Congregation Of The Mission Vocations Uk

The poor is our master and to serve Christ in the poor is not only about almsgiving but more importantly total selfgiving.

St Vincent de Paul, Patron Saint od Charitable Works, founded the Vincentian Congregation in France in 1625, the official name being The Congregation of the Mission. He had been a Priest for Twenty five yeras at the time, and his experience suggested to him that there were great gaps in how the church was caring for its members in France at the time. Lots of areas were left without priests, and the people were very poorly instructed in the faith. Vincent was also deeply Shocked at the terrible poverty in which many people were forced to live. Much of the poverty was man-made- the result of the wars and conflicts which seemed to go on endlessly, and as always the poor suffered most.
Vincent sent the members of his little congregation, both priests and brothers, from place to place to give Parish missions, and do all they could to bring New life to the church. From the start they were allso very active intrying to relieve the widespread poverty. In this work the Vincentians worked with a variety of likeminded groups, notably the Daughters of Charity, and the AIC.
The main concern for the Congregation was to answer the need in France, but before Vincent died in 1660 the Vincentians had been sent to Poland, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, Algeria and Madagascar. Today the Vincentians number more than 3, 000 and are working in 86 countries worldwide.