About
COAT OF ARMS

The Coat of Arms of
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy Anthony McDonnell, D.D.
Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts

Blazon:
Arms impaled. Dexter: Argent, a cross pommelé Gules, between four fountains. Sinister: Azure, an anchor Or intertwined by a salmon Argent, in chief the blades of two windmills of the last.

Significance:
The episcopal heraldic achievement, or bishop’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 being given by the bearer with the shield being worn on the arm. Thus, it must be remembered, where it applies, that the terms dexter and sinister are reversed as the device is viewed from the front.

By heraldic tradition, the arms of the bishop of a diocese are joined (impaled) with the arms of his jurisdiction, which are seen in the dexter impalement (left side) of the shield. In this case, these are the arms of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts.

These arms are composed of a silver (white) field on which are displayed a red cross with arms that each terminate in a single ball, called a “cross pommelé,” and four roundels that contain alternating wavy bars of silver and blue, heraldically called “fountains.” The fountains are used in heraldry to represent lakes, ponds or springs and their use in this design cants (that is: “plays on”) the name of the See City; a field of springs for Springfield. The red cross pommelé on a silver field is known as a “Cross of Saint Michael” and is employed here to honor Saint Michael, the Archangel titular of the Cathedral-Church and patron of the diocese.

For his personal arms, His Excellency, Bishop McDonnell has retained the device that reflects his life as a priest and as a bishop and which was adopted at the time of his selection to receive the fullness of Christ’s Priesthood as he became an Auxiliary Bishop of New York.

The field is blue, the color symbolizing the Blessed Virgin Mary, for it was on her feast that the Bishop’s episcopal ordination took place. The same blue shield is found in the coat of arms of Pope John Paul II who named Bishop McDonnell to the episcopacy and it is in the coat of arms of Edward Cardinal Egan, the Archbishop of New York who was the principal consecrator of Bishop McDonnell.

On the shield is placed a golden anchor, the symbol of hope that is intertwined by a salmon in silver. One of the most ancient Christian symbols, the fish (in Greek ichthus) stands for Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior (Iesous CHristus THeou Uios Soter). Placed on the anchor it symbolizes Christ on the cross, our hope of salvation.

Above are placed two silver windmills. The windmill has been a symbol of New York City since it was known as New Amsterdam. There are two of these charges to signify the profound symbol of New York, the “Twin Towers” of the World Trade Center. The target of the horrific attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, the “Twin Towers” have evoked as heroic response among peoples everywhere of unity, determination and hope for a better world.

For his motto, Bishop McDonnell uses the Two Great Commandments,

“LOVE GOD AND LOVE NEIGHBOR.”

The phrase is a reminder of the call each Christian receives to manifest love for God by loving service to others.

The device is completed with the external ornaments, which are a processional cross which is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and a pontifical hat, called a “gallero,” with its six tassels, in three rows, on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of The Holy See of March 31, 1969.

By: Deacon Paul J. Sullivan
N.B. - The author and designer respectfully requests appropriate acknowledgment for the public use of these efforts. Rev. Mr. Sullivan is a Permanent Deacon of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A..

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Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell | Bishop Joseph F. Maguire, Retired
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