I first became involved with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul when the conference was started in our Parish [of Ss. Cyril & Methodius], some seven or eight years ago. My initial involvement was prompted by a desire to give back to the community as I feel that I have been abundantly blessed by the Lord. After about 8 months, Rosemarie became interested in our ministry and she joined as a Vincentian. Shortly thereafter, Roe became President of our conference.

Serving together as Vincentians has been beneficial from a practical standpoint. There's always someone at hand to partner on a home visit if no one else is available, and it's great to have a sounding board to discuss neighbor issues and try to come up with solutions. Beyond that, however, being fellow Vincentians has been an enriching and rewarding experience as we strive together to do God's work, and as we share the spiritual benefits of service to our neighbors.

To anyone interested in becoming a "Vincentian Couple," I would highly recommend it. It's a great way to travel together on a spiritual journey.

At first, I [Silvia] got an invitation from Msg. Molloy many years ago when the Conference was developing in St. Luke for the second time. He mentioned that someone from St. Vincent de Paul was coming that evening to talk about the work they do for families in need. I attended the meeting with other [parishioners] that evening and, became an active member since then. I used to talk with my husband about the work that we were doing in the conference. He became interested and he joined our group a couple of months later and since then we have been very active members, serving our families in need...We have held different roles during all the time we have been in this ministry, for about 20+ years, and we really have enjoyed working for the families in need. We really like to do this work because we work behind the scenes, and no one sees what we really do for the needy families. We feel very blessed because we are doing God’s works.

I think that serving together in our conference has helped us greatly as a couple, as parents and as members of our conference. Our Vincentian experience has allowed us to see the suffering of others and compare their situation with ours and understand that our problems are nothing in comparison with theirs. Most of the time we meet single mothers struggling by themselves, trying to raise their family alone and that makes us realize how much God has blessed us by keeping us together in good and bad times.

The work that we do as a Vincentian couple has allowed us to appreciate the many blessings that God pours on us. Sometimes we tend to ignore all the blessings because we haven’t experienced hardship but by doing this work, we discovered blessings that we would normally ignore, such as having a steady job, good health, each other, and a loving family. Serving together as Vincentians has been beneficial from a practical standpoint. There's always someone at hand to partner on a home visit if no one else is available, and it's great to have a sounding board to discuss neighbor issues and try to come up with solutions. Beyond that, however, being fellow Vincentians has been an enriching and rewarding experience as we strive together to do God's work, and as we share the spiritual benefits of service to our neighbors. To anyone interested in becoming a "Vincentian Couple," I would highly recommend it. It's a great way to travel together on a spiritual journey.