John Nicholas Wurm
JOHN NICHOLAS WURM
Born : December 6, 1927
Deceased : April 27, 1984
Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Louis and Titular Bishop of Plestia, 1976-1981
Bishop of Belleville, 1981-1984
 As Auxiliary bishop |
 As Bishop of Belleville |
Official blazon
Origin/meaning
Bishop Wurm used as Auxiliary Bishop rather complicated arms, which where impossible to impale with the diocesan arms when promoted to Bishop of Belleville. He then simplified his personal arms.
Three golden roundels in his first arms represent St. Nicholas, his second baptismal patron saint. In between the two in the upper half is an Agnus Dei, the symbol of St. John, his main baptismal patron saint.
In the base there is a dragon, in German Lindwurm, and thus represents his family name and his German ancestry.
The blue bar is taken from the arms from some Leonard family and represents here his mother, whose last name was Leonard. The two fleur-de-lys on the bar and the olive and palm branches are taken from the seal of the school in Notre-Dame, which he attended. A fleur-de-lys is also the symbol for Saint Louis and thus also represents the city.
The motto means "to bless, to keep, to love".
In Belleville he kept the canting Lindwurm and the fleur-de-lys. Instead of the Agnus Dei, the drgaon now has a small scallop on his shoulder to represent St. John. The crescent is a new element and represents St. Mary, the patron saint of the archdiocese of St. Louis
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