Rome Italy). Among the proposals received at the Headquarters of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Rector Major, Don Ángel Fernández Artime, has selected two posters to graphically illustrate the Strenna 2023 on the topic “AS YEAST IN THE HUMAN FAMILY TODAY. The lay dimension of the Family of Don Bosco”. Therefore, the option of animating the Salesian Family with two different images is renewed, valuing different styles and suggestions.
The first poster, the work of the Social Communication Office of the “San Antonio” Province of Portugal, expresses the activity and vivacity of the Salesian Family of yesterday and today, at the service of young people throughout the world. The illustration is inspired by the affection and family dimension that united Don Bosco and Mamma Margherita to the young people welcomed at the Valdocco Oratory.
When presenting the poster, the artist who designed it, Nuno Quaresma, explained its details and meanings:
“It represents, allegorically, the humble and loving courage with which, even with limited resources, a House was built, where the filial bond with the founder, love and faith in God, mutual trust, fraternity and joy, they were fertile ground for a community that has never stopped growing. The simplicity of the delicacies prepared, in the foreground, and the austerity of those served at the table, to the right of the image, evoke the miracle of the five loaves and two fish.
In the scene, Don Bosco, Father and Teacher, guides and organizes his young people, who are hungry and who need a shepherd, who gives them support in their search for the gift of solidarity, of loving zeal for the little ones. tasks and shared bread, awareness of themselves as good yeast, which helps to grow and makes the “bread of the Human Family” bigger and tastier.
In the background, the clothes that hang to dry, which blend in with the landscape and the background, symbolize all those who, even if they are not visible, make up this great family. Light floods the image, from the right side, to remind us that all that is deeply human is suffused with the brilliance of the Divine.”
The poster is available in digital format in the most widely spoken languages in the Congregation; for editions in other languages, in the Editable file.
The second poster, the work of the Spanish artist Agustín de la Torre, Salesian Cooperator and professor, shows one hundred characters of the Salesian Family, rich in details and expressions. In the center is Don Bosco, surrounded by some easily recognizable figures: Mother Mazzarello, Mamma Margherita, Domenico Savio, Don Michele Rua, Laura Vicuña,… the current Rector Major and the Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, to the most recent Salesian Saint, Artemide Zatti.
“Everyone looks forward with joy – explains the author – and they look at the viewer who is also part of this beautiful project, of the dough that has grown, through the leaven of Salesian spirituality and the Preventive System. In the colors of each person’s clothing or skin, there is also the universality of the Salesian charism, rich in diversity, positivity, creativity and, of course, of the Gospel”.
According to the author, all together the characters fully express the motto of “yeast in the human family”, which has grown and continues to be nutrition for the Salesian Family today, especially when you stop to look at the diversity of each person represented. As a strong point, there is an affectionate look at the children, adolescents, youth, adults, men and women, missionaries and religious from all over the world who are portrayed there, accompanied by various elements that are an expression of Salesianity.
Source: InfoANS
The Strenna 2023 poster • Istituto Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice