(From The Orcadian dated March 14, 2002)

The monastic community on Papa Stronsay has just been granted an official coat of arms.

Father Michael Mary from the Golgotha Monastery on the island explained that the Transalpine Redemptorist Order, to which they belong, had its own coat of arms, but that they wanted to have a distinctly separate one for Papa Stronsay.

The two symbols accepted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms to represent the monastic community in Orkney is the Papa Stronsay Cross – one of the smallest engraved stone crosses ever found in Britain – set out in red on a gold background, reflecting the colours of the Orkney Flag.

Above that is an eight-pointed star on a blue background representing stella maris or the star of the sea, which is an ancient symbol for the Guiding Star and the Virgin Mary.

The motto in Latin depicted below is desertum in pelago intransmeabili which translates as “a desert in the pathless sea.”

Father Michael Mary added that the Latin phrase was first attributed to St Columba when he wrote to the Pictish king, Bridei, who was responsible for governing Orkney in the sixth century. Columba asked the king to ensure that no harm should come to his followers if they reached Orkney as they spread their religious message.

The text which accompanies the Papa Stronsay coat of arms lists a few lesser known historical facts about the island.

These include mentions of the rocky outcrop known locally as Roland’s Geo where the martyrdom of Earl Rognvald Brusisson is supposed to have taken place in 1046 and the tumulus called Earl’s Knoll which is believed to mark the burial place of Sir Patrick Spens, who was shipwrecked off Papa Stronsay in 1281, an event commemorated in an epic poem of the same name.

Father Michael Mary explained that, by focusing on the island’s history, the coat of arms gives a complete record of the island community.

He said that the process of obtaining a coat of arms had taken ten months to achieve, because the Lord Lyon was anxious to check the various details about the island and to ensure that the symbols which could be used were appropriate.

Father Michael Mary said that the original document, written on parchment, would be stored in safekeeping, but that a copy might be placed on show in the monastery on Papa Stronsay.