The Vincentian Identity
Elements of the vincentian Identity
The Vincentian Identity is characterised and perfected by two key elements: Vocation and Vincentian Spirituality.
In simple terms, this is how we identify a true Vincentian.
In simple terms, this is how we identify a true Vincentian.
Vocation
The vocation of the Society’s members, who are called Vincentians, is to follow Christ through service to those in need and so bear witness to His compassionate and liberating love. Members show their commitment through person-to-person contact. Vincentians serve in hope.
No work of charity is foreign to the Society. It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity and personal integrity in all their dimensions. The Society serves those in need regardless of creed, ethnic or social background, health, or political opinions.
Vincentians strive to seek out and find those in need and the forgotten, the victims of exclusions or adversity.
Faithful to the spirit of its founders, the Society constantly strives for renewal, adapting to changing world conditions. It seeks to be ever aware of the changes that occur in human society and the new types of poverty that may be identified or anticipated. It gives priority to the poorest of the poor and to those who are most rejected by society.
Vincentians pray that the Holy Spirit may guide them during their visits and make them channels for the peace and joy of Christ.
Vincentians serve the poor cheerfully, listening to them and respecting their wishes, helping them to feel and recover their own dignity, for we are all created in God’s image. In the poor they see the suffering Christ.
Vincentians endeavor to establish relationships based on trust and friendship. Conscious of their own frailty and weakness, their hearts beat with the heartbeat of the poor. They do not judge those they serve. Rather, they seek to understand them as they would a brother or sister.
Vincentians endeavour to help the poor to help themselves whenever possible and to be aware that they can forge and change their own destinies and that of their local community.
Vincentians are sincerely concerned with the deeper needs and the spiritual well-being of those they help, always observing a profound respect for their conscience and the faith they believe in, listening and understanding with their hearts, beyond both words and appearances.
They rejoice in discovering the spirit of prayer in the poor, for in the silence, the poor can perceive God’s plan for every person.
The acceptance of God’s plan leads each one to nurture the seeds of love, generosity, reconciliation and inner peace in themselves, their families and all those whose lives they touch. Vincentians are privilege to foster these signs of the presence of Risen Christ in the poor and among themselves.
Vincentians never forget the many blessing they receive from those they visit. They recognize that the fruit of their labours springs, not from themselves, but especially from God and from the poor they serve.
Vincentian spirituality
Conceived of the truth of the Apostle St. Paul’s words, Vincentians seek to draw closer to Christ. They hope that someday it will be no longer they who love, but Christ who loves through them. (Gal. 2:20 “… I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God”), and that even now, in their caring, the poor may catch a glimpse of God’s great love for them.
In every Conference throughout the world and in their personal lives, Vincentians raise their prayers to God, united with the prayer of Christ, on behalf of one another and their masters the poor, whose suffering they wish to share.
The Vincentian vocation affects all aspects of members’ daily lives, making them more sensitive and caring in their family, work and leisure activities. Vincentians are available for work in the Conference only after fulfilling their family and professional duties.
Vincentians seek to emulate St. Vincent in the five virtues essential for promoting love and respect for the poor:
- Simplicity: Frankness, integrity, genuineness
- Humility: Accepting the truth about out our frailties, gifts talents and charisms, yet knowing that all that God gives us is for others and that we can achieve nothing of eternal value without His grace.
- Gentleness: Friendly assurance and invincible goodwill, which mean kindness, sweetness and patience in our relationship with others.
- Selflessness: Dying to our ego with a life of self-sacrifice; members share their time, their possessions, their talents and themselves in a spirit of generosity.
- Zeal: A passion for the full flourishing and eternal happiness of every person.
Vincentians are called to journey together towards holiness because true holiness is perfect union with Christ and the perfection of love, which is central to their vocation and the source of its fruitfulness. They aspire to burn with the loves of God as revealed by Christ and to deepen their own faith and fidelity.
Vincentians are aware of their own brokenness and need for God’s grace. They seek His glory, not their own. Their ideals are to help relieve suffering for love alone, without thinking of any reward or advantage for themselves.
They draw nearer to Christ, serving Him in the poor and one another. They grow more perfect in love by expressing compassionate and tender love to the poor and one another.
Therefore, their journey together towards holiness is primarily made through:
Visiting and dedicating themselves to the poor, whose faith and courage often teach Vincentians how to live Vincentians assume the needs of the poor as their won.
- Attending the meeting of the Conference or Council where shared fraternal spirituality is a source of inspiration.
- Promoting a life of prayer and reflection, both at the individual and community level, sharing with their fellow members mediating on their Vincentians experiences offers them internal spiritual knowledge of themselves, others and the goodness of God.
- Transforming their concern into action and their compassion into practical and effective love.
The spirituality of one of its founders inspires Vincentians profoundly.
The Blessed Frederic Ozanam:
- Sought to renew faith, among all people, in Christ and in the civilizing effect of the teachings of the Church through all time.
- Envisioned the establishment of a network of charity and social justice encircling the world.
- Attained holiness as a layman through living the Gospel fully in all aspects of his life
- Had a passion for truth, democracy and education.
Having been placed under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul by the founding members, members of the Society are inspired by his spirituality, manifest in his attitudes, his thoughts, his example and his words.
For Vincentians, the key aspects of St. Vincent’s spirituality are:
- To love God, our Father, with the sweat of our brow and the strength of our arms.
- To see Christ in the poor and the poor in Christ
- To share the compassionate and liberating love of Christ the evangelizer and Servant of the poor.
- To heed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Structure of the society
The Society is well structured to ensure effective coordination, administration and efficient service delivery. The structure of the Society is hierarchical in nature and has different levels of administration as explained below:
CONFERENCES
This is the basic unit of the Society where every member of the Society belongs. The conferences serve as the rallying point for members where contacts, interactions and other activities with the friends-in-need are made.
Most Conferences are engaged in family visitation, but an increasing number are undertaking special work such as visiting Hospitals, Prisons, Leprosy clinics, Homes for Destitute, Handicapped, IDP Camps, etc. Family visitation involves meeting families and individuals in their own homes and helping them meet their needs and problems. In Abuja Central Council, the Conferences are made up of inaugurated and un-inaugurated conferences.
INAUGURATED CONFERENCES
These are conferences that have been well established and have at least 7 members. They are deemed matured and experienced in carrying out the activities of rendering assistance to the poor within the confines of the rules of the Society.
NON-INAUGURATED CONFERENCES
These conferences are still being nurtured and under the tutelage of the inaugurated conferences until such a time that they are confirmed to have fully understood the activities and practice of caring for the less privileged in line with rules of the Society.
ADMINISTRATIVE HIERARCHY OF THE SOCIETY
1. ABUJA CENTRAL COUNCIL
The next level of the Society in hierarchy is the Abuja Central Council which supervises and coordinates the activities of the conferences within the Federal Capital Territory under the Archdiocese of Abuja. The Conferences submit their quarterly and annual reports to the Central Council.
2. ABUJA METROPOLITAN COUNCIL
This Council which is the next in hierarchy, oversees the activities of the Central Councils within the Abuja Archdiocesan Ecclesiastical Province. The Central Councils include: Abuja, Lafia, Idah, Lokoja, Makurdi, Oturkpo, Gboko and Katsina Ala, The Abuja Central Council is under the supervision of this Metropolitan Council. It submits its quarterly and annual reports and pays its dues to this Council.
3. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NIGERIA
The Nigeria National Council is responsible for all the Metropolitan Councils in Nigeria; receiving their annual reports and dues and submitting same to the International Council. The National Council of Nigeria also determines Society policy nationally. The Metro Councils under the National Council include: Lagos Metro, Abuja Metro, Owerri Metro, Benin Metro, Onitsha Metro, Ibadan Metro, Kaduna Metro, Jos Metro and Calabar Metro.
4. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL GENERAL (CGI)
The International Council General which is the apex Council the Society, with headquarters in France, oversees the activities of the National Councils worldwide.