Katana VentraIP

Congregation of the Mission

The Congregation of the Mission (Latin: Congregatio Missionis), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations that look to Vincent de Paul as their founder or patron.

"Lazarists" redirects here. For the knights of the Christian military order also known as Lazarists, see Order of Saint Lazarus.

Abbreviation

CM

Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians

April 17, 1625 (April 17, 1625)

Paris, France

Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right (for Men)[1]

General Motherhouse
Via dei Capasso 30, 00164 Rome, Italy[2]

  • Rome, Italy

3,100 as of 2021

Latin:
Evangelizare pauperibus misit me

English:
He sent me to bring Good News to the poor

Saint Vincent de Paul, CM

Nuntia and Vincentiana

Mission[edit]

Inspired by the "first mission" of Chátillon-les-Dombes and Folleville,[3] where he delivered his first mission sermon, St. Vincent de Paul discovered the need and importance of popular missions and general confessions. His concern to form a group of missionaries for the most abandoned areas of France was born in him, and in 1625 he founded the Congregation of the Mission[4] as an apostolic society together with other priests, Anthony Portail, M. Belin, Francis de Coudray and John de la Salle. Years later, this mission found its motto in the passage Luke 4:18, "Evangelizare pauperibus misit me" (The Holy Spirit sent me to bring the Good News to the poor).


In 1633, motivated by that same Spirit, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac founded the Company of the Daughters of Charity, a group of women dedicated to serving the "poorest of the poor." Prayer and community life were essential elements of their vocation of service, with a characteristic spirit of humility, simplicity and charity.[5]

Mother House[edit]

The Mother House (Maison Mère) is the successor of the first Mother House which was the former priory of Saint Lazare. This house, located at 95 rue de Sèvres, was the former residence of the Duke of Lorges, and was made available to the Congregation of the Mission by the French government in 1817. Finally, in 2006, the French State made the Congregation of the Mission the owner of the house and its grounds.[8]


The Mother House consists of a series of buildings around a paved courtyard. The entrance is in the central neo-Renaissance style pavilion at the back of the courtyard. In a niche on the façade is a statue of Saint Vincent de Paul.[9]


Currently, for the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentians are renovating the Mother House, with the aim of accommodating those seeking spiritual enrichment, especially members of all branches of the Vincentian Family, pilgrims and people of faith.[10]

the , founded by Vincent de Paul himself, with the help of Louise de Marillac in 1633,

Daughters of Charity

the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Novara, a religious congregation founded in 1773 in Italy,

the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Majorca, founded in Spain in 1798,

There are people who do not belong to groups or congregations of consecrated life, but who live the spirit of St. Vincent, his spirituality and charism; they are volunteers, they are in parishes, schools, hospitals and so many other places.[11]


The spirituality of Vincent de Paul has influenced the foundation of other societies of apostolic life and even of some institutes of consecrated life which, in communion, form today what is called the Vincentian family.8 There are 170 congregations, with 2 million people involved, and groups of lay people, which have grown from a "family" to a "movement", reaching almost 4 million people:[11]

Africa: Madagascar, St. Justin de Jacobis (Eritrea), Ethiopia, and Congo.

America: Central America (comprising , El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama), Argentina (comprising Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina), Brazil (with three provinces, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, and Fortaleza), Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, United States (with five provinces, Dallas, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New England, and St. Louis), Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Guatemala

Asia: China, India (North and South), Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Orient (including Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, and Syria).

Europe: Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (with two provinces, St. Vincent de Paul - Spain and Saragossa), France (with two provinces, Paris and Toulouse), Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy (with three provinces, Naples, Rome and Turin), Poland, and Portugal.

Oceania: Australia.

United States of America[edit]

The Vincentians travelled to the United States in 1816 and two years later established St. Mary's of the Barrens seminary.[21] They founded Niagara University (1856), St. John's University (1870), and DePaul University (1898).[22]


The Eastern Province's headquarters is located in Germantown, PA located next to the Basilica Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. The priests of this province serve in several parishes along the eastern sea board. The also founded and still run Niagara University along with St. John's University (New York City). They also has a sub-province in Panama.


The Western Province of the USA has a mission in Kenya, where in conjunction with parish ministry water projects have been initiated to provide clean water to the people.[22]


The New England Province was founded in 1904 by Vincentians from Poland. They staff parishes in New York and Connecticut. The provincial headquarters is in Manchester, Connecticut.[23]

(1810-1878), first bishop of Los Angeles

Thaddeus Amat y Brusi

archbishop of Anchorage–Juneau

Andrew E. Bellisario

E. Bore (died 1878), orientalist

(1943-2022), Archbishop of Tripoli, Lebanon for the Maronites

Georges Bou-Jaoudé

P. Collet (1693-1770), writer on theology and ethics

(1826-1900), Basque missionary and zoologist

Armand David

(1813–1893), French historian and author of the first book on the history of Albania

Jean-Claude Faveyrial

(1837-1905), missionary to China, and Vicar Apostolic of North Zhili Province (1898-1905)

Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier

(1903-1998), missionary to China and decorated chaplain to American forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign

Frederic Gehring

(1920-2009), Patriarch of Alexandria for the Copts and cardinal

Stéphanos II Ghattas

J. de la Grive (1689-1757), geographer

translator of the Greek New Testament into English in 1946.

Joseph Lilly

theologian, writer, and Christian apologist

Oscar Lukefahr

(1813-1860), missionary and traveller

Évariste Régis Huc

(1955-), Bishop of Trenton

David M. O'Connell

Argentinian missionary in Madagascar

Pedro Opeka

(1671-1746), missionary to China and musician

Teodorico Pedrini

(1936-2020), historian

Stafford Poole

(1942-2004), Irish priest, liberation theologian, outspoken critic of Zionism

Michael Prior

(1923–2022), President of DePaul University

John T. Richardson

(1934-), Cardinal and former Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life

Franc Rode

(1789-1843), first bishop of St. Louis, Missouri

Joseph Rosati

(1866-1931) physicist, radiologist, pioneer in the field of radiography in Australia

Joseph Patrick Slattery

Aba Shlimon (aka Pere Desire Solomon, Khwaja Shlimon) late 19th century Urmia, Persia, an Assyrian scholar

chairman of religious studies at De Paul University from 1969 until 1986

Bruce Vawter

Ethiopan archeparch of Addis Abeba and cardinal

Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel

Members of the congregation include:

(Philippines)

Adamson University

(Western Province - United States)

DePaul University, Chicago

Faculdade Vicentina, Curitiba (Brazil)

(Eastern Province - United States)

St. John's University, New York City

(Eastern Province - United States)

Niagara University, Lewiston, New York

The religious congregation runs the following institutions of higher education:


Institutions formerly run by the Congregation:

Dublin, Ireland

Castleknock College

Dublin, Ireland

St. Paul's College, Raheny

Colégio São Vicente de Paulo, , Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

St Stanislaus College

Istanbul, Turkey

Österreichisches Sankt Georgs-Kolleg

Piekary, Poland

Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Centrum Edukacyjnym „Radosna Nowina 2000”

St Vincent College, Natovi,

Fiji

The Vincentian fathers also run a number of secondary schools, most notably in Dublin, Ireland, where the order is in charge of two such institutions.

Archconfraternity of Holy Agony

Institute of consecrated life

in Paris

Saint Vincent de Paul Chapel

Vocational discernment in the Catholic Church

– Congregation of the Mission

Official website

Vincentian Studies Institute

from Marks Travel Notes

Further information on the Lazarist Church in Vienna

Vincentian Fathers at the French Sacred Heart College in Smyrna (now İzmir) and the House of the Virgin Mary

Nightingale Mountain