The Anchor
Hope, “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19); also the martyrdom of St Philomena and St Clement.
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope” (Hebrews 6:19). The anchor holds a ship fast in a storm, so it stands for hope.
In the catacombs. Early Christians carved anchors on tombs in the catacombs of Rome. Its crossbar made it a hidden cross at a time when the faith was persecuted.
St Philomena. By tradition she was thrown into the Tiber with an anchor tied to her, and angels cut the rope. She holds the anchor with the arrows and the palm. The tiles that closed her tomb read LUMENA PAX TECUM FI, read in order as Pax tecum, Filumena, “Peace be with you, Philomena”: the words on the base of our statue.
St Clement of Rome. The fourth pope was exiled to the Crimea and, by tradition, drowned with an anchor tied to his neck.
Where you’ll see it
The Passion and the martyrs
All symbols →
The Crown of Thorns
Christ’s suffering in his Passion, mocked as a king by the soldiers (Matthew 27:29).
The Sword
Simeon’s word to Mary, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35); in a saint’s hand, the sword of martyrdom or of the fight against evil.
Arrows
The martyrdom of St Sebastian, shot with arrows for his faith; long invoked against plague.
The Gridiron
The martyrdom of St Lawrence, deacon of Rome, put to death on a gridiron in 258.
The Skull
“Remember that you will die” (memento mori): a call to penance. At the foot of the Cross it is Adam’s skull, on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.
A statue with the anchor?
Every statue is made from scratch in our studio in Mangalore.