Nazis Pervert the Swastika

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Various depictions of the swastika, a sign of life and health, which was adopted by the Nazis in 1935. The swastika is now seen by most as the infamous emblem of the most pernicious evil in human history.

The swastika, an ancient symbol of life and health, was adopted by the Nazi regime as their official logo on September 16, 1935. The symbol is now seen by most people as exclusively the emblem of the most wicked political system ever devised.

The swastika–the name swastika comes from Sanskrit word swastik, which means ‘conducive to well being’ or ‘auspicious’–is an icon which is widely found in human history. In northern Europe it has also been called a sun-wheel. A swastika generally takes the form of a cross, the arms of which are of equal length and perpendicular to the adjacent arms, each bent midway at a right angle. The earliest known swastika is from 10,000 BC found in the Ukraine. (It was engraved on wooden monuments built near the final resting places of fallen Slavs to represent eternal life.)

In several major religions, the swastika symbolizes lightning bolts, representing the thunder god and the king of the gods, such as Indra in Vedic Hinduism, Zeus in the ancient Greek religion, Jupiter in the ancient Roman religion, and Thor in the ancient Germanic religion.

Some say the swastika represents the north pole, and the rotational movement around the center or axis of the world. It also represents the Sun as a reflected function of the north pole. It is a symbol of life, of the life-creating role of the supreme principle of the universe, the absolute God, in relation to the cosmic order. Medieval Christians used it a way to depict the life-giving power of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified and destroyed Death.

The Nazis’ principal symbol was first the hakenkreuz, “hooked-cross” (which resembles the Swastika) which the newly established Nazi Party formally adopted in 1920. The emblem was a black swastika (hooks branching clockwise) rotated 45 degrees on a white circle on a red background. This insignia was used on the party’s flag, badge, and armband and became the flag of Germany in 1935.

“Happy Birthday!” to the BVM

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The Nativity of the Virgin by Andrea di Bartolo (1360/70 – 1428). He was an Italian painter, stained glass designer, and illuminator of the Sienese School mainly known for his religious subjects. He was active between 1389–1428 in the area in and around Siena. (This painting hangs in the National Gallery)

A feast in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birth seems to have been held in Syria and Palestine in the sixth century. This celebration was accepted and adopted by the Roman Church at the end of the seventh century. It spread very slowly through the rest of Europe but by the twelfth century, it was observed throughout both Western and Eastern Europe as one of the major feasts of Mary. It remained a holy day of obligation among Roman Catholics until 1918.

In many places of central and eastern Europe the Feast of Mary’s Nativity is traditionally connected with ancient farming customs and celebrations, much like Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. September 8 itself marks the end of the summer in popular reckoning; September 8 also marks the beginning of “after-summer” and the start of the fall planting season. A blessing of the harvest and of the seed grains for the winter crops is performed in many churches.

In central and northern Europe, according to ancient belief, September 8 is also the day on which the swallows leave for the sunny skies of the South.

In the Alps, the “down-driving” (Abtrieb) begins on September 8. Cattle and sheep are taken from their summer pastures on the high mountain slopes where they have roamed for months, and descend in long caravans to the valleys to take up their winter quarters in the warm stables. The animals at the front of the procession wear elaborate decorations of flowers and ribbons; the rest carry branches of evergreen between their horns and little bells around their necks. The shepherds and other caretakers accompany the procession, dressed in all their finery and decorated with Alpine flowers, yodeling, and cracking whips to provoke a multiple echo from the surrounding mountain cliffs. Arriving at the bottom of the valley in the evening, they find the whole village or town awaiting them in a festive mood. Ample fodder is served to the cattle in the stables, and each family has a banquet that includes the farm hands. In some sections of Austria all the milk obtained on Drive-Down Day is given to the poor in honor of our Lady, together with the meat, bread, and pastries left over from the feast in the evening.

If, however, the farmer who owns the cattle has died during the summer, the “downdriving” is performed without decorations and in silence. Each animal then wears a mourning wreath of purple or black crepe.

In the wine-growing sections of France, September 8 is the day of the grape harvest festival. The owners of vineyards bring their best grapes to church to have them blessed; in Greece, the first grapes are ripe a month earlier so the Greeks bring the grapes into church to be blessed on August 6; the French have the grapes blessed and afterward tie some of them to the hands of the statue of the Virgin. The Feast of Mary’s Nativity is called “Our Lady of the Grape Harvest” in those sections, and a festive meal is held at which the first grapes of the new harvest are consumed.

St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, a Model Pastor

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Full-page miniature of the Evangelist Saint Matthew, accompanied by his symbol, a winged man blowing a trumpet and carrying a book; folio 25v of the Lindisfarne Gospels produced about 100 years after St. Aidan founded the monastery.

St. Aidan of Lindisfarne (died 31 August AD 651) was an Irish monk and missionary credited with restoring Christianity to northern England. He founded a monastic cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne and served as its first bishop. He travelled throughout the countryside, spreading the gospel to both the Anglo-Saxon nobility and the socially disenfranchised (including children and slaves).

In the years prior to Aidan’s mission, Christianity, in northern England was being largely displaced by Anglo-Saxon paganism. However, the young king Oswald vowed to bring Christianity back to his people—an opportunity that presented itself in AD 634, when he gained the crown of Northumbria. King Oswald requested that missionaries be sent from the monastery of Iona in Scotland. At first, they sent him a bishop named Cormán, but he alienated many people by his harshness, and returned in failure to Iona reporting that the Northumbrians were too stubborn to be converted. Aidan criticized Cormán’s methods and was soon sent as his replacement. Aidan became bishop in AD 635.

Allying himself with the pious king, Aidan established a monastic community on the island of Lindisfarne, which was close to the royal castle, as the seat of his diocese. An inspired missionary, Aidan would walk from one village to another, politely conversing with the people he saw and slowly interesting them in Christianity:

“He was one to traverse both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity; and wherever in his way he saw any, either rich or poor, he invited them, if infidels, to embrace the mystery of the faith or if they were believers, to strengthen them in the faith, and to stir them up by words and actions to alms and good works. … This [the reading of scriptures and psalms, and meditation upon holy truths] was the daily employment of himself and all that were with him, wheresoever they went; and if it happened, which was but seldom, that he was invited to eat with the king, he went with one or two clerks, and having taken a small repast, made haste to be gone with them, either to read or write. At that time, many religious men and women, stirred up by his example, adopted the custom of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, till the ninth hour, throughout the year, except during the fifty days after Easter. He never gave money to the powerful men of the world, but only meat, if he happened to entertain them; and, on the contrary, whatsoever gifts of money he received from the rich, he either distributed them, as has been said, to the use of the poor, or bestowed them in ransoming such as had been wrong fully sold for slaves. Moreover, he afterwards made many of those he had ransomed his disciples, and after having taught and instructed them, advanced them to the order of priesthood.” (Venerable Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. Book III: Chapter V)

His pastoral emphasis on prayer, fasting, Christian education and his own personal humility is similar to all the famous pastors such as St. John of Kronstadt and the Cure d’Ars.

There are four wells associated with St. Aidan which are said to work miracles of healing, especially of asthma and skin diseases.

He is known as the Apostle of Northumbria and is recognised as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion.