James Gibbons

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JAMES GIBBONS

Born : July 23, 1834
Deceased : March 24, 1921

Apostolic vicar of North Carolina, 1868-1877
Bishop of Richmond, 1870-1877
Archbishop of Baltimore, 1877-1921
Cardinal 1887

Bishop of Richmond	Cardinal/archbishop of Baltimore (until 1911)
Cardinal/archbishop of Baltimore ( until 1911)	Cardinal/archbishop of Baltimore (after 1911)

Official blazon

Impaled. Dexter: Quarterly azure and argent, a cross botonny throughout quarterly of the second and gules, in dexter chief a mullet of the second (See of Baltimore); Sinister: Sable, on a fess between three leopards' faces argent langued gules, an escallop of the last (Gibbons).
Motto: Emitte Spiritum Tuum (Send forth Thy Spirit, Ps. 103:30).

Origin/meaning

As bishop of Richomond he used St. Mary and Jesus as his arms. He kept using this design for official use in Baltimore until 1911. At the same time he used different arms for personal use in Baltimore, showing the Holy Spirit above a globe.

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms now showed the arms of the diocese impaled with the new personal arms of the bishop.

The three leopards' faces are taken from the arms of a certain Gibbons family of Ireland and thus are used to represent the family name of the cardinal. The escallop shell on the baris one of the symbols of St. James the Apostle, the Cardinal's baptismal patron.

The motto is taken from the Psalm 103, verse 30: Emitte Spiritum Tuum et creabuntur, et renouabis faciem terrae, which is translated: "Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth."