Catholic Self Harm
In the light of yesterday's news, I have been thinking about this ancient image of the Church: The pelican symbolises Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and the atonement He made through His passion and death. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the Blood of Christ. Moreover, Jesus continues to feed us with His body and blood in the holy Eucharist. This tradition and others is found in the Physiologus , an early Christian work which appeared in the second century in Alexandria, Egypt. Written by an anonymous author. Reference to the pelican and its Christian meaning are found in Renaissance literature: Dante (1321) in the “ Paridiso ” of his Divine Comedy refers to Christ as “our Pelican.” John Lyly in his Euphues (1606) wrote, “Pelicane who striketh blood out of its owne bodye to do others good.” Shakespeare (1616) in Hamlet wrote, “To his good friend thus wide, I’ll ope my arms / And, like the kind, life-rendering pelican / Repast them with ...