It has been 400 years since the days of Folleville and Châtillon. That long period has not weakened the Vincentian charism like the oak at the Berceau. It is as alive as a spring high in the mountains.

The Polish artist, Mariola Zajączkowska-Bicho, on a sketch by Father Luigi Mezzadri, CM, wrote a folding triptych icon. It connects us to the beginnings of our charism, speaking to us not with difficult concepts, but essentially with images and colors, understandable to the wise and the ignorant, as in the noblest tradition of the Church. In fact, Jesus said, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Matthew 11:25). We all know that, when we come before a picture of ancient or modern art, we need a thorough knowledge of art history. However, to understand the icon we need to pray.

The triptych icon appears closed with the following dimensions: 60cm x 40cm x 6cm. If we open the two panels, the 23.75-carat gold that makes-up the backdrop dazzles us. Gold is the divine light that surrounds Saint Vincent, who holds a Bible and a loaf of bread. These two symbols remind us of the events of Folleville (January 1617) and Châtillon-les- Dombes (August 1617), when a young priest had the courage to commit to beginning the work of the missions and to organizing the laity in the “Charities” in order to make known a God who forgives and who invites us to solidarity. The divine light is the divine seal on the Vincentian charism.

The saint is not old, as in our iconographic tradition, in which we want him to appear “old as a young man” (senex a puero, as in the Litany of Saint Vincent), but he is young, because he shares in the fullness of God (Colossians 2:10). He has a white habit, as in the icons of the Transfiguration, because he lived transfiguring service into vision. He is wrapped in a blue cloak, a color that in times past was obtained from the fragmentation of lapis lazuli. Blue is the color of faith, which clothes us in immortality. In his hands, he has a book and a loaf of bread. The book is red like the work of the Holy Spirit, who, at Folleville, “opened his mouth,” as in the Ephphatha rite of Baptism, and inspired him to proclaim the wonders of the Lord. The bread is neither white nor honey-colored, like the bread of the rich, but very dark, like the bread of the poor.

An image of the Madonna of Pokrov is at the top. She displays a gesture of maternal protection toward all Saint Vincent’s works and refers to the entrustment of the Miraculous Medal in 1830.

Saint Vincent is on the left panel. He is a young man surrounded by young people, because everyone has the age of his or her own sins. In the back, there are two mountains. On that on the left, there is the tree of earthly paradise, from whose trunk will be extracted the wood of the cross, so that the action that would have destroyed us became the cause of salvation. On the right, the higher mountain is the messianic mountain: “The mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it” (Isaiah 2:2). This mountain, which exceeds every other, symbolizes the Christ.

The right panel presents that which sprung from Châtillon. The saint is not holding up the children as in classical iconography, because the care of the little ones was confided to the sisters and the laity. The sister on the right is dressed in blue, the color of Christ’s robe, of the Virgin’s and the apostles’ garments to signify that her action is a celebration of charity. The loaves are, in fact, in sign of the Cross, because the greatest poverty is hunger for God. She does not look at the saint, because she is not coerced in her vocation, but looks forward into the future, like a figurehead on the bow of a ship.

The icon, if we contemplate it in prayer, has a magnetic force that attracts us to the Holy City, Jerusalem, the kingdom of God hidden within us to which goes the heart’s desire, so that the entire Vincentian Family can be wrapped in the cloud of God’s glory.

Author: Luigi Mezzadri, CM
Source: Nuntia, March 2017

NB There is a jay at the bottom of the two panels. Mrs. Mariola cared for the bird and it, therefore, kept her company while writing the icon.