Our friends over at NLM have eagle eyes for details in the liturgical eye-candy photos they so often post.
They noticed, for example, that Pope Benedict’s stemma, or coat-of-arms, is to be seen on the faldstool used on 31 December during 1st Vespers of Mary, Mother on God, followed by Benediction.
You can see Papa‘s coat-of-arms on the left, and Bl. Pope John XXIII’s stemma on the cope.
NLM also made the observation that the faldstool is back.
We are all pleased.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: ““the heat death and total stillness of the known cosmos is now projected to happen in 10*78 years rather than…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: ““What does a “lunatic catholic “New Red Guard” do when their reason to exist has gone ? Form another Protest…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “If, after indulging in scandalous behavior, I were to go to Confession and neither acknowledge that I did much wrong…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “I love Michael O’Brien’s books. I forced myself to read one chapter of this per night, to savor it longer.…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “I have *strong* thoughts about Rose(ignoring his off the field trouble, which IMO should not count against him) I don’t…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “Question? Ia there any definitive Church teaching on whether the End of Days covers the whole universe or just our…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: ““. . . It’s like . . . this huge weight is gone and now I just want to rest,…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “a website had a blurb “MLB lifts lifetime ban”. seems to me like death took care of that.”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “I think including Jackson and Rose is a mistake, but then I’m not a fan of the tremendous amount of…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 34: Heat death of the universe: “Shoeless Joe, the greatest White Sox hitter, finally gets mercy just days after a White Sox fan becomes Supreme Pontiff.”
on ROME 13 May 609 – Exorcism, screaming demons, terrified people fainting – Dedication of the Pantheon as a church: “on a not real similar note… I’m fascinated with the baptism of bells. just interesting.”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: “I find these words from Leo XIV in his speech to the Eastern Churches encouraging…”The Church needs you. The contribution…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: “Yes, tremendous sense of relief. It’s only been a few days, but there are already many good signs and portents…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: “Exactly! Relief, as in the proverbial ton of bricks being lifted from my shoulders. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s…”
on ROME 25/5– Day 33: languid: “Yes, I too feel weightless. It’s nice to know that we have both a mathematician and a canon lawyer as…”
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since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
“Faldstool,” that’s my word of the day! How very neat! Never know what one may pick on on your blog, Fr!
Can the fanon be far behind? After that, the Papal Court!
How do people know all this obscure Papal vestment knowledge. Is there some secret initiation class I missed out on when I came into the Church? :P
I think eagle eyes is an understatement, Father. I understand seeing the one on the cope, but I’d never have been able to spot Benedict’s coat of arms on the faldstool. Seeing all these pictures makes me wish I hadn’t missed it on EWTN! Here’s hoping for a late night repeat.
Jason,
Interest in papal vesture is an acquired taste. But to use your “secret initiation class” example, this is more like upper-division level classes.
Is it proper for a pope to wear another pope’s coat of arms?
The faldstool was never gone. I have seen several photos of it used during the pontificate of John Paul II. It was, however, recently restored for its current use. BUT, it was also vandalized. When this faldstool was made for Leo XIII the coat of arms wasn’t painted onto that little oval cartouche with the elaborate frame. Rather, the cartouche contained the shield of the coat of arms and the whole cartouche was surmounted by gilded tiara and keys. These have been recently removed! I don’t understand this. One the red chair the Pope uses when presiding at mass they recently changed the finials to contain his coat of arms and left the tiara and keys alone. Why, then, was it necessary to destroy part of this faldstool. The liturgical restorations are nice but the vandalism continues.
variously: Is it proper for a pope to wear another pope’s coat of arms?
Apparently it is! o{]:¬)
It’s a version of recycling… very green… saving the planet, and all that.
Compare the faldstool now with how it originally looked:
http://image511.imageshack.us/image511/6312/sc000f018etd3.jpg
Happy to see it back and hope it never gets put in the closet again….I hope future Pontificates maintain and pass on all the elements of the past that are so sorely missed..Something like passing down Grandma’s China…Simply wonderful news..
Fr. Guy, there’s a typo in your URL (the server does not exist according to their nameservers):
% dnsq a image511.imageshack.us ns7.imageshack.us
1 image511.imageshack.us:
84 bytes, 1+0+1+0 records, response, authoritative, nxdomain
query: 1 image511.imageshack.us
authority: imageshack.us 1800 SOA ns.imageshack.us root.imageshack.us 1231016582 120 7200 3600000 86400
Am I the only one to notice the Papal Tiara on BXVI’s coat of arms?! I zoomed, and it seems quite clear that it is the tiara.
Hugo: I am pretty sure that is the miter version, not the tiara.
After a careful comparison, I think I agree with you, Father. :)
Is this better?
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6312/sc000f018etd3.jpg
Now, that’s a FINE example of recycling!
Well, I think I understand why thye took off the little tiara in the faldstol. I do not agree, but think:
The Holy Father coat of arms does not have the tiara on it. And Leo XIII did have. So, earlier in the little blue thing only the coat of arms would go, and the tiara would complete it. Now thye had two options, or take out the tiara and construct a miter there, or do what they have done. But in my opinion, that would be a great oportunity to start the use of the tiara on the coat of arms…anyway a great and wonderful improvement!
It looks to me as though they took off the whole piece of wood that backs the medallion — old arms medallion, tiara, folderol and all. (Probably put it into the museum to keep nice.) It would have been a whole lot easier and neater to manufacture either a modified replica of the whole faldstool or of just that one little part, than to saw off the tiara and replace one medallion with another.
It would have been better simply to paint what is on the shield of Benedict’s coat of arms on the cartouche and leave it at that. Period.
This is a wonderful development and uplifting after all the depressing stuff I’ve been reading about lately.
Perhaps we should organize a petition asking the Holy Father to resume the use of the Tiara, accompanied by Rosary and Mass Novenas for that purpose. After all, the ceremony and dress of the Church has its primary purpose in giving glory to God, but secondarily it is for the edification of the faithful to see God glorified. It was on this principle that Pope Alexander VI ordered Cardinal Ximenes to wear all the Episcopal Regalia and sleep in a bed rather than wear his franciscan habit and sleep on a board.
I would like to think that Cardinal Ximenes’ monastic simplicity and doctrinal rectitude did more to edify the faithful in the glory of God than any amount of Borgia worldliness.
Athanasius,
I have often wondered about starting a movement to have a tiara made for His Holiness, like the Hungarians did for John Paul II. Something tells me that Benedict XVI would be more inclined to eventually use it than John Paul II, though, probably not by much.