.png)
The Vatican has just released the new Pope Leo XIV's coat of arms with motto, official portrait, and details on his pectoral cross.
COAT of ARMS - The shield is divided diagonally into two sections. The upper half features a blue background with a white lily.
SEE More on Pope Leo XIV : https://www.catholicnewsworld.com/search/label/Pope%20Leo%20XIV
The lower half of the shield has a light background and displays an image that recalls the Order of Saint Augustine: a closed book with a heart pierced by an arrow. This is a direct reference to the conversion experience of Saint Augustine himself, who described his personal encounter with God’s Word using the phrase: “Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo” - “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”
MOTTO -Pope Leo XIV has also chosen a motto that reflects this Augustinian tradition: In Illo uno unum, which means “In the One, we are one.” The phrase is taken from Saint Augustine’s Exposition on Psalm 127, where he explains that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News' Tiziana Campisi, then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost spoke about the significance of this motto: “As can be seen from my episcopal motto, unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking,” he said. “I believe it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, for me promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”
The lower half of the shield has a light background and displays an image that recalls the Order of Saint Augustine: a closed book with a heart pierced by an arrow. This is a direct reference to the conversion experience of Saint Augustine himself, who described his personal encounter with God’s Word using the phrase: “Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo” - “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”
MOTTO -Pope Leo XIV has also chosen a motto that reflects this Augustinian tradition: In Illo uno unum, which means “In the One, we are one.” The phrase is taken from Saint Augustine’s Exposition on Psalm 127, where he explains that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News' Tiziana Campisi, then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost spoke about the significance of this motto: “As can be seen from my episcopal motto, unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking,” he said. “I believe it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, for me promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”
On the day of his election, Pope Leo XIV wore a pectoral cross containing relics of saints linked to the Augustinian order: those of Saint Augustine and the saint's mother, Saint Monica.
Embedded within it are fragments of bone from saints deeply connected to the Augustinian tradition - witnesses to faith whose lives reflect fidelity, reform, service, and martyrdom.
At the centre of the cross is a relic of Saint Augustine, there are also fragments from four other saints: Monica, Thomas of Villanova, Blessed Anselmo Polanco, and Venerable Giuseppe Bartolomeo Menochio.
A present from the Augustinian General Curia
The relics were chosen by Fr Josef Sciberras, Postulator General of the Augustinian Order, as a present from the General Curia to their confrère, Cardinal Robert Prevost, when he was created cardinal on the 30th of September 2023. Each relic represents a figure whose life reflects a key aspect of sanctity within the Augustinian family. Speaking to Vatican Media, Fr Sciberras said he was overjoyed at the election of the new Pope. He recalled that Cardinal Prevost was “very moved” when the cross was given to him during a celebration at the refectory of the International College of Saint Monica. He knew that he would be carrying close to his heart relics of both Saint Augustine and his mother, Monica.
Source: Vatican News
Comments