I.

Saint Vincent de Paul, Apostle and witness of the Charity of Christ to the poor, make us love God with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.

Help us to abandon ourselves to His Providence, faithful to discovering His action in all the events of our life. Support us in our desire to discern and fulfill the Will of God.

Obtain for us a tender and compassionate heart to the misery and sufferings of others especially of the most destitute of this world. Accompany us in our service to our brothers and sisters. Intercede for us to the Son of God, so that we become passionate for his Gospel of Love in our work, our family, our neighborhood, our parish, and our communities. Amen.

II.

O glorious St. Vincent, heavenly patron of all charitable associations and father of all who are in misery, while you were on earth you never refused anyone who came to you. Come then to our assistance! Obtain from the Lord: help for the poor, relief for the infirm, consolation for the afflicted, protection for the abandoned, a spirit of generosity for the rich, the grace of conversion for sinners, zeal for priests, peace for the Church, tranquility and order for all nations, and salvation for them all. Yes, let all men prove the effects of your merciful intercession, so that being helped by you in the miseries if this life, we may be united to you in the life to come, where there shall be no more grief, nor weeping, nor sorrow, but joy, gladness and everlasting happiness. Amen.

Lord Jesus, recalling your words, "I was sick and you visited me, hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink; I was naked and you clothed me," we consecrate ourselves to you today, in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, to the service of the poor, whom, from this time on, we will consider our masters.

Your bounty, O Lord, has placed us in a position to dry many tears, to soften many sorrows, and to solace much suffering. With you and through you, we desire to be dispensers of your spiritual and temporal treasures to the suffering and the poor.

St. Vincent de Paul, our Founder and Father, obtain for us the virtues of humility, simplicity and charity and your ardent zeal for souls. Thus, sharing in your work in this life, may we also come to share your glory in heaven. Amen.

After the Act of Consecration, the presiding Priest, standing before the altar, leads:

P. May theLord bless you in all your ways.

R. Now and forever.

P. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R. Who made heaven and earth.

R. Lord, hear my prayer.

P. And let my cry come to you.

R. The Lord be with you.

P. And also with you.

R. Let us pray.

ALL : O God, from whom all charity flows, to know You is to live and to serve you is to rule. We beg you to guide us, Your humble servants, in faithfully observing your law of charity. With your help, may we who serve the poor receive the reward you have promised to those who follow you in the way of love for suffering humanity.

O Lord Jesus Christ, enlighten us, your servants, so that we may know you, the true light of the world, and love you in perfect charity. Amen.

The presiding Priest gives his blessing to the members, saying:

May the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you and remain with you forever.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The ceremony may be concluded with appropriate music, or if held following the homily, with the continuation of the Eucharistic Celebration. The Ladies of Charity Hymn is sung after the Mass is over.

Grant us, dear Lord, the grace to be prudent in judgment and watchful in prayer, and above all things, to love You with all our hearts, and to have a constant mutual charity among ourselves, for charity covers a multitude of sins. Teach us to be hospitable, kind and patient with one another without murmuring.

According to the gifts and talents that each has received from You, dear Lord, help us to share with others as good stewards of Your manifold graces.

When we speak, let it be with Your words. And in helping others, Heavenly Father, let it be with the strength that You furnish through the Holy Spirit; that in all things You may be honored. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

P. Our Father...

R. Give us this day...

P. Hail Mary...

R. Holy Mary...

P. Glory be...

R. As it was in the beginning...

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Saint Louise de Marillac, pray for us.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.

Jesus, you who walk with those who are poor, we place ourselves in Your presence so that You might accompany us as we live out this Vincentian vocation that you have given to us and that we have accepted. Show us the path that will enable us to encounter You in our brothers and sisters who need our assistance. Help us to strip ourselves of everything that is foreign to our vocation (our selfishness, our comfort, our attachments)...everything that can prevent us from being good Vincentians. Help us to be your true witnesses so that we might also build up a better and more just world. We pray in the name of Jesus who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Lord, I am going to visit someone whom You have been pleased to call Your other Self. Grant that what I give and the spirit in which I give it may well received by this person. May the time we spend together bring both of us fruits for eternal life.

Lord, bless me by the hand of the poor.

Lord, smile on me in the face of the poor.

Lord, receive me one day in the holy companionship of Your poor.

Lord,

We are gathered here together, as volunteers, responsible for our Association, concerned for the destitute.

In each of our countries, we have a responsibility.

A responsibility for the poor, in a spirit of service;

A responsibility for an association and for the work it can accomplish and which it should accomplish.

We are also responsible for the image we give of the Church in carrying out the tasks to which you called us.

Lord, we dare to hope that you had a hand in our decision to accept this responsibility.

In our acceptance, we had the feeling that it was your divine will.

Lord, you know that most of the time, we do our work in spirit of duty and courage, but you also know that sometimes these responsibilities become heavy burden and we are filled with apprehension.

You know, Lord, that we volunteers are torn between the will to carry our task and the fear to being unable to do so.

You helped us to minimize our fears;

You helped us to take risks of moving forward.

Lord, we want to believe that it is You who have gathered us here to renew our faith.

To strengthen our will to work.

To give us courage if our faith should weaken.

Lord, we ask you to animate our work with your Spirit and Presence.

Lord, give us your spirit of sharing.

That on every occasion and every encounter we be eager to share with others.

Help us to share our joy and our friendship.

Help us to share our experience and our ideas.

Help us, Lord, to be able to give as well as to receive, because sharing is not only giving to others, but often, and even to a greater extent, it leans to accept and to receive.

Make us aware that we have much to learn from other; it is by what they teach us that You challenge us in one way of another.

Lord, give us a longing to search and seek the ability to listen.

In the talks we hear, help us to discern your message which they bring to us.

That our spirit and our heart be alert and seeking.

Help us to call our traditional ways of acting and thinking into question.

Help us to understand that traditions are a strength only in the measure in which your spirit constantly renews them.

Lord, give us the gift of faith.

Give us the conviction that our task is an important one.

And when we are in doubt, remind us that You will help us to achieve our task.

Amen.