Texts by Ozanam

Perhaps it is bad the alliance of Catholics with the defeated bourgeoisie; it would be better to lean on the people, who are the true ally of the Church, the people, who are poor as she is, sacrificed like her, blessed like her with all the blessings of the Savior. In...

In a certain sense, I believe the aim we were proposing in Paris is not quite the same as that you are proposing in the province. In Paris we are birds of passage, away for some time from the paternal nest and on which unbelief, that vulture of thought, plans for its...

I'm already a father. I am custodian and guardian of an immortal creature. I long to see her baptism, which will take place tomorrow; then I will follow, one by one, all her steps, I will see the birth of all the graces of her childhood, and when holding her, I will...

The purpose of the Society is to form a group or association of mutual encouragement for young Catholics, where they can find friendship, support, example, and a substitute of the family where they have grown up ... And after that, the strongest bond: charity, that is...

It is easier to use an uplifting language, to fulfill certain positive precepts and to reject certain pleasures, than to be deeply filled with the evangelical spirit, to keep it in the depths of the soul to ennoble it, purify it and improve it; in the end: to...

You may know that in Paris —as in Lyons but for far more plausible reasons— processions are forbidden; but, as some disrupters like Catholicism to be enclosed in the temples of the great cities, this is no reason why young Christians, to whom God has endowed a...

I have the very pleasant custom to identify myself with my friends, to consider them as a second family and to surround myself with it to cover the gaps that the misfortune has caused around me. As the generation that preceded and covered us, so to speak, is falling...

It is foolish to consume the days accumulating what is not to be enjoyed; it is madness also to pile up for the children. Children who see forming a heap of gold for themselves are strongly tempted to sit and fold their arms. To prepare a fortune for them is often to...

What constitutes the life of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is the home visit to the poor; it is not enough to attend meetings regularly [...]. The visit, in order to obtain from it the fruits that one has the right to expect, must be punctual, respectful and...