Bishop For Sale

It's not what you think. The Most Rev. Christopher Prowse was installed on July 15 as the Bishop of Sale, Australia. His coat of arms below:

Coat of Arms of Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia, OP

"The shield adopts the classical arms of the Dominican Order (gyronny of eight Sable and Argent with a cross fleury counterchanged). It is surmounted by a smaller shield (inescutcheon), reminiscent of the coat of arms of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph with a blue field honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, and with two charges: (1) The carpenter’s square in silver honoring Saint Joseph after whom Archbishop Di Noia was named at his baptism at Immaculate Conception Church, Bronx, New York on 18 July 1943. (2) The golden scallop shell, repeated three times in honor of the Blessed Trinity and recalling the infused theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. The shell itself has a triple symbolism. First, it refers to Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church whose name was given to Archbishop Di Noia when he received the Dominican habit in 1963 and who, according to legend, recognized the futility of his own endeavor to encompass the infinity of God within the limits of the human mind when he came upon a child trying to scoop the sea into a hole in the sand with a shell. Secondly, the shell reminds us of our baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Finally, recalling the main charge on the coat of arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI, the shell is meant as a devout tribute to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who called Father Di Noia to be under-secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2002, and to Pope Benedict XVI who in 2009 named him Titular Archbishop of Oregon City and Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments." 

Thanks to Tom for this excerpt from the ordination program

AFRICA!

This is the Slovenian a capella group Perpetuum Jazzile. They perform the 1980s classic hit "Africa" made famous by Toto. BUT, the cool part is at the beginning where they recreate the sound of an African thunderstorm with their hands and feet!

Who's The Brainiac Who Thought Up THIS Gift???

"Oh...yes...sank you, Mr. President, for zis...stole. It's not like I don't have vun of zees, you know. Oh, vat's dat? It belonged to a saint? Oh, vell it's not like anyzing here at ze VATICAN ever belonged to a saint!"

POTUS & PAPA

Noel Coward: WORLD WEARY (1955)

Another great tune from Noel.

There are SOME good Asian Coats of Arms!

There are, apparently, some Japanese bishops who have adopted very nice, and rather well designed, heraldic achievements. here are some:

Nagasaki

Sendai

Fukuoka

(this one mimics the style of the late Bruno Heim. It looks like the work of his disciple Mr. Yamashita)