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upon five loaves and two Fishes. Of the four thousand was upon seven loaves and a few small Fishes. It was a. Fish that brought to Peter the tax or tribute money for him and the Master (in which those ancient waters were transformed into a Roman mint,) from which a coin was taken from the Fish's mouth. And His last miracle, after His resurrection, was the wonderful draught of Fish, that rewarded Peter's all night fruitless toil. When they landed they ate bread and broiled Fish. Again, after the resurrection, when He asked for meat they gave broiled Fish. The Fish thus honored at the start held an important place in the church for many years. The Christians simple repast when they came together, their love feast and their breaking bread together (with prayer) from house to house, was always simple bread and broiled Fish.
But the Fish held a still more important place in the church's early and troublesome days. In the bitter persecution of Christianity, by Pagan Rome, during the first, second and third centuries and into the fourth. When they were hunted as partridges upon the mountain, and when they were given to wild beasts to be torn asunder, given to the flames and racked with every conceivable torture, to compel them to abjure their faith in Christ. When they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, afflicted and tormented to cruel death; hiding in secret caves, dens and sepulchres, holding their faith in Christ far dearer than their lives. It was then even in such peril they forsook not the assembling of themselves together, to cheer and comfort and strengthen one another in secret assemblies.
It was then that the Fish was adopted as an emblem or sign of Christianity, and to-day, in the Catacombs of Rome the symbolic Fish marks the repose of some departed saint, gone home to glory. And this symbol had a wonderful meaning.
