| 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. |
