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.
my best guess is that the buck stops with the local bishop.
Other bishops have forced some universities to stop referring to themselves as “catholic”.
As this situation is still ongoing, and they have received flak from the bishop - it will be interesting to see what his next move is.
It appears we’re in the middle of a game of chess.
Agreed. But the fruitcakes have a thrill up their leg for Obama’s policies. They view him as their messiah. Unfortunately, the infiltration of ND made this possible.
And this is supposed to make everything just ducky? If anything it adds to ND’s treachery and blasphemy.
If he puts that on, he’ll be frothing at the mouth ....
My thoughts and your words.
So succinct!
Thank you and God Bless!
Hey troll...go climb into your hole and go away with your commie remarks!
LOL, you sound like a mouth-breather.
It’s the ‘other’ IHS at Georgetown. First 3 letters of the Name “Jesus” in Greek. (Yes, Greek.) It’s that simple, contrary to the other dozen or so convoluted and inaccurate explanations on TV, internet and FR since the event. The “By this sign you shall conquer” thing has nothing whatsoever to do with the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, obviously, centuries after Constantine.
Here, I am thinking the emblems/seals will burn holes in his “oh-so-perfect” pecs
It's perfectly appropriate to invite some one else who respects your institution's values. If giving a speech is such a big deal for this guy let San Francisco State invite him. they'll all be right at home together.
You are correct he is not "just another guy". He is a Muslim masquerading as a christian, he has received a 100% approval rating from NARAL, and he wants to give embryonic stem cell research federal funding even at the expense of adult stem cell research. Adult stem cells have shown promise in the treatment and cure of 73 separate diseases while embryonic stem cells have only shown the ability to grow tumors in the patients that have received these treatments.
You are correct he is not just another guy, he is evil.
Thank you for an outstanding post.
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