The full mission statement of the St. Ann Conference can be read here:

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 3:30 PM in Delaney Hall. If you are interested in becoming a member or are simply an interested party, please drop by our weekly Thursday food pantry, or see a SVdP member, or call our hotline at (302) 236-9279 for more information.

• Apr 13  Member Re-Commitment Ceremony, 5:30 PM Mass at OLG
• May 15 Cottage Café Dine and Donate
• Jun 7     Breaking Bread Fiesta 5-8 PM
• Jun 29   School Supplies project begins

Please consider getting involved with the St. Ann Conference in Bethany Beach! Contact our support number at (302) 236-9279 for additional information or feel free to visit us at one of our meetings in Delaney Hall on the second Tuesday (9:30 AM) or the fourth Tuesday (3:30 PM) of each month.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVdP) was founded in Paris by a group of dedicated students; their leader Frederic Ozanam was beatified in 1997. The Society and each of its Conferences operate under the guidance of a Rule, which sets out its organization and mission.  The first rule was authored in 1835 and has had numerous revisions over the years, the latest occurring in 2004.

The latest version of the Rule Of The International Confederation Of St. Vincent De Paul may be browsed here or downloaded here:

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul began in Paris, France, in 1833 when a young law student at the Sorbonne, Frédéric Ozanam, was challenged during a debate to demonstrate what he and his fellow Catholic students were personally doing to help the poor in Paris. Ozanam’s reaction was immediate. Within weeks, Ozanam, at 20 years of age, and six of his peers formed the first “Conference of Charity.” Under the conference, this group of seven men financed their works of charity out of their own pockets and from contributions of friends. They visited the poor in their homes, providing them with needed aid and assistance. At the prompting of Monsieur Emmanuel Bailly and Sister Rosalie Rendu, superior of a convent of the Daughters of Charity, Ozanam soon placed the conference under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul who had spent his life in 16th century France serving the poor. 

By the time of his death, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul consisted of 2,000 members.  Today, the work continues in what evolved to be the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, with 800,000 members in some 140 countries worldwide, whose members operate through “conferences”.   Each conference is composed of Catholic and non-Catholic volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to help those in need in their community.

Bl. Frédéric Ozanam’s Canonization Process Takes a Step Forward

On September 24th, the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, the local phase (where a local diocese directs the process) of the inquiry on the alleged miracle ascribed to Bl. Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam was concluded after conducting a thorough 11-month investigation. Sufficient evidence thereof must be gathered for canonisation. The closing ceremony was held at the Archdiocesan Curia of Mariana (Brazil), presided over by Archbishop Airton José dos Santos. On this occasion, the 16th President General, our fellow member Renato Lima de Oliveira, was appointed ‘official courier’ of the documentation (900 pages) attesting the allegedly miraculous cure ascribed to Ozanam: reports, witness testimonies, as well as medical and expert evidence were packaged, duly wrapped and secured with seals; and our fellow member Renato Lima will personally deliver, God willing, this documentation to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints (Vatican Phase).

Feeding the hungry requires a community!

Our food pantry is there for our neighbors in need, but the pantry itself is in need! Many of the items we routinely give out are in short supply, and are hard to obtain. If you have any surplus of the things listed below, or are able to acquire them, would you please consider sharing with those who are less fortunate?

We ask that donations be brought to the pantry at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Thursdays at 8:00 AM. or after 9:30 AM, to assist us with managing traffic.

Our specific needs include the following:

Thanks so much for your kindness and continued support!

New members or interested parties are always welcome to join us at our meetings. If you are interested in joining or if you have any questions, please call our hotline number (302) 236-9279, and we’ll be more than happy to introduce ourselves. We have openings on both our food pantry and our neighbor contact/home visit teams. If you are interested, we also need volunteers for our garden, furniture project, fund raising, and long term care teams.

As our rule states, “No work of charity is foreign to the Society.” We perform any type of help within our abilities “that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity and personal integrity.”

If you wish to contribute to our work by a check, please make it out to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and mail it to the Society at P.O. Box 879, Ocean View, DE 19970. Alternatively, you may use one of the special St. Vincent envelopes (with the tan stripe), now available at the entrance to Church or in your bi-monthly parish envelope package; and drop that envelope in any collection basket.

If you, or someone you know, needs help with food, please visit the food pantry at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Thursday mornings between 8:30 PM and 10:00 AM; except for the second Thursday of each month. On that day, the pantry will be closed in the morning, but will open from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Those who are seeking other services or assistance are welcome to present those needs at the pantry at that time, or they may simply call our hotline at (302) 236-9279.

Thanks to all of our parishioners and other contributors who enable our outreach!!

Links

National Council of the United States
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Wilmington Council
St. Ann Council Members Page