Collectible UP Christmas Ornament

Introducing our first collectible UP Christmas ornament. This ornament features our first seal.

The face of the original seal of the University of Providence, formally known as the College of Great Falls, has a hand at the base which symbolizes the creative hand of the Father’s Divine Providence. A central cross symbolizes Christ, the Son. Above, the Holy Spirit, with spread wings, hovers over all. A cross divides the seal in two fields. The left field, also divided by a cross, indicates the East, from where the Sisters of the Charity of Providence came, and the west, to where they brought the message of the cross. Mountains and plains reflect the golden splendor of the sun.

The vertical lines in the right half of the seal symbolizes the great falls of the Missouri. Bishop Edwin V. O’Hara’s Irish roots are symbolized by the shamrock, and the French origins of the Sisters of Providence are symbolized by the Fleur-de-lis; both instrumental in bringing to this region the bright torch of knowledge. The University of Providence is the proud bearer of this torch.