Bishop visits St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

On Sept. 27, the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., traveled to St. Charles of Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa., to visit with the Diocese’s seminarians studying there, celebrate Mass and share dinner with the seminary community.

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In his homily, Bishop O’Connell shared with the seminarians, including six from the Diocese of Trenton, that he had made several visits to the Church of St. Vincent DePaul in Paris where the body of the saint is preserved and displayed in a glass case. Viewing St. Vincent’s remains, the Bishop recalled, was always “something quite moving.”

Describing the Vincentian founder as “not a tall or distinguished looking man,” Bishop O’Connell shared, “I can only imagine him moving about the crowded streets of Paris, hardly noticed as he handed out loaves of bread to the hungry poor. And, yet, even during his lifetime as a priest, Vincent de Paul was regarded as a saint.

“Great and wealthy men and women of his day sought him out for advice and counsel. Priests pursued him for spiritual direction and Confession and would gather for instruction in the proper way to preach, to celebrate Mass and the Sacraments. Elite and noble women invited him into their homes to inquire how they might best serve the poor, the widow and the orphan.

“He founded the Congregation of the Mission to preach the Gospel throughout the city and surrounding countryside, and, with the help of Louise de Marillac, he established the Daughters of Charity, inviting them to make the city streets their cloister. No one was too poor, too ignorant, too marginalized, too lacking in the esteem of the world to escape his notice, his attention, his care. And he asked for nothing in return. He was a ‘priest’s priest’ and a servant of anyone, everyone in need.”

Acknowledging that St. Vincent was somehow able to “accomplish so much for so many,” the Bishop reflected on the saints’ words: “Let us do our duty well; let us go straight to God; let us work to become very humble, very patient, very mortified, and very charitable.”

Speaking to the seminarians, the Bishop said, “With God’s help, you will continue to succeed in your leadership and in your duties, because Our Lord’s work is accomplished not so much by the multitude of workers as by the fidelity of the small number whom he calls.”

Today, said Bishop O’Connell, the number of priests is smaller, but the “task and ministry before us is greater, is harder, is more challenging than ever. … Your seminary formation, your studies, your life of prayer, your spiritual reading, your apostolates, your living together as brothers in these years are the ways you ready yourselves for the work ahead.”