New Chapel Serves as Spiritual Anchor for St. Vincent de Paul

Each day, the St. Vincent de Paul Society buzzes with activity.  

Staff and volunteers feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, assist people with filling life-saving prescriptions, and provide them help with finding employment. 

The newly dedicated St. Louise de Marillac Chapel is expected to become SVdP's spiritual hub providing a peaceful setting for employees, volunteers, and community members to worship, meditate, and reflect.

Bishop Michael G. Duca was joined by clergy in the Diocese of Baton Rouge in dedicating the chapel on Aug. 12.

The chapel was designed to be a serene and reflective space witTop right photo: Bishop Michael G. Duca and clergy from the diocese celebrated a Mass and dedicated the SVdP St. Louise de Marillac Chapel. 
Above Photo: Bishop Duca sprinkles holy water in the chapel. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentatorh traditional features that reflect its spiritual purpose, according to SVdP officials. It is 2,900 square feet, including the overflow, and holds 85 people One of the prominent highlights is a beautiful crucifix that was created by Frank Hayden.

Bishop Duca sprinkled holy water on the church's walls, altar, and the people present, symbolizing purification and a reminder of baptism. 

“At the heart of the St. Vincent de Paul we have a place where we can come to celebrate the greatest gift of love we receive from the Lord as a Catholic. That is the Eucharist, the celebration of the Mass where we are not just reminded of the Eucharist, we are fulfilled, strengthened, and reaffirmed and drawn deeper in into that mystery,” said Bishop Duca.

He recalled that in the Old Testament, the first thing that Abraham did when he arrived at the promised land and Noah did when he first stepped on dry land was build an altar. 

“That grounds us in a very visible way,” the bishop said. 
 Sunnie Johnson-Lain, CEO of SVdP, proclaims the word at the Mass. 
He added, “We’ve blessed this altar, blessed this place, that it might be a sign of what we’re already doing. It will be a reminder of where our source of strength is, willing to give more and more, because that’s the nature of love.”

Sunnie Johnson-Lain, SVdP CEO, spoke about the chapel's namesake, St. Louise de Marillac. 

The French saint struggled to find God’s will for her life: she married, had a child, discerned the religious life, and struggled to find God’s will in the ups and downs of life’s fortunes. 

When her husband, Antoine, died, St. Louise dedicated her life to caring for her son and maintaining her household and caring for the poor in the spirit of a religious sister. Soon, she was forced to move out of her fine home and seek more modest housing. It was there that she began ministering to the poor along with St. Vincent de Paul.

"St. Vincent de Paul saw in her a path for some of the work he wanted to do," said Johnson-Lain.
Helping to prepare the altar are, Kim Boudreaux, SVdP council president, and Andy Adler, SVdP board chair. St. Louise and St. Vincent de Paul co-founded the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The religious order was the first non-cloistered community of women dedicated to active charitable works. 

"When I think about St. Louise, I think about a woman who has known challenge, who has known struggle, who knows what it is to be a mother and a grandmother, who knows what it is to be disappointed. Who knows what it is to wait for something that you want for a very, very long time," said Johnson-Lain. "That sounds like a lot of the neighbors we serve here. I think the for the same reason she's just the right person for whom this chapel is to be named."

Johnson-Lain thanked Michael Acaldo, who was president/CEO of Baton Rouge SVdP before being named national CEO of SVdP.

"He had a dream (for the chapel) and I'm glad he is here tonight to see its completion," said Johnson-Lain.

She further expressed her thanks to architect Robert Lunsford, the SVdP staff, friends, and benefactors.Bringing up the candles for the altar are chapel benefactors Cary and Rick Kearny. Cary also assisted with the interior design of the chapel.
 

"When I talk about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, I often say it's a formation program disguised as service. The service is the mechanism by which we become the best, the truest and fullest version of ourselves."

Johnson-Lain quoted SVdP Society founder, Frédéric Ozanam: "My goal is to become better and to do a little good."

"That becoming better is what we're here for. It's becoming the person God designed us to be, and I'm grateful that we get to worship together in this space to become a little better," said Johnson-Lain.