The Franciscan Tau: its theological explanation

The Tau ...
It is the sign of recognition of the Christian, that is, of the son of God, of the son who escaped from danger, of the SAVED. It is a sign of powerful protection against evil (Ezek 9,6).
It is a sign wanted by God for me, it is a divine privilege (Ap.9,4; Ap.7,1-4; Ap.14,1).

It is the sign of the redeemed of the Lord, of the spotless, of those who trust in Him, of those who recognize themselves as loved children and who know they are precious to God (Ezek 9,6).

It is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (Ps. 119 at the bottom).
In Jesus' time, the cross was the condemnation of evildoers, therefore a symbol of shame and scandal. The condemned of that time were tied to their hands with a pole behind their back; arrived at the place of execution, they were hoisted on another pole vertically driven into the ground. The TAU cross of Christ is no longer a symbol of shame and defeat, but becomes a symbol of a sacrifice by which I am saved.

It is a symbol of the dignity of the children of God, because it is the Cross that supported Christ. It is a sign that reminds me that I too must be strong in trials, ready for the obedience of the Father and docile in submission, as was Jesus before the will of the Father.

Usually it is in olive wood, why? Because wood is a very poor and ductile material; the children of God are called to live simply and in poverty of spirit (Mt 5,3). Wood is a ductile material, that is, it is easy to work; even the baptized Christian must let himself be shaped in everyday life by the Word of God, be a Volunteer of His Gospel. Bringing the TAU means having replied my YES to the will of God to save me, accepting his proposal for salvation.

It means being a bearer of peace, because the olive tree is a symbol of PEACE ("Lord make me an instrument of your peace" - Saint Francis). St. Francis, with the TAU, blessed and obtained many graces. We too can bless (see blessing of St. Francis or Nm.6,24-27). Blessing means saying good, wanting good for someone.

At the time of our baptism, they chose godmother and godfather for us, today receiving the TAU, we make a free choice by adult Christians in the faith.

Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It was used with symbolic value since the Old Testament; it is already mentioned in the book of Ezekiel: "The Lord said: Go into the city, into Jerusalem and mark a Tau on the forehead of men who sigh and cry ..." (Ezek 9,4: XNUMX). It is the sign that placed on the forehead of the poor of Israel, saves them from extermination.

With this same meaning and value it is also mentioned in the Apocalypse: “Then I saw another angel who came up from the east and carried the seal of the living God, and shouted loudly to the four angels who were ordered to damage the earth and the sea ​​saying: do not damage the earth, the sea, nor plants until we have marked the servants of our God on their foreheads "(Ap.7,2-3).

The Tau is therefore a sign of redemption. It is an external sign of that newness of Christian life, more internally marked by the Seal of the Holy Spirit, given to us as a gift on the day of Baptism (Eph. 1,13).

The Tau was early adopted by Christians. This sign is already found in the catacombs in Rome. The early Christians adopted the Tau for two reasons. It, as the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, was a prophecy of the last day and had the same function as the Greek letter Omega, as it appears from the Apocalypse: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To those who are thirsty I will give freely from the source of the water of life ... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end "(Ap. 21,6; 22,13).

But above all the Christians adopted the Tau, because its shape reminded them of the cross, on which Christ sacrificed himself for the salvation of the world.

Saint Francis of Assisi, for these same reasons, referred entirely to Christ, to the Last: for the similarity that the Tau has with the cross, he had this sign dearly, so much so that it occupied an important place in his life as well as in gestures. In him the old prophetic sign is actualized, recoloured, regains its saving power and expresses the bliss of poverty, a substantial element of the Franciscan life form.

It was a love that sprang from a passionate veneration for the holy cross, for the humility of Christ, the continuous object of Francis' meditations and for the mission of Christ who through the cross gave all men the sign and the most expression great of his love. The Tau was also for the Saint the concrete sign of safe salvation, and the victory of Christ over evil. The love and faith in this sign was great in Francis. "With this seal, St. Francis signed himself whenever or out of necessity or spirit of charity, he sent some of his letters" (FF 980); "With it he began his actions" (FF 1347). The Tau was therefore the dearest sign for Francis, his seal, the telltale sign of a profound spiritual conviction that only in the cross of Christ is the salvation of every man.

Then the Tau, which has a solid biblical-Christian tradition behind it, was welcomed by Francis in his spiritual value and the Saint took possession of it in such an intense and total way until he became himself, through the stigmata in his flesh, at the end of his days, that living Tau whom he had so often contemplated, drawn, but above all loved.