My wife came into the Church during the Easter Vigil last year. Prior to her conversion, we often discussed the faith and what brought me back to it. I lived a fairly dissolute life with the inevitible disasters which accrue to one who lives such a life. During my return, I often felt unworthy of forgiveness. It was during some of these times I would stare at the crucifix which I had hung on my wall and thought: "This is not an insignifcant act."

The Crucifix represents the passion and suffering of the Lord. It is so transcendent, so deep, so beyond my ability to convey it through the shallow medium of language. It is Christ following the will of the Father to redeem men who weren't even looking for him due to their blindness and pre-occupation with the Kingdom of Self.

Scripture tells us that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. The crucifix graphically displays the ultimate shedding of blood. It is an act of pain, and act of faith, an act of obedience and emptying. It is an act of love.

My wife was impressed with Lent and Good Friday Services which re-enact the Passion of the Lord. In her own faith experience, only Easter was celebrated. The Church has long scipturally, traditionally and intuitively understood that there is no Resurrection without the supreme sacrifice that led to it.

I am pleased to say that our small, Army Catholic community on Ft. Wainwright, Alaska has a crucifix behind our altar, two in the smaller chapel where sits the tabernacle, and in almost every other room. This is a military parish. Many of our parish are deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. Fear, dread, longing and loss are not abstractions around here

The Crucifix is a constant reminder of what the Son of God did for me and for all who come to the Father through Him. He paid the price of my sins because I couldn't pay it. This mericful, loving act made it possible for a weak man like me to have the opportunity to see God in the Face.

Thanks for a great article.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO.

Stan, Can we borrow one of your crucifixes? I'm in Alaska, and our parish has a big risen Jesus. We want to avoid pain and anything hard. So we are a parish of (spiritual) wimps: we avoid the hard teachings, the death of Jesus, and just sit around and tell each other how wonderful we are all the time. It is pathetic.

I don't know what to say, my fellow Alaskan brother or sister. If you're serious, I'm sure we can arrange something. Perhaps you were metaphorically illustrating the author's thesis - which you certainly have sadly done.

Let me know. Have a good night here on the Periphery of the Empire.

Pray to the Holy Spirit to light up your parish.

One correction in an otherwise superb article. Jesus (God) was not murdered. He gave his life freely, nobody took it from him. Deicide is the act of killing God, but not murdering him. There is a difference. The Passionists' motto is "May the Passion of our Lord be always in our hearts". This says it all.

This is interesting, I've never seen a church without a crucifix. Our church has a huge one, absolutely huge, life size, and very realistic, made with logs from trees.

However, the crucifix they carry in during the entrance is not a crucifix, but a glass cross.

Ann, you've been blessed. In my experience, 7 or 8 times out of 10 a church will not have a crucifix behind its altar.

Ironically, it even occurs in churches that otherwise seem beautifully devout. Case in point: the Cathedral of Washington, DC -- a gorgeous church -- doesn't even have a semblance of a cross behind or above the altar. There is only the cross brought in during the processional and set off to the side. I raise my eyes during prayer and find myself looking instead at a lovely, life-size mosaic of St. Matthew. Well, no offense, Matthew, but...is your Lord around here anywhere?

I too have been blessed, for in the Diocese of Phoenix, Bishop Olmsted (whose very name receives a blessing every time it is uttered in my presence) made certain there was a crucifix upon each and every altar as one of his first acts upon arriving here. No more butterfly or bird substitutes to be seen, and there were some hideous ones. Making sure each and every priest owned a Breviary was another move he made, but I digress. It is all about leadership, folks. He is as gentle a shepherd as you could hope to find, but he leads us with a sure hand.

Nonsense - Yes, I've seen a church with a "Risen Christ", but I stress a - only one. Every other Catholic Church I've visited has a crucifix in the expected place.

Bishop Olmsted was the Bishop of my diocese when I converted to Catholicism... what a great man! I was sorely disappointed when he was called away from Wichita.

The Diocese of Arlington has beautiful crucifixes. As it continues to build a new church every year, Bishop Loverde verifies that a prominent crucifix is part of the plan.

Our Church in Sarasota -St. Martha's has a huge Crucifix hanging over the altar. If it were to be brought down from it's heighth I would estimate it to be 12 feet tall. It is truly captivating, purchased from the hard earned labors of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily Circus performers who donated all proceeds from every show produced on every Sunday 'til the Church was paid for. My first impression was that He, Our Divine Lord was so exposed-to the elements and to the coldstone hearts of men.

I remember a Baptist friend of mine commenting about a Catholic crucifix. He said, "Why would I want my child exposed to something so bloody." Then I thought about all the violence that kid is exposed to on television and movies. We really are a society of blinded fools.

I could not agree more strongly. Bring back the Crucifix. I am weary of seeing Catholic churches that don't even look Catholic anymore.

Thank you for this, and I certainly hope a reform of this nature will soon sweep the U.S. It will help us tremendously.

Agonizing Crucifix http://www.preciousbloodinternational.com/January_2009.pdf
It is the most powerful sacramental Our Lord has ever given to the Church with special promises of protection and grace accompanying it. Through it, Our Lord has told us He will perform many miracles. On January 5, 2000, Our Lord gave the
world the Agonizing Crucifix through an illiterate teenage boy named Barnabas Nwoye in the village of Olo in Enugu State, Nigeria. The young man recorded the event as follows:
“...I saw in a vision Our Lord holding a Crucifix...I saw Him walking about in a desert. After a while, we met. He said to me, “Barnabas, take this.” Then He offered me the Crucifix and continued,
“This is your Crucified Lord who loves you. He is the one whom you daily crucify. Accept it from Me, carry it always. Show it to the world, let all men have it also. Children, this is what your sins do to me.”
This Crucifix is the same as the Crucifixes we all know. The difference is that the wounds and blood of His Sacred Body are depicted very graphically, His Sacred Heart is exposed on His chest and His Blood runs down the wood of the cross. On the
cross it is written “I am the Agonizing Jesus Christ
who loves you.”
Why Do I Need One?
Our Lord continued, “You shall make this Crucifix as you see it. I am giving it to you as the instrument and armor which you must all have before the evil man comes to reign in full force. Listen, My children, all the necessary warnings
have been given to you. The plans of your enemy have been made known to you. I call you all, not to give you any further warnings, but to prepare and get you ready for the hour. You and all men are to have this cross as an armor of protection
against evil forces that fill the earth now. I promise to perform numerous miracles through it. I will break their hearts of stone and pour in my love. I promise also to draw straying souls closer to myself through this Crucifix. Children,
captives shall be freed through this cross.
Children, no enemy of My Holy Cross will approach this cross. On the days of the evil one,you will be able to go about freely without any harm through this cross. Children, accept this gift with love.

A proper crucifix should be made of wood, and wood only, if it is to be effective in defeating the Devil,according to an Exorcist who reported this in an article I read. I cannot swear to the veracity of this claim, of course, but doesn't it
make sense? Christ was not hung on a plaster or glass cross, was He?

No thorns, no crown! No cross, no glory! Phoenix has come back from the brink; now let's pray for Tucson. St. Augustine's Cathedral in that city is simply gorgeous--on the outside.

A couple of years ago, I gave a St. Benedict Crucifix to a medical doctor friend. A St. Benedict Crucifix has a special blessing and is a prayer of exorcism.
Recently she loaned it to her 28 year old nephew because, after having a "card reading", he experienced some problems. A catholic family, but not really practicing.
He took it home to his apartment and put it on his nightstand. That night he woke up with his bed shaking, the nightstand shaking also. The next day he brought the crucifix to his mom and asked her to give it back to his aunt because it was "defective".
Could other sacramentals have the same effect with regard to unfriendly spirits? I doubt it. (more information on St. Benedict medals and the blessing can be found here http://www.osb.org/gen/medal.html

Maybe they're beginning to make a comeback? At the Church in our little town (in Monroe NC). we have a huge life sized crucifix suspended over our altar. It is bronze and the corpus is not black or white (which is all encompassing b/c members in our Church are from every nationality). They carry in a wooden (I think Olive wood) cross (no corpus) before Mass, but our Chapel has a small crucifix also.
We are, apparently, very blessed!
THANK GOD!

Our parish has an upstairs church and a downstairs church. The upstairs church is where Sunday Mass is celebrated. We have a full size Crucifix suspened over the altar and it is a focal point. We used to have a full sized crucifix in the downstairs where confession is heard but it is gone now and in its place is a small Risen Christ crucifix. That crucifix in the lower church meant so much to me and always served as a reminder of how Jesus loved me. I miss not having there. We were told it was given to a "new parish" somewhere else. I wish they had at least replaced it with smaller version.

Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again! I believe that the crucified Christ is a consciousness that as Catholics we have been known for; when I was a child going to Mass on Military bases, they would pull a cable and Jesus Crucified on the Cross would appear, at the end of Mass they would pull the cable and an empty cross would appear and I learned as I got older that they would close the drapes for the Jewish services.
I love to hear the return of crucifixes into our Church but I really pray for the day when The Holy Spirit is welcomed wholeheartedly so that His Gifts can have their way with our souls! The hunger expressed for us to never lose sight of the price Jesus paid to redeem us is heart-warming but we are to be living Victorious lives in Jesus, and He sent His Holy Spirit, not as an extra, but as a necessity. In the early Church, the Apostles would travel around and come upon some early Christians who said they had been baptized but had not received the gift of tongues, which was there confirmation of a complete baptism. They would re-baptize so as to witness this impartation of The Holy Spirit in the gift of tongues.

P.S.I would like the highly expensive (I'm sure) sculpture of the Holy Family in which the infant Jesus is naked, yes naked removed from the sanctuary of the Church..... who decides these things. Our Parish doesn't have kneelers either and of course the floating (ascending?) Risen Jesus cross hangs over the altar.

The expectation that the gift of tongues and prophecy would manifest once baptized in the Holy Spirit can be found in Acts 19: 1-7.

I am surprised to hear about the churches in the usa. so is it really true that many do not have such crucifixes? here in west australian most have traditional ones. when one looks at the cross one can only thank and praise Jesus for being willing to follow the Will of the Father.
This willingness has opened up so much for creation as we are now in the process of returning Creation to the Father. Christs willingness to endure so much suffering really started this proccess.

Taking out the crucifix was done deliberately to make the faithful forget the meaning of suffering and sacrifice. To modern day reformers, the Risen Christ fits more their agenda that life's a beach. It's more in the spirit of 20th century progress and Hollywoodian good life and happy endings. Ahh, open the windows and let the fresh air in! The crucifix is sooo medieval, right?

And in the same token, don't you ever wonder why Protestant churches only have bare crucifixes with the wounded, bloody corpus left out?

Sorry, I disagree with your analysis.

As Catholic's and Christian's, we all know the horific pain and suffering our Savior went through on the Cross at Calvary. However, as the Messiah, he overcame death.

How many of us remember the Rock Opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar? It was written by a person of the Jewish Faith and ends with the crucifixtion.

However, as true believers, the story does not end there. On the third day he rose again from the grave.

Our story should not be symbolized by a dead person hanging on the Cross but indeed of our RISEN SAVIOR.

Yes, please pray for Tucson. Our beautiful cathedral has the most hideous risen christ behind the altar, it is huge, creepy, and distracting. It looks like risen Chtist is still on the cross, but wearing a robe, so his knees are bent underneath robe making Him appear to be a hobbit.
Another parish I've been to in Tucson has NO crucifix visible from the seating area. I do not understand why Catholic's don't want to look (or be, really) Catholic.

"Every victory is surrounded by the way of the cross"
(Our Lady). Catholics know our Saviour is Risen. However,the crucifix is our supreme reminder of the spirit of sacrifice we can choose or leave in this life. (ie the 'way' as early Christians refered to the life of being a Christian...or the way of "abundance and worldy prosperity" as our 20th century warped version of God often depicted). Heroic virtue is the spirit of sacrifice. We need the crucifix. We preach Christ cruficied (St. Paul). Praise be to Jesus. May we all have the grace to pick up our cross and die to self. and no, this doesn't fit at all with the spirit of the world. it never did, never will. we are in exile and await. Apostles Creed ends "I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting..amen" That comes after our 'way' of the cross..whatever cross that might be in our lives according to the will of the Father. Christ's suffering was redeptive.
Yes, Catholics believe in following that example of redeptive suffering. and the world laughs at it. look to the fruit of those who live the way of the cross vs. prosperity gospel.

Great article - very well thought out. Even the posts were informative. I never heard of the agonizing Jesus Christ crucifix before and didn't really know about the St. Benedict crucifix either. I have always been very comforted by the presence of a crucifix and always wear one. I visit a lot of churches and I've never noticed the crucifixes missing. Maybe that's not such an issue here on the east coast? Some of you would really be jealous of our parish. We have a huge stained glass window of a crucifix over the altar because our parish is named Holy Cross. They also process in with a wooden one, and a large wooden one left over from the old church building is in the gathering space. And our perpetual adoration chapel has a 4 foot tall crucifix that once belonged to a martyred Mexican priest who was a relative of a parish family. Until now I took all of this for granted. I will appreciate them much more from now on!
BTW Sept. 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. That's when we venerate our relic of the true Cross:)

thank God for your messege. my eyes are continuely drawn to out Lord on the cross every moment I spend in church. I find it so full-filling to gaze on His form and ponder my place with Him. Mass seems so much more when I share it with Jesus in the sight of my world. I wish everyone felt the warmth of standing with Jesus and the strenght granted my acknowling His personal suffering.

Our Catholic Church has a crucifix, perpetual adoration, statues of St Joseph and the Blessed Mother and I huge Divine Mercy portrait "Jesus, I trust in you on each side of the alter facing the parishioners. We have perpetual adoration. We are constantly reminded of our sinful nature, distrust of S.E.L.F, surely effectively losing faith, and need of God's grace, love and mercy to conquer it. Our parish is truly blessed.

In my travels in the Washington and Baltimore Archdiocese, the "Risen Christ" on the cross is being replaced by a real Crucifix. I have seen this done in at least three churches, praise God! I was told that this is because there are some guidelines or rules that specify that every altar must have a crucifix on or nearby it. Does anyone know if this is really a Church rule?

While Christ's Resurrection demonstrated His victory and dominion over death, it was His DEATH on the cross that brought us Salvation.

In our church, we have a beautiful, very large crucifix behind our altar,and I too, have grown up attending Mass and often pondering on our crucified Lord. I remember even as a child wondering about the pain and suffering HE endured, for ME.

Last Easter, during the time when the Crucifix is covered (between Good Friday and Easter Sunday - sorry, my mind is drawing a blank right now!! lol) our newly-turned 3 year old asked where Jesus was - meaning the crucifix, so we explained that it signified that Jesus died, and that the Blessed Sacrament was taken out from the altar, to show that He was not with us at this time, that we had to wait til Easter Sunday when we would celebrate His Resurection. (try to explain this to a 3 year old sometime.....)
She became very sad, and tears filled her eyes, and she said,
"I'm so sad that they took Jesus away!He's supposed to be here!".
To me, that says it all!
All of our children know the importance of the crucifix, and can't understand why every church does not have one. Sadly, our diocesan Cathedral (which was rebuilt in the 60's I believe, after a fire), has a "Risen Christ" in place of the crucifix, and no kneelers!!!!!
We are finally getting a new Arch-Bishop this fall (Praise God!). Please pray that our new leader will have the courage to call back the cross as Bishop Olmstead of Phoenix is doing!

Interesting that you start with Mexico, Paul preached Christ crucified, Mexico preaches Christ suffering. "Bloodier than a Mexican Jesus." This resonates. Not only in Mexico and it should be taught all Christians.

Our parish has a tradition of displaying an Ascendant Christ seasonally. Arms uplifted he hovered over the sanctuary. I am happy to report that our recently installed parish priest has put an end to that and it is now the crucified Christ above the sanctuary at all times and our ascendant Christ has a new permanent home in the parish center.

Growing up protestant, I was told that Catholic crucifixes were somehow a rejection of the resurrection. I know better now, but the whole protestant view of the cross is murky and jumbled throughout.

Christ's death on the cross is a victory for countless reasons, yet the cross also hurts. As a result of its graphic nature, I suspect that protestants ultimately think of Good Friday in terms of defeat, setback, or gloom, and so they look to Easter as the only possible victory.

Fortunately, nearly every Catholic Church I have been to had the traditional Crucifix. On the rare occasion I have entered a Catholic Church that lacked one, I got the uncomfortable feeling I had gone back to a protestant church. It never feels right.

I like the compromise of my rather torn parish- widely known as one of the most liberal in my metro area, but with a few hold outs like me that keep complaining to the Bishop.

The compromise? our artsy-craftsy "Risifex" is permanent in the Church- but so artsy that you can see the stained glass of Mary peering out through the ribs of Christ because the "cross" is really just blank air in the shape of a cross.

During Mass, the crucifix that the cross-bearer brings in to place to the back right of the alter, is a real crucifix.

From my point of view, this symbolizes something that I can handle as a post-Vatican-II conservative: that our modern architecture no-communion railing church building is normally for other uses than the Mass- except for once a day and three times on Sundays, when it becomes truly used for the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Ok, after reading some of the others, I was hoping to find a picture of what is permanently above the altar at St. Clare's- because I think it's probably the *extreme* of what a risifex is trying to convey. But I'll have to make do with a description:

Jesus has no legs. In fact, beyond the fourth rib, he's completely missing. He's made of steel, and surrounded by large spears of steel- making him look like a ghost about to star-trek warp speed into heaven. He isn't even on a cross, not properly- he's on four rectangular frames of white muslin, between which is the *suggestion* of a cross. Behind him in the sanctuary is a Stained Glass of Mary- as you come forward for the Eucharist, you can see her peaking out between Jesus' ribs.

This isn't Christ suffering at all- for that, you need to look down at the crucifix that is always just behind the altar during Mass, but in the church at no other time. No, this is Christ not only risen, but somebody's view of him ruling from Heaven Above. I get modern art enough to get this, but the only question I've got for the artist is why he's eaten his mother.

Yes, I have been in a Gaithersburg parish for some years now. I was not a witness to the event, but the parish has a large almost life size crucifix suspended above the altar. It was apparently originally a "Risen Christ" "crucifix", but the Archbishop give orders that a proper crucifix was required. (I am assuming that it was a general order ... it happened before my time here.)

The corpus was replace with a proper figure of the crucified Christ. The Risen Christ figure was moved and mount on a side wall near St. Joseph's altar. So our parish has both a proper crucifix and a Risen Christ ... I think a good combination.

Dale