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SIGNIFICANCE:
The archiepiscopal heraldic achievement, or archbishop's coat
of arms, is composed of a shield with its charges (symbols), a motto
scroll and the external ornaments. The shield, which is the central
and most important feature of any heraldic device, is described
(blazoned) in 12th century terms that are archaic to our modern
language, and this description is presented as if given by the bearer
with the shield worn on the arm. It must be remembered, therefore,
that the terms dexter and sinister are reversed as the device is
viewed from the front.
By heraldic tradition
the arms of the Metropolitan Archbishop are joined to the arms of
his diocesan jurisdiction, seen in the dexter impalement (left side)
of the shield. In this case these are arms of the Archdiocese of
Hartford.
These arms
are composed of a red field on which is displayed a golden hart
(stag) crossing a ford. They represent a canting of, or "play
on," the name of the See City. This coat is analogous to the
ancient arms of Oxford in England, which shows an ox crossing a
ford in a similar manner. The hart bears a golden staff from which
flies a Paschal banner in its proper colors of red and silver (white),
a symbol of Jesus Christ, the Founder and Invisible Head of the
Catholic Church, of which Hartford is a jurisdictional unit and
the seat of the Metropolitan Archbishop of the ecclesiastical province.
The blue and silver wavy bars at the base of the design are the
conventional heraldic representation for water, as the waters at
the river's ford.
For his personal
arms, seen in the sinister impalement (right side) of the shield,
His Excellency Archbishop Mansell has retained the arms that he
adopted at the time that he was ordained a bishop in 1993 and appointed
as an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. His Excellency
retained the same design during his tenure as Bishop of Buffalo
and he now uses it as he becomes the Archbishop of Hartford.
Archbishop
Mansell's coat of arms is composed in the colors of blue and silver
(white) to reflect his deep and profound devotion to our Blessed
Mother, the Virgin Mary. The main charge in the design is a silver
saltair ("X"). This charge is taken from the arms of the
Archbishop's home diocese, that of the Archdiocese of New York,
for the silver saltair on a red field is called a "Cross of
St. Patrick," and it thus honors the titular of the Cathedral
Church, the Mother Church of the See of New York.
Within the
quarters of the shield that are created by the saltair are other
charges of special significance to Archbishop Mansell. In the upper
center is a silver crescent to honor Our Lady in her title of the
Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States. On either
side are flames, which are taken from the Mansell "family"
coat of arms and recall the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles
at Pentecost. In the base is a cross formeé that has arms
that are spread out, as the Gospel is to be spread throughout the
world and touch all people.
For his motto
His Excellency Archbishop Mansell has retained the invocation, "BLESSED
BE GOD." This prayer, which is taken from Psalm 68:36 and Tobit
13:1, evokes the recitation of "The Divine Praises" and
expresses Archbishop Mansell's deep belief that each of us is called
to give glory and praise to God in all that we do.
The device
is completed with the external ornaments which are an archiepiscopal
processional cross (having two cross members), placed in back of
the shield and extending above and below the shield, and a pontifical
hat, known as a "gallero," with its ten green tassels
in four rows on either side of the shield. These are the heraldic
insignia of a prelate of the rank of archbishop by instruction of
the Holy See on March 31, 1969.
By: Paul
J. Sullivan, P. Sullivan & Co., Narragansett, Rhode Island
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