Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
September 12, 2001
Bishop Aquila's coat of arms
Family name, Blessed Mother symbolized on bishop's shield
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila's coat of arms is composed of a shield with symbols, a motto scroll and external ornaments.
The shield, which is the central and most important feature of any heraldic device, is described in 12th century terms, which are archaic to our modern language. The description is done as if being given by the bearer with the shield being worn on the arm.
As a coadjutor bishop, Bishop Aquila is technically a bishop without jurisdiction until he succeeds to the See and becomes bishop of the diocese. Therefore, as a non-territorial bishop, his personal arms totally occupy the shield of the design, which Bishop Aquila has adopted to reflect his heritage and his life as a priest and now as a bishop.
The bishop's shield is based on the arms of the Abbruzzi region of Italy, the home of the city of L'Aquila. Through the use of this symbolism, Bishop Aquila honors the heritage that has come to him from his parents, Salvatore and Josephine Aquila.
On the blue field of the design is a silver (white) eagle fully displayed. The use of the "Abbruzzi eagle" adds extreme significance to the design because the name "Aquila" is the Italian word for eagle. The eagle is the classic symbol of St. John, patron of St. John Vianney, titular of the seminary in Denver, where Bishop Aquila was rector at the time of his nomination to Fargo and it is from the Gospel of St. John the bishop has taken his motto.
Below the eagle are the three gold (yellow) hills emblematic of the Rockies that are such a part of the Archdiocese of Denver, where the bishop spent his priestly ministry. Above the eagle is a gold rose to honor Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Empress of the Americas.
For his motto, Bishop Aquila has adopted the phrase, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). This instruction of Mary about Jesus to the waiters at the feast of Cana expresses Bishop Aquila's deep belief that in Christ Jesus are all of the words and instructions that mankind needs to live in peace and to gain eternal salvation.
The device is complete with the external ornaments, which are a gold processional cross, which is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and a pontifical hat, called a "gallero" with its six tassels in three rows on either side on the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of The Holy See of March 31, 1969.
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