A
native of Rome, St. Vincent Pallotti was ordained for the
city of Rome, the heart of the Church, in 1818. He lived in
turbulent times when the lives and the faith of the people
were sorely tested by hardships of war, the effects of the
Enlightenment on ordinary people and the poverty of the clergy
itself. His charitable work with orphans, tradesmen, country
peasants, nobles, clergy and religious, the imprisoned and
the condemned, the military and people of every walk of life
earned for him the title of “Apostle of Rome.”
Vincent
was an apostle but he was also a mystic. He came to know God
as Infinite Love and Mercy in a very personal way. His contemplation
on God’s love and mercy led him to a deep experience
of God and the ways of God. Small wonder that his life was
one of apostolic zeal and contemplative prayer.
He is the founder of the Union
of the Catholic Apostolate and the religious communities
that flowed from the that initial work including our community,
the Congregation of the Sisters
of the Catholic Apostolate. For his promotion of the role
of the laity in the mission of the Church, he has been called
the Forerunner of Catholic Action. He has been called the
Patron of the Second Vatican Council because of his prophetic
understanding of the Church as the People of God and the role
of the laity in the apostolate.
He
was canonized by Pope John XXIII on January 20, 1963 who later
declared him the Principal Patron of the Pontifical Missionary
Union of the Clergy. |