You might think the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) is a club or just a group here at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Community. You might have heard that we help people in need do things like pay their rent, or their light bill. While we do help needy people when we can, we're not a club, or even a social services organization. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a spiritual path, a way to follow Jesus and encounter him as we emulate the life of both the saint we're named after, who founded the Congregation of the Mission in 1617, and Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, a French man who lived in the early 19th century. As a university student he organized a handful of other students to serve Jesus in the face of the broken and down trodden, displaced and disinherited.

SVdP is about our spiritual journey, the path we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and those who strove to imulate him with their own lives.  It is a vocation. It's not for everyone, but everyone is welcome. Here we put our faith into action. As St. Vincent said, "We love God by the strenght of our arms and the sweat of brow." We are called to participate personally and directly in helping the needy by person-to-person contact and the gift of our hears and friendships. We don't do this alone, but together in, within the communal spirit of a Conference of lay persons, each inspired by the same vocation.

St. Vincent taught, "Since Christ willed to be born poor...he made himself the servent of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say the he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself.

Frédéric Ozanam also taught, both in word and in deed, that Christ is present in those we serve. It is because of this calling to see the face of Christ that we serve the poor cheerfully, listening to them and respectin their wishes, helping them to feel and recover their own dignity.

Would you like to meet Christ?

We presently meet twice a month to encourage one another in our spiritual journey and to discuss the work we do together. If this sounds like something you would like explore, email us at [email protected] of call (936) 337-1620.