Vincentian Heritage Week 2025

jkirby3 Mission and Ministry, Vincentian Heritage

Celebrate Vincentian Heritage Week at DePaul!

Vincent was a trailblazer, a true change agent of his day. He was a man who saw hope and possibility despite the challenges of his time. He felt a keen dissatisfaction in the gap between the way the world should be and the way the world was. Throughout his 79 years, Vincent sought to close that divide, asking “what must be done” and acting on the answers he found. Four hundred years later, DePaul University continues to carry forward his legacy by educating the next generation of trailblazers. 

Please join us for a week of celebration in the Loop and in Lincoln Park!

Mass to Honor St. Vincent de Paul in Lincoln Park & Refreshments 

Tuesday, September 23 | Lincoln Park Campus 

Mass | 12:00 | St. Louise de Marillac Chapel  

Refreshments | 12:45 | CCM (Student Center Suite 104)  

Celebrate St. Vincent de Paul with a celebratory mass at 12:00pm in the St. Louise de Marillac Chapel. Everyone is welcome! Join us afterwards for refreshments across the hall in Catholic Campus Ministry (Student Center – Suite 104). Walk ins are welcome. RSVP will be forthcoming.

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Loop Mini Vinny Fest  

Tuesday, September 23, 2:00-4:00pm | Loop DePaul Center Concourse  

Join Office of Student Involvement and Mission and Ministry for the Loop Mini Vinny Fest! Celebrate our namesake’s Feast Day and DePaul University with fun, food, games, photos, free t-shirts and more! This is a DePaul tradition you don’t want to miss!  To register, please click here.

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Mass to Honor St. Vincent de Paul in the Loop 

Wednesday, September 24 | 12:00pm | Miraculous Medal Chapel (Lewis Center)   

Celebrate St. Vincent de Paul with a celebratory mass at 12:00pm in the Miraculous Medal Chapel. Everyone is welcome! 

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St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week Luncheon 

Thursday, September 25 (12 – 1:30 pm) | Loop DePaul Center Room 8005 

Join the DePaul faculty and staff community at our annual St Vincent de Paul Heritage Week Luncheon in the Loop as we listen about and reflect on Vincentian Higher Education.    

This event will take place in room 8005 of The DePaul Center beginning at noon.  Lunch will be served.  We will also be hosting the conversation via Zoom, for those who cannot be with us in person.  Whether in person or remotely, we hope you will join us! 

Please RSVP for either in-person or remote attendance by following this link. 

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St. Vincent de Paul Prayer Breakfast 

Friday, September 26 (9:00 – 10:30 am) | Student Center 120 A & B
Come celebrate our shared Vincentian heritage with delicious food and great community at our annual St. Vincent de Paul Prayer Breakfast.  Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Martine Green-Rogers, Dean of DePaul’s Theatre School, who will share how she integrates the mission into her professional and personal life.

Join us in community, gathered for the sake of a mission. All are welcome!  Please register here.

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Vinny Fest  

Friday, September 26 (2pm – 4pm) | Lincoln Park Quad & St. Vincent’s Circle 

Join us for Vinny Fest 2025, a DePaul tradition to honor and celebrate St. Vincent de Paul’s legacy with fun, games, photos with Vincent, free food, and more! Vinny Fest features student organizations, offices, and departments as they host engaging activities to celebrate our mission in action as a DePaul community. Follow @depaulvia to stay up to date.  

To register to participate, please click here. 
Partners interested in registering may access the required form here.

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Sunday Night Mass & BBQ  

Sunday, September 28, 5pm mass & BBQ at 6:00pm | St. Vincent de Paul Parish 

Join Catholic Campus Ministry and St. Vincent de Paul Parish for a (free) BBQ on the Parish Lawn (on Webster Ave.) to celebrate the Feast Day directly following 5pm mass.  Whether you go to Mass weekly, occasionally, or have never been to a Catholic Mass, you are welcome here! Come celebrate! Walk ins are welcome, you may RSVP link will be forthcoming.

 

Bereavement Notice: Patrick Donoghue

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices, Mission and Ministry

Patrick Donoghue, the father of Irish Studies Program director Mary McCain, passed away peacefully on June 27, 2025, at the age of 80. An attorney and 78-year resident of Michigan City, Indiana, Pat practiced municipal and corporate law and was a member of the Indiana Bar for 56 years.

Pat graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1966, and received a Juris Doctor in 1969 from Indiana University in Bloomington. He served as a law clerk for the Hon. James E. Noland of the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, from 1969 to 1971. He spoke often over the years of this clerkship not only as the honor that it was, but also as a formative experience that would influence his work throughout his career.

In Michigan City, he joined the firm Sweeney, Fox, Sweeney, Winski, and Dabagia, later becoming a partner. Pat was the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Board’s attorney for many years and served in similar roles for the Redevelopment Commission and other boards and councils. He recently received a Distinguished: Very High Rating in Both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards from Martindale-Hubbell.

An avid sailor, Pat participated in many races and served as the Judge Advocate for the Michigan City Yacht Club. He helped found the South Shore Sailing School and did volunteer legal work and was a longtime board member at the LaPorte County Historical Steam Society.

Pat maintained a lifelong connection to Ireland and Irish culture. He spent much of his time in retirement reading, particularly about American, Irish, and British history, rewatching classic Western movies, traveling, and supporting and taking pride in his children and grandchildren, who loved him deeply and will miss him terribly.

Pat is survived by his wife, Nancy, four children, nine grandchildren, and many extended family and friends.

Bereavement Notice: Chris Rone

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices, Mission and Ministry

With sadness, we have learned of the death of Chris Rone, who worked for 25 years in the Office of Financial Aid.  Chris passed away on June 24, 2025, at the age of 57.   

 After completing his undergraduate studies at National Louis University, Chris earned a Master of Arts in Public Policy from The George Washington University and a Doctorate of Education from DePaul University.  Throughout his career, Chris helped countless students stay in school and afford their education. His name continues to sound praises in the DePaul community: as one student wrote in the DePaul alumni board, “Chris was the man every student deserved to meet once.” In a world so defined by inequity, Chris fought tirelessly to level the playing field. His work was life-changing, not only for his students, but for those around him. Chris reminded us that there is value in work that helps others, and that we can all do our part in creating a better world.  

Outside of work, Chris enjoyed fishing and spending time with family and friends. He was an avid Liverpool fan and a long-suffering fan of Chicago sports teams. Chris’ wit and bitingly funny tongue brought joy into every activity–even the smallest errand with Chris is a memory to treasure. His legacy lives on with the laughter that surrounded him in life and the transformative optimism of his work.  He will be greatly  missed by all who knew him. 

He is survived by his wife, Robin, son, mother, two brothers, and many extended family and friends. 

Services will take place on Saturday, July 12 at 11 a.m. at A.A. Rayner and Sons Funeral Home, 318 E. 71st Street, Chicago.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are appreciated to the DePaul University Scholarship Fund. 

 

To view notes of appreciation shared by alumni, please go to Reddit – Alumni Notes for Chris Rone.  

Bereavement Notice: Leon Kozlowski

mlaboe Bereavement Notices, Mission and Ministry

Sadly, we have learned of the death of Leon Kozlowski, the father of Dorothy Kozlowski, Professor of Neuroscience. 

Leon passed away peacefully on June 28 at the age of 88. 

Leon served in the Polish Air Force as an airplane mechanic. When he moved to Chicago, he established himself as a skilled machinist. His dedication to his craft was evident in the many factories around Chicago where he worked. He was a man who not only valued the precision of his trade but also the camaraderie and connections he made through his work. Many of his early coworkers became lifelong friends. 

 Leon found joy as an avid fisherman and attentive gardener.  His creativity truly shined in the kitchen, where his homemade Polish sausage and dill pickles were a coveted treat, made with love and the flavors of his heritage. 

Leon will be remembered not just for the life he lived but for the lives he touched. His passing leaves a void in the hearts of those who knew him, but his spirit will continue to inspire laughter, courage, and a zest for life.  

He is survived by two children, his twin sister, four grandchildren, and many extended family and friends. 

Visitation will take place on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 4 – 8 p.m. at Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home & Crematorium, 7861 S. 88th Avenue, Justice, Illinois.  Funeral on Wednesday, July 2, 9 a.m. at Damar-Kaminsi, followed by mass at 10 a.m. at Saint Gerald Church, 9310 S. 55th Court, Oak Lawn, Illinois. 

A full obituary and online condolences can be found at https://www.kaminskifamilyfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Leon-Kozlowski?obId=43140519&source=SmsSh  

The Call of Uncertainty

Cassandra Lobo Mission and Ministry, Mission Monday , , , , ,

Written By: Miranda Lukatch, Editor, Vincentian Studies Institute

Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash

Now that it is spring and we are amid graduation season, much advice will be given to those who are matriculating, particularly younger students. At this time of year, especially for graduating college students who are starting their careers, there’s an emphasis on forging ahead. For graduating high school students planning to attend college, picking a major is a looming decision, something that they may have already started working on when choosing a school. Graduation speakers talk a lot about having confidence and being adventurous, and they usually frame it in positive terms about how exciting it is to have all these choices ahead. What they often don’t talk about is how to handle the restlessness and discomfort that comes with uncertainty. It’s an issue that affects more than just the graduates—it can also apply to those sitting in the audience: the graduates’ parents and their parents’ peers who may also be at a fork in the road as they face empty nests and the challenges of middle age. These audience members might be looking back at this time in their own lives when it seemed like they had everything before them. They might desire to recapture that feeling and sense of possibility. Although at least the outward paths of their lives may appear to be set in terms of things like careers and family life, they might be facing different kinds of uncertainty, feeling that they have conflicting priorities and that whichever one they are attending to at the moment is not the one they would choose if they had a choice. They may feel dissatisfaction with those aspects of their lives that seem set and wonder how to do things differently.

The fact is that no single age group has a monopoly on the discomfort of uncertainty. The possibilities before us in youth may seem exhilarating, but it’s also disorienting not to have a structure to life. And for folks who are more established, the philosopher Kieran Setiya has noted that when we look back, we are not missing “a time when we could have everything” so much as “a time before we had to commit ourselves and thus confront our losses.”[i] The question is, what can we do about this?

We might try taking advice from Vincent de Paul. He once offered Louise de Marillac wise counsel when she was wrestling with uncertainty over the direction her life would take. From the perspective of his faith, he encouraged her to bear ambiguity and dissatisfaction patiently with grace, saying, “Try to live content among your reasons for discontent and always honor the inactivity and unknown condition of the Son of God. That is your center and what He asks of you for the present and for the future, forever.”[ii] Vincent was urging patience and an embrace of uncertainty almost as a holy time or a holy obligation because it was a time to listen for God’s voice and will. Viewed this way, uncertainty can be approached with hope and even gratitude. As Mission & Ministry’s own Mark Laboe has written, the chaos of uncertainty also contains “a creative energy … that can ultimately become transformative and life-giving.”[iii] The poet Rainer Maria Rilke offers what sounds like a more secular version of Vincent’s advice when he writes:

“Be patient towards all that is unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, like books written in a foreign tongue. Do not now strive to uncover answers: they cannot be given you because you have not been able to live them. And what matters is to live everything. Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer.”[iv]

No matter where we are in life’s journey and what we are questioning, let us accept our uncertainty as a chance to develop more fully into the people we are called to be.

Reflection Questions

  • What feels most uncertain about your life now? Can you recall a similar time of uncertainty? How can you draw lessons from that time that may help you face your uncertainty today?
  • Can you locate the potential for growth within your uncertainty?

Reflection by: Miranda Lukatch, Editor, Vincentian Studies Institute

[i] Kieran Setiya, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide (Princeton University Press, 2018), 73.

[ii] Letter 29, “To Saint Louise,” [between 1626 and May 1629], CCD, 1:54. Available online at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/25/.

[iii] Mark Laboe, “What Anchors You … and Us?” The Way of Wisdom, January 6, 2025, https://blogs.depaul.edu/dmm/2025/01/05/what-anchors-you-and-us/.

[iv] Rainier Maria Rilke to Franz Xaver Kappus, July 16, 1903, in Letters to a Young Poet, trans. Charlie Louth (New York: Penguin Books, 2013), 24.

Bereavement Notice: Peggy Kelly Schultz

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices

With sadness, we have learned of the death of Margaret “Peggy” Schultz (Kelly), (LAS ’87), Senior Administrative Assistant in Academic Affairs at DePaul for more than ten years. She was also known to many as the Academic Integrity Coordinator. Peggy was the sister of Kathy Kelly Hillegonds of the Office of the Dean in the Driehaus College of Business. Peggy passed away at the age of 62 on June 6, 2025, after a battle with cancer.

Peggy earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from DePaul in 1987 and was working on her master’s degree in public services. Peggy is survived by her three children Bradley, Alex and Abby, three sisters (Maggie, Kathy and Sheila), and extended family and friends. With her wisdom, quiet strength and generous spirit, Peggy left a mark on all of us. She will be sorely missed.

A memorial visitation for friends and family will be held at Tews-Ryan Funeral Home in Homewood (18230 Dixie Hwy.) on Friday, June 13 from 3 – 7:30 p.m., with a memorial service beginning at 7:30 p.m. A burial service will follow on Saturday, June 14 at 11 a.m. at Assumption Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum in Glenwood (19500 S. Cottage Grove Ave.).

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to The Cancer Support Center in Homewood, the South Suburban Humane Society in Matteson or NAWS Humane Society in Mokena.

Peggy’s obituary and online condolences can be found here.

 

Beginnings, Endings, and the Sacred In-Between

Pradnya Mission and Ministry, Mission Weekly , , ,

Updates, resources, and events highlighting the integration of DePaul’s Vincentian mission into the daily life and work of the university community.

 

MISSION MONDAY

Beginnings, Endings, and the Sacred In-Between

It is in the in-between where we are formed to live our lives with meaning and purpose.

READ MORE

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Baccalaureate Lunch and Mass

Please RSVP HERE.

Beginnings, Endings, and the Sacred In-Between

Cassandra Lobo Mission and Ministry, Mission Monday , , ,

Written by: Rev. Diane Dardón, ELCA, D. Min., Director, Pastoral Care and Religious Diversity

Photo by Steve Woltmann and Thomas Vangel/DePaul University

A few weeks ago, I found myself in the Student Center elevator with several students who were talking about the number of guests joining them for their graduation ceremonies. The animated conversation moved into a communal reflection on how quickly their time at DePaul had flown. They agreed that it seemed like only yesterday when they came to campus for freshman orientation—and now they are preparing to leave behind their college adventure. Now they are preparing for new beginnings.

T. S. Eliot once wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end … The end is where we start from.” [1] This quote and the elevator conversation I was privy to beautifully illustrate the cyclical nature of beginnings and endings. At DePaul, students begin their journeys by stepping into a community committed to helping them find their purpose as they prepare for careers, engage in service, and learn to reflect and act. And at the end of their DePaul journey graduates step out into the world hopefully with a heart transformed and committed to continuing the Vincentian mission of service, kindness, and goodness as new adventures unfold.

Our tapestries of beginnings and endings are woven over and over again: graduations, new jobs, farewells, and first hellos mark the turning points of our journeys. But as we pause to celebrate or grieve these milestones, we often overlook the most transformative part of the journey—the in-between. It is in this space—in the middle of the journey at DePaul—that we create a beloved community, where we find opportunities to grow and serve, where we stand in solidarity with one another, where we are formed and transformed to live our lives with meaning and purpose. Our Vincentian values—service, community, human dignity, and commitment to the marginalized—form a foundation that every member of the DePaul community is invited and encouraged to embrace. At DePaul, it is in the sacred in-between that students, faculty, and staff are invited to allow themselves to be transformed by our Vincentian legacy.

Transformation may not be quick, and it rarely takes root at the beginning or end of the journey. Instead, it happens over time, and is the result of intentionally making changes, seeking knowledge, relying upon the wisdom of others, building relationships, and allowing for reflection. Living in the middle and allowing for transformation of heart and mind is life-giving, and it is complicated. Brené Brown, a Texan professor, researcher, and storyteller describes the in-between as “messy, but it’s also where the magic happens.” [2] At DePaul the messy middle is where we find ourselves changed, it is where we meet grace, and it becomes a space for learning about and deeply engaging with our Vincentian values. The middle is where we are often challenged by the messiness but also transformed to be our very best. Each act of kindness, each honest conversation, each difficult decision taken with integrity, is part of the sacred in-between that shapes who we are becoming.

As graduates have been shaped over the years and now end this chapter of their lives, our hope is that they boldly carry their Vincentian values forward as they embark upon new beginnings and enter new communities, careers, and vocations. Our hope is that they have been formed and transformed into people of purpose who are committed to changing the world.

Poet Mary Oliver asks, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” [3] Our hope is that DePaul grads carry with them the very things they’ve encountered in the sacred in-between: a Vincentian heart shaped by service, community, reflection, and action—and live their one wild and precious life with intention, compassion, and purpose.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025! May you be deeply enriched as you embark upon beginnings, endings, and all the in-betweens to come!

Reflection Questions

1. As you’ve lived in the in-between at DePaul, how have you been transformed by our Vincentian legacy?

2. As you’ve served in the in-between at DePaul, how have you shared our Vincentian legacy and encouraged the transformation of others?

Reflection by: Rev. Diane Dardón, ELCA, D. Min., Director, Pastoral Care and Religious Diversity

[1] T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets (Harcourt, Brace, 1943), 21.

[2] See Brené Brown, Rising Strong (Spiegel & Grau, 2015).

[3] Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day,” House of Light (Beacon Press, 1990). Available online at: https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/all-poems/item/poetry-180-133/the-summer-day/.

Dialogue, Not Demonization

Pradnya Mission and Ministry, Mission Weekly , , , , ,

Updates, resources, and events highlighting the integration of DePaul’s Vincentian mission into the daily life and work of the university community.

 

MISSION MONDAY

Photo by The Jopwell Collection on Unsplash

Dialogue, Not Demonization

Successful dialogue with “the other side” requires questioning our own thinking.

READ MORE

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Donate Blood—June 5 or 6

Make an appointment to give blood at the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center (Room 135):

  • Thursday, June 5 | 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • Friday, June 6 | 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Schedule your visit at RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS. RapidPass is available to save you time.
  • As a thank-you, all donors in June will receive a $15 gift card and a chance to win a $7,000 prize!

All are welcome! Your participation helps strengthen our community of care.

 

Baccalaureate Lunch and Mass

Please RSVP HERE.