Posted on 04/17/2009 8:40:07 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Friday, April 17, 2009
By Edwin Mora
(CNSNews.com)- Notre Dame expects President Obama to wear the school’s traditional doctoral robe--which is emblazoned with a cross and a prayer to the Virgin Mary--when the president receives an honorary law degree from the university at its May 17 commencement ceremony.
“Yes,” replied Notre Dame Spokesman Dennis Brown, when CNSNews.com asked him if Obama would wear the robe that has been worn by previous graduation speakers at Notre Dame.
Another Notre Dame official confirmed that “everybody” wears Notre Dame’s traditional doctoral robe when they receive an honorary law degree from Notre Dame.
In 2001, when President Bush received an honorary law degree from Notre Dame, he wore the school’s traditional doctoral robe inscribed with the prayer to the Virgin Mary. In 2008, when actor Martin Sheen received the Laetare Award from Notre Dame at its commencement ceremony, he wore the same traditional Notre Dame robe.
CNSNews.com asked White House Spokesman Shin Inouye whether Obama will wear the same robe worn by Bush and Sheen. Inouye said: “I’ve looked around, but I don’t have an answer for you.”
The Notre Dame doctoral robe bears two images of the school's coat of arms, one on both the right and left chest areas.
The coat of arms and its symbolic meaning are described in “The Spirit of Notre Dame: Its History, Legends and Lore” by Dorothy V. Corson, a publication that is posted on Notre Dame’s official website.
The publication includes a detailed illustration of the coat of arms and a quote from the February 1931 issue of The Notre Dame Alumnus magazine, explaining it.
The emblem features a cross and a book with a prayer inscribed in it, a star in the upper left-hand corner and two wavy lines at the bottom.
The official title of the university is “Universitas Dominae Nostrae a Lacu”—the University of Our Lady by the Lake--and thus the star is presented because it is “reminiscent of the beautiful epithet Star of the Sea” and “was chosen as Mary’s symbol in the new shield of arms.”
The two wavy lines are “poetically expressive of the dedication of the University to the Star of the Sea.”
Members of the Congregation of Holy Cross who founded Notre Dame are represented by the cross.
“The open book is always emblematic of an institution of learning,” says the publication on the Notre Dame website. “The phrase ‘Vita, Dulcedo, Spes,’ taken from the ancient prayer to the Virgin, the ‘Salve Regina,’ means ‘our life, our sweetness, our hope’ the combination of these phrases with the symbol for the university indicates the dedication of all Notre Dame’s activities, intellectual, spiritual, athletic, and so on, to Our Lady.”
When President Obama spoke at Georgetown University on Tuesday, the school covered over a cross and the monogram “IHS”—which is a symbol for the name of Jesus—where it was inscribed on a pediment embedded in the wall directly above and behind where Obama stood on a stage to speak.
In a written statement, Georgetown told CNSNews.com on Wednesday: “In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage. The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches. Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”
On Thursday, both Georgetown and the White House made statements indicating that covering over the “IHS” and cross behind the stage at Georgetown’s Gaston Hall was the unintended consequence of an effort to provide a backdrop for the flags that the White House wanted displayed behind the president.
*Notre Shame ping*
We shall see.
*****************
I agree. I would guess that most, if not all, of us do.
Georgetown should have told him that “In Hoc Signo Vinces” is Pall Mall’s slogan too.
I wouldn’t bet on it Notre Dame. My money’s on Zero calling your bluff - and you WILL back down.
I like it! LOL
Actually, Muslims have a great devotion to “Miriam” the mother of Jesus.
I have Chaldean friends straight out of Iraq who said that the Muslims in their neighborhood would leave flowers at their Mary statues.
If Obama wore a crucifix, he would smoke, sizzle and hiss.
Thank you for this and the GKC tagline.
Such religious symbols will probably burn into Obama’s flesh.
I fired off a letter to Father Jenkins voicing my displeasure of this whole thing. Either Father Jenkins will bow to the altar of Obama, or he'll bow to the God, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
There is no compromise with our faith in God.
Exactly.
Aside from the moral and religious issues—which should, of course, have ruled this invitation out without a second thought—Obama has done virtually NOTHING in the field of law. He has written nothing (except one unsigned article promoting abortion) and he has done nothing.
He spent TEN YEARS as an instructor of Constitutional Law at the University of Illinois, Chicago, without having written a single scholarly article. It is unprecedented that an instructor was kept on for so long with such a dismal record—nothing at all to recommend him except affirmative action and political connections.
There are probably several hundred thousand lawyers out there who have accomplished more, one way or another, toward deserving an honoris causa degree in law than Obama. The nine young lawyers just out of law school recently named as SCOTUS clerks have probably accomplished more already, before leaving law school than Obama has in his whole career.
Nor has he done anything noteworthy in any other field.
accordingly, he did NOT hobnob with his peers @ Univ.of Chic.
accordingly, he did NOT hobnob with his peers @ Univ.of Chic.-no one seems to remember him there either. he was a
blur on the board (no pun intended)
accordingly, he did NOT hobnob with his peers @ Univ.of Illinois,Chic.-no one seems to remember him there either. he was a blur on the board (no pun intended)
What does the Left use to jusify their lying? Or is it that they live in an alternate reality?
“IS IT ME or DOES ANYBODY ELSE BELIEVE THAT OBAMA IS IN FACT “ The Enemy of the State “ ? This is starting to bother me... He’s our President... Right?”
I was just having this conversation with a family member - mostly concerning local people who have to receive security clearance in order to work on the president’s helicopter.
Obama wouldn’t have received such clearance - and yet he gets to ride the helicopter as president. Amazing.
Ahhh...Martin Sheen. I’ve seen many like him.
My guess is that if you ask Martin if he opposes abortion, he would say he does.
But he is that special brand of “pro-lifer” who shouts about “social justice” and the “seamless garment”.
And after all the psychobabble and gobbledygook they sputter, it winds up that Obama is a saint.
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