Videos

Louise de Marillac : A Wife, a Mother, A Foundress

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In this reading, Sr. Carol Schumer, D.C., unfolds the life and legacy of Saint Louise de Marillac.  Hear a history of Louise’s life, her education, her spiritual development, her trials and doubts, her spiritual friendship with Vincent de Paul and her ministry with the poor and eventual foundation with Vincent of the Daughters of Charity.

“Louise de Marillac: A Wife, A Mother, A Foundress” was developed by Srs. Frances Vista, D.C., and Carol Schumer, D.C. as part of a Vincentian Integration Experience in 2010.  The text was published in FAMVIN and is available at: https://vinformation.org/en/vincentian-formation-resources/presentations-media-games/mosaic-life-of-st-louise/

 

Our good will and honest efforts. Vincentian Perspectives on Poverty Reduction Efforts

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Vincent de Paul believed it was God’s will to serve poor persons as Christ would serve them. Edward Udovic translates the traditional five Vincentian virtues that are necessary to perform this service into modern terms. He discusses the discernment that must be done when considering actions to reduce poverty. Following Vincent’s example, poverty reduction efforts must provide triage services to alleviate the poor’s most urgent problems. Such efforts must be planned carefully so they can respond to continuous need. They should also be conducted with an understanding of the new forms and causes of poverty to bring about long-term, effective change. These efforts are not aimed at creating a utopia. They are instead “grace-assisted . . . reasonable attempts to live in the kingdom of God that exists here and now within the ultimate mystery of the ‘already but not yet.’”

“‘Our good will and honest efforts.’ Vincentian Perspectives on Poverty Reduction Efforts” is an article that appeared in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 28, Issue 2, Article 5 (2010) and is available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol28/iss2/5/

 

About Saint Vincent de Paul and DePaul University’s Vincentian, Catholic, and Urban Identity

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In this original unpublished essay by Fr. Edward R. Udovic, C.M., we hear a bit of history of the Vincentian Community’s involvement in higher education in the United States.  There is also a reflection on Vincent de Paul and his character as values-based, honoring diversity, willing to take risks, innovative, pragmatic, and intimately involved with the people in his urban community of Paris, especially the poor.  Vincent and his followers were committed to serving the needs of their poor.  They were interested in making a difference in people’s lives.

In the context of today’s world, the efforts of DePaul University’s faculty and staff are aimed at providing an education to its traditional students from marginalized communities to help in supporting a change in the well-being of those generations to come.  Serving the multi-cultural, religiously diverse student, staff, faculty, and alumni community the University continues to foster social engagement within the urban community of Chicago and, through its alumni, the communities of the world.  From “Little college under the ‘L'” to the largest Catholic University in the country, DePaul University continues its history of values-driven service, innovative programming, pragmatic activity deeply connected to the world.

Care for our Common Home – A Vincentian Response to Laudato Si’

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In June 2015 Pope Francis released Laudato Si’, a papal response to the global environmental crisis that outlines a vision for our common home. DePaul University offers an urban education that prepares students to address the ecological challenges we face in the 21st century.

2015 DRMA Fall Lecture

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Sr. Betty Ann McNeil, D.C. gave a lecture about her recently published book Balm of Hope. Sr. Betty Ann a scholar in residence at DePaul University. Sr. McNeil’s discovery of 500 pages of handwritten memoirs by Daughters of Charity Civil War nurses led her into a multi-year project to transcribe, annotate, index, and publish Balm of Hope: Charity Afire Impels Daughters of Charity Civil War Nurses. This compendium includes: 1. Notes of the Sisters’ Services in Military Hospitals; 2. Civil War Recollections and Accounts; and 3. Correspondence. The texts invite readers to listen to courageous women reminisce in their own words about nursing amid the ravages of war.

DRMA Winter Quarter Lecture 2015, The Gondi: Family Strategy And Survival In Early Modern France

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This lecture was presented at DePaul University on March 11, 2015 in the Richardson Library.

Notwithstanding widespread French admiration for Italian culture in the sixteenth century, Italian influence at the heart of French government aroused xenophobic antagonism amongst many in French society. The Gondi: Family Strategy and Survival in Early Modern France throws light on this complex relationship by offering the first detailed examination of the Gondi, one of the most powerful of the Italian families active during this period. The Gondi family played a leading part in the finance, government, church and military affairs of the nation, and were indispensable counselors to the French monarchy. Based on my new archival findings, this lecture will detail the family’s use of patronage, financial acumen, and other strengths and tactical strategies which allowed them to maintain control and influence in France during the turbulent Wars of Religion. In 1612, St. Vincent de Paul entered the services of the Gondi family as tutor to the children of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi and his wife, Françoise Marguerite de Silly. He also served as Françoise Marguerite’s spiritual guide and confessor and was active as a missionary on the Gondi estates. One of the children tutored by St. Vincent, Jean-François Paul de Gondi, grew up to be the historically notable Cardinal de Retz, author of Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz, published posthumously in 1717.

St. Vincent de Paul and Money

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The economic structures of seventeenth-century France, Vincent de Paul’s financial management, and his theory behind it are explained. His financial responsibilities and the sources of income for the Confraternities of Charity, the Congregation, and the Daughters of Charity are enumerated. In general, Vincent viewed money as a resource to be husbanded for the benefit of persons who were poor.

“Saint Vincent de Paul and Money” is an article published in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 26, Issue 1, Article 7 and is available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol26/iss1/7

 

 

St. Vincent’s Mirror Imagery of Christ’s Ministry

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The Rev. Jack Melito, C.M., presents a reflection on some of the direct parallels between Jesus’ ministry and that of Saint Vincent de Paul’s.  He points out such themes as their efforts for develop a sense of mission among their followers, the great global scope of their missions, and the emphasis on their mission to the poor.

“Saint Vincent’s Mirror Imagery of Christ’s Ministry” is a chapter in the book, Saint Vincent de Paul: His Mind and His Manner, by Fr. Jack Melito, C.M., published in 2010 by the Vincentian Studies Institute at DePaul University in Chicago, IL.  Unfortunately, this book is currently out of print.