"Charity must never look back, but always ahead, for the number of its past benefits is always quite small, as the present and future miseries it should alleviate are infinite".--Frederic Ozanam

Frederic Ozanam, an Exemplary Life

On August 23, 1997, Blessed Frederic Ozanam will be beatified -- declared "Blessed" -- by Pope John Paul II. Celebrations of the beatification will take place in Paris, where Frederic was the primary founder of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.

The Saint Vincent de Paul Society includes 875,000 members in 47,000 Conferences (teams) in 131 countries of five continents. A husband and father, Blessed Frederic Ozanam offers an example of living with integrity and charity. His efforts anticipated the attention given by Vatican II to the lay apostalate, and he worked also to infuse a vision of service and discipleship in youth.

More about Frederic Ozanam and His Canonization