On a summer evening in Castellazzo, while on his way home after Mass, St. Paul of the Cross tells us,

​“While walking I was recollected in prayer: when I turned the corner to go home I was raised up by God to the heights of recollection to the point of forgetting everything else and sensed an interior sweetness: it was at this moment that I saw myself, in spirit, vested in black from head to toe, with a white cross on my breast and under the cross the Most Holy name of Jesus in white letters.”

The Passionist sign catches in an image, the meaning of being Passionist. It is heart shaped to express the focus of love. Above the heart is a cross which signifies that this is the greatest sign of God’s love. Surrounding the cross are three protrusions signifying the Trinity. Inside the heart is written Jesu (Jesus’ name in Hebrew) Xpi (the beginning of the word Christ, in Greek) and Passio the Latin word for Passion. These represent the three main languages used in Jesus’ time and those used by Pontius Pilate in writing the sign he placed above Jesus head on the cross. Beneath these words are three nails representing those used to fix Jesus to the Cross and they remind us of His suffering and death.
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Every Passionist takes a special vow, a solemn promise, to spend his energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus. This vow defines the purpose of the Passionist community. We pledge to keep deep in our hearts the memory of the cross and to do what is in our power to remind others of it.