Arms of Christian Heribert Riesbeck

Blazon

Per fess enarched Argent and Azure on a pale counterchanged between in chief two roses Gules barbed Vert seeded Or and in base two lilies, in chief a dove descending Argent holding in its beak a bezant inscribed IHS in letters Sable, in base a Latin cross potent Gules;

Symbolism

The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and the Host in its beak the importance of the Eucharist as the centre of the Church’s life. The roses represent the flowers given to St. Juan Diego by Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and they commemorate Bishop Riesbeck’s ministry to a predominantly Hispanic congregation in Houston, Texas. The lilies are a symbol of St. Joseph, the Patron saint of the universal Church, of Canada and of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, and on whose feast day Bishop Riesbeck was ordained a bishop. Along with the blue colour they also refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the province of Quebec, Bishop Riesbeck’s birthplace. The cross, its red colour symbolizing the blood of Jesus, is taken from the emblem of the Society of the Companions of the Cross, Bishop Riesbeck being the first member of the Society to be made a bishop. The arching division line makes a further allusion to a Eucharistic host as well as to the idea of the Church throughout the world.