Celebrating the Immaculate Conception

The feast of the Immaculate Conception has special significance in the Vincentian Family. It marks

• the formal establishment of the First Confraternity of Charity in 1617;
• one of the four major feasts chosen by the Society of St. Vincent De Paul in 1834 (Blessed Frederic Ozanam had a great devotion to Mary and declared Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception the patroness of Society), and
• the day on which many groups of the Sisters of Charity Federation renew their vows