Some time ago, I
shared some recent ecclesiastical heraldic design and rendering work I undertook in my studio, including coats of arms for a seminary and a parish. At the close of last year I also completed a rendering of the arms of Seton Hall University which was commissioned as a gift for the incoming rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary and School of Theology, showing the arms of the university flanked by those of the School of Theology and the College Seminary - St. Andrew's Hall. All contain elements adapted from the arms of the archdiocese of Newark and those of
Elizabeth Ann Seton. (The apparent 'z' in the motto, "Hazard zet forward" is actually an archaic English letter, yogh, and is pronounced like a 'y'. It inially threw me for a bit of a loop.) The smaller shields showing a fleur-de-lys and the letter 'P' are references to the recipient's devotion to the Virgin and St. Maximilian Kolbe, the latter shield intended to mimic his concentration-camp stripes and the prisoner badge marking his Polish ethnicity. In honor of the recipient's Irish background, the design was rendered in a manner inspired by the the Celtic-influenced style of the late heraldic delineator and painter
Denis Endean Ivall. While the scan does not do the colors justice, I think our readers will still find the design of interest. My satisfied client commented, on seeing the finished product, that it was a "wonderful piece" and its recipient was "very happy." I am presently working on a number of even more explicitly ecclesiastical heraldic designs, including a number of priestly coats of arms, that I hope to share in the near future.
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