Why is the pelican a symbol of christ

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Why the Pelican is a symbol of Christ. Get your copy now either in Paperback or Kindle Buy Now. Doctrine Jesus Original Sin. Share this Post:. Next Article Understanding Predestination. Posted by Joby Provido. Effects of Original Sin. Knowing Christ's Identity from the Transfiguration. Catholicism: where second place is also first place. Mass boring you? Flood and the Last Judgment. The Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pentecost and the Birth of the Church.

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Sign Me Up. Sign up for our free e-newsletter Sign Me Up. Social Networks. Only Jesus Gratitude — in the growing, giving and goodbye. The Pelican, a Christian Symbol. February 05, Hourglass Preaching February 05, Pelicans may be regarded as strange avian competitors in commercial and recreational fishing. With pathetic stares that disguise its hidden desire for every catch, they would sometimes try to intercept one from fishermen by looking apparently pitiful or by other means.

Using its signature long beak and large throat pouch, they would easily catch fish and drain the water before swallowing it. This is contrary to the symbol of self-sacrifice that it depicts in Christianity since time immemorial.

However, the imagery of the mother pelican striking or vulning from the Latin vulnerare , "to wound" her breast to feed her nestlings to prevent starvation in time of famine is rooted in an ancient legend that antedates Christianity. It was believed that she feeds her dying chicks with her own blood to revive them from death, but, in turn, lost her own life. The pelican symbolizes our Lord Jesus Christ who gave His life for our redemption and the atonement of sins through His passion and death.

We were dead to sin and have found new life through the Blood of Christ cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church no. Having received the gift of love, let us die to sin and live for God. We could trace the allegorical interpretation of the pelican in the Physiologus , a second-century Christian work written by an anonymous author, that was a source for the symbols used in the various stone carvings and other artwork of the Medieval Ages.

It is a compendium of illustrated volumes of various animals, birds and even rocks, which reflected the belief that every living thing had its own special meaning. Clearly, the pelican became a symbol of charity. It is also contained in the 6 th stanza of Adoro te devote , a Eucharistic hymn by St. The legends of self-wounding and the provision of blood may have developed from the impression that a pelican stabs itself with its bill, when in reality it only presses its bill onto its chest, a physiological maneuver to fully empty its pouch.

Furthermore, its bill tends to rest on its breast and the Dalmatian pelican has a blood-red pouch in the early breeding season, which may have contributed to the myth.