Saint Vincent Pallotti - San Vincenzo Pallotti
Priest, Founder of the Pallotines, the Society of the Catholic Apostolate
Born on 21 April 1795, died on 22 January 1850 - from Rome
Beatified on 22 January 1950 by Pope Pius XII
Canonized on 20 January 1963 by Pope John XXIII
Feast day - 22 January
3 2us by Father Wolfgang Weiss SAC: "Men and women, priests, religious, lay people, they all came together and had one only goal: to spread faith and enkindle charity, as Pallotti wrote quite often. And how? Well, they were the ways of new evangelisation. What he wanted was that among Catholics their faith would come alive again. And then a second goal he had, to spread the faith among people who had never heard of Christ. And the third point, works of charity. And when we ask what was his charism, what was his great idea behind it? I would say that he clearly saw that sanctity and apostolate belong together. You cannot be an apostle without really striving for sanctity and you cannot become a saint when you close your eyes to the needs of the others. You have to be an apostle in order to be a saint, you have to be a saint in order to become an apostle. And you can evangelise only what you love. That was the great message Pallotti had for us. And when we ask him, what is the foundation of your conviction? Why do you think it has to be this way? Well, he said, we are all created in God’s image and likeness, and God is love, is infinite love, and we should therefore be images of this infinite love of God, we should make His love visible, tangible, in the world of today." ♦