What's "InitializeError #2103" and How do I Resolve It?

I was recently looking at a project that contained some Slverlight and Azure components that had been updated. When I attempted to run the project I received an unexpected error message:

Microsoft.JScript runtime error: Sys.InvalidOperationException: InitializeError error #2103 in control '<app name here>': Invalid or malformed application: Check manifest

Not quite sure why I was getting this exception I did a search for it and found no results that contained an explanation. After trying a few other things I decided to run the Silverlight component by itself. I knew that since the services that the Silverlight component needed were not running that it would generate another exception. That's expected. But was hoping to get some information on the unexplained problem before that occurred. Upon running the project I received the information that I needed. During the execution of the application's constructor a problem in the application's style resources was causing the constructor to fail. By running the project by itself I was able to receive the detailed error information which described the nature of the problem and gave the file and line number of the offending item. When running the complete project the failure in the applications constructor resulted in the rather obscure error message.

I'm sharing experience because eventually some one else will encounter this same error. Making the resolution available may contribute to a swift resolution for others.