Devotion to the patron saint of today 27 September 2020
Vincent Depaul was born in Pouy in Aquitaine in 1581 into a poor family of peasants. Ordained priest at nineteen, he first sought a good ecclesiastical accommodation and came to enter the French court as an almsgiver for the queen mother. But at a certain moment, illuminated by grace, marked by the meeting with Card. De Bérulle, turned to seek Christ in the troubled and the little ones. With Saint Luisa de Marillac in 1633 he gave life to the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, religious who in a certain way innovated, with respect to the monastic form, the figure of the consecrated woman in the Church. He offered them a hospital for the sick as a convent, a rented room for the cell, the parish church for the chapel, the streets of the city and the hospital rooms for the cloister. Called to be part of the Council of Regency, he worked to ensure that the most worthy candidates were placed at the head of the dioceses and monasteries. He died in Paris on September 17, 1660, loved and venerated as the father of the poor.
NOVENA TO SAN VINCENZO DE PAOLI
1. - O abyss of humility, glorious St. Vincent, who deserved to be drawn from your hiding by that God, who delights in choosing small things to confuse the great ones; and that, always keeping yourselves in the most perfect annihilation and contempt of yourself, and escaping with horror the praises and honors, you deserved to become an instrument in the hand of God for the most admirable works for the benefit of the Church and the poor, also grant us to know our nothingness and love humility. Glory. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
2. - O beloved son of Mary, glorious St. Vincent, for the tender devotion that you showed towards such a tender from an early age
Mother, visiting her sanctuaries, erecting an altar for her in the hollow of an oak, where you gathered your companions to sing her praises and later constituting her Patroness of all the works undertaken by you and carried out with your crown in hand; grant us that, as you were freed by her from the chains of slavery and brought back to your homeland, so that we can be freed by you from the chains of sin and led to the true homeland of heaven. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
3. - O most faithful son of the Church, glorious St. Vincent, for that unshakable faith by which you were always animated and which you knew how to keep intact amidst the dangers of slavery and among the most violent temptations; for that living faith that guided you in all your undertakings and that you sought, with your word and through your missionaries, to awaken among Christian peoples and to bring to unfaithful peoples, also grant us more, appreciate such a precious treasure, and deign to impetrate it to so many unhappy people who still lack it. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
4. - O Apostle of Charity, glorious St. Vincent, for that tender and effective compassion which you drew from the Heart of Jesus and which led you to the brilliant institution of so many and varied works in favor of every kind of unhappy person and for the relief of every kind of misery, grant us too an abundant participation of your charity and especially pour your spirit on the charitable associations you have founded or inspired by you. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
5. - O admirable model of priests, glorious St. Vincent, who worked so hard for the sanctification of the clergy with the foundation of seminaries, with the institution of spiritual exercises for the clergy and with the foundation of the Priests of the Mission, grant to your spiritual children to be able to continue your works in favor of clerics and priests, to edify the people and to the joy of the Church. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
6. - O glorious St. Vincent, heavenly patron of all associations of charity and Father of all the poor, who in your life you never rejected anyone who had recourse to you, please! look at how many evils we are oppressed, and come to our help. Obtain from the Lord help for the poor, relief for the sick, consolation for the afflicted, protection for the abandoned, charity for the rich, conversion to sinners, zeal for priests, peace for the Church, tranquility for peoples, health and salvation for all. Yes, let everyone experience the effects of your pitiful intercession; so that, relieved by you in the miseries of this life, we can reunite with you up there, where there will be no more mourning, no weeping, no pain but joy, joy and eternal bliss. So be it. St. Vincent de Paul, father of the poor and our patron, pray for us
PRAYER OF THE VINCENTIANS
Lord, make me good friend to everyone. Make my person inspire trust: to those who suffer and complain, to those who seek light far from You, to those who would like to start and do not know how, to those who would like to confide in and do not feel capable of it. Lord help me, so that you do not pass by anyone with an indifferent face, with a closed heart, with a hurried step. Lord, help me to realize immediately: of those who are beside me, of those who are worried and disoriented, of those who suffer without showing it, of those who feel isolated without wanting to. Lord, give me a sensitivity that knows how to meet hearts. Lord, free me from selfishness, so that I can serve You, so that I can love You, so that I can listen to You in every brother you make me meet.
PRAYER OF THE VINCENTIAN FAMILY
Lord Jesus, you who wanted to make yourself poor, give us eyes and heart for the poor, so that we can recognize you in them: in their thirst, in their hunger, in their solitude, in their indigence.
It arouses in the Vincentian Family unity, simplicity, humility and the fire of charity that inflamed St. Vincent.
Give us the strength of Your Spirit so that, faithful in the practice of these virtues, we can contemplate You and serve You in the poor and one day, together with them, be united with You in Your Kingdom.