VIDEO Thanks from Swiss Guard for the Armor Project

Posted on 13 November 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At the end of this post I have a question for you.

I was in Rome in October and I finally was able to meet the Swiss Guard for whom we – I and you donor/readers here – had the fitted armor made.   Some posts HERE and HERE

The idea was this.  Many of the guards have to use armor that has been inherited over the – centuries, actually.  As you can imagine, if it doesn’t fit, it is really painful to wear.  Custom armor is way beyond the means of most of the Guards.  So, I figured that if I could get 60 readers to donate 100 Euro, we could have a set of arms made for one of the Guards who is going to be in the Guards for long time.

Here’s Corporal Dominic and his lovely wife Joanne (who just celebrated their 1st anniversary a few days ago) next to the new armor.

The back plate and breast plate.

His arms etched into the back plate.

One of my favorite saints, Joan of Arc, modeled on the statue on the staircase leading from the Cortile San Damaso to the Sala Clementina.

A little hard to see from this angle… St. Joseph.

When I met Joanna in Oct 2014 with the pilgrimage groups I was with – we had a tour of the Swiss Guard barracks – and she told me that he wanted St. Joseph and St. Joan on the armor, that’s the moment I decided that we had to do this project.

Some of the uniforms.

And now a demo and message from the Guard.

So… let me ask you readers…

Are you ready to get another set of armor for another Guard?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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11 Comments

  1. Stephanus83 says:
    13 November 2015 at 10:19 AM

    I’m ready to pitch in on another set. Nice to see the new Father Z YouTube channel.

  3. Amerikaner says:
    13 November 2015 at 12:15 PM

    Here is his instagram for those interested – https://instagram.com/domberga/?hl=en

    [I see that our Corporal has good taste.]

  5. Bryan D. Boyle says:
    13 November 2015 at 12:24 PM

    I see he is a man of taste…good single malts and fine cigars. Many after your own heart, Father.

  6. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:
    13 November 2015 at 12:30 PM

    And, for a more complete view of life around the guard, here is his wife Joanne’s instagram. (BTW… I checked with them and they said it was okay to have them in the combox): HERE

  7. MattH says:
    13 November 2015 at 2:09 PM

    Let’s do it!

  8. Deo volente says:
    13 November 2015 at 4:34 PM

    Yes, I’m in again!

  9. taffymycat says:
    13 November 2015 at 7:25 PM

    i thought swiss guard had to be unmarried, maybe that is an old rule

  10. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:
    13 November 2015 at 7:27 PM

    The new guys cannot be married. But the men who are “vets” and officers can be married.

  11. Paulo says:
    14 November 2015 at 2:06 PM

    Count me in!

Comments are closed.