About
Fr. Seán Connolly is from the Lower Hudson River Valley of New York. He is the fifth generation of the Connolly family from the Town of Ossining.
He’s a graduate of Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, and Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers where he was trained for ministry. He was ordained a Catholic priest at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in 2015.
In his spare time amidst parochial duties, Fr. Seán leads pilgrimages to different shrines across the world. He enjoys conducting thorough research on the sacred places he visits and writing about them for different publications.
The Coat of Arms of Fr. Seán Connolly
Fr. Seán designed and assumed this personal coat of arms upon his ordination to the priesthood on 23rd May 2015. It combines symbols that are meaningful to him reflecting his life and priestly ministry.
Fr. Seán designed the shield in a testa di cavallo, "horse head" shape, a distinctive style prevalent in Rome during the Italian Renaissance.
On a red (gules) field there is a gold (or) escallop.
The colors allude to the arms of Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022), from whose writings Fr. Seán received much inspiration to devote his life to God and to recover the church's theological and liturgical traditions.
The escallop (scallop shell) is from the Connolly family arms and also represents baptism and pilgrimage. By its inclusion, Fr. Seán wishes to honor his family's Irish heritage as well as his parents who imparted to him the Christian faith through baptism. It also symbolizes the most cherished aspect of Fr. Seán's spirituality and ministry. Fr. Seán leads pilgrimages to different shrines across the world and enjoys conducting thorough research on the sacred places he visits and writing about them. The shell's grooves symbolize the many paths pilgrims take that eventually terminate in a single destination which is ultimately, the heavenly homeland.
Beneath the red field are horizontal wavy bars (fesses), that are represented in silver (argent) and blue (azure). These symbolize the Hudson River. Fr. Seán is from the Lower Hudson River Valley of New York, being the fifth generation of the Connolly Family to be born and raised in Ossining, a town of rolling hills overlooking the Hudson.
The motto below the shield is Quaerite Faciem Eius Semper, "Seek His Face Always" from Psalm 105 [104]:4. As the motto for his priesthood, Fr. Seán desires the goal of our earthly pilgrimage, to be in the presence of God, to be the basis for every aspect of his ministry.
The external ornament is the ecclesiastical hat, called a galero, which in heraldry replaces the martial helmet, mantling, and crest. In Catholic heraldry the color and number of tassels on the galero indicates the rank of the bearer. The black color with the single tassel depicts Fr. Sean's office as priest.