Partway through this saga I decided on arms for the parish, based on a logo (crossed key and sword) that a priest classmate devised in 2020. I learned it was acceptable for a parish pastor to "marshal" his personal arms with those of his parish, as a diocesan bishop often does with his diocese.
The customary "blazon" (description):
Arms impaled. Dexter: Quarterly Azure and Vert a key fesswise wards to sinister surmounted by a sword in pale point to base Or on a chief wavy of the last a plough of the first shafted of the second. Sinister: Per chevron enhanced wavy Sable and Argent a burning bush eradicated of the first enflamed proper.
Blazon language varies a bit among the various schools, and admits of some interpretation. A blazon is a kind of blueprint that a skilled heraldic artist would use to recreate the arms.
If I were carrying this shield into battle, the parish arms would be on my right and on the viewer's left. My personal arms would be on my left and the viewer's right. Blazoning uses the Latin names dexter (right) and sinister (left) from the bearer's reference point.
Many surnames around the world have their own arms, passed down for generations. Other folks like me, knowing of no inherited arms, devise their own. There are national "colleges" (institutes) that grant official recognition to historical and personal creations. Within a single heraldic authority, one grant cannot duplicate another.
Arms are meant to follow the "less is more" principle. The above revision history indicates that I have a hard time following this principle, but I think I've come around to it.
Canvases risk becoming too busy if a bearer attempts to make a curriculum vitae of his arms, according to Fr. Guy Selvester, a priest of the Metuchen (NJ) Archdiocese and heraldic expert. A shield cannot become "a few of my favorite things," as the song says. Choices of charges (things) and tinctures (colors) should happen with care and abide by certain rules. Notable among them is the "rule of tincture," by which one color should not go on top of another. Now, such rules have their exceptions, but exceptions are not meant to be indiscriminate.
Modern heraldic choices often have personal meaning to the bearer, and the above are no exception. Below is my explanation of the arms I devised for my parish, Saints Peter and Paul in Lehighton (PA, USA) and for myself. I begin each explanation with the term that is used in the blazon.
Parish arms, displayed at the viewer's left:
Quarterly: color scheme of the stained-glass backgrounds of Saints Peter and Paul in the windows above the church apse (vide infra)
Key: representing Saint Peter, parish co-patron, to whom Jesus entrusted "the keys to the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 16:19); that is, governance of His Church.
Wards to sinister: the handle of the key is on the viewer's left.
Fesswise: the horizontal placement of the key recalls how the Lord Jesus worked and prayed side-by-side with Saint Peter. It also alludes to the work of healing, in which people encounter Christ face-to-face with each other.
Sword: representing Saint Paul, parish co-patron, who was martyred by the sword; also alludes to Ephesians 6:17, in which Paul exhorted the faithful to "take…..the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Also associated with the "knights" nickname of Saints Peter and Paul Parish School.
In pale: the vertical placement of the sword recalls how the Lord Jesus encountered and called Saint Paul as it were "from above," after He had ascended into heaven. It also alludes to the work of evangelization, as when Paul directed those who were "raised with Christ [to] seek the things that are above" (Colossians 3:1).
Point to base: the sword point is at the bottom of the shield.
In chief wavy: allusion to the Lehigh River, a medium of commerce, transport, and recreation along which is built the Borough of Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
Plough: featured in the seal of the Borough of Lehighton, testifying to its history of agriculture and steadfast work ethic; also alludes to Luke 9:62, where Jesus warned a divided disciple, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
Shaft: Just as the beam of the plough serves to bear its weight and direct its force, Saint Joseph provided loving headship over the Holy Family and now guides Christ's Mystical Body, the Church.
Azure (blue): representing the Blessed Virgin Mary, vital to the faith, hope, and charity of a disciple of Jesus. Its use in the base of the plough refers to Mary's maternity of Christ and of Christians, and the priority of the "Marian dimension" of discipleship over the "Petrine dimension" of hierarchy. Also, together with Or, a color associated with the former Saints Peter and Paul Parish School.
Vert (green): representing Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer and Patron of the Universal Church. Also a color once associated with Saints Peter and Paul Parish School.
Or (gold): recalling Jesus' directive to "look up and see the fields ripe for harvest" (John 4:35).
My arms, displayed at the viewer's right:
Per chevron: for its use in military and construction, the chevron alludes to the Archangel Michael, Bearer's middle name and patron of his first assignment as Pastor, as well as Saint Joseph (Bearer's Confirmation name), guardian of Christ and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Enhanced wavy: alludes to the river by which Saint Christopher (Bearer's first name) transported the child Jesus; Bearer often runs and cycles along river-adjacent trails.
Burning Bush: a favorite image of the Bearer, by which the Lord appeared to Moses (cf. Exodus 3); also a favored patristic allusion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose chaste womb bore God. Bearer also considers fire as a play on words with the family name, Zelonis, and zelus, Latin for "zeal."
Eradicated: the Burning Bush is depicted with its bare roots showing; as a Catholic Priest, Bearer is subject to reassignment and, like all disciples of Jesus, invited to the process of conversion with the necessary uprooting of vice.
Proper: depicted in its (super)natural condition.
Sable (black): alludes to the darkness that cannot overcome the light of Christ (John 1:5), the darkness that we nonetheless face within and around us.
Argent (silver): recalls the origin of the surname Zelonis, from the Lithuanian word Zilionis, "grey-headed"; also suggestive of the Bearer's high school rank of salutatorian; a nod to the medal for a second-place finish. Sable and Argent together represent black and white piano keys; Bearer is a lifelong organist and trumpet player.
Motto: Deus noster ignis consumens est, "Our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29; cf. Deuteronomy 4:24). The Church Fathers compared Mary's impregnated womb to the Bush aflame yet unconsumed, within which the Lord revealed Himself to Moses (cf. Exodus 3:2). Moses called the Lord a "consuming fire" to remind Israel of His unrivaled solicitude for her.
The hat on top of the arms is a "galero," ceremonial for clerics, distinguished by its color and the tassels suspended therefrom. A simple priest has a black galero with one tassel hanging on either side.
*As mentioned above, St. Peter's head has a blue background and the rest of him has a green background, whereas St. Paul's head has a green background and the rest of him has a blue background; hence the "quarterly" division of blue and green on the parish shield.
No comments:
Post a Comment