Timothy Edward Freyer

TIMOTHY EDWARD FREYER

Born : October 13, 1963
Deceased :

Auxiliary Bishop of Orange, 2017-Present

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

Bishop-elect Timothy E. Freyer was born on Oct. 13, 1963 on the feast of the holy martyrs Faustus, Januarius, and Martial in the city of Los Angeles, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Orange in California on June 10, 1989 on the feast of Saint Margaret of Scotland.

Pope Francis appointed him the fourth titular bishop of Strathernia (in Latin, and in the church’s official Atlas Sedi Titulari known as Stratherniensis) and as an auxiliary to the Residential Bishop of Orange, the Most Reverend Kevin W. Vann, Nov. 23, 2016. At Bishop Vann’s hands he shall be ordained Jan. 17 on the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot.

Bishop-elect Freyer’s shield division is known in heraldry as tierced in mantle. This is to say that as one looks at the shield, the lower portion of it is divided into three geometric parts with the central line reaching to the top of the shield. This division pattern was purposely selected to represent the actual tilma of Juan Diego; the mantle in heraldry equates to the tilma so that as when one studies the design one can actually imagine the unfolding of the tilma before the skeptical bishop’s eyes, the roses beginning to appear as Juan Diego drops the tilma before him. This division style also provides two silver fields on which one rose each appears.

In Catholic heraldic custom, multiple roses are typically, but not necessarily, used to symbolize this Marian apparition so as to depict the multiple roses that that were found in St. Juan Diego’s tilma as a sign from the Blessed Virgin to the bishop that doubted Her appearance. And so today, when a new bishop assumes a coat of arms with homage to Our Lady of Guadalupe included in it, more than one rose is typically used to depict the multiple roses found in the tilma.

Silver represents the purity of the Blessed Virgin. On these two pure silver fields appears the red rose for Our Lady of Guadalupe. To distinguish these from other bishops’ coats of arms with similar Guadalupe references, Bishop-elect Freyer’s roses are barbed vert, heraldic language meaning that the thorns are green.

Red was selected to represent the Precious Blood of the Eucharistic Christ and thus a way to depict the bishop-elect’s devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist. Upon this field is a representation of the Eucharistic Body of Christ. It is worked in white with gold used to embellish the Sacred Host with the brilliance of the sun and to work into it the Christological monogram at its center. I·H·S has been one of the symbols for Jesus Christ from the earliest days of the Church at Rome. The monogram stands for JESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR, which translates in English to Jesus, Savior of Men, or of Mankind. It is one of the many Christological emblems traditionally worked into the large hosts used by bishops and priests at the altar of sacrifice. In this version, a Latin cross rests upon the monogram itself, forming the cross bar on the letter H. This emblem came to the designer when he was praying at the very beautiful 100-year-old Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Germantown, now a section of the city of Philadelphia but in revolutionary times it was a town in its own right comprised entirely of German Catholic settlers. These settlers came to America from the very area in Germany where Bishop-elect Freyer’s family emigrated from later in history. It was thought appropriate, therefore, that this unique link to both Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which is spiritually important to the bishop-elect, and this link to early German immigration in America, would be appropriate for incorporation in this new heraldic design.

The chief shows a book pierced with a sword, the symbol for St. Boniface. Saint Boniface was the great evangelizer of the German peoples and also the titular (title) of the bishop-elect’s first parish as pastor. Saint Boniface was a Wessex-born English Benedictine monk, abbot and later bishop who was sent out from the English Isles, circa A.D. 716, to convert the pagans of the German race. He faced fierce opposition and real danger but despite this he personally converted thousands to the faith, he built numerous abbeys and monasteries, and at the insistence of, and investiture with the pallium by, Pope Gregory III he returned to the German speaking lands, after time with the pope in Rome, as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of All Germany. Boniface worked as best he could with the Carolingian kings of the Franks, including Charles Martel and Pepin. Germany at this time was an amalgam of many tribes, and peoples bound by common pagan themes and a similar but not common language. Some groups received him well while others threatened him with violence, but Boniface never ceased in hoping to convert the Frisians, a particularly ardent pagan group. In 754 he set out with a small body of his monks and he baptized a great number of converts. The by-then-aged archbishop and his monks were killed near Dokkum in what is now the Netherlands. History tells us that their intent was to plunder their belongings, but found nothing of value once they killed the Benedictine company. Seeking wealth and bounty, they broke open Boniface’s trunks finding only the books of the Gospels and other sacred texts. After the brigands fled, Boniface’s followers returned to inspect the scene. Alongside the saint and his fellow monks’ dead bodies were found the books left behind. Many had huge gashes in them showing that in anger the pagans had slashed the Scriptures with axes and pierced them with daggers. It left such a visibly disturbing image in the Christians there at that time that the image of a dagger or sword or axe piercing a sacred text has forever after been the main emblem associated with Saint Boniface.

Surmounting the episcopal shield is the pilgrim’s hat, the heraldic emblem for all prelates and priests of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. For the rank of bishop, both residential and titular, the pilgrim’s hat is always worked in deep green, the true color of the Office of Bishop. For this rank and office there are six tassels suspended on either side of the hat in a pyramidal style.

Behind the coat of arms is the episcopal cross. For the bishops, this cross has only one transverse arm. For Bishop-elect Freyer’s design the episcopal cross displayed is a Latin Cross in form. The cross is worked in gold and the central stone chosen is a deep green cabochon emerald, a rough, non-faceted stone proper for homage to Irish heritage. Bishop Freyer has additional Swedish heritage, as well as German and Irish, and so the stone known as the official stone of Scandinavia, the carnelion, has also been incorporated into the design by including the reddish hued carnelion stone at the three visible points of the cross.

The motto EUNTES DOCETE OMNES GENTES comes from MATTHEW 28:19. Bishop-elect Freyer’s personal spirituality is deeply rooted in this scriptural dictum, which translates into English as: “Go out and make disciples of all nations.” Another modern translation from the Vulgate renders this motto as: “Go out to teach all nations.” The Most Reverent Timothy Edward Freyer accepts both translations with ease as in both he finds his new mission as a member of the Order of Bishops of the Catholic Church.

At the base of the shield, within the folds of his motto, is also found the insignia of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Bishop-elect Freyer is a knight of the Equestrian Order, one of the church’s most important chivalric bodies, one that protects and upholds the sacred sites in the Holy Land as well as one that exercises great charitable works worldwide. By papal decree, only the insignia of the Equestrian Order and the Order of Malta are permitted to be included in episcopal and cardinalatial coats of arms when these prelates belong to one or both of these chivalric orders.