Description of the Coat of Arms or Emblem of the Marian Catechist Apostolate
The coat of arms or emblem of the Marian Catechist Apostolate gives visual expression to service of the Mystery of Faith, the Mystery of the Redemptive Incarnation of God-the-Son, which the members of the Apostolate serve. At the center of the shield is the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus from which all graces flow for the salvation of man and the two-edged sword representing the Divine Truth and Love flowing from the Heart of Jesus into the hearts of those who have come to life in Him through faith and baptism: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”1 The Divine Life, the Holy Spirit, flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the hearts of men calls men to conversion, to turn away from sin and to turn ever more to Christ Who teaches us: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”2
The background of the shield is blue representing the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mother of God, Mother of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who is the Mediatrix of the Grace flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the hearts of the faithful. The members of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, inspired by the words of Saint Paul in the Letter to the Romans: “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ,”3 are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary to bring the truth of the faith to those entrusted to them for catechesis.
The two golden rays, united to the Sacred Heart and the two-edged sword of the Divine Word, represent the descending and ascending movement of Sanctifying Grace in the hearts of the members of the Apostolate and in the hearts of those whom they catechize. The descending ray represents the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the dove, poured forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the hearts of both the catechist and the catechized, drawing hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the ever more perfect union of heart with the Sacred Heart. The ascending ray represents the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the human heart, the faithful following of Christ, represented by the cross: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”4 The members of the Marian Catechist Apostolate give witness to the truth that we live in Christ through the way of the Cross. They seek to help those they catechize to follow the same and only way of eternal salvation.
In summary, the coat of arms or emblem of the Marian Catechist Apostolate expresses the wisdom of the saintly founder of the Apostolate, the Servant of God Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J., namely that the catechist, through the profound spiritual and doctrinal formation of the Apostolate, become ever more one in heart with the Sacred Heart to lead others, by way of catechesis, to the same ever-greater unity of heart with the Divine Heart.
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
July 23, 2025
[1] Heb 4, 12.
[2] Jn 14, 6.
[3] Rom 10, 17.
[4] Mt 16, 24; cf. Mk 8, 34; Lk 9, 23.