Crucifix or Risen Christ?

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ConstantineTG said:
No. The Risen Christ on a cross is an old tradition in the Christian East done way before Martin Luther started his reformation. Of course we only use the crucifix during Pascha (Easter) and the days until the Ascension.

fall fox

I’ll have to tell my former Pastor that he was wrong. Could it be that he was talking about the present day not the past?
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Julia_Mae said:
This would be great. My church looks like an ecumenical prison chapel. The last thing you notice is a small “Risen Christ” above the altar on the wall, looks like Peter O’Tool hailing a cab after escaping from a mental hospital. The “stained glass windows” are cement blocks with random pieces of colored glass stuck in them.
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I though Risen Christs weren’t allowed? Because Risen Christ is alive, not dead.
 
YoungTradCath said:
I though Risen Christs weren’t allowed? Because Risen Christ is alive, not dead.
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Christ is alive, not dead.

But if Risen Christs are not allowed, I’d love to have a reference. The new pastor tried to replace the corpus and the old parish curmudgeons gave him such a hard time he backed off. If there was a rule, though…🙂
 
Julia_Mae said:
Christ is alive, not dead.

But if Risen Christs are not allowed, I’d love to have a reference. The new pastor tried to replace the corpus and the old parish curmudgeons gave him such a hard time he backed off. If there was a rule, though…🙂
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But Christ is represented as dead on crucifixes. That is what makes it a crucifix, that Jesus Christ our Lord is represented as dead versus alive on the cross. There is a rule. It has to be a crucifix.

This is the GIRM statement on the matter:
  1. Likewise, either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, a cross clearly visible to the assembled people. It is desirable that such a cross should remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations, so as to call to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord.
EDIT: I correct myself. A crucifix doesn’t necessarily show Christ dead on it, but it does show Him attached to it by nails. Risen Christs represent Christ as already being resurrected. Crucifixes show Christ on the cross before his Resurrection.

This is the link to the GIRM section:

usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/roman-missal/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-5.cfm

Risen Christ figures are not crucifixes. I understand perhaps the sentimental effect that seeing Christ alive in front of a cross has, in that it shows Him conquering death, but historically and factually, Christ did not rise on the cross. He rose after he left the cross. So it is wrong as per the GIRM and as per history to use a Risen Christ instead of a crucifix.
 
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