St. Vincent Martyr School - Madison, NJ
The Vincentian Award Recipient

Founded in 1848, Saint Vincent Martyr School is the oldest Catholic school in the Diocese of Paterson and the first Catholic parish school in the State of New Jersey. Although the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth were founded in Newark in 1859, our Motherhouse was relocated to rural Morris County in July 1860. One of our first missions was Saint Vincent School. Sister Teresa Vincent and Sister Ulrica commuted from the Motherhouse to the village every morning and returned to Convent at the close of the school day, traveling in a horse-drawn carriage known as the "Black Maria." Mother Mary Xavier Mehegan referred to these Sisters as the "Village Maidens," in imitation of Saint Vincent de Paul whose Daughters of Charity went out each day to minister to the needs of sick and poor people in Paris. It was during the pastorate of the Very Reverend Dean Lambert that the former rectory was remodeled as a convent for the Sisters teaching in the school, who were led by Sister Mary Eusebia as the local superior.

During the Spanish flu epidemic of 1917-1918 the Sisters from Saint Vincent School volunteered their emergency services in the Y.M.C.A. building. Their service to the people of Madison in this trying time helped to overcome the anti-Catholic bigotry among some of the borough's citizens.

There was a period (June 1989 to June 2007) when the Sisters of Charity neither taught in the school nor worked in the parish, although some continued to live in the convent. In September 2007 Sister Ann Carmela Olive returned to SVMS to teach third grade. She taught religion at several grade levels in subsequent years. She was joined by Sister Noreen Holly as a classroom teacher in September 2011, who then was appointed principal the following September. The faculty was augmented by Sister Mary Elizabeth Davies and Sister Mary Culhane who shared their extensive teaching experience as volunteers.

The mission of Saint Vincent Martyr School - to provide a Catholic education in which the student is exposed to the best learning experiences, spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically, in order that he/she may live a fruitful Christian life - would resonate with those early Sisters of Charity and all who followed them at SVMS.