The Bishop's Mantle [SEP] narrative location
The Bishop's Mantle
The Bishop's Mantle is a novel by Agnes Sligh Turnbull about the grandson of an American Episcopal bishop in New York City in the early years of World War II.
Plot introduction.
Hilary Laurens, young Episcopal priest, about 1939, has recently returned to his hometown, somewhere in the American heartland (it isn't known quite where), upon receiving sudden word that his grandfather, the Bishop of that diocese, and the only father he's known, has suddenly taken ill and
. The heraldic mantle is similar to the mantiya, and represents the bishop's authority. It can also be found in the arms of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
The outside of the mantle may be any color, typically red, while the inside is white or sometimes yellow to distinguish it from a secular mantle. David Johnson suggested that the mantle of all bishops should be white inside, excepting only patriarchs who use ermine, to indicate that all bishops are equally bishops. Above the mantle