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Archdiocese of Ozamiz
Coat of Arms
Explanation
A. On the Dexter Side (left of the viewer): The
Arms of the See (the Seat of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction)
There is a single field. The background
consists of two colors: green and light blue, criscrossed by a
rugged line. This suggests the territory of the See in two ways.
First its most prominent feature is the mountain range which
soars up into the sky. Secondly, it is a land surrounded towards
the north and the east by the sea.
The See comprises the civil province of
Misamis Occidental. Its territory is mostly the twin peaks of
Mt. Malindang and Mt. Ampiro, at the feet of which to the north
and to the east the people live in the different municipalities
and component cities. All of this is surrounded by the
Murcillagos, Iligan and Panguil Bays. Both the land and the sea
provide for the needs of most of the people.
In the foreground are two symbols dear to the
Christian people of the area: the Letter M under the Cross, and
the Lighthouse of the Fort. The settlement of Misamis was
converted to Christianity and to protect them from the enemies
of the time, the Spanish authorities constructed by the sea the
Fort, simply named the Cotta, with its lighthouse to stand guard
over the people.
The letter M and the Cross suggests the
patron saint of the settlement: Our Lady of the Triumph of the
Cross. Her image was placed in the Cotta by the Spanish
authorities in 1756. When Misamis was made a parish the
authorities chose as its parish patron saint Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception. But the settlement continues to have
Nuestra Seńora del Triunfo de la Cruz as its patron.
When the territory was made a diocese on
February 24, 1971, the original settlement of Misamis, now
renamed Ozamiz, was made the seat of the bishop. It was elevated
into an archdiocese, symbolized by the ten tassels at each side
of the Coat of Arms, on January 24, 1983.
B. On the Sinister Side (right of the viewer): the
Arms of the Archbishop (Most Rev. Jesús Armamento Dosado, C.M., D.D.)
There are two fields. The top field of blue has
three symbols: the heart, the shell and little black and white
dots. The Archbishop was born part of a boy-girl twin on a first
Friday; their devout mother named them after the Sacred Heart
(hence, Corazón) of Jesus (hence, Jesús); this fact is
symbolized by the emblem. The shell is a heraldic symbol of St.
James the Apostle, the patron saint of the parish of birth of the
Archbishop. The little white and black dots refer to the name of
the Archbishop= s town
of birth A Sogod@
, meaning, the A
Beginning@ . The town is
named Sogod because of the geological fact that the white and
black beaches of the province of Cebu starts from there.
The bottom field of green has a symbol of two
hands in a gesture of sowing seeds on a plowed field. This is a
visual translation of the characteristic picture of Christ the
Evangelizer of the Poor used by the Congregation of the Mission of
the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers, of which the Archbishop is a
member. Christ is the Evangelizer (symbolized by the hands) as
well as the Message (symbolized by the little cross being sown).
C. Motto: Evangelizare Pauperibus: To evangelize
the Poor
The Motto is taken from the Motto of the
Vincentians, which itself is taken from Luke 4,18: A
Evangelizare Pauperibus Misit Me@
, A He has sent me to
bring the good news to the poor.@
This motto also describes very well the personal commitment of the
Archbishop who himself is a member of the Vincentian Community. It
also expresses the comprehensive thrust of the Archdiocese:
Solidarity with the Poor in the Creation/Formation of Basic
Ecclesial Communities.
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