I wanted to take a moment and display some recent designs I have completed for a few Catholic priests and deacons.

Please comment on my blazons if they are incorrect or can be simplified. Blazons are not my strongest suit.

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Deacon C. Sullivan—- The snake and sword represent St. Patrick chasing the snakes out of Ireland. Borrowing New Testament imagery from the Book of Revelations and the Letter to the Hebrews, the sword here is the Word of God and the serpent represents evil. The lion and stag were inspired by the arms of the O’Sullivan clan, while the blue pale wavy represents the Mississippi River. The armiger is a deacon of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and so chose to represent his home by alluding to the river on which St. Louis was founded. For a motto, the armiger chose “Lux in tenebris lucet” quoting John 1:5.

Or on a pale wavy Azure, between a lion rampant and a stag springing addorsed Gules, a serpent erect Gules enfiled with a Roman Spatha proper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Resine/Heraldry/Personal Arms/ConorArmslay.png

Fr. F. Auro—- (Fr. Auro asked me to design and emblazon arms for him. I delivered to him four drafts, but due to various external circumstances the process was never finished. I met up with a year later and found that he had adopted one of my drafts as is (shown below) and had added clip-art galero and tassels. I have not yet completed a proper emblazonment for his arms.)

The field color yellow plays on the armiger’s surname, which in Latin means gold. The armiger has a strong devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas and to the study of philosophy and wished to show this on his coat of arms. He chose the black chape ploye because they mimic the look of the Dominican’s black cappa, which St. Thomas Aquinas is always depicted wearing. Additionally, in Christian iconography the saint is depicted with a sun-in-splendor on his chest. The two—the sun and the cape—taken together are strongly reminiscence of depictions of the saint. The color black was chosen because he is an oblate of community of Benedictine monks. The two fleur-de-lis represent both the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Archdiocese of St. Louis, of which the armiger is a priest. For a motto, the armiger chose “Veritas Vos Liberabit” quoting John 8:32.

Or chape ployé Sable a sun-in-splendor Sable and in chief two fleur-de-lis Or.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Resine/Heraldry/Personal Arms/auro4.jpg

Fr. J. Jaskierny—- The field and star each divided into several alternating colors alludes to the armiger’s surname, which in Polish translate to starburst. The choice of red and white were in tribute to his Polish ancestry, and the choice of green expresses the Rev. Jaskierny’s studies in the Church’s canon law. Lastly, the blue border charged with lilies serves to highlight not only the armiger’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary but also St. Joseph, the virgin’s spouse and the armiger’s patron saint. For a motto, the armiger chose “Veritas Vos Liberabit” quoting John 8:32.

Gyronny Argent and Gules, a mullet of eight points counterchanged Vert and Argent, a bordure Azure charged with eight fleur-de-lis Or.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Resine/Heraldry/Personal Arms/JaskiernyArmpriest_zpsf778d513.png

Fr. B. Kneib—- Prominent across the shield is the green tree line, which represents the wooded area of Germany and Mexico from which his paternal and maternal families originate. At top, he chose to use a castle from the arms of his Sicilian family. At the bottom, the armiger chose to play on his surname, which is a derivative of the Low German word for cobbler’s knife, by displaying two hawk-bill cobbler’s knives. For a motto, the armiger chose “Firmum cor meum est.”

Vert two hawk-bill cobbler’s knives in saltire blades to base proper on a chief sapiné Or a triple towered castle Argent port Sable windows ajouré Or.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Resine/Heraldry/Personal Arms/KneibArmspriest.png

Fr. I. Murphy—- (I displayed this one once before, but it was back when Fr. Murphy was about to be ordained a deacon, and thus it had no galero. I have since added the galero following his ordination to the priesthood.)

The arms of Fr. Murphy were inspired by the arms of the Murphy clan of Co. Cork, Ireland. The basic features and colors were borrowed from these arms. To difference the armiger’s arms form the clan arms, the charges were replaced with ones having personal significance to him. Replacing the lions in quarters one and two of the Murphy arms, the armiger wished to represent his hometown parish, St. Thomas More Catholic Church, with Moorcocks, a charge prominent in the arms of St. Thomas More. The lions from the second and third quarters of the Murphy arms were condensed into one and placed rampant guardant on the fess. The ermine spots found in the second and third quarters allude to the arms of one of his closest friends. For a motto, the armiger chose “Me Autem Minui" quoting John 3:30.

Quarterly, Argent and Gules ermined Argent, in the 1st and 4th quarters a moorcock Sable, and over all on a fess Sable a lion passant guardant Argent.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Resine/Heraldry/Personal Arms/MurphyArmspriest.png

I think they look great. I especially like the arms for Fr. J. Jaskierny.

These are IMO quite impressive for new designs—especially clerical arms!——well thought out, generally simple & clean, and very nicely executed.  I can’t really judge the religious symbolism, which is beyond my limited non-RC expertise, but from the Protestant peanut gallery it all seems in order.

All are nice, but Fr. Auro’s in particular are IMO an excellent design!  (and kudos to the good Father for recognizing it!)  I can hear the Herald angels sing!

These are wonderful Daniel. As a staunch protestant the symbolism of RC-arms often baffle me although I can heartily agree with Michael; Hark! The Herald angels sing!

Bravo, Daniel!

For Deacon Sullivan, the fact that the stag is facing to sinister must be reflected in the blazon.  You could do this by specifying that he is "a stag springing contourny Gules," but I think my preference would be to describe the stag and the lion as addorsed.  I believe that is still okay even though there’s a pale between them.  Thus:

Or on a pale wavy Azure between a lion rampant and a stag springing addorsed Gules a serpent also Gules entwining a Roman Spatha palewise proper.

You could save a couple of words by saying "...springing addorsed a serpent Gules," but I think in this case the repetition makes the blazon clearer.

And great work, I should add.

Joseph McMillan;95800 wrote:

For Deacon Sullivan, the fact that the stag is facing to sinister must be reflected in the blazon.

Ah, yes, good point. Thanks for the suggestion. I think I’ll go with addorsed.

This is beautiful work, Daniel.

A couple of comments on blazons :

Fr Jaskierny : I’d suggest describing the star as a mullet of eight points gyronny Vert and Argent.  ‘Counterchanged’ suggests that the star would be the reverse of the field, i.e. Gules and Argent.

Fr Kneib : Perhaps mention that the knives are depicted ‘blades to base’.  I wonder if ‘a triple-towered castle’ is the best description for the building, because that usually implies a wall with a tower at each end and a third tower rising from behind the wall.  In this case, the three towers are side by side and connected by walls.

These are excellent designs, and nicely rendered.

Wonderful designs and beautiful work.

These are all wonderful designs but the 2nd and 4th are my two favorites.  I love them!

All of them are beautiful arms and designs!

For the Jaskierny arms, I do not think that the orientation of the fleurs follow the bordure - all eight should be "pale-wise" as it were.

Beautiful work, Daniel!  It’s nice to see some well designed and executed ecclesiastical heraldry.

Daniel, it is a real pleasure to see how your digital style is developing. It has more than a hint of post-Victorian hand-painted heraldry. What a treat to look at.

Very nice work!