Message
THE FATHER, IN JESUS, WITH HIS GAZE AND HIS GESTURES BENDS OVER MAN WITH TENDERNESS TO
COMMUNICATE TO HIM HIS LOVE AND ENABLE HIM TO LOVE
I briefly describe the icon although each of you by contemplating it can draw from whatever the
Spirit suggests to her.
Description
Jesus, face of the Father, in his Body – that is the Church – takes care of the man (the humanity).
– Bartolomea and Vincenza
– The mantle
– The verbs indicating the works of mercy
– The heavenly city
– The blossomed almond tree and its twigs
– The small wall
In the background the heavenly city: God builds it through the gestures of charity that Jesus
continues in his Body.
Bartolomea and Vincenza are in the Body of Christ, called to continue in the passage of time the
merciful love of Jesus by taking care of man. Like them, we too are called today.
The hands of Bartolomea and Vincenza are in the same direction and that of Bartolomea has the
form of the caress of the Father.
The halos behind Bartolomea and Vincenza symbolise the holiness of the companions who have
followed them.
The mantle indicates God who communicates himself, in the passage of time, in the Power of the
Spirit. It covers the man, who – discovering himself loved – becomes capable of receiving and
giving love. This is expressed by the position of man’s hands: one receives and the other gives.
On the mantle there are some verbs indicating the works of mercy: clothe, shelter, visit, care,
counsel, instruct, admonish, comfort, forgive, endure, pray, welcome, console, quench the thirst.
Thus the Man builds the ‘earthly city’ (the wall) in which can be seen the signs of the new era
(twigs of an almond tree)
The small wall is made of stones of different dimensions and colours (the differences are richness
for the whole Church and the humanity).
The blossomed almond tree is a symbol of the new era.
The colours used mainly are blue of the sky and brown of the earth.
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