Graphic courtesy of FamVin

The Vincentian Familly has great reason to celebrate the 12 days beginning November 27 through December 8. We may not have a song like  “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.  But we do have a heritage of service that we celebrate with feasts during the last days of November and the beginning of December.

The recent gathering in St. Peter’s Square in Rome of some 11,000 members of the Vincentian Family impacted many who were present. We labor on over 150 countries of the world. The representative from 99 countries experienced the Family in ways they had not be dreamed of. It was a first-hand experience of what has been described as ““the globalization of charity across the world.”

Nor will they ever hear the words of Pope Francis addressed to the Vincentian Family on the Feast of st. Vincent without thinking of their experience.

I pray that you and the Church may be granted the grace of finding the Lord Jesus in your brother or sister who is hungry, thirsty, a stranger, stripped of his clothing and his dignity, sick and imprisoned but also doubting, ignorant, persistent in sin, afflicted, crude, ill-tempered and annoying.

November

• 27 – Feast of the Miraculous Medal Official site
• 28 – Feast of St. Catherine Labouré
• 29 – Foundation of the Company of the Daughters of Charity, 1633

December 8

Not only marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception but also

• the canonical establishment of the Confraternity of Charity- 1617;
• the day on which the first group of the Ladies of Charity in the United States begins at St. Vincent’s Church in St. Louis – 1857
• one of the four major feasts chosen by the Society of St. Vincent DePaul in 1834
• the day on which many groups of the Sisters of Charity Federation renew their vows.

To foster our own growing awareness of the world-wide Vincentian Family it might be worth taking a few moments to pay a quick visit to each of the above sites.

• What trait comes to my mind as I think of each of these branches of the Vincentian Family?
• Do I know and collaborate with them at any level other than prayer?
• Do I know who their heroes and heroines, our saints and blesseds?