THE FOUNDER: FREDERIC OZANAM -

Frederic Ozanam was born on April 23, 1813 in Milan. In 1815 the Ozanam family moved to Lyon where the father had secured a position in the Hotel-Dieu hospital. As a twenty-year old university student, Ozanam was profoundly Christian and pursued his studies assiduously, attending all the lectures of the history conference where literature and philosophy were given equal appreciation. In 1822, Frederic began his classical studies at the Sorbonne. He married and was soon established both as a family man and as a successful professor at the Sorbonne. In Paris he was haunted by the misery of the poor, and his dream was to see harmony among social classes. He campaigned for justice and charity. His faith enabled him to see Christ in the poor, always reiterating “Our aim is to keep the faith and to spread it among others by means of charity.” The "Conference of Charity," from which the Society of St. Vincent de Paul sprang, was founded in Paris in April, 1833 by a few young men and a Catholic publicist. The principal founder was a man of twenty years of age, hailing from Lyons, named Frederic Ozanam. A short time after his arrival in Paris, Ozanam found himself unexpectedly the center of a little group of Catholic students. The atmosphere after the July revolution was stormy. The battles of ideas were lively. All these young men took part in the battles, chiefly in a society called the Conference of History, which met under the auspices of Joseph Emmanuel Baily, founder of the Tribune Catholique and a one-time fellow-worker of Lammenais. In this society Ozanam and his friends encountered one day an objection flung in their teeth: "You praise the Church to us as the benefactor of humanity., That was true in former times, but what are you doing in our times for the people? What do you provide for them?" This reproach caused them to think. It did not suffice, then, to believe in or even to defend the faith; it was necessary to study its activity. It was not enough to adore the God of the Gospel, it was necessary to follow Him; it was necessary to love and assist His children in need. Thereupon one of the students attached to the Conference of History, Augustus Le Taillandier, asked himself whether it would not be possible to bring together a small number of the Christian members, not for the purpose of discussion but for action, to set up a "Conference of Charity." Ozanam seized on the idea at once. It fulfilled one of his dearest wishes, namely to set up for these "birds of passage," those students taken away from their parental homes, a center for Christian friendship. The Conference of Charity would be at once an intimate and cheerful circle, radiating healthy youthfulness, where those who had left home would find new life and the means by which they could both help one another and exercise a form of charity within their Conference which would be modest, intelligent and practical. Once the decision was made by the students to form a "Conference of Charity," there was no delay in proceeding. A publisher, Emmanuel Bailly, was contacted; busy as he was in publishing material and relieving spiritual miseries which abounded in the city, he approved of the project and accepted the direction of the new group which consisted of Frederic Ozanam, Joseph Emmanuel Bailly, Francois Lailier, Augustus Le Tallandier, Paul Lamache, Felix Clave, and J. Devaux. First Meeting of First Conference Our founders were very far from foreseeing that their first meeting, in the offices of Bailly's Tribune Catholique, was to be the origin of an institution destined to last and to extend. It is not surprising, then, that their memory should not have retained all the circumstances relating to that first meeting. What is for us most important is the date of the first meeting; from the report of the first meeting the date Tuesday, April 23, 1833 is named in two places. The offices of the Tribune Catholique were located at No. 18, rue de Petit-Bourbon-Saint Sulpice. Today, No. 18 rue de Petit- Bourbon bears the address No. 38, rue Saint-Sulpice; this is the cradle of our Society. At this first meeting, the seven members simply resolved to bring some assistance to- homes of a few poor persons. Sister Rosalie, of rue de Mouffetard, obtained the first addresses of these poor, and lent the necessary provisions. It will be seen that the students of 1833 thought neither of founding a big organization nor of participating in a widespread campaign against misery. They wished to help one another to remain faithful to their baptismal promises and to carry out supported by their mutual friendship, one of the essential duties of the Christian life. These modest ideas were quite in keeping with the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul whom the little Conference chose as their patron at an early stage. St Vincent who accomplished such great things, never proclaimed high ambitions. His most astonishing creations began in small waves and their growth was the result of time and necessity. So it was with the Society which bears his name. It was born at an opportune time. With objects and methods exclusively religious, interests entirely social and completely sundered from old- time political parties, its program harmonized with the ideals of a large section of Catholic youth. So the Conference developed very rapidly. The founders were surprised and even a little troubled. What was going to become of the intimacy of their meetings? Ozanam, alone, appears to have understood the possibilities of the apostolate which success brought into being. By the end of the first year the Conference in Paris had grown to the point where it needed to divide into several sections. It became necessary to set up a "Council of Management." When the development of the organization led to the establishment of intermediary links between the Conference and Council, the Council assumed the title of "Council General." It also became necessary to draw up a Rule. This was drawn up and formulated in 1835. The drawing-up of the general principles was the work of Bailly; the Articles of the Rule were prepared by Lallier.

THE SOCIETY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL IN NEW ZEALAND

 It was in 1867, a mere 34 years after that first meeting, that the seeds of the society were sown in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was the farthest and most southern outpost from headquarters in Paris. On 7 July 1867 the Cathedral Conference was established by Rev Fr Chatainger SM - the first Parish Priest of Christchurch. He was assisted by Mr Edward O’Connor, the schoolmaster of the first Catholic school in Canterbury. By writings he could well be regarded as the co-convenor of that pioneer Conference. The president was B Hughes and the secretary JF St J Baker. The Priests of the Society of Mary gave leadership an direction to the fledgling Conference. Rev Fathers Chervier SM and Boibieus attended the first meeting while Rev Frs Chervier, Boibieux and Ecuyer attended meetings in succession and Father Chataigner left for Timaru in 1869. It is recorded in the 1933 Christchurch report that spiritual readings were always a special feature at meetings and were taken from such works as "The Christian Sanctified", The Precious Blood", "Life of St Vincent de Paul" and the Manual Relief and visitation of the poor were immediate works of concern and it is is reported that ’the Conference did not consider what religion the applicant professed’. Again, because of the scattered nature of the parish and scarcity of priests, the brothers of the Conferences assisted the poor spiritually as well as materially, particularly those who had wandered away form the practice of their religion. A library was assembled. Books were loaned to parishioners and the poor. (It is of interest to note that the conference followed an objective of the Society’s founders - the distribution of Catholic literature). It is evident that shortage of funds was a continuing and vexing problem. Many, if not most of the parishioners would have been Irish migrants arriving by the free or assisted passage schemes of the Canterury Provincial Government in the 1850’s and 1860’s and Premier Vogel’s scheme of the 1870’s to procure labour for construction of railways and roads. Unlike the relatively prosperous settlers in the town and the pastoralists in the rural areas the majority of parishioners would have little left after living expenses for support of the Church and for charitable donations. In addition to the "secret collections" funds were raised by entertainments. One particular six monthly function was a "tea" for parishioners at which members waited on the table. Tickets were sold and any profits went to Conference funds. It was against the Rule for ladies to attend the Conference meetings. Many cases were handed to the ladies who reported to the Chaplain or President and on their recommendation the Conference supplied what was necessary.

The Saint Vincent de Paul Society includes 875,000 members in 47,000 Conferences in 131 countries of five continents. A husband and father, Blessed Frederic Ozanam offers an example of living with integrity and charity. His efforts anticipated the attention given by Vatican II to the lay apostalate, and he worked also to infuse a vision of service and discipleship in youth..