Bishop Lawrence Sullivan's coat of arms

Bishop Sullivan’s coat of arms is representative of his birthplace, his personal devotions and the place in which he has spent his life and ministry as a priest.

The upper third of the shield is separated from the rest of the shield by a wavy line alluding to both Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. The two red Tau crosses represent the bishop’s devotion to St. Francis of Assisi.

Between these two crosses is the haloed head and wings of a lion, which symbolize the evangelist St. Mark. St. Mark is the bishop’s favorite evangelist and he likes and is drawn to the very human side of Christ depicted so well in Mark’s Gospel. The colors green, gold and red are also used on the national flag of Lithuania and are a recognition of the bishop’s Lithuanian ancestry.

The basic design of the shield echoes the design on the flag of Chicago, his native place. The background color has been changed to green as a nod to the bishop’s Irish heritage. The two blue bars and four red stars on the Chicago flag are represented here and changed to two silver bars and four silver fleurs-de-lis.

One fleur-de-lis is taken from the coat of arms of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who ordained the bishop a priest; the second is taken from the coat of arms of Cardinal Cupich, who was the principal consecrator ordaining him to the episcopacy; the third is from the coat of arms of Mundelein Seminary, where he received his priestly formation; the fourth is not from a coat of arms but is a heraldic symbol of St. Joseph, the patron saint of his college seminary. So, the design combines symbols from the city and the archdiocese where Bishop Sullivan was born, grew up and has served as a priest and will now serve as a bishop. Lastly, the fleur-de-lis is, itself, a heraldic symbol of Our Lady.

The motto below the shield is “Walk humbly with God” from the prophet Micah, Chapter 6, verse 8.