December 5, 2025

Dear Vincentian Family Brothers and Sisters,

Blessings of joy and hope to all of you as we celebrate this season of Advent. May the gift of God’s presence continue to be made new in your lives and in your service.

Thank you for your many prayers and warm wishes as we begin this new chapter in the Vincentian Family Office. It is only with prayerful confidence in God and your support that I embrace this new service to the Vincentian Family. I truly look forward to meeting many more of you as we live deeply the tremendous gift of our Vincentian charism.

As many of you know, I am a Daughter of Charity who has served in the United States for fifty years. My greatest hope is to collaborate with you in the same joy that has animated me from both inspiring historical moments of our Vincentian Family and from many encounters with generous people in our global Family. I am convinced that this shared joy is our greatest strength, and I am personally committed to strengthening this spirit of joy and communion. This is the joy that unites us beyond our differences of culture, language, and geography.  Additionally, it is this joy that sustains us through difficulties, anxieties, and our human failures. During this Advent season, I pray that we will all contemplate this joy that is far from transitory, momentary, or trivial, but rather strong, sturdy and abundantly given to us by the grace of God.  St. Vincent himself offered the same advice, “It is His good pleasure that we remain always in the holy joy of His love.” (Vol 1, p. 36. February 9, 1628)

One immeasurable joy we experience in the Vincentian Family Office is the collaboration we have with our Vincentian Family Executive Board and with countless family members who continually offer the best of themselves to serve with creative energy and compassionate love. With these blessings, we move forward in the footsteps of our founders and in those of many faith-filled Vincentians.

Our immediate focus will be to continue to get to know the members of the Vincentian Family while listening attentively to your experiences and hopes. Additionally, we will be advancing  the development of continental structures where none yet exist and working more intentionally with our National Councils, commissions, and advisors.  In the near future, we will also be engaged in a formal strategic planning process with the guidance of professional expertise.

We look forward to every opportunity to gather with you in person, and we are equally grateful for the gift of connecting virtually or in person to listen, share, and pray together. If you have an initiative, project, or idea you would like to share with us, please do not hesitate to reach out. Being close to one another is at the heart of who we are as one Family.

Thank you for your continued prayers. May we all be continually reawakened to the transforming grace of being evangelized by those who are poor, just as the world itself was once changed by the birth of a child.

With joy and gratitude,

Sister Ellen Marie Hagar, DC