September 3 will see the Installation of the tenth Bishop and third Metropolitan Archbishop of Mobile, Alabama. The Most Rev. Mark Steven Rivituso (63), a priest and, since 2017, an Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, MO will be installed at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

I had marshaled and emblazoned the coat of arms of his immediate predecessor, Archbishop Thomas Rodi, and so the archdiocese contacted me about doing the same thing for the new archbishop.

BLAZON: Arms impaled. In the dexter: Azure issuant from a crescent in base Argent a rosebush with three blossoms all Or. In the sinister: Azure, a cross fleuretty Or, charged near its base with a crescent Argent and in base twelve mullets of five points, six to dexter and six to sinister Argent. The shield is ensigned with an archiepiscopal cross Or and an archbishop’s galero with cords and twenty tassels flanking the shield disposed in four rows of one, two, three and four all Vert. On a scroll below the shield is the motto, “The Love of Christ Impels Us”.

EXPLANATION: The armorial bearings of Archbishop Rivituso impale the coat of arms of his archiepiscopal See with his personal coat of arms. The coat of arms is composed of a shield with its charges (symbols), a motto and the external ornamentation. The shield is described (blazoned) in terms that are archaic to our modern language, and this description is presented as if viewed by the bearer with the shield being worn on the arm. Thus, where it applies, the terms dexter (right)  and sinister (left) are reversed as the device is viewed from the front.

It is customary in heraldry that the arms of a Diocesan Bishop, or Ordinary, are joined side by side on the same shield with the arms of his See. In this case, these are the arms of the Archdiocese of Mobile. Such marshaling is called impalement and employs the same method used when joining the coats of arms of two people who are married. In this way, the coat of arms, like the episcopal ring, is symbolic of the archbishop being “married” to his archdiocese.

The arms of the Archdiocese of Mobile depict a blue background on which is a silver (white) crescent moon toward the bottom. This is a symbol of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception which is the titular of the cathedral-basilica. From this crescent springs a rosebush that has three roses . The blossoms, leaves and stem are all gold (yellow).

The personal coat of arms of Archbishop Rivituso symbolize his origins, his personal devotion and the place in which he has spent his ministry as a priest and auxiliary bishop.The shield is blue with a gold (yellow) cross with the ends of the arms terminating in fleurs-de-lis borrowed from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of St. Louis where the Archbishop served as both a priest and Auxiliary Bishop.

At the bottom of the cross is a silver (white) crescent moon with a scattering of twelve silver (white) stars on either side. This alludes to Our Lady under her title of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States. In the Book of Revelation she is described as having the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

In addition, the crescent is placed near the bottom of the cross to signify Mary at the foot of the cross where Jesus asked St. John to care for her. In giving His mother to His Beloved Disciple, Christ also gave her to all of us as the Mother of the Church. In addition, the crescent and twelve stars symbolize the twelve apostles along with Mary, the Queen of the Apostles.

On a scroll below the shield is the Archbishop’s motto, “The Love of Christ Impels Us” taken from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 5; verse 14). It means that as Christians and believers in Jesus as the Christ in all that we do and are the love of Christ impels us.

It was my great pleasure and privilege to prepare the Archbishop’s new coat of arms.