This year the Province of Colombia begins its preparation for the 150thanniversary of the arrival of the first Lazarist missionaries.  Each year the members of the province will deepen their understanding of their Vincentian spirituality, allowing themselves to be enlightened and animated by the three verbs that Pope Francis used during his encounter with the members of the Vincentian Family at the time of the Vincentian Symposium (October 2017: Rome). Those three verbs were: to adore, to welcome and to go.

Explanation of the Logo:

  • The map of Colombia outlined with a green ribbon indicates the missionary movement of the sons of St. Vincent throughout this vast national territory and even beyond its borders … a movement that has been constant from the time of their arrival until the present day.
  • The profound gaze of Vincent de Paul expresses the depth perception of his piercing eyes and the eyes of each member of the Province … a reality that began with those pioneers, Gustavo Foing, CM and Agusto Rieux, CM.
  • The waves with the colors of the French flag (on the left side of the logo) and the Colombian flag (on the right side of the logo) express the missionary zeal that led those individuals to travel across the ocean and ultimately, to arrive at the port of Buenaventura. Therefore, the French colors are planted in Colombia and the Colombian colors are projected outward toward other lands.
  • The waves of the flags form the image of wings, wings of the Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus of Nazareth to evangelize the poor (cf. Luke 4:16-20), without which his mission would have been fruitless.
  • The geographical extremes of Colombia (Gugjira and the Amazonas, Nariño and Arauca) and the flags form a cross and affirm the missionary command of Christ to go to the ends of the earth, to the peripheries of the world and there proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
  • Three elements give the logo an integral unity: water (the waves of the sea), land (the outline of the map) and air (the breath of the Spirit and missionary vitality).
  • The logo itself invites us TO ADORE (to cultivate the interior life), TO WELCOME (to give oneself to others) and TO GO (to move out beyond oneself).

The logo was designed by: Fr. Carlos Alberto Velásquez Bravo, CM and the seminarist, Andrés Felipe Rojas Saavedra.

Official Prayer for the 150thAnniversary:

Lord God almighty, you sent forth your Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit to proclaim Good News to the poor. You also gifted Vincent de Paul with the charism of service on behalf of the world’s most abandoned and forgotten men and women.  We give you thanks for the presence of the Vincentian missionaries during these past 150 years.  We give you thanks for their commitment of service on behalf of the poor and in service of the formation of good priests. 

We pray today that you give us the grace to be faithful to the legacy that you have entrusted to us. Help us to inculturate and to incarnate the charism of Vincent de Paul in today’s world.  Help us to do this with a charity that is inventive, with hearts that are simple, humble and gentle, and with zeal that is on fire and that impels us to go forth to satisfy the material and the spiritual needs of those who are suffering.  We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

By: Fr. Carlos Albeiro Velázquez, CM

Translated,

Charles T. Plock, CM

Eastern Province, USA