May 21: St. Vincent de Paul Sends First Missionaries to Madagascar
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,...
Vincentians of Wherever: My Vincentian Journey Towards Simplicity & Awareness
On the Medium Blog Meet me at the Mission, DePaul graduating student Cece Metzdorff writes, When did the word “simple” obtain a negative connotation? While the dictionary may define simple as “easy,” I would like to disagree. I think simplicity is hard....
Adaptation – The Genius of Vincent in Recognizing Lay Women
Over time these confraternities became the principal means through which de Paul engaged with devout Catholic women, who were excluded by their sex from expressing their faith through the functions of ordained ministry but aspired to find alternative means of doing so.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit and Vincentians’ Life
Christians are human beings of the Holy Spirit, but it is a lifelong process. In this process there are always temptations, inside and outside distracters that lead us astray, recession, and return to the "natural life without the Spirit" (Jude 1:19). We need to...
Forgiveness, Always In Community • A Weekly Reflection with Louise
“I must tell you about another practice which our Most Honored Father strongly recommended to us at the last conference his Charity gave us. He told us that, as soon as we see that we have offended one or several of our sisters, we should immediately kneel and ask...
May 23: Feast of St. Joan Antida Thouret
At 22, Joan Antida Thouret left her home and joined the Daughters of Charity. This life is an exile– a desert we must cross to reach our only true homeland which is heaven. – Saint Joan Antida Thouret https://youtu.be/rNIVuqOgZ8g In 1793, when the French Revolution...
I Believe! A Creed of the Poor
I believe in those who pray and struggle, I trust in the eyes of those who weep and in the voice of the prophets, I believe in those who are persecuted, humiliated and mistreated I believe in those who have nowhere to lay their heads, In mothers who stay in the...
#IamVincent How? Organize!
Organize. The year 1617 is for Vincent de Paul and for us an indication of what it means to say "I am Vincent." The unnamed author of this reflection at our partner site, We are Vincentians, tells us "...nothing is acquired but what is given, charity is a gift of...
A Vincentian View: Taking a Second (Better) Look
A Vincentian View: Taking a Second (Better) Look I think it is rare that we get things right the first time—at least, that is my experience. In order to learn how to do something, I need to do it more than once. To really understand something, to really allow it to...
Be The Change You Want!
Real change starts with recognizing that we are part of the systems we seek to change. The fear and distrust we seek to remedy also exist within us—as do the anger, sorrow, doubt, and frustration. Our actions will not become more effective until we shift the nature of the awareness and thinking behind the actions.
