Votive Ships

 

 Symbols of the Church and our pilgrimage to heaven

The symbol of a ship is one that has consistently stayed with the Church throughout the centuries.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux once wrote in her autobiography, “[T]he symbol of a ship always delights me and helps me to bear the exile of this life. Does not the Wise Man tell us—’Life is like a ship that passeth through the waves: when it is gone by, the trace thereof cannot be found’?”

Ships have been featured in Christian art since the very beginning, appearing first in the catacombs. It was a favorite image of the Church Fathers, who saw the ship as a symbol of the Church.

The analogy is made clear in the Apostolic Constitutions, a document written in the 4th century.

When you call an assembly of the Church as one that is the commander of a great ship, appoint the assemblies to be made with all possible skill, charging the deacons as mariners to prepare places for the brethren as for passengers, with all due care and decency. And first, let the building be long, with its head to the east, with its vestries on both sides at the east end, and so it will be like a ship. In the middle let the bishop’s throne be placed, and on each side of him let the presbytery sit down; and let the deacons stand near at hand, in close and small girt garments, for they are like the mariners and managers of the ship.

It is no coincidence that the part of every church where the people sit is called a nave. This word comes from the Latin navis, or ship, and was meant to portray the reality that the Church is a ship, protecting those inside it from the waves and buffets of the world.

In early Christian art, Noah’s ark is typically used to represent the Church, while later artists used the episode of Jesus calming the waves at sea.

Furthermore, the Church is often called the “barque of Peter,” with the pope at the helm of the ship, leading it towards the eternal shores of Heaven.

Last of all, ships have been used in art relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her title of “Star of the Sea.”

Saint Bonaventure describes this analogy when he wrote, “O poor lost sinners, despair not; raise up your eyes and cast them on this beautiful star; breathe again with confidence, for it will save you from this tempest and will guide you into the port of salvation.”

Ships are a beautiful image, one that has consistently stayed with the Church throughout the centuries.

One of my Internet friends sent me this story about emergency conditions at sea and what Catholic Sailors in days of old did to placate the situation. Being a Catholic and once a Sailor, I found this ancient custom interesting. 

 

I went through a hurricane on the carrier USS Oriskany. The storm was so strong it sent waves over the pilot-house which was almost 80 feet above the waterline. ... Time to start praying as these old mariners did...

 

The following is just some of what I came up with after just a few minutes of searching. ... 

 

A votive ship, sometimes called a church ship, is a ship model displayed in a church. As a rule, votive ships are constructed and given as gifts to the church by seamen and ship builders. Votive ships are relatively common in churches in the Nordic countries Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as on Åland and Faroe islands, but are known also to exist in Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.

 

The practice of displaying model ships in churches stems from the Middle Ages and appears to have been known throughout Christian Europe, in both Catholic and Lutheran countries. The oldest known remaining votive ship is a Spanish ship model from the 15th century. A model ship originally displayed in Stockholm Cathedral but today in the Stockholm Maritime Museum dating from circa 1590 is the oldest surviving example in the Nordic countries.

 

Votive ships are quite common in France, in coastal towns either as model ships or as paintings they are known under the Latin term of Ex-Voto.

The church of Sainte Anne d'Auray in Brittany has the biggest French collection of marine ex-votos, but the practice even extends to the Mediterranean French shores, including Corsica.

 

Lisa Nichols Hickman: Epiphany and votive ships - The traditional votive ships of Finland teach lessons on stewardship. Lisa Nichols Hickman is pastor of New Wilmington Presbyterian Church in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

 

Sacred Vessels - SHIP models have a long tradition in religious rites and imagery.

 

Glasgow Cathedral - Votive Ship

 

The devotion of the votive ships in Canada

 

Turku Cathedral Votive Ship

 

Models of ships in churches

 

1638 St. Mary Magdalene Church of Kawit (Parokya ni Santa Maria Magdalena) is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. Vicariate of St. Mary Magdalene celebrated its Golden Jubilee in November 2011. It was initially said to be built of wood as early as 1638 through the help of six Filipino families from the towns of Maragondon and Silang, Cavite. 

Saint Mary Magdale Church belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus, the diocese that has jurisdiction over all the Catholic parishes in Cavite. The town Kawit which was formerly known as Cavite Viejo during Spanish occupation was frequent by Spanish marines and slowly turned into a "Red Light District" and to help solve the bad reputation of the place Manila Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano (1618–1629) ordered to place St. Mary Magdalene as patroness of the town. 

Some people and researchers say that it is possible that she may not be the original patron saint of the town since most of the old parishes in Cavite was consecrated to the Virgin Mary. The Church is known for healing and helping resolve personal problems. Mary Magdalene (original Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή), or Mary of Magdala and sometimes The Magdalene, is a religious figure in Christianity. St. Mary Magdalene's statue , the antique and miraculous life-size image of Mary Magdalene in Kawit, Cavite has a "mark" in the middle of her forehead, it resembles a mole and no living local in Kawit knows why the statue has such a mark. Speculations suggests that this is the symbolic mark of Jesus's finger tips during the resurrection when he had appeared to Magdalene and said Noli me tangere (Touch Me Not). Some suggests that this mark is to clearly identify her identity from the Virgin Mary.