Confreres of the United States Conclude Their Bicentennial Celebration

On the feast of St. Vincent, September 27, the confreres of the United States gathered with invited members of the Vincentian Family, as well as many friends and benefactors, to conclude the 200^thanniversary of the founding of the Congregation of the Mission in the United States. The special guest of the day was our Superior General, Father Tomaž Mavrič, C.M.

The concluding celebration began with a Mass at the Basilica of St. Louis (also known as the “Old Cathedral”) in the Missouri city of the same name. Auxiliary Bishop Mark Rivituso of the Archdiocese of St. Louis was the principal celebrant, joining many Vincentian and diocesan priests at the altar.

The Visitor, Fr. Raymond Van Dorpe, C.M. preached the homily, noting that the original missionaries landed in St. Louis at the very spot where that evening they were having this Mass. The journey from Rome took three years, and the missionaries, led by Fathers Felix DeAndreis, C.M. and Joseph Rosati, C.M. encountered many hardships going across what was then a vast wilderness. Yet their zeal to evangelize the poor never failed. While their zeal is worth remembering, said Fr. Van Dorpe, the more important challenge for the present day members of the Congregation, and the entire Vincentian Family, is to continue the mission they began.

The celebration continued at a nearby parish hall, where the Bishop and the Superior General both gave an address for the occasion. Father Mavrič, in his address, noted, “You stand, therefore, on the shoulders of those Italian missionaries and their companions, who came from several other European countries. Steeped in the zeal that our Founder, Saint Vincent de Paul, gave us as one of our characteristic virtues, they made the Vincentian charism their own.”

As the guests left the hall, each person was given a large cloth bag that contained a prayer card and instructions for filling the bag with food and non-perishable items for the poor in their home area. This was a small, symbolic way for those celebrating the past to continue the mission of serving the poor in the present and beyond.

Submitted by Raymond Van Dorpe, C.M.
Visitor
Western Province, USA