The Church has long been imaged as a ship. In this drawing from 1943 we see the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. His name is inscribed on the ships side. His coat of arms forms the base of the ship’s main mast. In fact, if you look very closely, you will see “ex libris PII XII” ‘from the books of Pius XII”. This drawing is the late Pope’s personal bookmarker.
I want to look at this drawing to learn from its details about the nature and purpose of the Church.
The masts of the ship are covered with symbols of the Lord’s passion. There is a scourge, a pincers hammer and the column to which Christ was tied.
Christ the Sun of Justice
The ship needs light to sail by. That light is Christ Himself shining in the sky The monogram HIS is an old one for the holy name of Jesus. It has its origin in St Bernardino of Siena in the 1200’s who started a campaign to stop people using the holy Name in vain.
This HIS symbol became his logo and, to this day, one finds this monogram on doorposts and on window sills all over central Italy. Speaking of Christ as the Sun of justice is ancient. The Fourth Gospel speaks all the time about the Word of God being a light of the world to defeat darkness.
There is an ancient Greek hymn called O Phos Hilarion – “O Gladsome Light”. The Jesuits then adopted the IHS logo as theirs in the 16th century. Our Bishop, a Jesuit, has included this logo in his Episcopal coat of arms.
Christ as the pelican
The topsail of the Church is sacrifice. The highest virtue is that of self-sacrifice.
In the highest of all the sails is a picture of the pelican who bleeds herself so that her chicks can have drink. She is the symbol of the self-sacrificing Mother Church who is willing to die for her children. Christ Himself is like that pelican, giving his life for the salvation of many. So the Church proudly boasts of the Crucified Lord proclaiming on its highest banner that His sacrifice is noble and holy.
The Church is a great ship which proclaims its allegiance and its purpose. The greatest banner on the Church’s ship is Opus Pax Justitiae –“the work of justice and peace.