In my last post, I discussed some common Christian symbols. Here is Martin Luther's explanation of his seal and what it symbolized:
"The first should be a black cross in a heart, which retains its natural color, so that I myself would be reminded that faith in the Crucified saves us. "For one who believes from the heart will be justified" (Romans 10:10). Although it is indeed a black cross, which mortifies and which should also cause pain, it leaves the heart in its natural color. It does not corrupt nature, that is, it does not kill but keeps alive. "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17) but by faith in the crucified. Such a heart should stand in the middle of a white rose, to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace. In other words, it places the believer into a white, joyous rose, for this faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives (John 14:27). That is why the rose should be white and not red, for white is the color of the spirits and the angels (Matthew 28:3; John 20:12). Such a rose should stand in a sky-blue field, symbolizing that such joy in spirit and faith is a beginning of the heavenly future joy, which begins already, but is grasped in hope, not yet revealed. And around this field is a golden ring, symbolizing that such blessedness in Heaven lasts forever and has no end. Such blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and goods, just as gold is the most valuable, most precious and best metal."
However, I always wondered if there were more to him choosing a rose, so I did some research into its use in Christianity. The rose was the emblem of the god Horus in ancient Egypt. Later, the Greeks and Romans translated the god's Egyptian name Har-pa-khered (meaning "Horus the Child") as Harpocrates and regarded him as the god of silence. The association of Harpocrates with silence and secrecy originates from a misunderstanding of Egyptian depictions of the god. Heru-pa-khered was represented as a naked youth with a finger-to-mouth gesture--in Egyptian artwork this gesture imitates the hieroglyph for "child" and is used to represent youth, but was misunderstood by later Greeks and Romans as a gesture for silence. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite (Venus) gave a rose to her son Eros (Cupid), the god of love; he, in turn, gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to ensure that his mother's indiscretions (or those of the gods in general, in other accounts) were not disclosed. Paintings of roses on the ceilings of Roman banquet rooms were also a reminder that things said under the influence of wine (sub vino) should also remain under the rose (sub rosa). In the Middle Ages, a rose suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber similarly pledged all present (those under the rose) to secrecy. In Christian symbolism, the phrase "sub rosa" has a special place in confessions. Pictures of five-petalled roses were often carved on confessionals, indicating that the conversations would remain secret. Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ.
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