A Canadian Family

Symbols On Catholic Cemetery Headstones: The Dove

The theme for the Feburary edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival is cemetery critters and we’re been asked to share photographs of “rabbits, squirrels, spiders, chipmunks…” or whatever else we’ve found in our cemetery visits. I have no live animal pictures to share so I’ve turned an eye to my collection of headstone images. I didn’t find much but there were a few examples of one animal symbols, and that was the dove.

Symbolism in Catholic Cemeteries

I’ve spent hundreds of hours wandering through old Catholic cemeteries in Quebec and northern New Brunswick(usually on the hunt for Acadians!) and I’ve noticed a difference between the headstones that I’ve seen there and those I see pictured on some of the blogs of fellow family historians. In the Catholic cemeteries that I’ve visited there is either no symbol at all, or there is just the symbol of the cross, whereas many gravestones that I see online – especially on American blogs – have quite elaborate artwork, symbols that I don’t recognize and in some instances even portray secular objects.

One reason for this is probably that many of the cemeteries that I visit are located in struggling regions where most people didn’t have much disposable income. In fact, many of the 19th and early 20th century tombstones in my collection seem to have been made from whatever material was available locally and I think it many could not have afforded memorial art.

At one point I also thought that perhaps symbols other than the cross were not permitted but after visiting the online sites of several major Catholic cemeteries I found that each ccemetery has its own rules, and though all promote the cross as the primary symbol, other symbols such as those representing professions, military service or hobbies may be permitted.

The Symbolism of the Dove

Nowadays, most people – whether Christian or not – would recognize the dove as a symbol of peace and the dove has been used as a symbol of the modern peace movement that arose in the 1960s, but the dove is actually an ancient symbol. To Christians, it has a particular significance and you can find many images of the it in religious paintings, stained glass windows and other sacred art. Of course, these ideas about doves actually go back to the Christian Old Testament and Jewish Mosaic law.

Christian Symbol of Peace One reference to the dove is in Genesis where you can read the story of Noah’s Ark in which God passed judgement on the human race and sent a Great Flood as his punishment. After 40 days and 40 nights, to signal that the punishment was over and the flooding finished, God sent Noah a sign in the form of a dove with an olive branch. The olive branch is what sets the image apart from its next meaning. Christian Symbol of the Holy Spirit To Catholics, the dove also symbolizes the Holy Spirit and the notion of redemption and being gathered up into God. Symbol of Innocence and Purity Doves also stood for certain qualities which could be summed up in one word – cleanliness. For this reason you will often see the symbol of a dove on childrens’ tombstones.

Related Posts:

Cemeteries

Further Reading:

Catholic Encyclopedia: The Dove

January 10, 2010 - Posted by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault | . | cemetery, gravestone, headstone, memorial