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Bishop's Coat of Arms Explained
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By heraldic tradition, the arms of the bishop of a diocese, called the “Ordinary,” are joined to the arms of his jurisdiction, seen in the dexter impalement (left side) of the shield. In this case, these are arms of the Diocese of Madison.
The arms of the diocese are composed of a field that is wavy bars of silver (white) and blue. This is the traditional heraldic representation for water which is divided by a red cross into four sections to remind us of the lakes of the region around Madison. On the red cross is a fish and this conjunction of symbols is a classic symbolic representation for Saint Raphael, the titular of the Cathedral Church of Madison. Raphael means “healer of God” and his ministrations to men make interesting reading in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament. Parts of the fish were later used by Tobias to drive out the devil, who had slain seven of the previous husbands of Sara, his wife, while the gall was used to restore sight to his blind father.
Bishop Hying’s arms are drawn from four principle aspects and devotions of his life. In the first quarter on a red field is the displayed silver (white) eagle of St. John the Evangelist, patron of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and in quarter IV is the pattern heraldically called “gyronny,” that is the background of the arms of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, where the bishop served during his priestly ministry. In the second quarter, on a silver (white) field is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in the third quarter, also on a silver (white) field, is a red rose, to honor both the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Therese, “The Little Flower,” to whom the bishop has such deep devotion. For his motto, Bishop Hying has selected the Latin phrase “CARITAS NUMQUAM EXCIDIT.” This phrase, taken from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13:8) that expresses the profound Christian doctrine that in all that we do, we should do it with love, because “LOVE NEVER FAILS.”
The achievement is completed by the external ornamentation which are a gold
(yellow) processional cross, that is placed in back of the shield and which extends
above and below the shield, and the pontifical hat, called a “galero,” with its six tassels
in three rows on either side of the shield, all in green.