Vincent De Paul was born in 1581 in the village of Pouy, in the province of Guyenne and Gascony , the kingdom of France. He dedicated himself to serving the poor. Vincent De Paul had three brothers and two sisters. He was the third child in the family. His father was Jean and mother was Bertrande de Moras de Paul.Most of his education was in France. He was ordained on 23 September 1600 at the age of nineteen. After returning from France, Vincent went to Rome. He continued his studies until 1609. In 1612 he was sent as a parish priest to the Church of Saint - Medard in Clichy.
In 1617 Vincent contacted the Daughters of Charity and they introduced him to poor families. Vincent then bought them food and comfort. In 1622 Vincent was appointed as Chaplain to the galleys. After working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley slaves, he returned to be the Superior of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission , or the “ Vincentians “. He spent 28 years serving as the spiritual director of the Convent of St. Mary of Angels. Vincent died in Paris on 27 September 1660. Vincent is the patron of all works of charity and a number of organizations are specifically inspired by his work. Among these organizations is the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul, a charitable organization dedicated to the service of the poor, established in 1883 by French university students , led by Frederic Ozanam. The society is today present in 153 countries.
The New Jersey Christ The King Knanaya Catholic Parish established its Vincent De Paul ministry in the year 2020 under the leadership of Fr. Bins Chethalil. Since then the Vincentians of our community have organized multiple events like auctions and harvest fest as fundraisers to serve the poor & needy in our community. Although the pandemic was challenging,we are moving ahead with our latest “Secret Sanji “ program. This program will be organized thru the Koodarayogam meetings to raise funds to support charitable events in the community. The strategy of the Secret Sanji is to put your hands closed in the Sanji with the funds to be donated and take out the open hands to demonstrate that the willingness to donate is what is important, not the amount of money.
With great pleasure and gratitude I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to Fr. Bins Chethalil and to all the members of the CTK Vincent De Paul Society, the youth ministry and all the community members who support us in many ways. May God protect this parish with his abundant blessings.
