Mark Rowan

MARK ROWAN

Born : ?
Deceased :

US Air Force Chaplain, Colonel
Chaplain of His Holiness

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

The main background of the field is Bleu Celeste. It is borrowed from the coat of arms of the U.S. Air Force. It alludes to the blue of the sky. On this is the single charge of the open globe combined with a Latin cross in silver. This charge is taken from the arms of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Superimposed over this is a small black roundel, which, in turn, has three small silver hills. It is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY. The three small hills are, in turn, taken from the arms of Pope Pius XII who founded the diocese of Rockville Centre in 1957. That diocese is composed of territory taken from the diocese of Brooklyn so the black tincture represents the marshes, which recalled to the Dutch their homeland in Breukelen on the Vecht in the Province of Utrecht. The Dutch who settled Brooklyn at first called it “Breuck-Landt,” meaning “broken land,” or “marshland,” inasmuch as a great deal of land was broken up by patches of water.

The dividing line is also used in the coat of arms of the U.S. Air Force. Here, along with the bleu celeste, it alludes to Msgr. Rowan’s service as a Chaplain. The bumps or nebuli are six in number. This is a reference to the fact that Msgr. Rowan has served or provided support on six different continents in the course of his service as a Chaplain and has also administered six of the seven sacraments. The seventh sacrament, holy orders, is reserved to bishops. On the gold colored chief stands a red winged lion that is the symbol of his patron saint, St. Mark, the Evangelist. The lion holds, in his right front paw a green trefoil, more commonly known as a shamrock, which is the symbol of Msgr. Rowan’s Irish ancestry.