Mary Arellano
I am connoisseur of Crucifixes. I can tell a Latin Crucifix from Apostolic to Suppedaneum and beyond. This particular Crucifix is unique in that it is orange, which harkens to that God when He showed himself to the Prophet Ezekiel appeared like Amber, "Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me." (Ezekiel 1:26-28). In addition the Apostle Paul tells us, "God is a consuming fire," (Hebrews 12:29), and the John The Baptist says, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Matthew 3:11). Now certainly this does not mean God is fire, as in some pagan sense, for God is love (1 John 4:8) and Truth (John 14:6) and Life (John 1:4-5), which means these are attributes, that Love, True, and Fire come from Jesus who is God (Colossians 2:9) and who created all things through Himself (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16). Behind Christ's head on this fine piece is the Holy Spirit surrounded by fire in a nimbus or halo. This denotes of course the Baptist's claim, "He will baptize you in Holy Spirit and Fire," (Matthew 3:11) and that lounges of fire accompanied when the Holy Spirit fell upon the Apostles, "They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them." (Acts 2:3). One must not mistaken the fact that The Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are One God though Three (John 17:20-23, ). Hence we see in this crucifix Christ and the Holy Spirit, but not the Father, although Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father," (John 14:9) and "I and the Father are One." (John 10:30).Beyond the theology and doxology of this beautiful piece, is that it is made of fine materials the Corpus Christi (Christ dead) is made of metal, and the rest of cross is made of metal as well (not plastic or weak metal) with the orange being enameled in glossy finish. The Holy Spirit is not a sticker exposed to the elements, but is behind a glass like protective lens, so there is no worry of water or perspiration destroying it over time. The Crucifix itself is rather large, 3 inches in length and 2.4 inches in width approx. It is more of Pectoral Cross (though not as huge as say 4 to 6 inch ones Bishops wear) the point is this is not subtle crucifix, it will draw attention and is large enough to look at. The cord hangs roughly at the breasts, and is made of imitation leather, the kind that is glossy and coated, and is adjustable. However, one might want to trade out this cord for a finer leather or even metal chain necklace,A particular bonus not mentioned in the description, is that this crucifix is semi-reversible, turn it over and there is plain cross with the Holy Spirit in center, and some smaller cross designs. For those celebrating Passion Week, this is useful for during Good Friday a pilgrim or parishioner could wear the cross with Corpus of Christ showing, and then on Resurrection Sunday reverse it to show simply the plain or empty cross with Holy Spirit which denotes what happened, "Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:21-22).The fact that this cross has so much symbolism and represents so many Bible verses, it should excite Solae Scriptura Protestants, and obviously be enjoyed by Roman Catholics as well. Little bit of trivia, Crucifixes were used by Martin Luther the German Reformer and by Anglicans. It is not strictly a Roman Catholic symbol, though it is used frequently in the Roman Churches.It is made in Italy.Note: The Pictures I took don't do it justice. The Orange on the Crucifix is the color of the photo Amazon.com provides. I merely wanted to show the design on the back.