Tuesday, April 10, 2012

the greatness of a photographer lies in the humility of his inner vision

he carried the cross they carried his faith...

i touched jesus .. and he did not know it...

Are You a Christian Shakir? The Best Compliment of My Life

I Had To Shoot Her ..She was Waiting For Christ

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she is a girl child
someones
pretty daughter
i think like my own
daughter it sinks
a thought a new
poem springs
god gave us spirit
love he gave us wings
we touch others
with our smile
with hope
hands touching
each other
a comic ring
brotherhood peace
above all things

I dedicate this after thought to Jack C Crawford

Jesus Moves To The Next Station of the Cross

I Missed one of the stations of the Cross..as I went to recite my Friday prayers ..

The Muslim Man Had Come From His Friday Prayers And Was Watching The Christian Way of Life

shooting the 14 stations of the cross and burning feet ..

i captured eternity in a heartbeat

the mobile phone photographer has changed the soul of anselm adams photography

Veronica Wipes The Face of Jesus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists (under February 4),[3] was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead. Jesus accepted the offering and after using it handed it back to her, the image of his face miraculously impressed upon it.[4][5][6]
The name "Veronica" itself is a Latinisation of Berenice (Greek: Βερενίκη), a Macedonian name, meaning "bearer of victory". Folk etymology has attributed its origin to the words for true (Latin: vera) and image (Greek: εικόνα). The Encyclopædia Britannica says this about the legend:
Eusebius in his Historia Ecclesiastica (vii 18) tells how at Caesarea Philippi lived the woman whom Christ healed of an issue of blood (Matt ix 20). Legend was not long in providing the woman of the Gospel with a name. In the West she was identified with Martha of Bethany; in the East she was called Berenike, or Beronike, the name appearing in as early a work as the "Acta Pilati", the most ancient form of which goes back to the fourth century. It is interesting to note that the fanciful derivation of the name Veronica from the words Vera Icon (eikon) "true image" dates back to the "Otia Imperialia" (iii 25) of Gervase of Tilbury (fl. 1211), who says: "Est ergo Veronica pictura Domini vera."
The Catholic Encyclopaedia of 1913 had this to say about the growth of the legend (translations in italics added):[7]
The belief in the existence of authentic images of Christ is connected with the old legend of King Abgar of Edessa and the apocryphal writing known as the "Mors Pilati" ("the Death of Pilate"). To distinguish at Rome the oldest and best known of these images it was called the vera icon (true image), which in the common tongue soon became "Veronica." It is thus designated in several medieval texts mentioned by the Bollandists (e.g. an old Missal of Augsburg has a Mass "De S. Veronica seu Vultus Domini") of ("Saint Veronica, or the Face of the Lord"), and Matthew of Westminster speaks of the imprint of the image of the Savior which is called Veronica: "Effigies Domenici vultus quae Veronica nuncupatur" ("effigy of the face of the Lord which is called a Veronica"). By degrees, popular imagination mistook this word for the name of a person and attached thereto several legends which vary according to the country.
The reference to Abgar is related to a similar legend in Oriental traditions, the Image of Edessa.

There is no reference to the story of St Veronica and her veil in the canonical Gospels. The closest is the miracle of the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment (Luke 8:43–48); her name is later identified as Veronica by the apocryphal "Acts of Pilate". The story was later elaborated in the 11th century by adding that Christ gave her a portrait of himself on a cloth, with which she later cured the Emperor Tiberius. The linking of this with the bearing of the cross in the Passion, and the miraculous appearance of the image only occurs around 1380, in the internationally popular book Meditations on the life of Christ.[8] The story of Veronica is celebrated in the sixth Station of the Cross.[9]
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the name "Veronica" comes from the Latin vera, meaning "true" or "Truthful", and the Greek eikon, meaning "image"; the Veil of Veronica was therefore largely regarded in medieval times as the "true image", the truthful representation of Jesus, preceding the Shroud of Turin.[7]


Albrecht Dürer's 1513 Veronica (as he called it in his diary); its heraldic presentation with matched angelic supporters emphasizes the startling realism of the image.
Saint Veronica was mentioned in the reported visions of Jesus by Sister Marie of St Peter, a Carmelite nun who lived in Tours, France, and started the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. In 1844, Sister Marie reported that in a vision, she saw Saint Veronica wiping away the spit and mud from the face of Jesus with her veil on the way to Calvary. She said that sacrilegious and blasphemous acts today are adding to the spit and mud that Saint Veronica wiped away that day. According to Sr Marie of St Peter, in her visions Jesus told her that He desired devotion to His Holy Face in reparation for sacrilege and blasphemy. Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ are thus compared to Saint Veronica wiping the face of Jesus.[10][11]
The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was eventually approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885. St Veronica is commemorated on 12 July.

Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ (2004) included an episode of Veronica wiping Jesus' face, although she is not referred to by name in the film (she is credited in the film as "Seraphia"). Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, one of the inspirational sources to the cited movie, depicts a long and touching description of the St Veronica episode and she identifies the true name of St Veronica also as "Seraphia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Veronica

Shooting Good Pictures Is Secondary How You Hold Your Camera is the Art of Photography

Joe Dias The Humble Man- Founder of the 14 Stations of The Cross

228,825 items / 1,916,250 views

This was his 25 year celebrations he fights for the rights of persecuted Christians of India ..he fights a corrupt system , where hate is promoted , churches burnt , crosses demolished , and lives lost..
He wont give up , this frail diminutive man with the inner strength of a million giants ..

When I first met him and began following his cavalcade that was many years back, I followed him , shooting pictures , and he said a few words about me at one of the Stations of the Cross I have never forgotten, he did not take my name , but he said there is one among us who though a non Christian touches Christ with his passion for photography and love for humanity..

And perhaps these words triggered a response to understand the Christian fervour on Good Friday, the spirituality of their Faith I knew I studied in a Convent school , but the physicality of pain was important too and so the following years saw me walking barefeet , and I still remember on one of the Lenten walk the fisherwoman of Vakola washed my burning feet and cleansed me forever..

I became on of them this follower of Imam Hussain a Muslim Shia by birth and ideology, a person who walks on fire cuts his head three times during Moharam , began documenting the Good Friday trial and tribulation in earnest..

And Joe and I meet only once an year .. but if there is any procession of the Christian a protest against the demolition of their crosses shrines I shoot and take part in it, or walk with them in their various marches.

I got my education upbringing from Christians I give them back in humility all I can..

My grand daughter 4 year old Marziya Shakir shoots churches crosses grottos is the least I can say of the heritage of my culture of peace and hope.

Thank you Joe ..

The Cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity.[1] It is related to the crucifix (a cross that includes a usually three-dimensional representation of Jesus' body) and to the more general family of cross symbols.

Pre-Christian crosses
The cross-shaped sign, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both East and West, the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. It is supposed to have been used not just for its ornamental value, but also with religious significance.[2]
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Some have sought to attach to the widespread use of this sign, in particular in its swastika form, a real ethnographic importance. It may have represented the apparatus used in kindling fire, and thus as the symbol of sacred fire or as a symbol of the sun, denoting its daily rotation. It has also been interpreted as the mystic representation of lightning or of the god of the tempest, and even the emblem of the Aryan pantheon and the primitive Aryan civilization.[2]
Another symbol that has been connected with the cross is the ansated cross (ankh or crux ansata) of the ancient Egyptians, which often appears as a symbolic sign in the hands of the goddess Sekhet, and appears as a hieroglyphic sign of life or of the living. In later times the Egyptian Christians (Copts), attracted by its form, and perhaps by its symbolism, adopted it as the emblem of the cross.[2] In his book, The Worship of the Dead (London, 1904), p. 226, Colonel J. Garnier wrote: "The cross in the form of the 'Crux Ansata'… was carried in the hands of the Egyptian priests and Pontiff kings as the symbol of their authority as priests of the Sun god and was called 'the Sign of Life'." [3]
In the Bronze Age we meet in different parts of Europe a more accurate representation of the cross, as conceived in Christian art, and in this shape it was soon widely diffused. This more precise characterization coincides with a corresponding general change in customs and beliefs. The cross is now met with, in various forms, on many objects: fibulas, cinctures, earthenware fragments, and on the bottom of drinking vessels. De Mortillet is of opinion that such use of the sign was not merely ornamental, but rather a symbol of consecration, especially in the case of objects pertaining to burial. In the proto-Etruscan cemetery of Golasecca every tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic design have been found in Tiryns, at Mycenæ, in Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci.[2]

Early Christian use
See also: Early Christianity
During the first two centuries of Christianity, the cross may have been rare in Christian iconography, as it depicts a purposely painful and gruesome method of public execution and Christians were reluctant to use it.[1] The Ichthys, or fish symbol, was used by early Christians.[1] The Chi-Rho monogram, which was adopted by Constantine I in the 4th century as his banner (see labarum), was another Early Christian symbol of wide use.
However, the cross symbol was already associated with Christians in the 2nd century, as is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the Octavius[4] of Minucius Felix, chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of that century or the beginning of the next,[5] and by the fact that by the early 3rd century the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the apocryphal Epistle of Barnabas, that the number 318 (in Greek numerals, ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14 was interpreted as a foreshadowing (a "type") of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letter of his name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, standing for 18),[6] and his contemporary Tertullian could designate the body of Christian believers as crucis religiosi, i.e. "devotees of the Cross".[7] In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.[8]
The Jewish Encyclopedia says:[9]
The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55-60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85-97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21–22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross (see Apocalypse of Mary, viii., in James, "Texts and Studies," iii. 118).

In Christianity the cross reminds Christians of God's act of love in Christ's sacrifice at Calvary—"the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The cross also reminds Christians of Jesus' victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through His death and resurrection He conquered death itself. They venerate it not as a material object seen in isolation but as the symbol of the sacrifice by which Christ saved them, as the instrument of Christ's triumph, according to Colossians 2:15 ("Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross"),[10] and "as the instrument of our God's saving Love".[11]


Christian crosses at a joint service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, members of the major branches of Lutheranism, some Anglicans, and other Christians often make the Sign of the Cross upon themselves. This was already a common Christian practice in the time of Tertullian.[12]
The Feast of the Cross is an important Christian feast. One of the twelve Great Feasts in Eastern Orthodoxy is the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, which commemorates the consecration of the basilica on the site where the original cross of Jesus was reportedly discovered in 326 by Helena of Constantinople, mother of Constantine the Great. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast on the same day and under the same name (In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis), though in English it has been called the feast of the Triumph of the Cross.
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican bishops place a cross [+] before their name when signing a document. A cross [†] may also be placed before the name of a departed Christian when their name appears in print.
[edit]Exclusion

Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept the use of the cross as a symbol of Christianity. They claim that there is no Biblical support for doing so and regard it as idolatry. They believe that the cross was widely used by worshipers of Tammuz, a Babylonian god, as his symbol. They believe that Jesus died, not on a two-beam cross, but on an upright stake, in accordance with the interpretation of the Greek word σταυρός (stauros). In classical Greek, this word meant merely an upright stake, or pale. Later it also came to be used for an execution stake having a crosspiece.[13] Although formerly, the Watchtower Society's publications had stated that Christ was crucified on a cross.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe that Jesus died on a cross, however "For us the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ... the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship."[14] Latter Day Saints do not place the cross on their buildings because the Bible does not mention the cross as a symbol for Christianity. Most temples will usually decorate one spire of the temple with a symbol of the Angel Moroni as an expression that the heavens have been reopened to man on earth.
[edit]Forms of the Cross

The cross is often shown in different shapes and sizes, in many different styles. It may be used in personal jewelry, or used on top of church buildings. It is shown both empty and in crucifix form, that is, with a figure of Christ, often referred to as the corpus (Latin for "body"), affixed to it. Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran depictions of the cross are often crucifixes, in order to emphasize that it is Jesus that is important, rather than the cross in isolation. Large crucifixes are a prominent feature of some Lutheran churches, as illustrated in the article Rood. However, some other Protestant traditions depict the cross without the corpus, interpreting this form as an indication of belief in the resurrection rather than as representing the interval between the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
Crosses are a prominent feature of Christian cemeteries, either carved on gravestones or as sculpted stelas. Because of this, planting small crosses is sometimes used in countries of Christian culture to mark the site of fatal accidents, or to protest alleged deaths.
In Catholic countries, crosses are often erected on the peaks of prominent mountains, such as the Zugspitze or Mount Royal, so as to be visible over the entire surrounding area.

ImageNameDescription
Altar crossA cross on a flat base to rest upon the altar of a church. The earliest known representation of an altar cross appears in a miniature in a 9th-century manuscript. By the 10th century such crosses were in common use, but the earliest extant altar cross is a 12th-century one in the Great Lavra on Mt. Athos. Mass in the Roman Rite requires the presence of a cross (more exactly, a crucifix) "on or close to" the altar.[15] Accordingly, the required cross may rest on the reredos rather than on the altar, or it may be on the wall behind the altar or be suspended above the altar.
Blessing crossUsed by priests of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches to bestow blessings upon the faithful.
Processional crossUsed to lead religious processions; sometimes, after the procession it is placed behind the altar to serve as an altar cross.
RoodLarge crucifix high in a church; most medieval Western churches had one, often with figures of the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist alongside, and often mounted on a rood screen
Andrew crossSee, below, Saltire.
Coptic ankhShaped like the letter T surmounted by an oval or circle. Originally the Egyptian symbol for "life", it was adopted by the Copts (Egyptian Christians). Also called a crux ansata, meaning "cross with a handle".
Anthony's crossSee, below, Tau cross.
Archiepiscopal crossA double-barred cross carried by an archbishop.
Armenian cross-stone (Khachkar)A khachkar (cross-stone) is a popular symbol of Armenians.
Calvary crossEither a stepped cross (see below), or a Gothic-style cross mounted on a base shaped to resemble Calvary (the place where Christ was crucified, pictured as a hill), with the Virgin Mary and Saint John on either the base or crossarms.
Canterbury crossA cross with four arms of equal length which widen to a hammer shape at the outside ends. Each arm has a triangular panel inscribed in a triquetra (three-cornered knot) pattern. There is a small square panel in the center of the cross. A symbol of the Anglican and Episcopal Churches.
Celtic CrossEssentially a Latin cross, with a circle enclosing the intersection of the upright and crossbar, as in the standing High crosses.
Consecration crossOne of 12 crosses painted on the walls of a church to mark where it had been anointed during its consecration.
Coptic crossThe original Coptic cross has its origin in the Coptic ankh.
New Coptic CrossThis new Coptic Cross is the cross currently used by the Coptic Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It evolved from the older Coptic Crosses depicted above. A gallery of Coptic Crosses can be found here.
Cross crossletThis heraldic cross is made from four Latin Crosses arranged at right-angles to each other, with their tops pointing north, south, east and west, traditionally thought to represent the message of the cross going out to the four corners of the earth. The Cross crosslet, like the Jerusalem Cross, is a symbol for world evangelism of the Gospels, which gives an alternative name: Mission Cross. Another common interpretation is that it represents the four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.[16]
CrucifixA cross with a representation of Jesus' body hanging from it. It is primarily used in Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches (where the figure is painted), and it emphasizes Christ's sacrifice— his death by crucifixion.
Crux fourchetteA cross with flared or forked ends (see illustration at Crosses in Heraldry).
Crux gemmataA cross inlaid with gems. Denotes a glorification of the cross, this form was inspired by the cult of the cross that arose after Saint Helena's discovery of the true cross in Jerusalem in 327.
Crux hastaA cross with a long descending arm; a cross-staff.
Crux pattéeA Greek cross with flared ends.
Double cross.A cross with two crossbars. See Patriarchal cross.
Globus crucigerGlobe cross. An orb surmounted by a cross; used in royal regalia.
Grapevine crossAlso known as the cross of Saint Nino of Cappadocia, who christianised Georgia.
Greek crossWith arms of equal length. One of the most common Christian forms, in common use by the 4th century.
Gnostic crossCross used by the early Gnostic sects.
Jerusalem CrossAlso known as the Crusader's Cross. A large cross with a smaller cross in each of its angles. It was used as a symbol of the Crusaders who fought against the Islamic forces.
Latin crossCross with a longer descending arm. Along with the Greek cross, it is the most common form. It represents the cross of Jesus' crucifixion.
Living crossOne of two possibilities: Either a natural cross made of living vines and branches. Or, a man-made cross with vines or plants planted at its base. In the all-natural version, it refers to the legend that Jesus' cross was made from the Tree of life. In the man-made cross with plants planted at the base, it contrasts the "new" Tree of Life (the cross) with the Book of Genesis Tree of Life. In both cases it shows Jesus' death (the cross) as a redemption for original sin (Tree of Life).
Lorraine crossOnce with crossbars of equal length near the top and the bottom, now practically identical with the patriarchal cross
Maltese crossA Greek cross with arms that taper into the center. The outer ends may be forked.
Marian CrossA term invented to refer to Pope John Paul II's combination of a Latin cross and the letter M, representing the Mary present on Calvary.
Occitan crossBased on the counts of Toulouse's traditional coat of arms, it soon became the symbol of Occitania as a whole.
Papal CrossA cross with three bars near the top. The bar are of unequal length, each one shorter than the one below.
Patriarchal crossAlso called an archiepiscopal cross or a crux gemina. A double cross, with the two crossbars near the top. The upper one is shorter, representing the plaque nailed to Jesus' cross. Similar to the Cross of Lorraine, though in the original version of the latter, the bottom arm is lower. The Eastern Orthodox cross adds a slanted bar near the foot.
Pectoral crossA large cross worn in front of the chest (in Latin, pectus) by some clergy.
Peter crossA cross with the crossbeam placed near the foot, that is associated with Saint Peter because of the tradition that he was crucified head down.
Rose CrossA cross with a rose blooming at the center. The central symbol to all groups embracing the Esoteric Christian philosophy of the Rosicrucians.
Russian Orthodox cross(See Suppedaneum cross, below).
Saltire or crux decussataAn X-shaped cross associated with St. Andrew, patron of Scotland, and so a national symbol of that country. The shape is that of the cross on which Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred. Also known as St. Andrew's Cross or Andrew Cross.
Stepped crossA cross resting on a base with three steps, also called a graded or a Calvary cross.
Suppedaneum crossAlso known as Crux Orthodoxa, Byzantine cross, Eastern cross, Russian cross, Slavic or Slavonic cross. A three-barred cross in which the short top bar represents the inscription over Jesus' head, and the lowest (usually slanting) short bar, placed near the foot, represents his footrest (in Latin, suppedaneum). This cross existed very early in Byzantium, and was adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church and especially popularized in the Slavic countries.
Saint Thomas CrossThe ancient cross used by the Syrian Malabar Nasrani community of Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala, India.[17]
Tau crossA T-shaped cross. Also called the Saint Anthony's cross and crux commissa.
Macedonian cross, also known as Veljusa Corss (Вељушки крст).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_cross

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