Saint Vincent de Paul: A Celebration to Remember His Legacy and Mission
Every year on 27 September, the Vincentian Family celebrates the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, commemorating the anniversary of his death in Paris in 1660.
Born in France in 1581, Saint Vincent dedicated his life to serving the most vulnerable, recognising in them the face of Christ. He founded the Congregation of the Mission and, together with Saint Louise de Marillac, the Company of the Daughters of Charity. He was canonised on 16 June 1737 by Pope Clement XII and, in 1885, Pope Leo XIII declared him the patron saint of all charitable works of the Catholic Church.
His spiritual legacy and commitment to charity continue to inspire the mission of the Vincentian Family throughout the world.
On the occasion of this feast, Fr Tomaž Mavrič, C.M., Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, addresses a letter to the Vincentian Family in which he shares a reflection on the enduring relevance of the charism of Saint Vincent de Paul and its significance for our mission in today’s world.
Below, we reproduce his letter in full on the occasion of the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul 2026.
Rome, 15 September 2026
To the members of the Vincentian Family
“Who would have thought….”
The grateful wonder of Saint Vincent de Paul,
a gift for the entire Vincentian Family
Dear members of the Vincentian Family,
May the grace and peace of Our Lord be with us always!
Every year, on 27 September, the Solemnity of Saint Vincent de Paul, something happens that deserves to be viewed with wonder. On every continent and in different languages, hundreds of thousands of people recognize themselves as sons and daughters of the same father: priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity, men and women religious from the many congregations inspired by Saint Vincent, members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the International Association of Charities, the Vincentian Marian Youth, the Association of the Miraculous Medal, the Vincentian Lay Missionaries movement, etc.
We find ourselves where Saint Vincent sent us: in parishes and hospitals, in schools and soup kitchens, in refugee camps and prisons, along the streets of our cities, in the missions ad Gentes, etc. Today, in all these places, we celebrate together. Four centuries have not slowed his stride: Vincent still walks beside us, and his voice continues to point us toward a face, a door on which to knock, a hand to hold.
Allow me to share a personal thought. Perhaps we have never truly done so—or not enough. We have studied Vincent, quoted him in homilies and gatherings, analyzed his letters and conferences, asked him to intercede for our needs, etc., but have we ever simply paused to thank him?
To thank him for the gift of his holiness: not an abstract perfection, but a life lived to the very last breath, a holiness made up of long days, difficult decisions, and daily fidelity. To thank him for the gift of his charism: that gaze that was able to recognize Christ in the poor is the gaze he has entrusted to us, without our having done anything to deserve it. To thank him for the gift of his spirituality: a concrete, simple, unpretentious life that taught entire generations how to stand before Jesus and how to stand before the poor—and which he discovered to be the same movement of the heart.
Gratitude is the first language of faith. Vincent knew this well: everything he had received—his vocation, his encounters, even his trials—led him back to Providence. Saying “thank you,” therefore, is not a sentimental gesture but a recognition that nothing we are comes from ourselves alone. On this day, before any resolutions or plans, I would like the entire Vincentian Family to pause at this threshold.
I invite you to stop for a moment to contemplate that for which we give thanks. That gift was kindled in the heart of a man, expanded into a family, and entrusted to the Church. Personal, communal, ecclesial: three breaths of a single whisper of the Spirit.
Charism and spirituality, as we know, do not arise from a thought but from an experience: it is not a doctrine that Vincent constructed; it is what he happened to live—and it happened to him where he was, in a life of humble origins. He never hid this: “I am the son of a poor farmer,” he wrote in 1633 to a priest of the Mission; to a woman who asked him for alms, addressing him as “Monsignor,” he simply replied that he was a poor swineherd, the son of a farmer. It was not false modesty: it was the clear awareness of one who knows that the gift he received is not based on any merit of his own.
There is more. Vincent confesses that, at first, he understood nothing of what was taking shape. In recounting the origins of the Mission to his confreres, he admitted: “no one had ever thought of that! We didn’t even know what missions were; we weren’t thinking of them at all and didn’t know what they were all about.” He immediately draws the conclusion that is the key to everything: “And that’s how it can be recognized that this is a work of God; for if there’s something in which human persons have no part, then God is the one who does it, and it comes directly from Him.” (To the Congregation of the Mission. Repetition of prayer of 25 January 1655).
Here is the first aspect of charism and spirituality: it is personal, because it arises from a call by name, which precedes any understanding of its purpose. Vincent did not choose; he was chosen. This holds true today for each one of us. None of us has chosen our own Vincentian vocation. To the Sisters sent to Arras, Vincent said with a precision that applies to us: “not Sister X, but you, and no others.” (To the Daughters of Charity. Conference of 30 August 1656); he taught them to pray with the wonder of one who cannot fathom it: “Who would have thought that You would want to be served by wretched creatures like us!” (To the Daughters of Charity. Conference of 9 June 1658). Let us ask ourselves: when was the last time we looked at our vocation with this sense of wonder, rather than as a role we have acquired?
But precisely because it is personal, the charism does not remain private. Called by name, we immediately discover that we are called together: the gift seeks a body, faces, and shared stories. It happened immediately, and Vincent recognized it with disarming clarity. Speaking to the Daughters of Charity about their rule, he said, “You yourselves have decided on them—or rather God inspired you with them, for we can’t say that they were given to you.” He added the most beautiful words a founder could utter: “God thought of it for you. We can say, Sisters, that He’s the Author of your Company” (To the Daughters of Charity. Conference of 14 June 1643).
Charism and spirituality, therefore, give rise to community and communion. This is Vincent’s dream for the entire Vincentian Family: the image of the Most Holy Trinity … imprinted … upon us (To the Congregation of the Mission. Conference of 27 June 1642).
Finally, charism and spirituality are given to the Church, within the Church, for the Church’s mission. Vincent expresses this in the highest terms when he says that our vocation is “a continuation” of Christ’s, and that the poor are our very inheritance: “it’s their [Missioners’] special characteristic to be, like Jesus Christ, committed to the poor.” He adds, almost breathlessly: “we’ve been included in it [the work of the Son of God] as instruments by which the Son of God continues to do from heaven what He did on earth.” (To the Congregation of the Mission. Conference of 6 December 1658). We are not a charity organization. We are an extension of Jesus’ mission.
Vincent, however, always translated this ecclesial vision into concrete and verifiable actions. To the two Sisters sent to Arras, he did not merely entrust an ideal; he told them that the first thing they were to do upon arriving in the city would be to go to the bishop “to ask his blessing and to receive his instructions” (To the Daughters of Charity. Conference of 30 August 1656). Charism and spirituality are always rooted in a concrete Church—in a diocese, in a parish—under the guidance of the shepherds.
These three aspects are interrelated. A personal gift, without the community, is consumed in the enthusiasm of a single individual. The community, without ecclesial openness, becomes a circle that warms itself. The ecclesial dimension, if it does not rekindle the heart of each person, remains a mere formality on paper.
Called by name, gathered together, sent beyond ourselves: this is the movement that Vincent received and handed on to us. It is the very movement of the Gospel, and it is the reason why, four centuries later, we are still here giving thanks.
Gratitude, if it is authentic, does not stop at memory: it becomes a task. For this reason, I wish to present to you three challenges that I feel are urgent for the Vincentian Family today.
1. The Faces of Poverty. Saint Vincent did not inherit a list of the poor: he looked at them, recognized them, loved them, and served them. Today, we are challenged by the cries of those forced to flee their homelands, the silent suffering of the excluded, the wounds of war, the growing impact of climate change, the scandal of inequalities that deny so many their dignity, the marginalization of those left on the fringes of the digital world, and the plight of those displaced from areas struck by natural disasters. In the face of such immense challenges, good intentions are not enough: we are called to devise concrete responses that restore to all peoples the dignity that is their due.
2. Communion among the branches of the Vincentian Family. We still have a long way to go together, and I am convinced that we can do it. We are not driven by a desire to excel nor by a concern to defend our own turf, but by the simpler and more Gospel-centered desire to act together: each branch brings a gift, and only by sharing it does it become fully fruitful. We are members of the same body. Communion, shared discernment, collaboration, mission: these are the paths that the synodal Church points out to us and that call us to cross the thresholds that still separate us.
3. Formation. I ask every branch of the Vincentian Family to review its ongoing formation program: its sources, its history, and above all, its ability to reinterpret its daily experience in light of the Vincentian charism and spirituality. Therefore, I encourage the development, in every country and province, of Vincentian formation centers resulting from the collaboration of all the branches present in the area: not the expression of a single branch, but a common home for all. Where possible, also identify a permanent location capable of providing continuity and visibility to this commitment, and develop annual formation programs tailored to the real needs of each context. This is how we can walk together and form one another, communicate more effectively, and collaborate with boldness and humility.
The challenges I have entrusted to you are not a list of obligations, but an invitation to let ourselves be set in motion once more. Yet we are not asked to rise to the occasion on our own: we are asked to walk, and the path unfolds as we travel it. Saint Vincent did not start with a finished plan; he began with an encounter—with a poor person who had a face and a name—and from there he let Jesus write the rest.
This is the beauty of our vocation: it does not ask us to be extraordinary, but to remain available. It does not promise us easy paths, but it assures us that no step taken out of love for the poor is ever lost. Let us move forward, then, without fear and without haste, but together.
To prepare ourselves spiritually for the Solemnity of Saint Vincent de Paul—which this year coincides with the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees—the Communications Office of the Congregation of the Mission will prepare a Novena to Saint Vincent on the theme of migrants and refugees. Starting on 18 September 2026, the text will be published on the social media accounts of the Congregation and the Vincentian Family. You can download the resource as a PDF file:
Italian: https://congregatiomissionis.org/novena-san-vincenzo-de-paoli/
Spanish: https://congregatiomissionis.org/es/novena-san-vicente-de-paul/
English: https://congregatiomissionis.org/en/novena-saint-vincent-de-paul/
French: https://congregatiomissionis.org/fr/neuvaine-saint-vincent-de-paul/
United in the same Word, we are one!
To authentically and deeply convey the beating heart of the Vincentian Family to the world, the Congregation of the Mission chose an exceptional approach: inviting an Italian filmmaker to live for an entire month in close contact with the community at the Motherhouse. From this extraordinary experience of sharing and daily immersion emerged the documentary “Au Cœur de Paris.”
Written and directed by Manuel de Teffé and enhanced by an original soundtrack specially composed by Gabriele Croci, the documentary offers a visual and emotional journey designed to help viewers discover, appreciate, and love the Motherhouse in a whole new way. The film unfolds through a structured and engaging narrative: a Prologue, which grounds the viewer in the location and atmosphere of the Motherhouse; the first part, dedicated with deep devotion to the “host,” Saint Vincent de Paul; the second part, which traces the history of the building from the turbulent days of the French Revolution to the present, with special attention to the Chapel; the third part, which opens up to the outside world to celebrate the boundless missionary activities that originated from this place; and the fourth part, which presents the House as it is today, highlighting a deep historical connection unknown to most: that between rue de Sèvres and rue du Bac. The documentary concludes with a series of brief interviews that brings warmth and familiarity to the places and faces of the mission.
To enable the entire Vincentian Family and enthusiasts of history and spirituality around the world to enjoy this work, the documentary will be translated into several languages. As of today, the English-language version is already available on the Congregatio Missionis YouTube channel.
I entrust you to the intercession of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Saint Vincent de Paul, and all the saints, blessed, and Servants of God of the Vincentian Family.
Your brother in Saint Vincent,
Tomaž Mavrič, CM