JERUSALEM CROSS

The Cross is an ancient solar symbol dedicated to the sun and fire. When people learned how to make fire, this discovery was an event of the greatest importance and became a salvation for humanity. It made an indelible impression on the ancient people, and the simple tool with which the fire was kindled (the friction of two wooden bars arranged crosswise) was considered sacred. The worship of fire as a powerful element in ancient times took place among all the peoples of the Earth. The fire warmed, gave hot food, scared away wild animals, dispersed the darkness. The cross is also a symbol of choosing a path, a road; a symbol of the intersection of two opposites, their merging at the intersection.

The Jerusalem Cross (the Crusader’s Cross) consists of five golden crosses on a silver background. It is believed that the cross was approved as the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by Count Godfrey of Bouillon. The big cross is the symbol of Christ, the four small ones are the symbols of the four Apostles, the authors of the Gospels, spreading the teaching to all four sides of the world. The Jerusalem Cross also symbolizes the wounds of Christ that He received during the Crucifixion and the Christian relics found during the Crusades in the Holy Land — 4 nails with which the Body of Christ and the Crucifixion Cross itself were nailed. In late medieval heraldry the Crusader’s cross was used for various Crusader states.

The red Jerusalem cross on a white shield is the coat of arms of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Roman Catholic Church). The Order’s activities are aimed at helping the Church, preserving and spreading the faith in the Middle East, attracting Catholics from all over the world to participate in this, as well as protecting the rights of the Church in the Holy Land.

The Jerusalem Cross of our Order is black with a white border around the edge, located on a red shield. These colors symbolize: black – self–denial, white — purity of thoughts, red – sacrificial blood.