Mary's Month: House of God, Gate of Heaven

The Walsingham Throne supporting the coat of arms of the College of Guardians
Created and rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and time to tackle a project that's been marinating in my head for some time.  I have always wanted to see if I could render the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham to serve as the signature image for the blog.  Well, inspiration finally came today and the winds took me in a different (and better) direction up north to Canada.

The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA) does a rather cool thing when granting arms to Anglican cathedrals within its jurisdiction.  The very word cathedral means cathedra, or seat of the bishop, from which derives all episcopal authority, and when it comes to expressing this concept abstractly through heraldry, the CHA developed a concept which creates immediate identification.

A cathedral's coat of arms are placed upon a throne, or cathedra, which is used as the supporter for the arms.  Rather clever!  I'm guessing that each supporter is modeled on the actual throne in each cathedral.  The throne supporter visually sends a message that these arms are different.   

The coat of arms and supporter of St. Paul's Cathedral
in Regina, Saskatchewan
Granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority 1996

The image above illustrates CHA's concept.  The coat of arms of St. Paul's Cathedral in Regina, Saskatchewan, rest upon the throne with a motto placed below on a ribbon.  Above the arms of the cathedral on the tympanum are those of the Diocese of Qu'Appelle.  By placing the arms of the corporate sole at the top, an abstract relationship between the two coats of arms can be discerned--the arms of the diocese seem to visually claim this cathedra for the ordinary of the diocese.

I followed the same framework.  Seated upon Mary's throne rests the coat of arms of the Guardians of the Holy House of Walsingham (Anglican Shrine) between seven gold rings for the seven sacraments.  The idea was to make the throne--as depicted at the Anglican Shrine--function as the supporter for the arms. 

In the absence of arms of a corporate sole for the Anglican shrine (at least to my knowledge), I used the undifferenced arms of the Priory of Walsingham along with a celestial crown to top things off.  The motto below was granted to the Guardians along with their arms from the heralds' college in 1945.  The Guardian's motto in Latin, Domus Dei Porta Caeli, translates as "House of God, Gate of Heaven." 

Arms of the Roman Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of
Our Lady of Walsingham
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025

Click here to learn more about the arms used by the Roman Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham and my proposal for a revision.   

I love Canadian heraldry and a proud member of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada.  Some of the most original and creative charges, lines of division, and overall designs continue to spring from the heralds there.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.