Why is a Christmas children's rhyming prayer book decorated with fishes? The fish (ichthys) historically was a symbol for Christians to meet in a safe place.

In the Romans' times, the church was persecuted; that is the word we use to say that the police would take the Christians to prison because it was against the law to pray to Jesus.

When Christians wanted to pray in a group, they used this symbol so other Christians would know where to look for other believers and find people to pray with but still be safe.

The word "Ichthys" comes from Greek. It is an acrostic and can be read as:

I - Iota (which means Jesus)

X - Christos (which means Christ)

N - Theou (which means God)

Y - Yidos (which means Son)

Y - Sigma (which means Savior).

If you put it all together, it means "Jesus Christ, God's Son, is Savior." Let's pray.