolic
man of Ezechiel’s vision, in reference to
St. Matthew’s detailed account of the In
carnation of Christ, and the wings, a sym
bol of Christ’s divine mission.
In the next panel is St. Mark, the
Evangelist. His gospel, the second of the
New Testament, is the shortest and most
vivid of the accounts of Christ’s life. Mark
was one of the seventy-two disciples of the
Lord and a close companion of St. Peter.
Writing so that Christians might have a
permanent record of Peter’s preaching.
Mark’s Gospel aimed at showing that
Jesus Christ proved Himself the Son of
God by His miracles. St. Mark is also por
trayed with pen and tablet in the act of
recording the inspired Word of God. The
emblem, that of a winged lion, is in
reference to St. Mark’s emphasis of the
royal dignity of Christ, the Lion of Judah.
Once again, the wings are symbolic of
Christ’s divine mission.
Directly across from these paneled
murals are the other two of the four
writers of the Gospels. Hence, on the north
wall and farthest from the nave of the
Cathedral, is St. Luke, Evangelist. Stress
ing the sacrificial aspect of Christ’s atone
ment and His divine priesthood, this third
of the New Testament Gospels was written
to strengthen all in the faith. A physician
by profession, Luke was converted to
Christianity by St. Paul, whose companion
he became; and from his teaching and
study of all the traditions of Jesus’ life, the
Evangelist preserved knowledge of some
of the parables such as those of the Lost
Sheep and the Prodigal Son, also informa
tion about the childhood of Jesus and some
details about the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Likewise portrayed with pen and tablet in
the inspired act of writing his Gospel, St.
Luke is emblematized by a winged ox,
again one of the symbolic animals in
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The Flight Into Egypt, directly above
St. Joseph’s Altar.
Melchisedech, northeast wall, Sacred
Heart Chapel.
Ezechiel’s vision, in reference to the
sacrifice of Christ’s atonement,—the ox
being a symbol of sacrifice, and wings, a
symbol of Christ’s mission.
Lastly there is St. John, Apostle and
Evangelist. This fourth Gospel writer
wrote the finest passages on the divinity of
Christ, the Word made flesh. The “Beloved
Disciple” of Jesus and youngest of His
Twelve Apostles, it was John’s privilege to
hear directly from Christ the doctrines He
taught. He wrote to prove the divinity of,
Jesus and is called St. John the Divine, in
the sense of theologian. Portrayed with the
customary pen and tablet, St. John has as
his emblem an eagle, — again one of the
symbolic creatures in Ezechiel’s vision,
symbol of highest inspiration, signifying
that St. John soared in his contemplation
of the Savior.
MURALS IN THE NAVE
Murals representing the saints were not
placed above the heads of worshipers just
to fill in space; rather it can be said that
they were meaningfully placed there to
depict the doctrine of “The Communion of
Saints.” In Sacred thinking heaven and its
inhabitants have always been thought to
dwell above the earth and those in
Purgatory, to dwell below it. Pictured
above you, then, are those who now enjoy
the Sight of God. Pictured in the nave of
the Church as they are, they once wor
shiped God in your stead. And like the
stained glass windows which represent the
lives of those who have gone before us, so
too those depicted above once walked
Adam and
west wall.
Eve, south transept,
through the same Christian Church to
receive their reward for virtuous living.
Standing in the center of the transept
and looking along the north wall of the
clerestory of the Cathedral you see in:
Panel No. 1: Five figures of early Virgin
Martyrs.
1. St. Agatha. Symbols: pincers of torture,
palm of martyrdom.
2. St. Agnes. Symbols: a lamb signifying
youth and innocence, and palm of martyr
dom.
3. St. Catherine of Alexandria, Symbols:
spiked wheel of torture, palm of martyr
dom, crown signifying royalty, and book in
reference to her great learning.
4. St. Cecilia of Rome. Symbol: portable
organ signifying her great musical talent.
5. St. Lucy of Sicily. Symbols: her eyes on
a dish, in reference to an incident in
persecution; palm of martrydom.
Panel No. 2: Five figures of Martyrs.
1. St. Stephen. Young deacon and first
Christian martyr. Symbols: deacon’s
dalmatic vestment, a stone in his hand
signifying instrument of his death, palm of
martyrdom.
2. St. Sebastian. Symbol: his body transfix
ed with arrows significant of the mode of
his torture.
3. St. Laurence, Symbols: deacon’s
(Continued on Page 14)
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