File:Coat of arms of Alexander King Sample.svg

Blazon:

Arms impaled. Dexter: Per fess Azure and Argent, on a fess wavy Gules three mullets of six points of the second and in chief a crescent of the second. Sinister: per fess; to chief, Gules a monstrance Or within a single quarter of tressure flory and counter flory of the second and to base Azure a random semé of fleur-de-lis Or.

Significance:

The archiepiscopal heraldic achievement or bishop’s coat of arms is composed of a shield with its charges (symbols), a motto scroll and the external ornamentation. The shield, which is the central and most important feature of any heraldic device, is described (blazoned) in 12th century terms, that are archaic to our modern language, and this description is presented as if given by the bearer with the shield being worn on the arm. Thus, where it applies, the terms dexter and sinister are reversed as the device is viewed from the front.

By heraldic tradition the arms of the archbishop are joined, impaled, with the arms of his jurisdiction. In this case, these are the arms of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, that are seen in the dexter impalement (left side) of the shield.

These are based on the coat of His Holiness, Pope Gregory XVI who was the Supreme Pontiff at the time that the region was first established as a Vicariate Apostolic, later becoming the Archdiocese of Oregon City. These arms, composed of three sections, in the red, white and blue of the American flag, depict by means of the red wavy bar across the center, the Red River of Canada from which region the first Catholic missionaries came to the area that is now Oregon. On this bar are three six pointed silver stars, to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and above the wavy bar, on the blue field, is the silver crescent representing Mary, in her title of the Immaculate Conception, titular of the Cathedral Church in Portland.

For his personal arms, His Grace, Archbishop Sample employs a design that represents his heritage and his ministry in Christ’s holy Priesthood.

The design is composed of three main elements. The lower portion of the design is a blue field on which is seen a random scattering of gold fleur-de-lis as presented in the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her title of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the Madonna displayed in the monastery at Jasna Góra in Poland. This symbolism is used to represent the Bishop’s filial devotion to Mary, the Mother of God and to honor the Polish heritage that has come to him from his mother, Joyce Dory Sample.

The upper portion of the design is a red field with a gold (yellow) border composed of two bars and fleur-de-lis pointing in opposite directions. This charge is called a “tressure flory and counter flory” and it has been part of the Royal Scottish arms for generations. It is employed to signify the Bishop’s Scottish heritage that he received from his father, also named Alexander King Sample. The red field carries a dual significance. It symbolizes the fire of the Holy Spirit needed for the work of the New Evangelization, and at the same time is a reminder of the blood of the martyrs and the call to lay down one’s life in service to God and his Church. Also on the red field is a gold (yellow) monstrance, the device used for public veneration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, used here to signify the centrality of the Holy Eucharist in Christianity, being the source and summit of the Church’s life and mission as well as the central activity of the ministerial priesthood.

Motto: For his motto, Bishop Sample uses the Latin phrase, “VULTUM CHRISTI CONTEMPLARI” (“to contemplate the face of Christ”). This theme is taken from the writings of Pope John Paul II (Novo Millennio Ineunte and Ecclesia de Eucharistia), in which the Holy Father reminded us that it is the task of the Church to make the face of Christ shine before the generations of the new millennium. The Holy Father further reflected: “Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.” The achievement is completed with the external ornaments which are a gold metropolitan cross, that is placed in back of and which extends above and below the shield, and the pontifical hat, called a “gallero,” with its ten tassels, in four rows, on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of a metropolitan archbishop by instruction of The Holy See of March 31, 1969.

Reference:

• www.archdpdx.org