At the 14th meeting of the international heads of the Vincentian Family which took place earlier this year, a logo was adopted (shown at right). Alexis Cerquera Trujillo offers a detailed exposition of the logo.
“The Vincentian Family lives and manifests the spirituality of Saint Vincent de Paul, who expressed and gave life to the experience of the Gospel in a particular form. Vincentian spirituality is characterized by its incarnation in the world in order to make visible, in the midst of the poor, the salvation that comes from the Lord.
“The world, present-day reality, is the whole Family’s field of action and it is there that we seek to concretize the evangelical message of the Lord Jesus.
“The world is the Vincentian Family’s horizon of action. The logo represents this by the horizontal blue line. The fire-like and green colored lines seek to create an image of the world with its latitudinal and longitudinal lines. The abbreviation FAMVIN is framed by these lines symbolizing commitment to the world. The mission entrusted to the Vincentian Family from Saint Vincent de Paul is the proclamation of the Good News to the poor from the point of view of the Poor Christ.
“In addition, the green lines, which ‘represent’ the lines of the world, form a cross. The mission of the Vincentian Family is to discover, in the face of every poor person, the face of the Crucified and Risen Lord. Every face is an image of the Lord, which presents itself to our senses and questions the missionary vocation of the entire Family. The green color reminds us that it is a cross of life and of hope.
“The other three lines that “follow†the cross, recall the three great ‘vocations’ within the Vincentian Family: the Missioners, the Daughters/Sisters of Charity and the multiple lay groups: International Association of Charities, Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Vincentian Marian Youth, Association of the Miraculous Medal, Vincentian Lay Missionaries, etc. These three lines, in the colors of fire, recall the constant action of the Holy Spirit ever active within the life of the Family, provoking, at every moment, new horizons and new forms of action, reaffirming Vincent’s expression: ‘Love is inventive to infinity.’
“The typographical font in which FAMVIN is written is Myriad web in small letters, a format for indicating the smallness of the Vincentian Family in face of the challenges of the world and a way of indicating youth and hope. Two letters are accented (darker), the F: ‘Family’ and V: ‘Vincentian’; a Family which is reaffirmed in the spiritual heritage of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac.
“A blue star placed above the “i†simultaneously makes the letter’s dot and symbolizes and recalls that the Vincentian vocation, Christocentric in all its expression, relies on the support and protection of the Mother of the Savior and “star of Evangelization.†The “i†is also the initial of international. Today it is easy to note that wherever the Vincentian Family is present, there is a place dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
“Completing the logo is the title of the Vincentian Family in the three official languages; if necessary, the name of the Family could be translated into the languages where the Family has constant presence as a sign of life, happiness and justice for the poor.”
