Thanks to the assistance of a friend who attended the ordination I now have images of the coats of arms of the other two new Auxiliary Bishops of New York. The arms of the Most Rev. John O’Hara is below and below that the arms of the Most Rev. Peter Byrne.

On August 12 Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, until now Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, will be installed as the IX Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts. The coat of arms of the new bishop (above) combines his personal arms with those of the see of Springfield. (the four roundels with waves symbolize a field of springs and the cross is associated with St. Michael, patron of the cathedral.)

His personal arms (below) were assumed in 2004 at the time he became a bishop when he was appointed as Auxiliary in Baltimore.

The small cross is symbolic of St. Michael (a name from which Mitchell is derived); the red and white colors allude to the national colors of Poland; the flower alludes to his surname which, in Polish, means “rose flower”. The lower portion uses the colors derived from the arms of Calvert, Lord Baltimore. The red bend (vertical stripe) and open book are for preaching the Word. The motto is taken from Psalm 100.

(Artwork by Paul Sullivan)

On August 4, 2014 Cardinal Dolan of New York ordained three Auxiliary Bishops for the Archdiocese. They are the Most Revs. Peter Byrne, John O’Hara and John Jenik. While I have not yet seen the coats of arms assumed by all three I did come across the interesting and distinctive coat of arms assumed by Bishop Jenik. He designed the coat of arms himself and I am not sure of the symbolism behind the design. Many might see this as strange because it does not follow the usual “lucky charms” notion of heraldry with an overloaded shield filled with charges meant to be a pictorial CV of the bearer. Good for him! Such heraldry is atrocious and all too common among the American Catholic hierarchy.

Rather, Bishop Jenik’s coat of arms is very simple. This is one of the earmarks of good heraldry. The use of black and white may make it stark but not knowing the meaning of the design there may very well be a good reason for the choice of these colors. In addition, since heraldry is, at its heart, about identification and nothing else, the design is clear to see and easily identifiable. Again, these are attributes of good heraldry. It reminds me of some of the most ancient heraldic designs that present clear images and use as few colors as possible.

I say hats off to Bishop Jenik for an excellent and unique design for his coat of arms!

(Artwork by Paul Sullivan)