[Gocamino] Re: [saintjames] Papal Crest inculdes Santiago Shell

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
An article that appeared on April 29 in the "Correo Gallego" informed that four previous crests/seals adopted by the now Pope Benedict XVI when he was a Cardinal, Archbishop, etc.  included a shell, as does his new Papal shield.
The article informs, however, that the shell is not precisely the Xacobean shell, but rather it represents  a shell used as a symbol by the Ratisbona Monastery in Bavaria where the new Pope was once a teacher. The Monastery's  shell itself refers to the famous story written by Saint Augustine in the Fourth century in which a boy used a shell to pour the entire sea into a hole.
The "Saint Augustine" shell ordinarily has a wavy line running line through the middle, and its sides are usually shown in blue and silver, interchangeably.
The new Pope is an admirer of Saint Augustine and, in fact, dedicated his doctoral thesis, in 1953, to the monk and later wrote a book about him. 
Responding to queries in this respect, a spokesperson at the Vatican has stated that while the shell in the new Papal shield maintains the reference to Saint Augustine, it has been purposely modified  to incorporate and emphasize the shell's universal reference as a pilgrim's symbol, and, most particularly, a Xacobean pilgrim's.
 
 
There are many versions of the provenance of the shell as a Xacobean symbol. the most common, I think, is the legend of the groom that was riding to his wedding when his horse saw the small ship carrying the Apostle's body off the Galician coast, and jumped into the water towards it. The groom and the horse were saved from drowning through Saint James' intervention and surfaced from  the sea covered in sea shells, with the groom holding a clam shell (vieyra)  in his hand. 
 Some prominent families in Galicia have claimed descent from such a groom, and their family crests include the shells, or vieiras in memory of their famous ancestor.  The shield of the Pimenteles family, for instance, contains five clam shells; the Ribadeneyras family shield displays a cross formed with shea shells punctuated by three clam shells and there is also a family outrightly surnamed Vieiras.
 
Warm regards,
 
Rosina
   
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Sil <sillydoll at gmail.com>
To: saintjames at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 19:21:42 +0200
Subject: [saintjames] Papal Crest inculdes Santiago Shell


Papal crest
 
 THE Vatican unveiled yesterday Pope Benedict's coat of arms, which
incorporates a crowned Moor's head, a bear and a scallop or conch
shell — all drawn from Joseph Ratzinger's crest as Cardinal Archbishop
of Munich and Freising, the post he held from 1977 to 1981. In
contrast to the coat of arms of John Paul II, the new Pope's crest is
topped by a simple mitre rather than the traditional three-layered
papal crown, or tiara. The centuries-old custom of crowning popes was
abolished after Pope Paul VI (1963-78) sold the tiara to raise money
for the poor.
Read more at:
 
  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20709-1588202,00.html
 
 


-- 
Sil


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?
Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/WwRTUD/SOnJAA/i1hLAA/LUWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

This Group is based in the site: http://www.caminhodesantiago.com - Caminho de 
Santiago de Compostela - O Portal Peregrino. All of information the pilgrims 
need. 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saintjames/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    saintjames-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/