About This Journal
The thirty-two volumes of Annals of the Congregation of the Mission: A Collection of Edifying Letters (1894-1926) represent the English-language translation of those same years of Les Annales de la Congregation de la Mission , a French periodical published by the Congregation of the Misson via the Vincentian motherhouse in Paris. The letters, communiques, and updates included in each issue were meant to keep the community apprised of the activities of their confreres around the world.
Most similar to the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi (published by the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, a Catholic administrative body that oversees Church missionary activity), The Annals , while successful, proved to be too much translation work for the Vincentians (each volume running approximately 700 pages). The run ended in 1926.
Still, the information included in these thirty-two volumes is invaluable in understanding the Vincentian community. The lives and missionary work of countless Vincentian priests and Daughters of Charity are detailed, and the volumes also contain eyewitness accounts of missionaries, chaplains, and battlefield nurses who experienced conflicts including the First Sino-Japanese War, the Phillippine Revolution and Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution, and most importantly World War I.
These volumes are in the process of being digitized and made available online by DePaul University Library , where the volumes reside as part of the Vincentian Studies Collection, with generous assistance from DePaul's Office of Mission and Values.
This project began in 2016, with the first eight volumes becoming available in early 2017. The next eight volumes will be available in early 2018, and so on. The digitization of all thirty-two volumes of The Annals is due to be completed in 2020.
For more information about this project, The Annals , DePaul's Vincentian Studies Collection, or the Vincentian family, please contact Depaul University Library Special Collections & Archives.