Christianity questions

Joseph of Arimathea is a mysterious and episodic figure. According to the gospel, he was a wealthy person and a member of the Sanhedrin. After the death of Jesus, he went to Pontius Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

“Urbi et Orbi” means literally “To the city (meaning Rome) and the circle (meaning the world outside)”.

Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap. (1887-1968), was a friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic, now venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Born Francesco Forgione, he was given the name of Pius (Italian: Pio) when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Padre Pio became famous for exhibiting stigmata for most of his life, thereby generating much interest and controversy. He was both beatified (1999) and canonized (2002) by Pope John Paul II.

Joshua is the central figure in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he was Moses' assistant and became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses. According to the Hebrew Bible, Joshua was one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. In Numbers 13:1–16, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, and allocated the land to the tribes. Joshua died at the age of 110.

Noah died 350 years after the flood, at the age of 950, the last of the extremely long-lived Antediluvian patriarchs. The maximum human lifespan, as depicted by the Bible, gradually diminishes thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses.

The ichthys, from the Greek ikhthýs is a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish. The symbol was adopted by early Christians as a secret symbol. It is now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish".

The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (also known as the Brown Scapular) is the habit of the Carmelite Order. According to the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship, the Brown Scapular is "an external sign of the filial relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Mount Carmel, and the faithful who entrust themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, who are mindful of the primacy of the spiritual life and the need for prayer.

According to St. Ambrose, Agnes of Rome, died by fire at age 12. Other versions of her martyrdom are given by Pope St. Damasus (r. 366–384) and Prudentius in Peris- tephanon. Agnes is said to have been a beautiful, wealthy Roman maiden. Agnes’s emblem in art is the lamb, a symbol of purity, and because of the similarity between her name and the Latin word for lamb, agnus. In art she is often depicted in flames and with a sword at her feet.

There are various forms of rosary, always based on multiples of ten, plus the additional separator beads and/ invitatory beads or knots and/or a cross or crucifix. Rosaries typically are based on five decades plus separator beads, for a total of 59; however, you may find some with as many as ten or even fifteen decades. The basic layout, however, is the same — groups of ten with separator beads and cross.

The iconoclast Council of Hieria was a Christian council of 754 which viewed itself as ecumenical, but was later rejected by the medieval Catholic Church. It was summoned by the Byzantine, Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine V in 754 in the palace of Hieria opposite Constantinople. The council supported the emperor's iconoclast position in the Byzantine iconoclasm controversy, condemning the spiritual and liturgical use of iconography as heretical.