Frederic Ozanam and the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851: (September 2007)

Reading an address given by Fr. Richard McCullen, CM on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the society in Ireland, I discovered that Frederic Ozanam had visited the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, London. This was in the year 1851. However what most struck Frederic Ozanam was not the wonders of the Exhibition, but the plight of the poor Irish and Sicilian immigrants often crowded 14 to a room. It was the work of the Society in addressing the needs of these people, which drew the admiration of Frederic. They, as he, saw in the great poverty and need of these poor people the face of the suffering Christ.

Neither the Irish nor the Italians, at least in general, are forced to emigrate to find work and sustenance in our present world. But their places are taken by many others and not only in London or New York, but in Dublin, Belfast, and many places in Italy. Such has been the fortune of Ireland and Italy that they are now sought after places of refuge for many of the world’s poor.

Fr Perry Gildea - Vincentian Fathers

Cliftonville Road, Belfast 15

Already, the SVP is addressing the needs of this new wave of impoverished people. Fr. McCullen in the article already mentioned, comments that what distinguished the Society from its very beginning, and this was very much in the spirituality of St. Vincent himself, it was not simply an agency of relief but also a dispenser of the love and compassion of Christ.

Crystal Palace Exhibition 1851

It is always heartening to hear members of the SVP insist that visiting is the most essential aspect of their work. This is because it is only in the personal contact with those who seek help that the unique ministry of the Society can flourish. “This personal contact accompanied by patient listening and a profound acceptance of the individual is a very effective therapy in healing the wounds which poverty and injustice have left in the hearts of so many today.”

It is through the personal contact, through the patient and non-judgemental compassion offered by the members of the Society to each individual who comes for help, that they can be assured of the personal love of God for them. Members of the SVP are not simply distributors of aid but active members of the Body of Christ making his compassion and love available and known. This requires of all of us a serious effort to know Christ through prayer, our encounters with him in the sacraments, and in the words of the Scriptures.

Fr Perry (September 2007)

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