The Pelican

In times where the young did not have enough food to eat, the mother pelican was said to pluck its own breast to feed its young by its own blood.  For this reason it had long been seen as a symbol for Christ, especially a Eucharistic symbol.   You will often see pelicans depicted in Catholic churches as the examples below:








St. Thomas Aquinas, in his hymn Adoro te Devote (Humbly We Adore Thee), calls Christ the "Loving Divine Pelican."  The hymn happens to be one of my favorites:

The hymn is Latin, here are the English lyrics.  Such a catechetical hymn!