The
Vincentian Congregation, patterned on the Society of Priests
founded by St. Vincent de Paul, was started in India in 1904.
St. Vincent, the Patron of the Vincentian Congregation, is
presented before the Vincentian Fathers in the opening words
of the Constitution as “inspired by the love of God,
he devoted himself to the welfare of the poor and the
afflicted.”
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The
overwhelming experience of God’s love takes flesh in
the self-sacrificing love for ‘the
least of the brethren’ of Jesus. (Matt 25:45)
Since
1950, the Indian Vincentian Fathers have been fulfilling
this mission through the Vincentian Renewal Movement,
and the various charitable programmes for the sick, the
abandoned children, the down trodden and the
marginalized.
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Spirituality of
the Vincentian Renewal Movement
As visualized by St. Vincent, the Vincentian retreat
ministry was to be aimed at renewing the lives of the people
in a deep and living experience of the Sacraments of the
Church.
Through
the proclamation of the Word of God, the people are prepared
for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The activity of the Holy
Spirit is experienced as total conversion from the part of man
and, as joy of the forgiveness of sins given by God. This
experience of the Sacraments of Confession leads the people to
a wholehearted self-surrender to Jesus, which is accepted and
reciprocated by Him in His giving of Himself to them in His
own Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The
Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist were given
prime importance by St. Vincent in his renewal movement. He
writes, “When we conduct Popular Mission retreats, our main
task is to prepare the people for the worthy reception of the
Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist’ (Constitution,
chapter 10, paragraph 6).
The
Saint, explained that the Sacrament of Confession would lead
the people to a radical spiritual conversion, and the Holy
Eucharist to an intimate union with Jesus Christ. By receiving
these two Sacraments frequently, the faithful would be able to
live out their Christian commitment in their everyday life.
By
the end of 1976, the wave of Charismatic retreats came over to
India. The Vincentian preachers of the Popular Mission gladly
took part in these retreats. They were greatly enriched in
their own spiritual life and retreat ministry by the
Charismatic experience. The role and activity of the Holy
Spirit in Christian Spirituality were better understood ,
appreciated and articulated.
This
Charismatic experience of the Vincentian preachers became a
theme of intense prayer, serious study and wide discussions.
As a result, there was an agreement to adopt certain
Charismatic insights and elements into Vincentian preaching. .
However, the aim and structure of the retreats continued to be
moulded in Sacramental spirituality, giving greater emphasis
on the activity of the Holy Spirit in and through the
Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
The
Vincentian Renewal Movement is committed to work for the
Church to make her a spotless and faithful bride of Jesus
Christ. St. John visualizes: “Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband...Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:1-5)
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