Saint Peter’s Prep Jersey City, NJ

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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10 March 2009 19:03
 

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/4406/schoolseal.jpg

The arms shows an upside down cross, as St. Peter was crucified upside down havening deemed himself unworthy of being cricified in the same possion as Our Lord. The School is administrated by the Jesuits hence the Jesuit symbol in the first quarter. In the second quarter the Keys of St. Peter. The Fishing Net denotes the words of Jesus when he called the fisherman Peter to be his disciple "I will make you fishers of men". The Arms was first presented in the School Paper The Petroc 3 December 1954.

Picture and information from http://www.njcu.edu/.

 
gselvester
 
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gselvester
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10 March 2009 19:53
 

http://www.spc.edu/Images/Webmaster Images/SPC_seal.jpg

The seal of St. Peter’s College in Jersey City is also interesting.

 

The seal pictures a peacock with its plumage spread. The peacock, chosen as the College symbol in 1930, represents the pre-revolutionary war name of Jersey City: Pavonia - Land of the Peacock. It also demonstrates the reopened College’s commitment to continue In Perpetuum, as in ancient mythology when the peacock committed itself to the flames of a funeral pyre and was reborn with greater strength and beauty. The College seal also pictures two crossed keys representing its Patron, Saint Peter. At the top of the seal are a cross, three nails, and the first three letters of the sacred name of Jesus in Greek, IHS, all surrounded by a crown of thorns; this is the official emblem of the Society of Jesus and designates the College as a Jesuit institution of learning.

 
dr.h.roth
 
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dr.h.roth
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11 March 2009 06:21
 

gselvester;67271 wrote:

http://www.spc.edu/Images/Webmaster Images/SPC_seal.jpg

in ancient mythology when the peacock committed itself to the flames of a funeral pyre and was reborn with greater strength and beauty. .


Wasn’t this a phoenix? Or did the peacock do the same thing?

 
Marcus K
 
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Marcus K
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11 March 2009 09:36
 

It is also to be noted that the two Schools was founded in the same year 1872.

 
gselvester
 
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gselvester
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11 March 2009 10:32
 

dr.h.roth;67276 wrote:

Wasn’t this a phoenix? Or did the peacock do the same thing?


The peacock is an emblem of resurrection, immortality, and the incorruptible soul. These symbolic associations were strengthened by the belief that peacock flesh was not subject to spoilage and that when peacocks molted, their old feathers were replaced by ever more beautiful ones. Peacocks and their feathers are seen in heraldry (as above), on tombs, and in Christian as well as pagan art as symbols of the actual process of exchanging of the earthly body for the incorruptible one and apotheosis.

 

Peacocks often play the role of the mythical phoenix in religious art. They are sometimes seen drinking from Eucharistic chalices or near the Tree of Life. Because of their association with the Tree of Life, peacock thrones were popular in ancient Babylon and Persia. Because Heliopolis is the city where the phoenix was said to build its rejuvenating funeral pyre, the peacock has become a substitute emblem of that city.

 

Since peacocks are an actual bird and the phoenix is a mythical bird the two are often "interchangeable" in art.

 
dr.h.roth
 
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dr.h.roth
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12 March 2009 10:10
 

Thank you, Fr. Guy, for that interesting explanation. Always eager to learn something new.

 
Daniel C. Boyer
 
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Daniel C. Boyer
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12 March 2009 21:41
 

Marcus K;67270 wrote:

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/4406/schoolseal.jpg

The arms shows an upside down cross, as St. Peter was crucified upside down havening deemed himself unworthy of being cricified in the same possion as Our Lord. The School is administrated by the Jesuits hence the Jesuit symbol in the first quarter. In the second quarter the Keys of St. Peter. The Fishing Net denotes the words of Jesus when he called the fisherman Peter to be his disciple "I will make you fishers of men". The Arms was first presented in the School Paper The Petroc 3 December 1954.

Picture and information from http://www.njcu.edu/.


The combination of the St. Peter’s cross and the fretty in base is particularly effective.

 
Jonathan R. Baker
 
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Jonathan R. Baker
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16 March 2009 01:32
 

Daniel C. Boyer;67322 wrote:

The combination of the St. Peter’s cross and the fretty in base is particularly effective.


I agree.  Although it is better not to have the same idea represented by two separate charges, the net does make the cross’ reference more explicit.