Before becoming an Apostle and the first Pope, St. Peter was a fisherman. Jesus, desiring to speak to a crowd that was with him, stepped onto Peter's boat to teach. Peter left that boat behind to follow Jesus, learning to lead in another way.
What does a boat do? It is meant to transport us safely to our destination on the next shore. It protects us from the water that could drown us. It keeps us safe from storms. How does the Church do this? It saves us from drowning in sin, protects us from the storms of the world, and takes us to safety in our final destination of Heaven. We have the image of Peter as captain at the helm of the ship, guiding and leading. The Pope continues this role today!
We see this symbolism carried over into the architecture of our churches. The main body of the church (where the people gather) is called the Nave, which comes from the same root word as Navy and Naval, connected to the sea. Many churches even resemble the hull of a ship- when you look at the arch or peak of the ceiling with its beams and supports, it can remind us of the inside of a ship (just turned upside down!). All of these symbols help us remember that God has given us a shelter in the Church and a captain to lead us in the Pope.
When we were working on our book We Have a Pope I asked illustrator Kortnee Senn to help bring this image to life. I pictured Jesus standing on St. Peter's boat, and then below a "reflection" that showed the interior of a church today. Kortnee did an amazing job, connecting the two images so creatively!
And she even turned that illustration into a coloring pages for kids! It includes some text from the book, and you can also use it to teach kids about the symbolism of the Barque of St. Peter.
You can find my book We Have a Pope at the St. Paul Center or on Amazon (affiliate link)
And you can find all of my Pope activities in this post:
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