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Eugene Smith, past President of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, USA, writes: “Most of the people served by the Vincentian family do not know St. Vincent and St. Louise. Why, because most of us in the Vincentian Family seldom take the time to tell those we visit in their homes or hospital beds or wherever we serve them about our founders. We live out the charism as we serve but we don’t tell people why we do what we do.” In this Vincentian Year of New Evangelization, let us revisit this important article originally published as part of the monthly study material for the Vincentian Family’s 350th Anniversary celebration.

Today we’re highlighting materials related to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Visit each of these links: December 8: Immaculate Conception, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Vincentian Family, and St. Vincent de Paul’s Contemplation of Mary.

It’s the season when people prepare themselves for the new year and look back on the old one. We decided to take a look back at some of VinFormation’s Advent Resources from years past. Feel free to download or share: Advent 2013 – Advent 2012 – Advent 2011 – Advent 2010 – Advent 2009.

This year we are offering an Advent Calendar. Each day there will be a passage from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, along with Reflection Questions. This series will also be posted daily on Facebook and Pinterest for the 25 days of Advent 2014.

Their social and economic status (peasant girls); their practice of simple annual vows, as opposed to perpetual vows; their choice to wear the clothes of that day, to enable them to function more easily; their ability to move freely through the streets and hospital wards, as opposed to a cloister. In celebration of the founding of the Daughters of Charity on Nov. 29, 1633, may we recommend the informative video series Conversations With Elisabeth Charpy, D.C. in which Sr. Elisabeth describes the early history of the Daughters, and also the video Origins of the Daughters of Charity.

Pope Francis declared that a Year of Consecrated Life be celebrated throughout the world. The Year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2014. It will close on the World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2016. Today’s featured resource is the video “The Consecrated Life of a Vincentian“. Other Famvin media/resources can be found at: Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity, and Sisters of Charity.

How did these people use the Miraculous Medal to evangelize? Mother Teresa, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Fr. Carl Pieber, C.M., a street evangelizer, a lay person, an Augustinian priest… read their stories of the power of the Miraculous Medal. This new presentation is a resource for both the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Nov. 27), and the Vincentian Year of New Evangelization. See: The Miraculous Medal: A Powerful Tool for Evangelization.

Take a few moments to meditate on this very beautiful homily, spoken in the chapel of the Rue du Bac by Michael McCullagh, C.M. of the Province of Ireland. We offer this new presentation on the occasion of the Feast of St. Catherine Labouré (Nov. 28): see The Sound of Silence: St. Catherine Labouré.

All God’s people, and we as a Vincentian Family in particular, are called to reflect God’s merciful and just character in the world; to witness to Christ and His Kingdom through word and deed. Our passion for justice comes from a passion for Jesus and a passion for Jesus’ poor. Learn more in today’s featured resource, the presentation Jesus Evangelizer of the Poor.

When Pope Benedict XVI issued Porta fidei, the Apostolic Letter proclaiming a Year of Faith, he said the world was in need of credible witnesses. Catholics are encouraged to study the lives of the Saints in order to follow their example. As part of our ongoing series related to the Vincentian Year of New Evangelization, I would like to highlight 12 resources originally produced for the Year of Faith, that show how our Vincentian Saints open the door of faith to those who wish to follow in their footsteps. Read more at Resources Tagged “Year of Faith”.