Today is the anniversary of the first missionaries to leave France for Madagascar, May 21, 1648. The voyage took about 7 months and obviously there were many dangers. Read more about the men who risked their lives to bring the light of the gospel to a faraway land, and what this endeavor says about St. Vincent’s missionary thinking, in the SlideShare presentation below. From the article “Saint Vincent and Foreign Missions,” by Gerard Van Winsen, C.M. Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6. Read the full article at the Depaul University Online Library.
– Maloney, Robert P. C.M. (1997) “The Vincentian Missionary Spirit: Yesterday and Today,” Vincentiana: Vol. 41: No. 4, Article 12. Online at: depaul.edu
– Rybolt, John E. C.M., Ph.D. (2016) “Vincent de Paul and Hospitality,” Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 33 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Online at: depaul.edu
For further study on the Vincentians in Madagascar from the beginning to the present day, I suggest the following articles:
“Centres for Handicapped Children in Madagascar,” by Vincent Carme C.M.
Superior General’s Advent Letter 2015, starting with Slide 21
The Little Girl in Rags and Pope John Paul: The Start of an Adventure on the “Great Island”; the Poor Get Back on Their Feet by Pedro Opeka C.M. (2004)
Mission and Consecration in the Current Context in Africa and Madagascar by Marc Benjamin Balthason Ramaroson, C.M., Bishop of Farafangana
A Hundred Years of Vincentian Presence in Madagascar (1896 – 1996), Vincentiana
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WITH GODS BLESSING