The Presidential Medallion was designed with the official College Seal of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. The College Seal is a shield divided vertically in halves. When seen in full color, the left field is blue, and in the center is a poplar tree on a hill or terrace in natural colors. The right field is gold and shows three eaglets with open wings in blue and beak and talons in red. The right half shows the arms of Madame du Roscoat, the foundress of the Sisters of Providence in Ruille-sur-Loir in France.
The three eaglets are emblematic of the Holy Trinity, the motto of the du Roscoat family being Trina Sali Sit Honor et Gloria, “To the Triune God alone honor and glory.”
The left field is charged with devices symbolic or significant of some fact connected with the history of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. The rayed star, charged with the letter “M” in blue, is an emblem of Mary, Mother of God, the Stella Matutina, “Morning Star,” under whose protection Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, represented by a tree, places all its hopes for growth and life.
The Latin crosses are emblems of redemption and Catholicity. The crest is the count’s coronet of the du Roscoat family and the motto, Virtus cum Scientia, is the one chosen by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence in America.
Tony Dubois, a carpenter for 18 years for the Sisters of Providence and now retired, created the display case for the Presidential Medallion. Dubois was also chosen to craft the display casket for Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. The wood used in the display case is from the same source as the wood used for the casket.
