The Anchor (as Symbol)

The anchor, because of the great importance in navigation, was
regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety. The Christians,
therefore, in adopting the anchor as a symbol of hope in future
existence, merely gave a new and higher signification to a
familiar emblem. In the teachings of Christianity the virtue of
hope occupies a place of great importance; Christ is the unfailing
hope of all who believe in Him. St. Peter, St. Paul, and several
of the early Fathers speak in this sense, but the Epistle to the
Hebrews for the first time connects the idea of hope with the
symbol of the anchor. The writers says that we have "Hope" set
before us "as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm" (Hebrews 6:19-
20). The hope here spoken of is obviously not concerned with
earthly, but with heavenly things, and the anchor as a Christian
symbol, consequently, relates only to the hope of salvation. It
ranks among the most ancient of Christian symbols. The well-known
fragment of the inscription discovered in the cemetery of St.
Domitilla -- which De Rossi reads (sepulc)rum (Flavi)orum --
contains the anchor, and dates from the end of the first century.
During the second and third centuries the anchor occurs frequently
in the epitaphs of the catacombs, and particularly in the most
ancient parts of the cemeteries of Sts. Priscilla, Domitilla,
Calixtus, and the Coemetarium majus. About seventy examples of it
have been found in the cemetery of Priscilla alone, prior to the
fourth century. In the oldest of these (second century) the anchor
is found associated with such expressions as pax tecum, pax tibi,
in pace, thus expressing the firm hope of the authors of these
inscriptions that their friends have been admitted to Heaven. The
anchor is also found in association with proper names formed from
the Latin or the Greek term for hope -- spes, elpis. St. Ambrose
evidently had this symbol in mind when he wrote (In. Ep. ad Heb.,
vi): "As the anchor thrown from a ship prevents this from being
borne about, but holds it securely, so faith, strengthened by
hope," etc.

                       VARIOUS FORMS OF THE ANCHOR

Different forms of the anchor appear in the epitaphs of the
catacombs, the most common being that in which one extremity
terminates in a ring adjoining the cross-bar while the other ends
in two curved branches or an arrowhead. There are, however, many
deviations from this form. IN a number of monuments of Sts.
Calixtus and Priscilla the cross-bar is wanting, and in others the
curved branches are replaced by a straight transversal. These
departures from regularity do not appear to have any especial
significance, but the cruciform anchor marks an interesting
symbolic development. The rare appearance of a cross in the
Christian monuments of the first four centuries is a well-known
peculiarity; not more than a score of examples belong to this
period. Yet, though the cross is of infrequent occurrence in its
familiar form, certain monuments appear to represent it in a
manner intelligible to a Christian but not to an outsider. The
anchor was the symbol best adapted for this purpose, and the one
most frequently employed. One of the most remarkable of these
disguised crosses, from the cemetery of St. Domitilla, consists of
an anchor placed upright, the transverse bar appearing just
beneath the ring. To complete the symbol, two fishes are
represented with the points of the curved branches in their
mouths. A real cross, standing on a sort of pedestal to the right
of this, is sufficient indication that the author of the figures
intended a symbolic cross in this instance. Of even greater
interest in this connection is the representation of a cross-
anchor with two fishes suspended from the cross-beam, also found
in the cemetery of St. Priscilla. There can scarcely be any doubt
that the author of this and similar representations intended to
produce a symbolic picture of the crucifixion: the mystic Fish
(Christ) on the suggested cross (the anchor). To the same category
of symbols, probably, belongs the group of representations of the
dolphin and trident. The anchor as a symbol is found only rarely
in monuments from the middle of the third century, and early in
the fourth century it had disappeared.

MAURICE M. HASSETT
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver, Colorado, USA, 80228.
([email protected]) Taken from the New Advent Web Page
(www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the  entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this  worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For  more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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