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A Christogram () is a
monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...
or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, traditionally used as a
religious symbol A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chap ...
within the
Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...
. One of the oldest Christograms is the
Chi-Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of the Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi (letter), chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek (Romanization of ...
(☧). It consists of the superimposed Greek letters
chi __NOTOC__ Chi may refer to: __NOTOC__ Greek *Chi (letter) (Χ or χ), the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet Chinese * ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon * Chi (surname) ...
and
rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...
, which are the first two letters of the Greek , 'Christ'. It was displayed on the military standard used by
Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
in 312 AD. The
IX monogram The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle. The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter "I" or Iota for (, Jesus in Greek) and "X" or Chi fo ...
() 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 Scribal abbreviations, or sigla (singular: siglum), are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mecha ...
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 An overline, overscore, or overbar, is a typographical feature of a horizontal and vertical, horizontal line drawn immediately above the text. In old mathematical notation, an overline was called a ''vinculum (symbol), vinculum'', a notation fo ...
indicating scribal abbreviation) is used for in both Greek and Cyrillic tradition. A
Middle Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidia and Africa Proconsularis under the Vandals ...
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 A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
, i.e. the instrument of Christ's crucifixion (, ), was taken to be
T-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical ...
, while the X-shape ("
chiasmus In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Ancient Greek, Greek , , "to shape like the letter chi (letter), Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses ...
") 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 Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
, and the various pre-Christian symbolism associated with the chiasmus interpreted in terms of "the mystery of the pre-existent Christ". In
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
'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 The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. Fr ...
crossing the
celestial equator The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of Earth. By extension, it is also a plane of reference in the equatorial coordinate system. Due to Earth's axial tilt, the celestial ...
:
Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...
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 The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as ''The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations'' (), is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise ( ancient church order) written in Koine Greek, dated by modern scholars to the first or (l ...
'', "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 Xmas (also X-mas) is a common abbreviation of the word ''Christmas''. It is sometimes pronounced , but ''Xmas'', and variants such as ''Xtemass'', originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation . The 'X' comes from the Gree ...
'' (for "Christmas") and ''
Xian Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...
'' or ''Xtian'' (for "Christian").


Iota Chi (IX)

An early form of the monogram of Christ, found in early Christian
ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...
in Palaestina, was formed by superimposing the first (capital) letters of the Greek words for
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
and
Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
, i.e.
iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...
Ι and
chi __NOTOC__ Chi may refer to: __NOTOC__ Greek *Chi (letter) (Χ or χ), the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet Chinese * ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter *Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon * Chi (surname) ...
Χ, so that this
monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...
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 Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...
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 Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...
, 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 What is usually referred to as St Cuthbert's coffin is a fragmentary oak coffin in Durham Cathedral, pieced together in the 20th century, which between AD 698 and 1827 contained the remains of Saint Cuthbert, who died in 687. In fact when Cuthb ...
(late 7th century) has an exceptional realisation of the Christogram written in
Anglo-Saxon runes Anglo-Saxon runes or Anglo-Frisian runes are runes that were used by the Anglo-Saxons and Medieval Frisians (collectively called Anglo-Frisians) as an alphabet in their native writing system, recording both Old English and Old Frisian (, ᚱ ...
, as ᛁᚻᛋ ᛉᛈᛋ, transliterated to the Latin alphabet as 'IHS XPS', with the ''chi'' rendered as the ''
eolh Algiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "''z''-rune" of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is ''z'', understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal ''*z'' continuing Proto-Indo-Europe ...
'' rune (the old ''z'' or ''algiz'' rune) and the ''rho'' rendered as the p-rune.


IHS

In the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
-speaking Christianity of medieval Western Europe (and so among Catholics and many
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
s today), the most common Christogram became "IHS" or "IHC", denoting the first three letters of the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
name of Jesus, , ''
iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...
-
eta Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...
-
sigma Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator ...
'', 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 ''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative ...
''. 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 The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...
in public spaces (see
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a feast of the liturgical year celebrated by Christians on varying dates.''New Book of Festivals and Commemorations'' by Philip H. Pfatteicher 2008 pages3-5 History The feast of the Holy Name of Jesus ha ...
). The IHS monogram with the H surmounted by a cross above three nails and surrounded by a
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
is the emblem of the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, according to tradition introduced by
Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...
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 L'Isle-Adam () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. The small town beside the river Oise has a long sandy beach and attracts visitors from Paris. Geography L'Isle-Adam is a commune and town in north c ...
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 Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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 The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church of the United States, encompassing the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware in the state of Pennsylvania. The diocese has 36,641 members ...


ICXC

In
Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...
, 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 Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator ...
'Ϲ' common in medieval Greek), and written with
titlo Titlo is an extended diacritic symbol initially used in early Cyrillic and Glagolitic manuscripts, e.g., in Old Church Slavonic and Old East Slavic language, Old East Slavic languages. The word is a borrowing from the , and is a cognate of t ...
(diacritic) denoting
scribal abbreviation Scribal abbreviations, or sigla (grammatical number, singular: siglum), are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek language, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern Textua ...
(). 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 The ichthys or ichthus (), from the Greek (, 1st cent. AD Koinē Greek pronunciation: , "fish") is, in its modern rendition, a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to ...
. 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 Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became ...
) File:The Greek Pantokrator on the Hungarian Holy Crown.jpg,
Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator (, ) is a specific depiction of Christ. or , literally 'ruler of all', but usually translated as 'almighty' or 'all-powerful', is derived from one of many names of God in Judaism. The Pantokrator i ...
on the
Holy Crown of Hungary The Holy Crown of Hungary ( , ), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence; kings were crowned with it since the tw ...
(12th century) File:Christ Pantocrator, Church of the Holy Sepulchre.png, Christ Pantocrator,
Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...
(1810)


Lhq

After
Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...
landed in
Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...
, Japan, in 1549, his missionary work grew and became widely distributed throughout Japan under the patronage of the . However, during the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
(1603–1867), Christians were persecuted and forced to hide. Because they were forbidden to openly reverence the images of Christ or
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
, 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 A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...
, 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 Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
, a region that covered parts of modern-day Egypt and Sudan, depicting a
Chi Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of the Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi (letter), chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek (Romanization of ...
and an Alpha Omega. The person, most likely male, lived sometime between 667 and 774.


See also

*
Christian symbolism Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by be ...
*
Holy Name of Jesus In Catholicism, the veneration of the Holy Name of Jesus (also ''Most Holy Name of Jesus'', ) developed as a separate type of devotion in the early modern period, in parallel to that of the ''Sacred Heart''. The ''Litany of the Holy Name'' is ...
*
INRI In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Hellenic of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as ''Basileus ton Ioudaion'' (). Both uses o ...
* Little Sachet * Names and titles of Jesus *
Nomina sacra In Christian scribal practice, (singular: , Latin for 'sacred name') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A consists of two or more letters from the original w ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

*


External links

* {{Christian crosses Christian iconography Christian symbols Christian terminology Monograms Names of Jesus