Christ Loves Us and Washes Us in His Blood – Pelican Symbol of Christ – 4 sizes – Catholic Gift – Archival Quality

The pelican is a traditional symbol of Christ because for thousands of years it was believed that the pelican would feed its offspring by tearing off pieces of its own flesh, sacrificing itself as Jesus sacrificed himself for us and feeds us with his Eucharist, his flesh. The Latin at the bottom of the card is "Christus dilerit nos et lavit nos en sanguine suo," which translates to, Christ Loves Us and Washes Us in His Blood. We fell in love with this gorgeous card the minute we saw it. We love the lavender and fuchsia colors of the wild flowers, rich decorative elements typical of around the 1870s. We think the artist was suggesting the trinity in the flowers, one bud with three petals, and the color choices in the red and purple families correlate to the Passion and Kingship of Jesus. Catholic art is typically "written" with a lot of symbols. Our artist perhaps had never seen a pelican, or was using artistic license in giving the bird a swooping neck that is more swan-like than pelic