On Friday, July 31, four young men pronounced Good Purposes after their yearlong novitiate as members of the Vincentian community. The Mass and vow ceremony was held virtually in accordance with pandemic restrictions. While contained to a small audience, Noe Garcia, Milton Lara, Wilber Mejia, and Alex Jose Palacios pronounced their commitment as vowed members. Additionally, Vy Tuan Nguyen, Juan Carlos Perez, and Peter Dai Tran were welcomed into the community as novices.

Known as “Good Purposes,” the men will serve a three-year commitment to grow in knowledge and practice of vows Vincentians strive to live by; poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability.

All four men are May 2019 graduates of St. John’s University with degrees in Philosophy. They have served in Vincentian ministries in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Alabama. In August they will began a four-year program of theological studies at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, while residing at DeAndreis House of Studies in Manayunk.

The Vincentians of the Eastern Province are fortunate to have these young men fulfill a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, Evangelizer of the Poor, in the way of St. Vincent de Paul.