More on the Ordinariate arms

Following on from my post Arms and the Ordinariate I now see that the Ordinariate arms as displayed online are as I intimated I thought they should be, that is giving precedence to Walsingham. There is a link here. Perhaps there was an error in drawing up the image as originally shown. I shall be modest and not claim any credit for the change.

Arms and the Ordinariate

In February I wrote a post about Heraldry for the Ordinariates which referred to a discussion of possible heraldic arms. Now the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham under the patronage of Bl.John Henry Newman has received a coat of arms, which can be seen here.

It is a fine design by Fr Marcus Stock, impaling the arms of Cardinal Newman and those of the medieval Priory at Walsingham.

However I wonder why the arms are not marshalled the other way round, giving seniority to those of Walsingham, as in the title of the Ordinariate. Perhaps that might be taken to imply that Newman had been Prior of Walsingham, just as bishop impales his arms with those of his diocese.

I look forward to seeing them on notice boards and letterheads - they become as much an indicator of the Ordinariate's presence as the "Pisky pub sign" is, or was, of the Episcopalian church in Scotland.

Heraldry for the Ordinariates

In a recent post on The Anglo Catholic Matthew Alderman explores the possibilities for heraldry within the prospective Ordinariates - I use the plural as he is based in the US - and it offers some interesting ideas and facts, as well as three systems that could be applied. You can read it here.

One might (and I do say "might") be a little amused by such a concern for attributes and paraphanalia, but, looked at another way, this does suggest that some people are very serious about the whole project.

Indeed, as Matthew Alderman suggests, one benefit that the Anglican patrimony might bring to the wider Church might well be a genuine heraldic revival on the lines of the work of the late Archbishop Bruno Heim. The living tradition of heraldry in the anglophone world could help reinvigorate it elsewhere. For example a friend has expressed concerns about unauthorised changes to the arms of the See of Westminster made by recent Archbishops. That has been allowed to happen becuase they are a Papal grant, not one from the Earl Marshal, with the consequent lack of administrative and legal discipline. A new awareness of heraldic rules should prevent such 'creativity'.