dove
![[eucharistic dove]](http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd02833.gif "gif New Catholic Dictionary illustration of a Eucharistic dove")
In Christian antiquity, a symbol and a Eucharistic vessel.
As a symbol of the Holy Spirit it is specially connected with Baptism (Matthew 3). In pictures of the Annunciation it signifies the Incarnation of Our Saviour by the power of the Holy Ghost. It also symbolizes marytrdom and the Church. The dove with an olive branch was used on a sarcophagus to signify peace and hope of Resurrection; in flight, it represents the Ascension of Christ or the entrance of saints into glory.
Since early medieval times the Holy Eucharist was reserved for the sick in a dove-shaped vessel suspended to the baldichinum over the altar; later the dove was enclosed in a tower upon the altar. A vessel of like form was hung over the early baptisteries.
In art it is associated with
- Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena
- Blessed Columba of Rieti
- Pope Saint Gregory the Great
- Pope Saint Zachary
- Saint Agnes of Rome
- Saint Ambrose of Milan
- Saint Augustine of Hippo
- Saint Basil the Great
- Saint Colman of Lindisfarne
- Saint David of Wales
- Saint Dunstan of Canterbury
- Saint Eulalia of Merida
- Saint Ivo of Kermartin
- Saint Oswald of Worcester
- Saint Remigius of Rheims
- Saint Reparata
- Saint Scholastica
- Saint Teresa of Avila
- Saint Thomas Aquinas
