Hubbry Logo
search
logo
2215094

Congregation of the Mission

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Congregation of the Mission

The Congregation of the Mission (Latin: Congregatio Missionis), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations that look to Vincent de Paul as their founder or patron.

Inspired by the "first mission" of Chátillon-les-Dombes and Folleville, where he delivered his first mission sermon, St. Vincent de Paul discovered the need and importance of popular missions and general confessions. His concern to form a group of missionaries for the most abandoned areas of France was born in him, and in 1625 he founded the Congregation of the Mission as an apostolic society together with other priests, Anthony Portail, M. Belin, Francis de Coudray and John de la Salle. Years later, this mission found its motto in the passage in Luke's gospel, Evangelizare pauperibus misit me (The Holy Spirit sent me to bring the Good News to the poor, Luke 4:18).

In 1633, motivated by that same Spirit, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac founded the Company of the Daughters of Charity, a group of women dedicated to serving the "poorest of the poor". Prayer and community life were essential elements of their vocation of service, with a characteristic spirit of humility, simplicity and charity.

The Congregation has its origin in the successful mission to the common people conducted by Vincent de Paul and five other priests on the estates of the Gondi family. More immediately it dates from 1624, when the little community acquired a permanent settlement in the Collège des Bons Enfants in Paris, which later became a seminary under the name of St. Firmin. The first missions of the Vincentians were in the suburbs of Paris and in Picardy and Champagne. Archiepiscopal recognition was obtained in 1626. By a papal bull on January 12, 1633, the society was constituted a congregation, with Vincent de Paul as its head. About the same time the canons regular of St. Victor handed over to the congregation their priory of Saint Lazare (formerly a lazar-house or leper hospital) in Paris, which led to its members being popularly known as 'Lazarists.

Within a few years the Vincentians had acquired another house in Paris and set up other establishments throughout France; missions were also sent to Italy (1638), Tunis (1643), Algiers and Ireland (1646), Madagascar (1648), Poland (1651), and Turkey (1783). A bull of Alexander VII in April 1655 further confirmed the society; this was followed by a brief in September of the same year, regulating its constitution. The rules then adopted, which were framed on the model of those of the Jesuits, were published at Paris in 1668 under the title Regulae seu constitutiones communes congregationis missionis. Its special aims were the religious instruction of the poor, the training of the clergy, and foreign missions.

On the eve of the French Revolution, Saint Lazare was plundered by the mob and the congregation was later suppressed; it was restored by Napoleon in 1804 at the desire of Pius VII, abolished by him in 1809 in consequence of a quarrel with the pope, and again restored in 1816. The Vincentians were expelled from Italy in 1871 and from Germany in 1873.

The Vincentian province of Poland was singularly prosperous; at the date of its suppression in 1796 it possessed thirty-five establishments. The Congregation of the Mission was permitted to return in 1816, where it is very active. In Madagascar it had a mission from 1648 until 1674. In 1783 Vincentians were appointed to take the place of the Jesuits in the Levantine and Chinese missions; and in 1874 their establishments throughout the Ottoman Empire numbered sixteen. In addition, they established missions in Persia, Abyssinia, Mexico, the South American republics, Portugal, Spain, and Russia, some of which were later suppressed. In the same year they had fourteen establishments in the United States of America.

The Mother House (Maison Mère) is the successor of the first Mother House which was the former priory of Saint Lazare. This house, located at 95 rue de Sèvres, was the former residence of the Duke of Lorges, and was made available to the Congregation of the Mission by the French government in 1817. Finally, in 2006, the French State made the Congregation of the Mission the owner of the house and its grounds.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.