Who We Are > Our Symbol

Our Symbol

Cross of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.

The cross pendant has a deep, symbolic meaning:
Our / my tree of life, is rooted in the cross, from which, through Christ's redemptive act, new life springs.

The seed is a symbol of Saint Katharina, who, from the power of the cross, gave life to the community... and knew herself carried by his - Christ's - love.

Thus, trusting in this power, the tree grows as a symbol of our Congregation and of my personal life.

The leaves point out into the world and stand for countries of our earth, in which PHJC work for God's kingdom.

Only in connection with the cross of Jesus this tree will live on.

Death and resurrection in openness, in looking through, make future possible.

The cross in front of the open "door" - sign of the passing through and becoming new, to enter into the unknown, perhaps dark, to step out of it again into the light. At the same time, this openness is an invitation: I let the other person in and share my life with this person, or else I come out to meet and thus create an encounter. Origin, support and sustain from the cross, which is in the foreground, this is how our life succeeds.