by Rev. Herbert Nichols

The prophet Zechariah was deeply impressed by the rebuilding of the Temple as a sign of God’s favor toward his people. He was convinced that the Lord God would not only be the protector of his people; but that the day was coming when God would join His people in a bond of unity and love.

We know now that Jesus affected that Dies Domini, Day of the Lord, by his sacrifice on the cross. When we gather at Mass on a weekday, particularly on a Saturday morning, we may seem like a very small group, but we are part of the vast union of peoples united in the Body of Christ no matter where we might be physically present.

When I celebrate Mass at parishes in Vermont, Rhode Island, or Texas, I am no less a priest of the Diocese of Fall River. When I was discerning a vocation with the Franciscans of the Renewal, I canonically remained a priest of this Diocese with permission to function outside the Diocese. In fact Bishop Sean came to NYC and got trapped in a snow storm in order to receive my first vows.

Had I pursued the road and taken final vows, I would have ceased canonical ties with the Diocese, but instead I returned from New York to my role as a diocesan priest, although with a rather unique ministry.

This unity of people in the Body of Christ was clearly seen by Vincent de Paul, born in the village of Pouy in Gascony, France in 1580. His parents were very poor, sending him to a boarding school run by Franciscan Friars.

Vincent was a bright student and after 4 years, he was chosen as tutor for the children of a local nobleman enabling him to continue his studies without being a financial burden to his parents.

In 1596, he went to the University of Toulouse for theological studies and was ordained a priest in 1600. Five years later on a voyage from Marseille to Narbonne he was captured by African pirates and taken as a slave to Tunis.

Within two years he had converted the sultan who facilitated his escape to Rome. He stayed only briefly, anxious to return to France. There he became principal tutor of the children of the Count of Gondy and chaplain to the galley-slaves. The Countess persuaded her husband to support a small group of zealous missionaries, working among the poor.

Vincent, at first too humble to accept leadership of this group, ultimately realized his vocation and organized the Congregation of the Missions. Thinking of the example of the poor beggar Lazarus, they were nicknamed Lazarists. Today however this same congregation is commonly referred to as Vincentians.

Vincent further established confraternities of charity for the physical and spiritual relief of the poor and sick in every parish. From these confraternities, with the help of St. Louise deMarillic, they organized the sisters of Charity whose convent is the sickroom, whose chapel is the parish church and whose cloister is the streets of the city.

Pope Leo XIII made Vincent the patron of all charitable organizations, most notable is the Society which bears his name but was founded by Frederick Ozanam.

12 years later in 1845, the first conference began in the US in St. Louis Mo. The purpose of this society is first and foremost the sanctification of its members through acts of anonymous charity. The Society is formed into parish conferences of 2-10 people.

Outside of the parish cell of the society no one knows which families are given aid or what material or spiritual gifts are provided. Vincentians are doctors, lawyers, office or factory workers, keyboard operators or broom sweepers, housewives, students, retired people, and teens; people just like you.

They are not professional social workers. In fact their only training is a desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in our fellow human persons.

Wherever there is a need Vincentians fulfill the gospel imperative going two by two to do what they can to ease the suffering of a fellow human being.

Vincentians not only supply emergency food orders, sometimes clothes or even furniture. They are also concerned with the needs of the aged, the homebound, the lonely, the physically or mentally handicapped, the permanently disabled, and convalescents in nursing homes or hospitals.