Society of St.Vincent de Paul constituted in 1833 under the aegis of Frederick Ozanam, a French youth along with a few of his friends, is today a global organization with the motto to serve the needy and the poor, beyond the divides of caste, creed and religion. The organization was Christened ‘St.Vincent de Paul society’ rightfully after St.Vincent de Paul, a French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. The Vincentians seek to honour, love and serve their truly human God by honouring, loving and serving the poor and , the abandoned, the victims of exclusion and adversity. Inspired by the compassion of Jesus Christ to all, Vincentians seek to be compassionate, kind and deeply reverent to all those they serve. Perhaps the cardinal feature of Vincentian service is their vow of silence avoiding trumpeting on roof tops their service and charity work.
St.Vincent de Paul Conference, Sakthikulangara
………1966 was a memorable day in the annals of St.John de Britto’s parish, Sakthikulangara. This was the day, St.Vincent de Paul conference (a parish chapter of Vincent de Paul society is known as Vincent de Paul conference) officially came into existance with a 6 member team (listed below) on board as its founding members, all of them known for their philanthropic mind set and life style.
Brother Marian Morris
Brother Augustin Joseph
Brother Augustin George
Brother Stephen Thomas
Brother Frank Antony
Brother L.Harold
Unsurprisingly, their mantle was taken over by the children of all five of them of the present generation.
The Vincent de Paul Society in India has a four tier organization.
- Conferences
- Area Councils
- Central Councils
- National Council
St.John de Britto conference, as our branch is called- works under the Kollam Town Area Council- one of the 15 conferences under it. Each Parish Conference works under the spiritual advisor- the parish priest. Till date our Conference had the fortune to be guided by 18 prominent priests who served the parish from 1965 till date.
St.John de Britto Conference, Sakthikulangara had been blessed with 58 members till date. The current members are as follows:
- Br.Gilbert J.Morris
- Br.Joseph Kav
- Br.Jeravas Jacob
- Br.Michael Mendez
- Br.Babu Francis
- Br.Stansilaus Peter
- Br.Rajan Sheen
- Br.Baiju Benjamin
- Br.Thomas Benans
- Br.Dr.Paul K.A
- Br.Joseph Peter
- Br.Joseph Simon
- Br.Jijo Jacob
In the founding year and years immediately after, the members used to undertake home visits among parishioners with a collection bag, collecting rice, which was later used to feed the needy and poor of the society.
As years passed by, sponsors and volunteers were identified and they came forward with benevolent contributions that were instrumental for SVDPS, Sakthikulangara’s charity works in the parish and its suberbs
SVDPS Sakthikulangara was instrumental in distribution of milk powder and wheat in the parish received through Carithas India. It was evenly distributed among the needy without discrimination as to caste, creed, colour or religion. Many of its benefactors were Hindu families, and this distribution network helped them tremendously to tide over the famine and food scarcity that the nation went through those days.
SVDPS, Sakthikulangara entered into the service of providing shelter (houses) to the deprived set of people in the year…… Sri.Bernard Morris, (Bernard Sir as the parishioners affectionately called him) presented a plot of land – 35 cents in the islet on the periphery of the Ashtamudi lake bordering the parish on its north. 8 modest houses were constructed in 4 cents of land for each and was gifted to 8 fishermen families, with the invaluable cooperation of the Malsya fed- a Govt. body constituted, which stands for the welfare of the fishermen community in the state. In the remaining land, an anganvadi (day care center) was set up for the children of the fishermen families.
SVDPS, Sakthikulangara has 20 families below poverty line adopted, paying allowances for their living expenses. 4 students in colleges, from similar circumstances were adapted and their educational expenses were sponsored by the society.
