A new documentary on the Motherhouse of the Congregation of the Mission in Paris, Au Coeur de Paris: The Legacy of St. Vincent de Paul, is now available on YouTube and tells the story of St. Vincent de Paul and the Congregation of the Mission, framed within the story of the Motherhouse, which has served as the home of the Congregation of the Mission for 200 years.
Fr. Mark Pranaitis, C.M., worked on the project with the film’s writer and director, Manuel de Teffé, who was inspired to make the film while staying at the Motherhouse and researching St. Vincent for a separate project.
“It presents what the Motherhouse is about today and introduces some of the people who are a part of it,” Fr. Mark said. “The Vincentian community loves the way Vincent is honored in our chapel here, and they enjoy the hospitality they are offered when they come here for meetings or gatherings.”
The finished piece, produced by the Congregation of the Mission and funded by Vincentian International Mission Services, features beautiful photography and music and vividly tells St. Vincent’s story and that of the Vincentians with numerous references to central figures in the Vincentian story, such as St. Louise de Marillac, St. Catherine Laboure, St. John Gabriel Perboyre, and many others.
The 45-minute film is available on the Congregation of the Mission YouTube channel in numerous languages. The English version of the film can be viewed HERE.
A feature-length film on the life of St. Vincent, also written by de Teffé, is also in the works, commissioned by the Congregation of the Mission. Fr. Pranaitis said that picture is intended to honor the classic 1947 French film Monsieur Vincent and tell St. Vincent’s story to modern audiences.
Manuel de Teffeé’s father was an Italian actor in the 1970s, and Manuel has written a book about that era of filmmaking. He met Superior General Fr. Tomáz Mavric, C.M., four years ago, after which Fr. Tomáz approached him about writing a film about St. Vincent. Currently, Fr. Mark is helping get the screenplay for that film to a final draft, and the Congregation has entered, through VIMS, into a production agreement with a Catholic film production and distribution company based in France.
A release date has yet to be finalized for that film.