Dormition Abbey > Our Community > The Rainbow-Cross

The Rainbow-Cross

Sign of Suffering, Sign of Hope: the Rainbow-Cross

Two symbols, a study in contrasts: the rainbow, multicoloured, has alsways been a sign of hope and joy; the cross on the other hand stands at first sight for torture, suffering and death. Still both symbols are united in the rainbow cross, which for our community has become deeply meaningful. Why?

The Symbol of the Cross: God Shares Our Suffering

Strife and discord in the hearts of men lead to hostility, hatred, and war in the world. With deep stock we witness and are hurt by the numerous forms of violence ans suffering among human beings and all of God's creatures. Every man must carry his cross.
Since Jesus Christ has suffered for us on the cross, the cross has also become the symbol of the love of God the Father who shares the suffering of all humankind. Jesus' resurrection, which has brought us redemption, transforms the cross into a life-giving sign of hope.
Here in Jerusalem the paradox of the cross has been erected: on the one hand as the sign of salvation and on the other as the sign of deliverance from suffering.

God's Faithful Promise: The Bow of Covenant and the Number Twelve

The rainbow-cross shouls be to all a sign of salvation and peace of heart. The rainbow symbol is a bow of blessing for all people stretching to the four corners of the earth. On the walls of numerous churches in south Lebanon or carved into the rocks on the roads to Mt. Sinai, and at the site of the Multiplication of Bread and Fish in Tabgha, this cross expresses God's indestructible faith and love for us. The rainbow is the sign of the covenant between Noah and God. "Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood ... I set my rainbow in the cloud and it shall be the sign of the covenant betweeen me and the earth" (Gen. 9:11-13). But this bow is also an allusion to the vault of the firmament that God pointed out to Abraham telling him: "Now look toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them ... so shall your descendants be" (Gen. 15:5).
The twelve spikes of the rainbow-cross recall God's covenant with the twelve tribes of Israel under the leadership of Moses on Mount Sinai. The number twelve also symbolises the apostles who, sent by Jesus, preached the joyful tidings to "all the nations" under the sky. The Twelve, representing the original community here on Mount Zion, "were constantly at prayer together, and with them a group of women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (Acts 1:14). The Acts of the Apostles recount their return from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem: "They went to the room upstairs where they were lodging" (Acts 1:13). The risen Christ appears among his disciples and sais: "Peace be with you" (Luke 24:36; John, 20:19). The message of Jesus, the crucified and resurrected one, is "Peace".