The Coat of Arms of The Most Reverend Donald Joseph Hying, D.D. Titular Bishop of Regie and Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee.
Blazon: Quarterly; I, Gules, an eagle displayed Argent; II, of the second, the Sacred Heart Proper; III, of the second a rose of the first; IV, gyronny of eight, of the first and of the second.
Significance: The episcopal heraldic achievement, or bishop’s coat of arms, is composed of a shield, which is the central and most important part of the design, a scroll with a motto and the external ornamentation. The design is described (blazoned) as if the description was being given by the bearer (from behind) with the shield being worn on the left arm. Thus, it must be remembered, where it applies, as the device is viewed from the front that the terms sinister and dexter are reversed.
As a bishop without canonical jurisdiction (an auxiliary bishop), Bishop Hying’s personal arms occupy the entire shield of the design.
Bishop Hying’s arms are drawn from four principle aspects and devotions of his life. In the first quarter (upper left – “chief dexter”) on a red field is the displayed silver (white) eagle of St. John the Evangelist, patron of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and in quarter IV is the pattern heraldically called “gyronny,” that is the background of the arms of the archdiocese, where the bishop has served all of his priestly ministry. In the second quarter, on a silver (white) field is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, presented as “Proper,” that is, “as it normally appears,” and in the third quarter, also on a silver (white) field, is a red rose, to honor both the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Therese, “The Little Flower,” to whom the bishop has such deep devotion.
For his motto, Bishop Hying has selected the Latin phrase “CARITAS NUMQUAM EXCIDIT.” This phrase, taken from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13:8) that expresses the profound Christian doctrine that in all that we do, we should do it with love, because “LOVE NEVER FAILS.”
The achievement is completed by the external ornamentation which are a gold (yellow) processional cross, that is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and the pontifical hat, called a “galero,” with its six tassels in three rows on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop, by instruction of The Holy See, of March 31,1969.
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