A Vincentian Creed

I BELIEVE in God, the Lord of history who is and who comes;

I BELIEVE in Jesus Christ, the Lord of life, who gave Himself for me, for you, for all without exception and who awaits me in the tabernacle; who is delivered as food under the species of bread and wine; who speaks to me in the desperate cry of the poor and the hungry and who presents himself in the suffering of the sick, the prisoner and the excluded.

I BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit who is present since creation, who acts and sanctifies the Church;

I BELIEVE in the one who heard and begot the Word, Most Holy Mary;

I BELIEVE with all the men and women of yesterday who left their mark on history:
Prophets who heard the cry of a people and the call of God; Apostles who witnessed to the love and mercy of God: Paul of Tarsus, Francis of Assisi, John XXIII, John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Abbé Pierre and all who did not believe in vain.

I BELIEVE in our founders:

Vincent de Paul, apostle of charity, who teaches us to love the poor with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows;
Louise de Marillac, who welcomed the love of God as a treasure of the Spirit and lived it in her loving commitment to the service of the poorest of the poor.

I BELIEVE in the missionaries who, following the evangelizing Christ of the poor, gave their lives as an offering to the Father: Margarita Naseau, Rosalie Rendu, Francis-Régis Clet, Joan-Antide Thouret, Mary Magdalene Fontaine and fellow martyrs, Pier Giorgio Frassati, Justin de Jacobis, Ghebre Miguel, John Gabriel Perboyre, Frederic Ozanam, the martyrs of the revolution, Lindalva Justo de Oliveira, Catherine Laboure, Marta Wiecka and many others, who in their passion for Christ and humanity dreamed of a better world and who died in the struggle for justice and love.

I BELIEVE in today’s missionaries: they are a sign of hope in a world of hopelessness; who are transformed by the spirit; who are creative in action and apostles in prayer; who are a reflection of the love and mercy of God to those whom the world despises; who embody the Word of God and live it in response to their baptism. All of them inspired by the Holy Spirit are living testimony of the work of Saint Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac.

I BELIEVE in the Lord of history – – of yesterday and today and tomorrow.

Source: FamVin
Original source: Corazón de Paúl website.