John Mortimer Fourette Smith

JOHN MORTIMER FOURETTE SMITH

Born : June 23, 1935
Deceased : January 22, 2019

Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, 1988-1991
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, 1991-1995
Bishop of Trenton, 1997-2010

Auxiliary Bishop of Newark	Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Bishop of Trenton

Official blazon

• (personal arms) Per pale Or and Azure; Dexter, a lily above an "M," below a crescent between four stars, all of the second; Sinister, a lion rampant of the first below to chief dexter two tablets of the law, Argent on a tongue of fire of t,he first; on a chief Gules, a diadem of the first between two fleur-de-lis of the third.

Origin/meaning

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

For his personal arms, Bishop Smith selected a series of symbols to reflect his ministries in the Church. The first section in the gold area, at the lower left of the shield, on which are displayed a blue "M" taken from the arms of Pope John Paul II, who appointed Bishop Smith to the episcopacy; for the Blessed Virgin Mary, because Bishop Smith's appointment had come during the Marian Year.

The "M" is placed below a blue lily to honor St. Joseph. These symbols are joined together because of his pastoral association with St. Joseph Parish, Oradell, and St. Mary Parish, Dumont. Above the "M" and the lily is a blue crescent to honor the Blessed Mother in her title of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States, the Archdiocese of New York and the North American College, Rome, where Bishop Smith served. The crescent is surrounded by four blue stars to represent the four points of the compass, since students from the North, South, East and West make up the body of the North American College.

On the other side of the shield is a blue field on which are displayed a gold lion rampant, taken from a Smith family coat-of-arms (not related to the bishop though). The lion is placed below the tablets of the law, in silver, which are placed over a gold tongue of fire, for the Holy Spirit, to signify that Bishop Smith is a canon lawyer.

The chief is red on which is placed two fleur-de-lis, one each taken from the arms of Archbishop Thomas Aloysius Boland and Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety, on either side of a gold diadem, taken from the arms of Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick, honoring the bishops and archbishops of Newark, where Bishop Smith served during his priestly life and where he later served in the fullness of Christ's priesthood, as a bishop.

The motto was taken from Psalm 100:2, because it expressed his desire "that all of us, as God' s children, may serve him, and each other, with gladness in our hearts."

The achievement is completed with the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop by instruction of the Holy See, of March 1969, confirmed in March 2001.

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Literature : http://www.dioceseoftrenton.org