From: CharlPlo@aol

Presentation

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. John Gabriel Perboyre (1802), the International Secretariat for Vincentian Studies (SIEV) has promoted and asked some confreres to study in depth the life of our martyr with the intention of investigating, in a special way, aspects of his life that were overlooked in previous studies.

In reality we possess a good numbers of hagiographic writings about Perboyre, but we still lack a critical study about his era, his life's experience and his writings.

The initiative of SIEV was intended to promote further study of the personality of the saint, thus providing a basis for further critical studies that we hope someone will have the courage to undertake.

This invitation was extended in a general way to all the confreres, through the Visitors, but it was also made in a very specific way to several confreres who are known for their expertise in the area of Vincentian studies.

The entire Congregation is indebted to the authors for their effort and their service. SIEV hopes that this initiative will animate other confreres too, especially our younger confreres, to dedicate some of their time and energy to study in greater detail the Vincentian charism and the figures of our confreres who by their life and holiness have enlightened our path.

In this issue of Vincentiana, we gather together and publish those works that we hope will enrich the lives of all the confreres. SIEV wishes to thank Vincentiana, for its generous collaboration in the translation and publication of the various articles. We also wish to take this opportunity to remind you that, in that past, Vincentiana has dedicated several issues to the life of John Gabriel Perboyre, e.g., 40 (1996), 71-127 and 438-463. This was also an initiative that merits our appreciation.


Roberto Lovera, C.M.
Executive Secretary of SIEV

Copyright 2009 Congregation of the Mission