Workers place Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s new coat of arms on his chair at St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday.
Posted on 02/18/2012 11:03:20 AM PST by NYer
At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, red is the new green.
Workers were busy yesterday revamping the church so the right color scheme will be ready when Archbishop Timothy Dolan returns to New York as a newly elevated cardinal.
The traditional green carpet on the steps that lead to the bishop’s throne, or cathedra, was ripped out and replaced with red. The chair’s green velvet upholstery was also switched out.
“Red is the color of cardinals; it is also the color of martyrs, those who shed their blood,” said the Rev. Joe Tyrrell, who supervised the alterations yesterday. “So it’s appropriate that it’s red.”
The coat of arms that hangs above the cathedra also has been changed to represent Dolan’s new position, Tyrrell said.
The crest will now be topped with a cardinal’s cap, or galero, and flanked by five rows of red tassels on either side, he said.
“When Archbishop Dolan left for Rome, he had four rows of tassels, in green. He comes back a cardinal, so now it’s red,” Tyrrell noted.
The galero and tassels are set above a gold metropolitan cross. The bottom of the coat of arms bears the Latin words “Ad Quem Ibimus,’’ or “To whom shall we go?”
The changes will be in place by the time Dolan returns to New York next week and celebrates his first St. Patrick’s Mass as cardinal, on Ash Wednesday.
The coat of arms was also changed after Dolan arrived in 2009.
One side of the shield, which Tyrrell said Dolan himself designed, bears three crescent moons with two scrolls, representing St. Paul’s letters to Timothy. Between the scrolls is a red crown, signifying good King St. Louis of France — a nod to Dolan’s hometown of St. Louis.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Workers place Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s new coat of arms on his chair at St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday.
Dissin’ the Irish!
For anyone who has ever visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, the above image is very familiar. Suspended from the vaulted ceiling, hang the galeros of these deceased cardinals.
1/ Cardinal John McCloskey (born 1810, created 1875, died 1885, bio),
2/ Cardinal John Murphy Farley (born 1842, created 1911, died 1918, bio),
3/ Cardinal Patrick Joseph Hayes (born 1867, created 1924, died 1938, bio), and
4/ Cardinal Francis Spellman (born 1889, created 1946, died 1967, bio).
The gallero worn by Cardinal Spellman is said to have belonged to Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (created 1929) — who went onto become Pius XII (#261) in 1939. Spellman was one of his creations.
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