A Vincentian Missionary
by Father Ron Ramson, C.M.

Father Ron Ramson, C.M., has been stationed in Kenya for a little over a year.  Prior to his assignment to DePaul Centre (the Vincentian Formation House) in Nairobi, Kenya, Father Ramson  previously served  as the Associate Executive Director of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul of the United States.  This is an excerpt of a recent letter from Father Ramson describing his new assignment.

Every week—actually every day—is an adventure in the Kenyan Mission.  A Vincentian missionary must be ready for whatever God ordains.

Just the other day forty-five teenage girls came to DePaul Centre for a day of prayer.  They were students from a local Catholic high school near our Vincentian parish of Holy Cross in Thigio.  I acted as the director of the day while another Vincentian priest and a Daughter of Charity gave them dynamic presentations.  We gave each girl a Miraculous Medal and a novena leaflet.  Since the girls came, their parish has now inaugurated the Miraculous Medal Novena and celebrates it every week.  The girls were full of life and thoroughly enjoyed themselves at our house of formation.

A few days later, I went to another Catholic high school located on the outskirts of a large slum near Nairobi.  These teens all come from very poor families and live in deplorable situations.  Many live in a one-room shanty and study by a candle or paraffin or, if they are fortunate, by a kerosene lamp.  I am always amazed how well the teens do in their studies.

Your Vincentian Seminarians
Recently, we approved the entrance of ten more seminarians to our Vincentian community.  We receive approximately 350 inquiries a year to our Vincentian Mission in Kenya, but we are very selective in whom we approve.  We want young men who are excellent candidates who will be willing to work with the poorest of the poor and to work with diocesan seminarians and priests.

On behalf of the Vincentian priests, brothers, and seminarians, I thank you for your support, prayers, and interest in the Kenyan Mission.  May God continue to bless you and your loved ones!

Sincerely,

Father Ron Ramson, C.M.

Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret
by Father Henry Grodecki, C.M.

A little known branch of the Vincentian Family is the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret.  Jeanne Antide was born on November 27, 1765, in the small village of Sancey-le-Long, in southeastern France, near the Swiss border.  

Her mother died when Jeanne was only 15, leaving her in charge of the family household.  Jeanne spent the next six years of her life caring for her widowed father and her younger siblings. 

God’s Call
At the age of 22, she left home to join the Daughters of Charity as a postulant.  However, events of the times disrupted her plans of life as a Daughter of Charity.  The French Revolution erupted, and all religious congregations in France were banned.  Forced to leave her beloved Daughters of Charity, Jeanne made her way back to her home village of Sancey.

Fleeing for Her Safety
Since she still desired to follow Vincent’s example of service to the poor, and wished to escape the dangers of the revolution, Jeanne fled to Switzerland to join her sister who had joined a band of like-minded religious in serving the poor.

Eventually deciding to return to France, she returned home on foot and alone—a distance of over 375 miles!

Her New Mission
In Besançon, a large city near her birthplace, Jeanne opened a school for the young girls of the region.  She also realized that the sick and poor of the area had no one to care for them, so she opened a soup kitchen and a rudimentary hospital.