: Official Logo for the Year for Priests :
The Meaning of the Symbol for The Year for Priests:
The symbolism is that of the Sacred Heart, calling to mind that the annual day for the sanctification of priests always coincides with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In this way the theme of the specific holiness to which the sacred ministry is called comes immediately to mind.
The visibility of the radiant heart refers to the phrase of the saintly Curé of Ars who defined the priesthood as “the love of the Heart of Jesus”.
The Stole with which the figure of Jesus is adorned calls to mind that he is the Supreme and Eternal High Priest, and the fact that every priest is made a continuation of that One Priest within history and in the various generations which succeed one another.
The arms held out recall the typical attitude of prayer and meditation which are proper to the priest. The wounds of the hands and the side of the figure of Christ in the logo remind us of the one redemptive sacrifice and recall the vicarious satisfaction and total self-gift typical of the priesthood. The attitude of welcome seems to say, “Come to me all you who labour and over-burdened, and I will give you rest”. It is a consoling invitation to every priest who wears himself out in the daily exercise of pastoral charity, even for example in the driest and rockiest places, so that they also can in their turn show the same attitude to those who are near and to those who are distant.
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