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PAGE 2—THE SOUTHERN CROSS, Thursday, September 7,1972
Sav. “Farewell”
(Relow is the talk delivered by Bishop
Andrew 7. McDonald in Cathedral of St.
John the .Baptist, Savannah, on the
occasion of his Ordination to the
Episcopacy, September 5,1972.)
“I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men
unto Myself.”
How glad I am that all of you are here
today, my brothers, sisters, relatives,
Bishops, Priests, Sisters and friends. There
is no way in the world for my heart to
hold the joy of this Solemn Occasion.
The overflow, then, from my heart, I am
sure, spreads out over your own hearts as
you share this day with me.”
Aware of my nothingness, I stand
before God this day - from the depths of
this nothingness, I give thanks and praise.
1,000 at
Reception
Ceremonies making the Ordination of
Msgr. Andrew J. McDonald as the fifth
bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas, came to
a close last Tuesday (Sept. 5) with a
public reception held at Savannah’s Alee
Temple at 8 p.m. Approximately 1,000
persons attended.
Said Father J. Kevin Boland, General
Chairman for the reception, “Because of
the limited seating capacity of the
Cathedral, attendance at the Ordination
ceremony was necessarily by invitation.
Nevertheless, we felt that many more
people would want to join in the
festivities attendant upon such an
occasion, so the public reception was
arranged. The large turnout was certainly
a most impressive tribute to Bishop
McDonald.”
After a tribute by the Port City’s
mayor, John Rousakas, remarks of
farewell were delivered by Mayor pro-tern
Frank Rossiter on behalf of the Catholic
men of the diocese and by Mrs. Jack Hall,
President of the Savannah Diocesan
Council of Catholic Women.
After short talks by the recently
retired Bishop Albert L. Fletcher of Little
Rock, and Bishop Gerard L. Frey of
Savannah, Bishop McDonald delivered a
short farewell address. He said, in part:
“When you live amidst beauty - when
you encounter people of all faiths, all
races, all walks of life every day, you tend
to take them for granted.
“Since last June (when he was
designated bishop) I’ve become very
conscious of my citizenship. Like Paul
who boasted of his birthplace, Tarsus, ‘no
mean city,’ I must say how grateful I am
to Savannah, the city of my birth -- truly
a little bit of heaven with all its parks,
trees, gardens . ..
“0 beautiful city, you will always be
hallowed in my memory ...
“Even as I note the beauty of my city,
I am aware that I am going to ‘no mean
city’...
Since the Holy Spirit has called me to
Little Rock, let His sacred power unite
Savannah and Little Rock -- Georgia and
Arkansas -- in bonds of love and
friendship that will grow over the years. I
have always rejoiced in my Georgia
heritage, my Savannah citizenship.
Today, I am ready to boast of my
Arkansan heritage and my Little Rock
citizenship. Thank you all and God bless
you.”
Once again, God, the all powerful has
chosen to work through the weak and the
unlikely. He Who is Mighty has done
great things in me and holy is His Name.
Although they have won the crown of
eternal glory many years ago, I give
thanks this day to God for my Mother
and Father. Without exception, I heard
the front door of my home close at 6:00
A.M. every day, as my Mother in rain, in
cold, in darkness, left home for this
Cathedral Church to attend 6:30 Mass
and prepare herself for the day’s work.
Without exception, I saw my Father leave
home every day to earn daily bread for a
wife and twelve children. I give thanks to
all of my brothers and sisters, who shared
this home and this love with me; whose
Christian lives have always been a source
of inspiration to me.
On this day, I thank Our Holy Father,
Paul VI, for the confidence he has placed
in me. I renew t my pledge of love and
loyalty to him. May God sustain him,
strengthen him and give him a long life.
On this day of days, I give thanks to
the Bishops, Priests and Religious
Brothers of this Diocese who influenced
me in my youth; to the self-effacing
Fathers of St. Sulpice who guided and
directed my priestly formation for twelve
years through high school, college and
major seminary studies. On this joyful
day, I thank Archbishop Hannan and
Bishop Frey for their part as
Co-consecrators in this ceremony. There
is no way here to enumerate the many
kindnesses of Bishop Frey to me during
the last five years and during the
preparations for this sacred ceremony. I
thank Archbishop McDonough for his
eloquent homily; for the imposition of
his hands upon me in this Ordination; I
thank him for being to me throughout all
the years I have known him, a living
example of just what a Bishop should be.
My gratitude goes out to all my fellow
Bishops, to my fellow Priests, to the
Sisters, the laymen for sharing this day
with me.
I single out today Bishops Fletcher and
Graves. These men have journeyed from
Little Rock to testify to the warm
welcome I will receive in Arkansas. May I
take this opportunity to thank Father
Boland and his committee for working so
hard to make this day so beautiful. May I
thank Dr. Persse, Mrs. Schreck and
members of the choir; may I thank the
ushers, those on ceremonies and all who
had a share in making this day - a day
which the Lord has made.
One final thought: I stand here today
clothed in the beautiful robes and insignia
of a bishop. Our Church places these
robes and insignia upon a Bishop and you
rejoice to see it because it is human and
divine to hide the reality of the cross.
Gladly, I wear them - but I want you to
know that there is no way to remove the
cross from Christianity. As the mitre
adorns my head, I know that the crown
of thorns adorned the Head of My
Master; as I carry this jeweled crozier, I
know that My Master carried the cross; as
this jeweled ring, is implanted upon my
finger, I know that the kiss of Judas was
implanted upon my Master.
Pray, my brothers and sisters, my
fellow bishops, priests and religious, my
faithful friends that I will always be a
bishop who recognizes the cross, the true
insignia of the office of Bishop - that I
will always be ready to exchange the
jewel for the thorn; the crozier for the
cross - that I will be always the good
shepherd who is ready to live, who is
ready to lay down his life for his flock.
AVE - CRUX - Behold, the Cross. “I, if I
be lifted up, will draw all men unto
Myself.”
ST. MARY’S HOME for dependent children in Savannah has always been an object of
Monsignor McDonald’s pastoral concern. Here, he is show on steps of the home with
Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough (bishop of Savannah when this photo was taken)
to his left, and Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle (extreme left in photo) on occasion of visit by
Eamonn de Valera, Prime Minister of Ireland (front row, center).
MONSIGNOR McDonald is shown here, shortly after being appointed pastor of
Savannah’s Blessed Sacrament parish, helping to serve dinner for the guests of the
Little Sister of the Poor home for the aged.
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(Following are the remarks of Bishop
Andrew J. McDonald in the Cathedral of
St. Andrew, Little Rode on the occasion
of his Installation as the Fifth Bishop of
Little Rode, September 7, 1972.)
“In the simplicity of my heart, I come
to do Thy will, O God”.
My heart overflows with joy, with love,
with gratitude today. From the depths of
my soul, I sing out my thanks to God
Who has honored my nothingness with
His grace - Who continues to confound
the strong in the choice of the weak.
I am grateful to Our Holy Father, Paul
VI who bears the burdens of Chief
Shepherd of our souls with such
admirable patience and deep faith; to his
visible Representative to the Church in
America, Archbishop Luigi Raimondi,
Our Apostolic Delegate, I tender
profound thanks for installing me as
Bishop of Little Rock today in this
Cathedral Church.
It gives me great joy to repeat
sentiments I expressed in Savannah on
Tuesday. I extoll my Mother and my
Father for their gift of life to me - for
their exemplary Catholic lives - I express
my love for my brothers and sisters who
shared family life with me; whose lives
remain a source of inspiration to me.
I re-affirm my thanks to Archbishop
Hannan, my Metropolitan and to Bishop
Frey, my Ordinary, who were my
Co-consecrators; publicly, I once again
express my admiration for Archbishop
McDonough, formerly of Savannah,- now
of Louisville, my Consecrator,. whose life
has always exemplified the true Shepherd
of souls.
A special word of admiration and
gratitude to Bishop Fletcher, truly a man
of God. I knew him only a short time
when the goodness of his life seized my
soul. He has been and will always remain
a tower of strength to us all.
May I thank Bishop Graves and
SIGNIFICANCE
The entire “achievement”, or coat of
arms as it is generally called, is composed
of the shield with its charges, the motto
and the external ornaments. As one looks
at the shield, the terms dexter and sinister
must be understood contrariwise, as the
shield was worn on the arm in medieval
days and these terms were used in the
relationship of the bearer of the shield.
The dexter impalement on the left to
the viewer bears the coat of arms of the
Diocese of Little Rock.
The diocesan arms are composed of the
Marian colors, silver (the same as white in
heraldry) and blue. They honor Mary as
the patroness of the United States under
her title of the Immaculate Conception.
Since Peter is the “petra” (rock) upon
which the Church was founded by Jesus
Christ, the diocese is appropriately
represented by small reversed silver
crosses in memory of his crucifixion with
his head to the earth. The cross in the
form of the letter X is the Cross of Saint
Andrew the Apostle, the titular of the
diocesan cathedral and the baptismal
patron of Bishop Andrew Byrne, its first
Ordinary.
The star of six points is derived from
the coat of arms of Pope Gregory XVI,
who established the Diocese of Little
Rock on November 28, 1843. The star
also refers to the State of Arkansas which
displays a circle of stars in its seal, albeit
of five points.
The sinister impalement on the right to
the viewer is given to the personal arms of
Bishop McDonald.
The coat of arms of Bishop McDonald
is an abbreviated version of the quartered
Monsignor F.X. Murphy along with their
committee for the preparation of this
beautiful day. My thanks to the choir, the
organist, those on ceremonies, the ushers
- all who shared in this beautiful liturgy.
And, now just a brief word to my
co-workers, my priests, my religious and
my people of Little Rock and of the
State of Arkansas. Through God’s grace,
may these few words fall on the ears of
all men, of every race, of all religions, in
all walks of life in this wonderful State.
Last June, it became known to me that
Our Holy Father, Paul VI was to appoint
me the Bishop of Little Rock. At first,
like the prophets of old, I was frightened.
Then, I went through great mental
gymnastics. Anything I read or heard
which seemed “intellectual”, “striking”,
“something that a bishop should say or
stand for” - I noted it. When the
appointment became public, I was going
to be ready. I would impress - I would
make my mark.
_For your sake and for mine, all these
ideas subsided. Since you will discover
the truth about me anyway, I thought I
better tell it to you “like it is”. An
intellectual giant is not standing before
you; an intrepid leader of men is not
addressing you; a bulwark of virtue is not
hidden beneath this mitre. Upon
searching my soul, I find no qualifications
to be your bishop other than the call of
God. I leave myself open this day to the
Holy Spirit and pray that I hinder Him
not in His work among you.
There is only one sentiment I bear in
my heart today. This sentiment is so
overwhelming, it almost bursts my heart.
It is simple but I mean it: My priests, my
religious, my sisters, my people, tall and
short; fat and skinny; black and white; of
all demoninations, of all walks of life in
beautiful Arkansas - I love you; I do care.
With God’s help I will live and if
necessary I will die to prove that I care,
to prove that I love. “In the simplicity of
my heart, I come to do Thy will, O God”.
arms of the Gaelic McDonald family.
Only the first two quarters have been
retained for the sake of simplicity, and
these have been impaled and
“differenced” to make these arms
personal to the Bishop
In the dexter impalement the field has
been changed from gold to silver, but still
bears the McDonald lion rampant. In the
sinister the gold field displays a hand
issuing from a cloud and holding a red
saltire instead of a red Latin cross srosslet
fitchy (pointed at the base) of the
McDonalds. The saltire honors Saint
Andrew the Apostle, the baptismal
patron of the Bishop. The generally
accepted account of the death of Saint
Andrew is that he was bound to a
decussate cross (X), which became his
symbol. As mentioned above, it is
interesting to note that the title of the
cathedral and the baptismal name of its
first Bishop is also Andrew.
The motto is taken from First Vespers
of the Office of the Feast of Saint
Andrew on November 30th: “Salve, crux
pretiosa, suscipe discipulum ejus, qui
pependit in te magister meus Christus”
(Hail, precious cross, receive a disciple of
him who hung on thee, my master
Christ). A motto is an ideal and a
program of life of the bearer of the
shield.
The chief (upper partition) is also
composed of the Marian colors, silver and
blue. The dove, the scriptural symbol of
the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Wisdom, is
combined with the crescent, the lunar
symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(Apocalypse 12:1) to suggest the Mother
of God as the “Seat of Wisdom”, the
patroness of Saint Mary’s Seminary in
Baltimore, where Bishop McDonald (
studied for the Holy Priesthood.
WILLIAM F J. RYAN
COAT OF ARMS OF HIS EXCELLENCY
THE MOST REVEREND ANDREW JOSEPH McDONALD, D.D
BISHOP OF LITTLE ROCK