Today, Sept. 27, marks the liturgical feast of st. Vincent de Paul.
The figure of this saint, beloved by the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide, is recounted in history through paintings depicting him.
It is told that portraying the face of St. Vincent was not easy: he did not want to. His missionaries introduced a painter, Simon François, disguised as a priest, inside the Motherhouse.
We owe the first portrait to him. From this model the paintings of later painters multiplied, interpreting the first one with freedom.
The portraits recount biography and the apostolic life of st. Vincent: evangelizer of the countryside, formator of the clergy, father of the poor, innovator of women’s religious life.
“His face is presented with an appearance of calm gravity, benevolent and affable. The somewhat flattened nose, wide ears and thick eyebrows reveal his peasant origin. But this countenance of a country boy, lets the beauty of a noble spirit shine through from the amiable and penetrating gaze“.
Letter from Father Tomas Mavrik – superior general of the Congregation of the Mission – for the feast of st. Vincent de Paul
This year 2023 is a special year for the whole Vincentian Family, the whole Vincentian Family Movement, as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the “Light of Pentecost,” the mystical experience of Mademoiselle Legras, who became St. Louise de Marillac.
The liturgical feast of st. Vincent de Paul is “a wonderful opportunity to reflect and meditate on this extraordinary experience, which in subsequent years brought about such abundant graces that we are still so strongly experiencing 400 years later”.
Click here to download the letter.
