I saw the poster above in a tweet from Columbia University in the US -- I think! Sometimes information floats into view and it's a challenge to remember where it came from. I love this image and the workshop will probably be great. But I had never heard of Chrismon ornaments. Chrismon? Is this like Kramer's Festivus on the Seinfeld sitcom of years ago? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus A few minutes on Google introduced me to something I had never heard of previously.
A chrismon is a Christian symbol representing Jesus Christ. As in the case of Christogram, the term chrismon comes from the Latin phrase "Christi monogramma", meaning "monogram of Christ". Since early Christianity the term chrismon has traditionally referred any symbol or figure reminiscent of the name of Christ, by contrast with the basic Christogram consisting of plain letters typically implying the presence of some kind of calligraphic ornamentation.In the 20th century the term also started to be used in a wider sense to refer to a wide range of ornaments used during Christmas.
Where have I been? Have any of you heard of Chrismon's before? Are you going to run out to a Chrismon workshop to create an ornament, or eight? Does this sound like a project for a bunch of teens?
I have heard of and have made Chrismons. Mom and the worship committee at Tyrone made the series of symbols ornaments 30 years ago for the Christmas tree that stood in the sanctuary. I have also made them with the children in SS. Mom made the symbols 3D with white felt and sequins and the children and I made them out of cardboard and decorated them. They would be great to use on Reign of Christ Sunday. Thanks David, I think you just gave me my SS lesson for this Sunday. :)
ReplyDeleteIt would be neat for our SS kids to make some and hang them on the tree in the sanctuary on White Gift Sunday...
ReplyDeleteA bit of googling reveals this:
ReplyDeleteAscension Lutheran Church, Danville, VA, holds the copyright on the word "chrismons". It was given to them by Mrs. Frances Spencer, who originated the concept and brought it to fruition in that church in 1957.