Displaying items by tag: coat of arms

Most Reverend Shane Mackinlay
Eighth Bishop of Sandhurst

In the language of heraldry, Bishop Shane’s personal arms are:

• Gules, two pickaxes in saltire, blades upwards Or; in chief an open book Argent bound Or with the Greek letter Α on the dexter page and the Greek letter Ω on the sinister page both Sable.

or, in plain English:

• On a red field, two gold pickaxes in saltire, blades upwards and, in the top part of the shield, an open silver book bound in gold with the Greek letter Α on the left page and the Greek letter Ω on the right page.

His motto is taken from John 10:10
I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.

The crossed pickaxes are the tools of goldmining, which was integral to the founding of both Ballarat and Bendigo. The bible comes from the arms of Catholic Theological College and reflects its motto, Tolle lege, the admonition that prompted St Augustine to take up and read the bible, which led to his baptism.

As is traditional for the coat of arms of a bishop, the arms are placed before an episcopal cross and are ensigned with a green galero (Roman hat) with six fiocchi (tassels) on each side.

Bishop Shane’s personal arms will be combined with those of the Diocese of Sandhurst by impalement, a traditional way of denoting a bishop’s union with his diocese.

In the language of heraldry, the diocesan arms are:

• Quarterly, per saltire or and azure on the former in fess two roses gules, in chief an estoile (eight-pointed star) and in base a representation of the Paderborn Cross argent.

The gold of the field represents the goldfields, which are located within the diocese. The blue and the roses represent the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who, under the title Our Lady of Good Counsel, is Patroness of the Diocese. The Paderborn Cross at the base is an ancient Christian symbol discovered in an eighth-century grave beneath the Cathedral at Paderborn, Germany, which was the home city of Dr Henry Backhaus, the pioneer priest of the Bendigo Goldfields.

The diocesan arms and Bishop Shane’s personal arms were designed by Richard d’Apice AM KCSG and Fr. Guy Selvester and illustrated by Sandy Turnbull.

Since coming to the Diocese Bishop Tomlinson has considered the adoption by the Diocese of a Coat of Arms.  Apparently Bishop Daly commissioned a Coat of Arms for the Diocese in 1979, but it was never used.  With the help of a number of people a suitable coat of arms for the Diocese was devised.

The arms of the Diocese of Sandhurst are blazoned:

Quarterly, per saltire or and azure on the former in fess two roses gules, in chief an estoile (or eight (8) pointed star) and in base a representation of the Paderborn Cross argent.

The gold of the field represents the goldfields which is located within the diocese and the blue represents the Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

The star and the two roses have their origin in an earlier design proposed for the arms of the diocese in 1979. This proposal does not appear to have been put into use, its existence is little known in the diocese and its original symbolism is not known at all.

The Paderborn Cross which is represented in base was discovered at Paderborn in Germany which was the place of origin of Dr Henry Backhaus, the pioneer priest of the Bendigo Goldfields and the architect of the financial security of the diocese and of the cathedral.

The diocesan arms are displayed alone or impaled with those of the Bishop.

The arms were designed by Richard d’Apice and Fr Guy Selvester and illustrated by Sandy Turnbull.