Signs & Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols by Mike Aquilina & Lea Marie Ravotti

Signs & Mysteries:
Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols
Mike Aquilina
Lea Marie Ravotti (Illustrator)
Our Sunday Visitor
ISBN 9781592764501

Signs and Mysteries-Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols by Mike Aquilina and Lea Marie Ravotti is a great new book. It examines the signs and symbols of the Christian tradition from three perspectives - the historical archeological perspective, a theological perspective and from the view of what they can mean to us today. The book is written for the casual student of church history to the most devoted practitioner of the Catholic faith and the full range in between. The book is fantastically illustrated so that the images will have an original feel rather than look like photos from an art history book.

This book will cover a great breadth. The chapters of the book are:

The Background
The Fish
The Orant
The Shepherd
The Vine
The Philosopher
The Phoenix
The Dolphin
The Peacock
Milk
The Lamp
Moses
The Plow
Vessels
The Lamb
The Dove
Bread and Sheaves
The Crown
The Banquet
The Lighthouse
The Ankh
The Cross
The Anchor
Ships and Boats
The Labarum (Chi-Rho)
Alpha and Omega

Through the process of examining these symbols, a believer will encounter deeper meaning in elements of the tradition with which they are already familiar and will encounter new symbols that can bring deeper meaning into their faith and worship life. The book can even be used for a series of meditations as you read about each sign, learn about it, meditate upon its meaning and how it can impact your faith. What does the peacock (usually associated with pride or vanity) have to do with Catholicism? What does the Ankh, usually a Goth symbol of death, mean to early Christians and what can it mean to us? Many of these signs have corrupted or perverted representations in general culture. Now we can reclaim these items and when we see them misused know their true meaning (and maybe use it as a tool to pray for those people.)

This book is an excellent addition to Catholic History and to your faith life. Pick it up and explore new elements of tradition, history and practical faith.

This is my first review for The Catholic Company. They have a new expanded reviewers program. So if you are Catholic and have a blog or website and are interested in reviewing products, stop by and check it out. Hat tip to Ebeth from A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars for putting me on to being a reviewer for The Catholic Company and here is a link to her review of this book.