Joseph Matthew Breitenbeck

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JOSEPH MATTHEW BREITENBECK

Born: August 3, 1914
Deceased: March 12, 2005

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, 1931-1937
Bishop of Grand Rapids, 1969-1989

Arms (crest) of Joseph Matthew Breitenbeck

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit
Arms (crest) of Joseph Matthew Breitenbeck

Bishop of Grand Rapids


Official blazon
English blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

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

The family name Breitenbeck means in German 'wide river', thus the wavy silver chevronels on the blue background express the rivers of living water and consequently the Breitenbeck name.

The marlet indicates that the family home of the bishop is Detroit, a city founded by Cadillac; a marlet always appeared in Cadillac's coat-of-arms.

The stag signifies Bishop Breitenbeck's connection with John Francis Dearden - he was the Cardinal's first Auxiliary Bishop. The Cardinal uses the same stag on his personal coat-of-arms.

The motto, "Serving The Lord," is very revealing, for it is the same motto that Edward Cardinal Mooney had on his coat-of-arms when he was Archbishop of Detroit. Bishop Breitenbeck served Cardinal Mooney for many years as his personal Secretary and Master of Ceremonies.

Following the Cardinal's death and upon Bishop Breitenbeck's appointment as an Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, he chose to use the same motto as that of the late Cardinal whom he served for so many years. The actual words of the motto were the words used by St. Paul when he worked among the people of the City of Rome in Central Italy.

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.dioceseofgrandrapids.org/breitenbeckcoatofarms.htm (2005)