It gives us great joy to announce that, due to a very generous donation from an anonymous benefactor who asked that we update our parish’s crest/seal, with the support of the Diocese of Orange to update our logo and begin a process of rebranding, we have been able to commission the noted ecclesiastical heraldry artist, Matthew Alderman (https://matthewalderman.com) who has produced original hand-designed crests/seals for our parish, in accord with the norms of ecclesiastical heraldry. We received the final digital versions of our parish crests/seals this past week, and thus, for the first time in these pages, we are thrilled to share the release of our new parish logos. Mr. Alderman is also producing a handpainted watercolor of the large crest/seal with the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which we will frame and display in the Narthex of our church upon its completion. We are truly delighted by the results of Mr. Alderman’s work, and excited to begin our process of rebranding (including the eventual transformation of our parish’s website). With immediate effect, then, we will no longer be using the previous geometric logo in our official communications, and we will begin switching to our new logos.
Large Crest/Seal with the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe:
In this crest/seal, we see Mr. Alderman’s original interpretation of the image of Our Lady which miraculously appeared on St. Juan Diego’s Tilma (cactus poncho). This image is surrounded by letters that spell out the names of our parish and of our city. In the base of the image, we see our parish’s new shield (described below), which is held by the angel that also appears on the base of the Tilma. This larger crest/seal with the Tilma is the image that will be produced as a watercolor painting, which we will display in our church’s Narthex.
Small Crest/Seal with thematic elements relating to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Diocese of Orange, and the City of La Habra:
In this smaller crest/seal we see an artistic interpretation with elements that relate to our Diocese, parish, and city. In the top of the image we have seven oranges (two slighly hidden), with an artistic belt running through them. These oranges represent the Diocese of Orange in which our parish is located, and reflect our Diocesan crest which also contains an orange tree. The green leaves of the orange tree are deliberately prominent to recall to our minds the color green as a representation of Ireland, and to pay homage to our parish’s influential and beloved Irish pastors emeritus, such as our founding pastor Msgr. John Stapleton, and the other Irish pastors who served this parish over many years, such as Msgr. David Coleman, Msgr. Francis Roughan, and Msgr. Justin MacCarthy. The bell in the bottom center of the seal is a reference to the bells that mark the old paths between the Spanish Missions along the El Camino Real, which we still see on La Habra’s “Boulevard of the Bells”. Surrounding the right and left sides of the crest/seal we find the names of our parish and of the city of La Habra. In the center of the crest/seal we find our parish’s new small shield (described below).
Small Shield with thematic elements relating to Our Lady of Guadalupe:
Our final shield exists both on its own and is present as an element in the other two crests/seals described above. This shield comprises a blue border with gold stars, which are thematic references to Our Lady’s mantle and robe on the Tilma, surrounding an interior shield that pays homage to Tepeyac Hill, where Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego. The red roses refer to the Castilian roses that Our Lady told St. Juan Diego to pick and place in his Tilma as a sign for Bishop Zumárraga, the Bishop of Mexico, who had initially refused to believe St. Juan Diego about Our Lady’s appearance to the saint and the request She made of him. The white background surrounding the roses is a reference to the snow on Tepeyac Hill (St. Juan Diego encountered Our Lady in winter, and the blossoming of these roses even in the snow was significant in itself as a sign of divine intervention). The crescent moon is a reference to the moon on which Our Lady is standing in Her image on the Tilma, which is itself a manifestation of the Biblical image from Revelation 12:1 (“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”).