Marian Cross
A cross devoted to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Marian Cross
Marian Cross
Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Ierosolimitanorum is Latin for the ancient Teutonic German Knights. They began at the end of the 12th century as a Roman Catholic religious order and became a crusading militia in the Middle Ages bearing a black cross on their white tunics. Being the 'Order of the German House of St. Mary in Jerusalem', in the 19th Century their commanders wore a black Maltese Cross around their necks, which was called the Marian Cross.
A cross bearing an image of the Virgin Mary, or a Jewelled Cross used in Ave Maria devotions, is sometimes referred to as a Marian Cross.
On this page, however, we introduce the Marian Cross as any style of cross adorned with a letter 'M', which can be any size or font. The 'M' may be superimposed on one of the cross beams, or as in our example above, in the lower right quadrant. (See also the Calatrava Cross.)
This is a very Catholic cross and usually appears without a corpus.
Arms of Pope John Paul II
The 'M' refers to Mary's station at the foot of the cross and symbolizes her vocation as Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows). Pope John Paul II, known as a very Marian pope, had a personal coat-of-arms with an 'M' beneath the right arm of the cross.
A much less ornately decorated Marian Cross is shown on the next page
