To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission’s work in the United States, DePaul University Library, with the assistance of DePaul’s Office of Mission and Values, presents The Bicentennial Celebration of the Vincentians in America: An Exhibition at the John T. Richardson Library.
The exhibition will run Autumn and Winter quarters, and encompasses two separate installations. The first, God as Compass, Rudder, and Pilot: the Missionary as a Pioneer, details the journey the Vincentian missionaries took, from its beginnings in Rome in 1815 to the company’s eventual settlement at St. Mary’s of the Barrens in the Missouri Territory in 1818.
Its sister installation is Knowledge and Salvation: the Missionary as a Man of the Enlightenment, which explores books from the library of these first American Vincentians and the influence of the Enlightenment on the missionaries. The exhibit includes books, correspondence, artifacts, and maps, and acknowledges the religious vocations and motivations of the Vincentian missionaries while contextualizing their place within the larger arena of American history.
Please join us as well celebrate the exhibition’s opening. A reception will be held Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 4PM-6PM in DePaul University Special Collections and Archives (John T. Richardson Library 314, 2350 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago, IL 60614). The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
DePaul is offering many other opportunities to celebrate this anniversary
See also
- Niagara University’s schedule of events.
- St. John’s University is dedicating Founder’s Week to the celebrations.
- The three Universities in the United States are also sponsoring a major event in New York.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ,
May I share my heartfelt joy in your celebration of Vincentian Bicentennial in our blessed nation. Moreover, as I read Father John Freund’s essay on this God driven event, my feelings approach a happiness which we shall experience fully only in the timelessness of Heaven. Indeed, this modern sharing of your Vincentian charisma would seem to enable many people to enter the love of Jesus Christ through Saint Vincent’s priestly heart of love and scholarship. As I write this,I pray that the Congregation of the Mission will continue our Lord’s exhortation as expressed in Matthew 5:14-16:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Keep up your great missionary work. I am proud that I once walked the journey with some of you. In spirit,I shall be with all of you as you celebrate.
Ed Ambrose
(AA,Saint Joe’s,1957)