Bishop Malesic of Greensburg, PA

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On July 13 the Most Rev. Edward Malesic, a priest of the Harrisburg, PA diocese will be ordained and installed as the fifth bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg.

his newly assumed coat of arms is:

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The explanation of the arms (provided by the diocese) is:

“The color of the field is BLUE (azure), the color of the sky, which symbolizes the direction of the soul’s ascent toward God and away from worldly values, therefore, the color represents the path set by the spiritual virtues, raising a person from the things of the earth toward the incorruptibility of heaven.

The CHEVRON is a heraldic device best described as an inverted “V” and is one of the most ancient figures in heraldry. Frequently, in Roman Catholic Church heraldry, it signifies the rafter which supports the roof of the church as a source of protection for the community of faith gathered under it. The THREE SHAMROCKS represent the Cathedral in Harrisburg, dedicated to St. Patrick, where Bishop Malesic was ordained to the priesthood by the imposition of the hands of Cardinal William H. Keeler, at that time Bishop of Harrisburg. The CHEVRON is in SILVER (argent), the color of transparency, also of truth and justice, fundamental requirements of the Bishop’s pastoral service.

The CROWN above the chevron is the symbol of Bishop Malesic’s given name, after St. Edward “The Confessor” (d.1066), King of England who gave witness to his Catholic faith through his life. The crown also recalls Mary, Queen of the Apostles, upon whose intercession Bishop Malesic relies.

The LINDEN TREE below the chevron expresses the Slovenian heritage of Bishop Malesic’s father. The linden tree is considered the national tree of Slovenia and is also a symbol of joy and safety. The community often gathered under the shade of the linden tree for fellowship and community discussions.”

The bishops of Greensburg have a pretty good tradition of having simple, well-designed coats of arms. Bishop Malesic is no exception. While he has still given in slightly to the “coat of arms as pictorial CV” school of heraldry it isn’t too bad and he’s far from the only American bishop to do so. I think that overall the design is clear, well done and blends well with the arms of the diocese. My only criticism, and it is a small one, is that the two crosses in chief in the arms of the diocese are incorrect. They should be patteé formeé, that is to say they should look like two round gold balls formed into crosses. This is because they are taken from the two identical crosses in the arms of the see of Pittsburgh, from which Greensburg was separated, where, in turn, they were derived from the gold bezants in the arms of William Pitt but turned into crosses to difference them. These crosses do not in any way resemble gold balls.

The personal arms of of Bishop Malesic were designed and rendered impaled with those of the diocese by Renato Poletti.

Archbishop Wester of Santa Fe

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On Thursday, June 4, the Most Rev. John C. Wester, formerly Bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah and prior to that Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, will be installed as the Twelfth Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. His personal arms, assumed at the time of his episcopal ordination in San Francisco, are now marshaled to those of the venerable Archdiocese of Santa Fe the arms of which allude to both Spain and to the titular patron of its cathedral church: St. Francis of Assisi.

The artwork for the coat of arms (below) is by Deacon Paul Sullivan.

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Bishop Moth of Arundel & Brighton

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Today, May 28, the Most Rev. Richard Moth was installed in the beautiful Arundel Cathedral as the 5th Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. His coat of arms (above) is described as follows on the diocesan website:

The Grant of Arms contains the following description:
Paly-wavy of ten Bleu-celeste and Gules on a Chief Or four Crosses of Jerusalem the outer pair issuant Gules

Which might be expressed in modern English:
Ten wavy stripes in sky blue and red, with a gold field above containing four red Jerusalem Crosses, the outer pair appearing from the side

The wavy stripes hark back to Bishop Richard’s place of birth (the Zambian Arms consisting of similar stripes in black and silver), blue a reminder of Our Lady and the red a reminder of the English Martyrs. The Crosses of Jerusalem are a reference to Bishop Richard’s membership of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Bishop Richard’s motto is Pax et Gaudium in Domino – Peace and Joy in the Lord.

Romero: Another Armigerous Saint (…well, Blessed anyway)

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After posting about the use of the coat of arms of the martyr, Blessed Oscar Romero, on the vestments used at the ceremony of his beatification last Saturday some noted how there really is no good image of his coat of arms available on the internet. So, I have undertaken to prepare something (above) which at least more clearly depicts the coat of arms as it seems to appear.

The coat of arms can be blazoned as follows: Per fess in chief per fess again the chief Azure a palm branch Or and below that chequy Or and Argent a triple-barred cross Sable; in base Argent a triple sprig of rosemary Proper. The shield is ensigned with a patriarchal cross pale wise behind the shield and a galero with cords and twenty tassels arranged on both sides in four rows of one, two, three and four all Vert. On a scroll below the shield the motto reads, “Sentire Cum Ecclesia”.

Blessed Oscar Romero

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I noted with interest that the vestments worn by the bishops for the May 23 beatification ceremony for martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero were martyr’s red and emblazoned with the coat of arms of the slain archbishop. I’m not usually a big fan of heraldry on vestments but in this case I think it was a nice touch.

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Bishop Stowe of Lexington

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On May 5 the Most Rev. John Stowe, OFMConv was ordained and installed as the third bishop of Lexington, Kentucky. His coat of arms is:

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The explanation of his personal arms and motto (from the diocesan website):

On the right side are the personal arms of Bishop John. These are composed of a white field on which is seen a red eagle, the symbol of Saint John, Bishop John’s baptismal and religious patron. Below the eagle is a black Tau cross, emblematic of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of Bishop John’s religious order. The color black represents the dominant color of the Franciscan habit. Upon the tau is a green “Mary’s Key,” seen hanging from the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Consolation, the national shrine of which Bishop John was rector.

For his motto, Bishop John has adopted the Latin phrase, “ANNUNTIAMUS VERBUM VITAE”, translated as, “We announce the Word of life.”

New Arms for a New Priest

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This coat of arms was designed for a man about to be ordained to the priesthood. He chose mostly red and gold to allude to the arms of Pope Benedict XVI who inspired him to pursue the priesthood. The Jerusalem cross is for his travels in the Holy Land and his care and concern for the Church in the Middle East. The escallop shell is from his family arms and also represents both baptism and pilgrimage. The chevron is a stylized carpenter’s square for St. Joseph, to whom there is a particular devotion, and is silver (white) to allude to Our Lady. The motto, from Psalm 104, says “Always Seek His Face”.

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Bishop Dabrowski

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On April 14 Fr. Jozéf Andrzej Dabrowski, C.S.M.A. will be ordained Auxiliary Bishop of London, Ontario, Canada which is one of the largest English-speaking dioceses in Canada. The new bishop, a member of the Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel was born in Poland in 1964.

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Bishop Cheri

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Bishop Cheri Coat of Arms

Today Bishop Fernand Cheri, OFM was ordained as the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, Louisiana. His coat of arms has so many things about it that go against accepted heraldic practices, to say nothing of good taste, that I won’t even begin to comment on it.

Except to say no…just…no.

Bishop Hanefeldt of Grand Island, Nebraska

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On March 19 the Most Rev. Joseph Hanefeldt, a priest of the archdiocese of Omaha was ordained and installed as the 8th bishop of Grand Island, Nebraska. His personal arms (below) allude to his devotion to Our Lady and to St. Joseph. These will alternately be displayed impaled with those of the diocese as well.

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Faenza-Modigliana

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Stemma Toso

On March 15 the Most Rev. Mario Toso, SDB will be installed as the bishop of Faenza-Modigliana, Italy. His very attractive coat of arms makes reference to the motto he has chosen. The motto, “Caritas in Veritate” is taken from the first line of the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI. The red wavy bars on the shield represent love and the gold background the splendor of the truth. Thus, the arms illustrate the motto, “Love in Truth”.