The Franciscan Tau Cross

In the year 1215, Pope Innocent III called for a great reform of the Roman Catholic Church - the Fourth Lateran Council. The Pope opened the Council by recalling the Old Testament image of the Tau (Hebrew letter “T”) as taken from the Prophet Ezekial, “Yahweh said this to him, go all through the city, and through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the forehead of all who grieve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it.”

In Old Testament times the image of the Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, meant that we are admonished to be faithful to God throughout our lives until the last. This symbolic image was immediately taken to heart by St. Francis, who was in attendance at the Fourth Lateran Council. The Tau could easily be identified with the cross of Christ and from that day forward, instead of signing his name, Francis would use the sign of the Tau as his signature.

Today, followers of Francis, laity as well as religious, wear the Tau cross as an exterior sign, a “seal” of their commitment, a remembrance of the victory of Christ over evil through daily self-sacrificing love. The sign of contradiction has become a sign of hope, a witness of fidelity till the end of our lives.

• Published by Franciscan Resources (1988) 1-800-772-6910 Order #004-290-025