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Salesianum News
Statue of Saint Francis de Sales is in the heart of our campus
On the feast of Saint Francis de Sales, January 24, 2017, Salesianum formally dedicated a true-to-life-size bronze statue of our patron in the lobby of the school building at 18th and Broom Streets. Originally commissioned in 2015 and sculpted by local artist Brad Vanneman, this statue is already regarded as one of the world’s finest visages of Francis de Sales and one of the most symbolically significant depictions of the Gentleman Saint. Working with a team of Oblate and lay leaders, Brad Vanneman incorporated a myriad of details to create a likeness that exudes the humility and gentleness of Saint Francis de Sales.
The statue’s most prominent feature is Francis's outstretched right hand. In a position to both bless and welcome, Saint Francis is inviting students and visitors to be who they are and to be that perfectly well. As the patron saint of authors, the book in Francis’s opposite hand —with the familiar phrases Tenui Nec Dimittam and Vive Jesus—inspires all of us to be something even greater. Peeking out from the pages of a book is a letter signed by Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Francis’s contemporary and the inspiration for so much of his writing.
Francis’s pectoral cross, a sign of his episcopal authority as the Bishop of Geneva, provides the basis for the professional cross worn by Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales today. His stole, with a heart on each end, harkens to his writings about his own work as priest and bishop: A heart speaks to a heart, but lips speak only to ears. The signature on the statue’s base matches that of Francis’s own on the many letters he wrote during his ministry.
The base of the statue depicts a man on the move and, indeed, Francis’s travels and interactions with the world in which he lived shaped the spirituality we all treasure today. Sunflowers and honeybees, which were constant symbols of faithfulness and virtue in the writing and preaching of Francis, are found at his feet.Wolf prints and a tree stump offer a reminder of a transformative experience of being chased by wolves up a tree as a teenager in the ultimate test of tenacity and resolve. And all of these elements sit in the shadow of an ancient survey marking the edge of Annecy, France, the birthplace of the Gentleman Saint.
Salesianum School
Salesianum School educates and develops the whole person based on the teaching of Saint Francis de Sales, whose spirituality can be summarized in “Live Jesus.” As an independent Catholic secondary school founded by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in 1903, Salesianum challenges young men through dynamic college preparatory and extracurricular programs to live as Salesian Gentlemen devoted to faith, community, and service.