Introduction
The question of worship is intimately connected with the question of man. Right from the beginning, man has had a question about his origin, existence and his purpose in this world. There were various explanations given based on the development of his understanding at that particular point in time. There were many speculations and explanations ranging from a supernatural being who created the world to the scientific theory of evolution to the theory of intelligent design. Philosophy, Science and Theology have all tried to give various explanations about the origin of man and the existential questions corollary to that.
Worship as a human instinct can be traced back to the history of mankind itself. Even before the period of written history we can find signs and symbols used by primitive people to worship their gods. Every primitive religion had their own worship patterns and forms but the important thing to note here is that all of them had a worship pattern and hence we see that worship is an internal need of every individual.
In recent times there have been critical studies about worship and worship patterns but however critical the studies are, one cannot discount the importance of worship in an individual’s life. In a world of technology and post- modern globalization, worship could be termed as outmoded and unproductive. Kant held that worship was a form of fanaticism and superstition. Feuerbach and Karl Marx made an even more radical attack on worship. Feuerbach maintained that ‘God’ was a personification of human wishes and needs in a non- human form which has been institutionalized into an absolute. Marx substitutes God with a society free from the bonds of private property and the State. According to Marx, this society is to be paid the reverence and honor prior given to God. His classical terming of religion as ‘ the euphoric opium for people in their distress’ is taken to be the ultimate critique of religion and more specifically worship. However it must be noted here that it is not only the atheists and the agnostics who critique the worship prevalent in religion. Theists themselves hold varied opinions about worship and worship patterns. In the Christian religion itself there are numerous worship patterns, each differing from the other in the style and content. Similarly other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, etc, vary in their worship forms and patterns.
But we can ultimately say that the question of worship is intimately connected with the question of man. If man is to be seen merely in the dimension of the economic and the political, merely as homo faber or as animal sociale et politicum, worship could be considered as a useless waste of time or indeed as a harmful preoccupation. But if real transcendence is the fundamental existential of human life, worship must be regarded as an essential act, without which a whole realm of human life would not find meaning and would be atrophied. Seen in this perspective, worship is a process in man’s self- realization.
Worship is not just an act in which we ask things of God and for favors. It is an instinctual response to our very existence. It is in this realization that we bless and thank God for the life that we received. Worship is a response for the grace and blessing bestowed on us. It is our way of thanking God for making himself accessible and available to us.
Theology of Worship
The word worship comes from ‘weord- scipe’ which is Anglo- Saxon for ‘worth’ and hence should be understood as ‘worth- ship’. Worship, therefore originally meant the state of worth, the quality of being valuable or worthy. In the course of time, this word has acquired many meanings, both as a noun and a verb and in its present defies a single all- comprehensive definition. In a general way, ‘worship’ expresses the response of man to the Holy as he apprehends it: his attitude of submission, devotion, respect, and veneration and the acts prompted by these emotions. One could hence say that worship is basically religion itself, in as far as it stresses the conscious involvement or devotion of man. It is the virtue of religion and its exteriorization in religious acts.
The function of worship is mainly to make the Sacred present for the worshipper or the worshipping community. By making the Holy present and by recognizing and celebrating the reality of its presence in the world,
Worship, the cultus plays a central role in the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. There are references to the religious and cultic practices of the Patriarchs only find vague mention in the Pentateuch. But we do find an elaborate narrative on worship patterns, styles and their theology in the Book of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the book of Numbers.
For the Christian, corporate worship and personal prayer are inseparable. Both are activities of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, corporately or through a single member of the Body. Personal prayer nourishes and is nourished by corporate worship.
Worship is a gift of God, but a gift to be exercised by man in his freedom. We need to be instructed and trained in worship and this needs to be done both personally and through the life of the worshipping community.
Worship, like faith, has to be deeply rooted in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It should be related to the everyday life of man. But at the same time it should avoid the risk of being trivialized as worldly. Worship is only learned in agony and travail. It is the Spirit of God who prays in us and prays through us.
The Church offers its worship till the end of time, so that all generations of men may partake in the saving act of Christ and so be able to attain Salvation. The Church will cease to exist in its sacramental form when Christ comes again at the end to complete His work, when He makes it the full blissful dialogue between man and God and between man and man. The Church in its worship also necessarily looks forward to its future perfection- the eschaton.
The theology of Symbols
Etymologically, the word symbol comes from certain usages in ancient law. Two parts of a ring, staff or tablet served, when they were brought together, to identify legitimate guests, messengers and partners. Thus the word came to have the meaning of ‘treaty’, and in ecclesiastical language could designate the common profession. It could also mean to throw together or to simply place together two things for the purpose of comparing them.
There are various definitions of symbolism, out of which we will quote two here. According to V.H Kooy, A symbol or symbolism is a representation, visual or conceptual, of that which is unseen and invisible. The religious symbol points itself to reality, participates in its power and makes intelligible its meaning.
Leonid Ouspensky, the Orthodox theologian says that ‘symbolism expresses indirectly, through images, that which cannot be expressed directly in material or verbal forms.
The words ‘sign’ and ‘symbol’ are often used inter- changeably. However, there is a necessary spiritual distinction between them as understood by the people of the ancient times. A sign only portrays reality; a symbol qualifies it in a certain way, bringing forth a superior reality. When we understand a symbol we participate in a presence but when we understand a sign we only translate an indication.
Symbolism in Worship
In the Church, symbolism plays a very important role because the entire Church, is in a way, both material and spiritual. That which is material is directly accessible to us; that which is spiritual is indicated through symbols. The Church itself is symbolic as it exists in order to be always changing into that same reality that she manifests, the fulfillment of the heavenly in the earthly, the spiritual in the material.
Symbols are integral to liturgical and sacramental celebrations. An icon or Cross is used not simply to direct our imagination during the prayers. They are always erected with a prayer of consecration, asking God to manifest them as means of grace and salvation. Thus they serve as the material centre in which there reposes a divine power, an energy, for which they point to the archetype, when we sanctify an object and dedicate it to liturgical use, we proclaim that it has been freed from the ‘bondage of decay’ and that it henceforth participates in the ‘glorious liberty’ (cf. Rom. 8.21), which is salvation and sanctification.
The symbolism of the Church cannot be effectively studied outside of the liturgy because it is a liturgical symbolism and it is through the liturgy that the Fathers explained it. Separated from the divine services, symbolism loses its meaning and becomes a series of sterile abstractions.
Major Symbols used in Christianity and their meanings
The Cross:
Tertullian (140-230 CE), a Montanist heretic, commented in his essay De Corona: "At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign." This might be an early reference to individuals tracing the sign of the cross on their body.
The use of the cross as a symbol was condemned by at least one church father of the 3rd century CE because of its Pagan origins. The first appearance of a cross in Christian art is on a Vatican sarcophagus from the mid-5th Century. 11 It was a Greek cross with equal-length arms. Jesus' body was not shown. The first crucifixion scenes didn't appear in Christian art until the 7th century CE. The original cross symbol was in the form of a Tau Cross. It was so named because it looked like the letter "tau", or our letter "T". One author speculates that the Church may have copied the symbol from the Pagan Druids who made crosses in this form to represent the Thau (god). 7 They joined two limbs from oak trees. The Tau cross became associated with St. Philip who was allegedly crucified on such a cross in Phrygia. May Day, a major Druidic seasonal day of celebration, became St. Philip's Day. Later in Christian history, the Tau Cross became the Roman Cross that we are familiar with today.
Fish: 
The fish -- ever-watchful with its unblinking eyes -- was one of the most important symbols of Christ to the early Christians. In Greek, the phrase, "Jesus Christ, Son of God Savior," is "Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter." The first letters of each of these Greek words, when put together, spell "ichthys," the Greek word for "fish". This symbol can be seen in the Sacraments Chapel of the Catacombs of St. Callistus. Because of the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the fish symbolized, too, the Eucharist (see stylized fish symbol at right).
The earliest literary reference to the fish as Christian symbol was made by Clement of Alexandria, who advised Christians to use a dove or fish as their seal. Tertullian wrote (in "De Baptismo") "But we, being little fishes, as Jesus Christ is our great Fish, begin our life in the water, and only while we abide in the water are we safe and sound." Also used as a Christian symbol was the dolphin, most often as a symbol of the Christian himself rather than Christ, though the dolphin was also used as a representation of Christ -- most often in combination with the anchor symbol ("Christ on the Cross").
Lamb: symbol of Christ as the Paschal Lamb and also a symbol for Christians (as Christ is our Shepherd and Peter was told to feed His sheep). The lamb is also a symbol for St. Agnes (Feast Day 21 January), virgin martyr of the early Church. 
Dove: symbol of the Holy Ghost and used especially in representations of our Lord's Baptism and the Pentecost. It also symbolizes the release of the soul in death, and is used to recall Noe's dove, a harbinger of hope. 
Ship: As those outside of Noe's Ark were destroyed, the ship became a perfect early symbol of the Church with its associations with "the barque of Peter, the Fisherman." In the same vein, the main part of a church's interior, the place where the people worship, is called a "nave," from the Latin "navis" -- ship. The Ark is also a symbol of the Temple through its shape and purpose, both having three levels, etc. And as a symbol of the Temple and Church, it is a symbol of Mary, sealed off with pitch and closed up by God Himself. 
The Good Shepherd: Some of the earliest depictions of Christ show Him as the Good Shepherd. This type of representation is found in the Catacombs.
Trefoil: a stylized shamrock, such as St. Patrick used in evangelizing Ireland, the trefoil is a symbol of the Most Holy Trinity. 
Quatrefoil: ubiquitous in Gothic architecture, the quatrefoil symbolizes the four evangelists, as do the Winged Man (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Ox (Luke), and Eagle (John) -- the four beasts of Ezeckiel and the Apocalypse. 
Keys: The Keys are the symbol of the authority of the papacy and the Church's power to "bind and loose" (Matthew 16:19 and Isaiah 22). 
"Chi-Rho" or "sigla": the letters "X" and "P," representing the first letters of the title "Christos," were eventually put together to form this symbol for Christ ("Chi" is pronounced "Kie"). It is this form of the Cross that Constantine saw in his vision along with the Greek words, TOUTO NIKA, which are rendered in Latin as "In hoc signo vinces" and which mean "in this sign thou shalt conquer. 
IHS: dating from the 8th c., this is an abbreviation for "IHESUS," the way Christ's Name was spelled in the Middle Ages (despite popular belief, the monogram stands neither for "Iesus Hominum Salvator" --"Jesus Saviour of Men" -- nor for "In His Service.") Popularized by St. Bernardine of Siena, the monogram was later used by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a symbol for the Jesuit Order.
"Crux commissa" or "thau" or "tau": the T-shaped cross is mentioned in the Old Testament and is seen as a foreshadowing of the Cross of Christ. Ezekiel 9:4:
And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem: and mark Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof.
The Thau of Ezekiel was itself presaged by the image of Moses' brazen serpent that he held up on a pole in Numbers 21:
And the Lord said to him: Make brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck [by the "fiery serpents"] shall look on it, shall live. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.
Because of these verses, at least one of the ancients believed the Thau to be the form of the Cross of Jesus. Tertullian wrote, "The Greek letter and our Latin letter T are the true form of the cross, which, according to the Prophet, will be imprinted on our foreheads in the true Jerusalem." (Contra Marc., III, xxii)
If "Thau" was the true form of the Cross, the existence of the titulus crucis (the plaque that bore the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") would have made the Cross at least appear to be a "crux immissa" (see below), and there would have had to have been enough of the upright post over the arms on which to affix it. Nonetheless, whether the "immissa" or commissa" was the true form of the Cross, at the very least the Thau depicts the Cross of Christ symbolically, and St. Francis of Assisi took the Thau as the symbol of his Franciscan Order. 
Alpha-Omega: Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, became a symbol for Christ due to His being called "the First and the Last." The roots of symbolizing these attributes of God go back further, all the way to the Old Testament where, in Exodus 34:6, God is said to be "full of Goodness and Truth." The Hebrew spelling of the word "Truth" consists of the 3 letters "Aleph," "Mem," and "Thaw" -- and because "Aleph" and "Thaw" are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the ancients saw mystical relevance in God's being referred to as "Truth." At any rate, the Greek Alpha and Omega as a symbol for Christ has been found in the Catacombs, Christian signet rings, post-Constantine coins, and the frescoes and mosaics of ancient churches. 
Conclusion
Symbolism in worship helps communicate the mysteries of Almighty God to the faithful. Symbols have the duality of being physically comprehensible entities which bring to people spiritual through invisible realities. They thus form a very important part of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. Symbolism is the language which helps us to speak in and from both spiritual and material dimensions of life simultaneously. It helps us to relate to the physical with its immediacy while at the same time pointing beyond itself to the hidden reality of the spiritual.
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