First Presbyterian Church, Marianna, Florida
Lenten Luncheons Lent 2007
Reflections on the Cross of Jesus
by Huw Christopher, Pastor
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The Celtic Cross

Hymn:                                     How Great Thou Art”                    Stanzas 1 and 3

	Last week as we thought about the anchor cross we saw how it was one of 
the earliest symbols of the cross that was used in the Christian Church.  At the 
same time we also recognized that it was probably the least familiar form of the 
cross to us today since its form looks more like an anchor than a cross.  We 
remembered that this was quite deliberate because it was used originally as a secret 
sign at times when Christians were being persecuted.  I apologize that I did not 
invite the few people who were wearing anchor crosses last week to identify 
themselves. There were so few who were wearing them because the anchor cross 
this is probably the least common form of the various crosses we are considering 
that we see displayed.  I know my wife, Rachel, as many of you are aware has a 
variety of necklaces of crosses but does not have an anchor cross.  Today, though, 
we probably turn to what next to the Latin Cross is the most familiar form of the 
cross, especially for us as Presbyterians.  Because of its association with Scotland 
the Celtic Cross is often called the Presbyterian Cross. Many people are pleased 
that they can wear Celtic crosses that they or someone has purchased in Scotland. 
Such a cross, though, is not confined to Scotland. Growing up in Wales I was 
familiar with the stone Celtic Crosses that are to be seen in various places, though, 
probably like many people there I was not really familiar with their meaning or 
their history. Some of you have seen the example of the Celtic Cross that I 
purchased last time I was back in Wales.  That particular one is made from Welsh 
Coal which for many years was the livelihood of the area of Wales in which I was 
raised.  Although Rachel and I have never been to Scotland she has a number of 
Celtic Cross necklaces that she has purchased in Wales.
	The fact that such Celtic Crosses should be made and sold in Wales in 
Welsh souvenir shops reminds us that the Celtic Cross is by no means the 
possession just of Scotland.  In fact in a series of articles about different crosses 
that Jeff Allen shared with me it is called the Irish Cross.  As such one writer has 
said that “Presbyterians and Catholics are often startled to learn that the other 
considers this symbol their own. In our modern multicultural world the ringed 
cross is as much a symbol of ethnic heritage as it is of faith and it is often used as 
an emblem of ones Irish, Scottish or Welsh identity.” (Stephen Walker April 17, 
1996 in website article on the symbolism of the Celtic Cross) After I had read that 
comment last Friday I was reminded of it very visible when later that day I was 
reading the Ninnau, a Welsh American newspaper, which had come in the mail 
that day where on one page there were two pictures of Celtic Crosses relating to 
articles about Wales neither of which were particularly religious.
	Part of the reason for calling the Celtic Cross the Irish Cross goes back to a 
legend of how St. Patrick when preaching to some soon-to-be converted heathens 
is said to have been shown a sacred standing stone that was marked with a circle 
that was symbolic of the moon goddess. Patrick is said to made the mark of a Latin 
cross through the circle and blessed the stone thus making the first Celtic Cross. In 
this way he was said to have attempted to “bridge the gap” between the worship of 
the Celtic moon and sun gods and the worship of Jesus as the Son of God.  It is 
also suggested that linking the cross as the symbol of Christianity with the circle as 
the symbol of the sun he was giving to those whom he was seeking to convert to 
Christianity the idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the 
life-giving properties of the sun.
The circle on the cross was also interpreted as not just referring to the sun 
and the moon, but also to being a symbol of eternity, since the circle has no 
beginning or ending.  As such it is also seen as a symbol of the eternal life that God 
offers to us through the cross of Jesus.
The fact that the Celtic Cross may originally have been based on circles to 
the moon or sun goddesses has meant that some people have wanted to question 
whether the symbolism of the Celtic Cross is originally pagan, therefore, not 
appropriate for us to use as Christians. Certainly if the Celtic Cross prompts us to 
worship the sun or the moon as god then it is not appropriate for us, but as both of 
the hymns we are singing today remind us the Christian tradition does not begin 
with the cross but with the God of Creation, the maker of the heaven and the earth.  
As such the emphasis within the Celtic Christian tradition on God speaking to us 
not just through the cross but also through the world of nature is indeed an 
important one that has been re-captured in recent years with revival of interest in 
the Celtic Cross and the whole emphasis of Celtic Christianity.  If we see the 
greatness of God only in the world of nature we see only part of God’s greatness.  
At the same time if we see the greatness of God only in the cross of Jesus we see 
only part of God’s greatness.  
The connection between the Celtic Cross and Scotland has been seen with 
the life and work of St. Columba.  He was raised in a noble Irish family and trained 
in Irish monasteries.  His zeal to share and extend the faith prompted him in 563 to 
leave his native Ireland and to go to Scotland where he and twelve companions 
established a monastery on the small island of Iona.  This monastery later became 
the center for Celtic Christianity learning and retreat in Scotland and Northern 
England.  Wherever the mission of the church spread stone or wooden crosses with 
the circle around the top were erected. Many of them have traditions about the 
people who first preached in that location.  For many people they became roadside 
shrines where travelers might stop, face east and pray devoutly.  Later such designs 
were used to mark the boundaries of churchyards, which led them to become a 
common model for Memorial Crosses on the graves of dead Christians.  
St. Columba though part of the Celtic tradition was working at a time before 
the division of the church so would have been considered today a Catholic. Years 
later, of course, John Knox was to lead the Reformation in Scotland that led to 
what is now known as the Church of Scotland.  As that church spread to this and 
other countries so it became known as the Presbyterian Church, and the Celtic 
Cross often seen as its symbol.
In 1938 interest in work of St. Columba and in the monastery on the Island 
of Iona was revived through the work of the Rev. George MacLeod that led to the 
Iona Community.  Even after his death this community still seeks to provide a 
source of encouragement to people who seek to give a social expression to their 
faith in God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ.  On the home page of their website 
the Celtic Cross has a prominent place.
As we began our discussion about crosses Carol Homoney shared with 
Rachel a picture of the Celtic Cross which had been made for their former church, 
the Union Presbyterian Church in Murraysville, Pennsylvania, by some members 
of the congregation.  The cross is a reproduction of the 10th century cross of St. 
John which stood at the west door of the Abbey of Iona in Scotland.  The cross is 
made of bronze and wood.  It stands 8 feet by 4 feet and weighs approximately 200 
pounds, and is placed in the front of the church.           
It is said of this cross that characteristic of the Celtic Church’s reverence for 
nature, the cross is ornamented with bosses of foilage, a bunch of grapes and 
Easter lilies. At both ends of the cross beam are embossed circles denoting the five 
wounds of our Lord – the nail prints on the hands and feet and the larger one the 
sword in his side. There appears to be no standard pattern for the engravings or 
carvings  on the Celtic Cross.  This cross is typical  of most Celtic Crosses with the 
combination of things from the world of nature with elaborate knotwork and 
symbols related to Jesus.
Whatever originally may have been the origin of the shape of the Celtic 
Cross the circle surrounding the cross helps to remind us of the eternal nature of 
God and of God’s love seen even in the death of Jesus on the cross. It is this eternal 
nature of God’s love that gives us the assurance that it is a love that will never let 
us go, and from which nothing in life or in death can separate us.
It is of the eternal nature of that love and the life and the hope which it gives 
to all who trust in it that Sydney Carter has sought to remind us in what some 
people would consider a very pagan image as he talks of Jesus as the Lord of the 
Dance.  For many Christians, though, such an image has become a meaningful way 
of thinking about their faith in God’s love seen in Jesus Christ.  For our own 
congregation this hymn ranked number three in the favorite ones about the cross 
and the death of Jesus.  
Hymn:                              “I Danced in the Morning”                  Stanzas 4 and 5
Prayer:
We thank you, O God, that you speak to us of your love for us in so many 
wonderful and marvelous ways.  We praise you for the beauty and bounty of your 
love for us seen in the world of nature.  We thank for the amazing nature of your 
love for us seen in the death of Jesus upon the cross for us.  Most of all that we 
have found that life you desire for us as we have allowed your love to dwell in us 
and to be seen through us we give you praise and thanks in the name of Jesus.  
Amen.
 
 
 
 


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