IHS
This post is dedicated to Amy, Catherine and Andy, who collared me after Mass this morning to ask me what the IHS meant on the seat Father sits in on the Sanctuary means (the actual seat is pictured above). I have to say it caught me a bit on the hop, but I figured it was probably the first, third and last letter of 'Jesus' in Greek. I promised to check and confirm it for them later, so here is a definitive answer from the Catholic Encyclopedia: IHS A monogram of the name of Jesus Christ . From the third century the names of our Saviour are sometimes shortened, particularly in Christian inscriptions (IH and XP, for Jesus and Christus). In the next century the "sigla" ( chi-rho ) occurs not only as an abbreviation but also as a symbol. From the beginning, however, in Christian inscriptions the nomina sacra , or names of Jesus Christ , were shortened by contraction, thus IC and XC or IHS and XPS for...