Our Crest

The dove of the Holy Spirit is central to our crest. Its wings rise and arch over St. Ignatius of Loyola’s motto from the First Principle and Foundation of his Spiritual Exercises: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - For the Greater Glory of God. This rallying cry to excellence, centered at the top of a page, begins all written work properly produced for classes at Ville De Marie Academy.

The symbol of the Holy Mother’s Immaculate Heart resides, not at the center, but in the upper right hand corner, where the human eye naturally begins to study the crest. Her Sacred Heart has been “pierced by the sword so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34, included in the 4th Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary). Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary facilitates the hopes and aims of Ville De Marie Academy. “How soon and how completely will we defeat the evil in the whole world, [w]hen we allow ourselves to be guided by [the Immaculata] most completely[!] This is our most important and our only business" (St. Maximilian Kolbe, Aim Higher, p.31).

The symbols of truth and light, in the upper left corner of the crest, are in a balancing position with Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. The open book and the lamp from Holy Scripture (Psalms 199:105; 2 Peter 1:19; Proverbs 6:23) speak of the truth’s guiding power: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 199). Pope Benedict XVI’s 2002 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, articulates the graphic symbolism of Ville de Marie’s crest: “Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity …. Charity, in fact, `rejoices in the truth'" (1 Cor 13:6).