Vincentian Spirituality is a participation in the spirit of Christ himself, as proposed by St. Vincent: “He sent me to preach the good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). Hence, “Jesus Christ is the rule of the mission” and shall be considered as the center of its life and activity (SV, XII, 130).

The spirit of the congregation is therefore comprised of those intimate personal attitudes of Christ which our Founder recommended to the members from the beginning: love and reverence towards the Father, compassionate and effective love for the poor, and docility to divine providence (Constitutions, art. 6).

The Congregation, furthermore, tries to express its Spirit in five virtues drawn from its own special way of looking at Christ, namely, Simplicity, Humility, Gentleness, Mortification, and Zeal for Souls. Speaking of these five virtues, St. Vincent said: “The Congregation should pay special attention to developing and living up to these five virtues so that they may be, as it were, the faculties of the soul of the whole Congregation, and that everything each one of us does may always be inspired by them (Common Rules, 11, 14) (Constitutions, art. 7).

Members of the Congregation continually strive for a deeper knowledge of this spirit, by returning to the gospel and to the example and teaching of St. Vincent, mindful that our spirit and our ministries ought to nourish one another.