What are some quotes from the Church Fathers about symbolism in the Church?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

In Orthodox theology, the concept of symbolism differs fundamentally from the modern or Protestant notion of a "symbol" as a mere empty sign or metaphor. Patristically, the word derives from the Greek symbolon (bringing together into one)—it is an outward vehicle that communicates, participates in, and unites us with an unseen, divine reality.

However, the Church Fathers maintain a vital theological distinction: while liturgical actions, rites, architecture, and typologies are deeply symbolic, the Holy Sacraments are real and substantial transformations, not figurative representations.

1. The Desert Fathers: Rejecting the Sacraments as "Merely Symbolic"

When heretical or confused ideas reduced the Holy Mysteries to mere figures—an error later adopted by Protestant reformers—the Fathers firmly defended the real presence of Christ.

In the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum), an elder who mistakenly claimed the Eucharist was a mere symbol was corrected by the fathers of Scetis:

"Father, we have heard a proposition contrary to the faith on the part of someone who says that the bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol."

The old man said: "It is I who have said that."

Then the old men exhorted him, saying:

"Do not hold this position, Father, but hold one in conformity with that which the Church has given us. We believe, for our part, that the bread itself is the body of Christ and that the cup itself is His blood, and this in all truth and not a symbol. But as in the beginning, God formed man in His image, taking the dust of the earth, without anyone being able to say that it is not the image of God, even though it is not seen to be so; thus it is with the bread of which He said that it is His body; and so we believe that it is really the body of Christ."

— The Desert Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum)

The Church maintains that the consecrated bread is the true Body and the wine is the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, not a mere figurative likeness.

2. St. Dionysius the Areopagite: Liturgical Symbols as Mediators of Divine Light

In The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, St. Dionysius explains how the rites and physical symbols in the Church guide our sensory nature toward spiritual contemplation:

"We must, then, look upon these sacred symbols as perceptible images of the intelligible reality. They are a way of leading us and drawing us toward that reality. They show us the way to the intellectual and spiritual truths... It is impossible for the human mind to be elevated to that immaterial imitation and contemplation of the heavenly hierarchies without the aid of the material guidance which is adapted to it."

— St. Dionysius the Areopagite, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, Ch. 1

For Dionysius, Church symbols do not hide God or replace Him; rather, they serve as consecrated vessels through which the divine energies permeate the natural world.

3. St. Maximus the Confessor: The Church as an Image and Symbol

In the Mystagogy, St. Maximus describes how the Church building and liturgical services are a symbol of both the cosmos and the human soul:

"At the first entrance of the bishop into the holy church for the sacred synaxis, we are taught the first appearance of the Son of God in the flesh... The holy Church is a figure and image of God, because it has the same activity as He does through imitation and in figure."

— St. Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogy, Ch. 1

He further explains how the physical nave and the sanctuary symbolize the two realms united in Christ:

"The Church is one and the same in its structure, without being divided by the difference between its parts... It reveals the whole sensible world as an image of the intelligible world: the sanctuary representing the invisible realm above, and the nave representing the visible world below."

— St. Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogy, Ch. 2

4. St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Rites as Real Mystical Typology

In his Mystagogical Catecheses, St. Cyril of Jerusalem instructs newly baptized Christians on the symbolism of Holy Baptism and Chrismation, showing that the physical act actually accomplishes the spiritual reality:

"O strange and paradoxical thing! We did not die in reality, nor were we buried in reality, nor were we crucified and raised again in reality; but the imitation was in a figure, while the salvation was in truth. Christ was really crucified, and really buried, and truly rose again; and all these things He has freely given to us, that sharing His sufferings by imitation, we might gain salvation in truth."

— St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses, II.5

Regarding the holy anointing (Chrism):

"Beware of supposing that this ointment is mere ointment. Just as the Eucharistic bread, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is no longer simple bread but the body of Christ, so this holy ointment is no longer mere ointment... but the gift of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, made effective by the presence of His divinity."

— St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogical Catecheses, III.3

5. St. John of Damascus: The Symbolism of Sacred Icons

Defending holy icons against the iconoclasts, St. John of Damascus delineated how material symbols connect us directly with the prototype:

"Because we are composed of body and soul, and our souls are not naked spirits, but are covered as it were with a fleshly mantle, it is impossible for us to reach the spiritual without using bodily images. Just as we hear with our bodily ears audible words and understand spiritual things, so through bodily sight we look upon images and come to spiritual contemplation... The honor paid to the image passes to the prototype."

— St. John of Damascus, On the Divine Images, I.11

Summary of Patristic Symbolism

1. Integrative, Not Figurative: A patristic symbol unites the earthly with the heavenly; it brings the believer into communion with God's grace.
2. Distinct from the Eucharist: The bread and wine become the actual, real Body and Blood of Christ through the descent of the Holy Spirit, standing beyond mere symbolism.
3. Pedagogical and Anagogical: Vestments, censer incense, candles, and architecture exist to elevate the physical senses toward divine, spiritual contemplation.