![[fish]](http://saints.sqpn.com/wp-content/gallery/new-catholic-dictionary/fish.jpg "photograph of a stone carving of a fish in coral on the side of New College, Oxford, England; swiped with permission from the flickr.com account of Brother Lawrence Lew, OP")
Article
An ancient Christian symbol of Our Saviour. In art it often resembles a dolphin. The Greek word for fish is ichthus, spelled in Greek with five letters only: I-CH-TH-U-S. These form what is called an acrostic, being the initial letters of Iesous CHristos, THeou Uios, Soter (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour). The fish is also a symbol of Christians in general, typified by the miraculous draught of fishes mentioned in Saint John’s Gospel, 9, and is thus emblematic of the vocation of the Apostles, the “fishers of men.” After the fourth century the symbolism of the fish gradually disappeared; representations of fishes on baptismal fonts and on bronze baptismal cups became ornamental, suggested perhaps by the water used in baptism.
Profiled Saints associated in art with fish
- Jonah the Prophet (who was swallowed by a giant fish)
- Raphael the Archangel (refers to the cure incident in the canonical Book of Tobit)
- Saint Amalburga (who once rode across a lake on the back of a giant sturgeon)
- Saint Andrew the Apostle (because of his profession)
- Saint Benno of Meissen
- Saint Brendan the Navigator (who lit a fire on the back of giant fish, so big that Brendan mistook it for an island)
- Saint Comgall of Bangor
- Saint Francis of Assisi
- Saint Jorentin (professional fisherman)
- Saint Kentigern
- Saint Kevin of Glendalough
- Saint Peter the Apostle
- Saint Philip the Apostle
- Saint Simon the Apostle
- Saint Ulric of Augsburg
- Saint Zeno of Verona
MLA Citation
- “fish”. New Catholic Dictionary. Saints.SQPN.com. 18 August 2010. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://saints.sqpn.com/fish/>