A Celebration of the Feast of St. Vincent
de Paul
September 26, 2009
"What a Difference a Day Makes"
A day when the University -- faculty, students, administrators,
staff, and alumni volunteer in groups at sites in the community
embodying the University core value of service. All five campuses,
Queens, Staten Island, Oakdale, Manhattan and Rome participate as
well as some alumni chapters. The first annual service day took
place in 2002.
History of St. Vincent de Paul
Vincent gave his energies and life to the needs of the poor in
17th-century France. Together with St. Louise de Marillac, he
organized hospitals for the sick poor, founded institutions for
abandoned children, opened soup kitchens, created job training
programs, taught young women to read, bettered prison conditions,
and organized countless local charities in the villages throughout
France.
Any institution calling itself "Vincentian" must extend
Vincent's dream to its own time and place. All of us at St John's
University are inheritors of this legacy and vision. We are
Vincentians. The challenge before us, as with every generation, is
to choose whether Vincent's vision will be a piece of history or a
living, breathing mission alive in its members.
Let us work!
"Outpourings of affection for God, of resting in his presence, of
good feelings toward everyone and sentiments and prayers like these
... are suspect if they do not express themselves in practical love
which has real effects." St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)