above are the signs of contraction.

[Illustration: Contracted monogram]

_I. N. R. I._ These letters stand for the Latin form of the title
placed on our Saviour's cross, _Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum_, JESUS
OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

_Symbols of the Holy Ghost._--The seven-branched _Candlestick_ of the
tabernacle, and the _Seven Burning Lamps_ which St. John saw before
{75} the throne of God, and which he declares to be the seven Spirits
of God, that is, the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold manifestations of
grace, are often used as symbols of the Holy Spirit, the source of all
true illumination for men.

[Illustration: Seven-branched candlestick]

The most familiar emblem, however, is the _Dove_, which from the early
centuries to the present day has constantly symbolized the third Person
of the Holy Trinity. Its warrant and justification are based on the
account in the Gospel of our Lord's baptism and the descent upon Him of
the Spirit "in bodily shape like a dove."

[Illustration: Dove]

The picture of the holy dove in the decorations of the church tells of
the coming of the same Spirit as the fruit of the intercession of our
ascended Lord and according to His most true promise, "I will pray the
Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may {76} abide
with you forever; even the Spirit of truth." It reminds of that
abiding presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church, making it the
"habitation of God through the Spirit," and giving living power to its
sacraments as channels of saving and sanctifying grace.

Other symbols in frequent use are the following:

The _Crown of Thorns_ and the _Nails_ of crucifixion are symbols of our
Saviour's passion.

[Illustration: Crown of thorns and nails]

The three _Interlaced fishes_ and the _Escallop Shell_, the badge of a
pilgrim, are both emblems of Holy Baptism: the one, as Baptism is in
the Name {77} of the Holy Trinity; the other, as we therein confess
that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth, who seek "a better
country, that is, an heavenly."

[Illustration: Interlaced fishes. Escallop.]

The phoenix is the symbol of immortality and the resurrection. The
phoenix was a fabulous bird of the ancients. It was believed that,
"after living a thousand years or so, it committed itself to the flames
that burst, at the fanning of its wings, from the funeral pyre of
costly spices which it had itself constructed, and that from its ashes
a new ph