Today, September 27, we celebrate the feast day of
Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), founder of the Congregation of the Mission, and servant to his fellow man. Saint Vincent is a model of Christian charity, caring for all, and revolutionizing the mission work of the Church. Truly modeling his life on that of Christ, Saint Vincent placed himself at the feet of the poor, assisting in their need, but more importantly, recognizing the sanctity and dignity of every human life.
Saint Vincent was born into a peasant farming family in Pouy, France. A highly intelligent youth, he excelled at academics, and sought the priesthood primarily for social advancement and monetary gain. At that time, escaping the peasant life was difficult, and entering a religious order was one of the only manners in which to change one’s station in life.
Vincent spent four years with the Franciscan friars in Acq, France, and excelled at his education. He supported himself through tutoring the children of the wealthy, and was ordained a priest at the young age of 19. Shortly thereafter, he was captured by Turkish pirates, and sold into slavery, where he remained for several years. He eventually converted one of his owners to Christianity, and later escaped.
Returning to France, Vincent was assigned to a small parish. Having begun his ministry with less than pure intentions and motives, the Lord sought to change Vincent’s heart. Spending time with those who lived in poverty, with little education, Vincent was shocked to discover how his fellow man was being forced to live. He was able to empathize with them, given his own imprisonment. Moreover, he learned how little that his congregation knew of their faith, and began preaching the importance of confession and repentance.
He could have never predicted the response of his parishioners. Lines for confession stretched out the doors of the parish chapel, and the faithful waited for hours to pour out their hearts to Saint Vincent. More than anything, they hungered for the Gospel, and for priests to minister to their basic needs (as well as their spiritual needs). In 1626, Vincent and three priests pledged to, in his own words,
"Aggregate and associate to ourselves and to the aforesaid work to live together as a Congregation…and to devote ourselves to the salvation of the poor country folk.” With that, The Congregation of Priests of the Mission (the Lazarists) was established. With
Saint Louise de Marillac, he similarly founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity.
The congregations Saint Vincent established spread quickly throughout France, largely due to he and his fellow founders’ travel and preaching efforts. Membership grew, and the congregations started social and community justice organizations committed to helping the poor, sick, unemployed, imprisoned, and uneducated. Saint Vincent worked tirelessly to bring dignity and justice to the destitute, enslaved, abandoned, forgotten, and ignored. The more society looked down upon an individual, the more Saint Vincent became his servant. His basic vision was simply that the Good News of Jesus Christ should be announced to the poor through word and service.
Within his lifetime, the Congregation of the Mission had spread throughout the world, and chapters remain active today in all corners of the globe. At his funeral, it was declared that Saint Vincent had “transformed the face of the Church.”
Saint Vincent de Paul knew how to make his work responsive to all kinds of misery, whether physical or moral, determined to remedy it and finding an appropriate solution for every situation. He was the initiator of assistance to abandoned children, to prisoners, victims of catastrophe, refugees, and housebound invalid. Bending himself to the pattern of his model, Jesus Christ, he place himself at the service of the poor, “who are our lords and our masters.” He taught that true charity does not consist only of distributing alms, but of helping the abject to regain their dignity and independence.
He believed in the virtue of action and he loved to use this succinct motto: “Action is our entire task.” He would then add that “Perfection does not come from ecstasy but rather from doing the will of God.” However, he recommended long prayer and meditation before action so that one could come to recognize the divine will. Above all, this man of action was a man of prayer and deep spirituality:
“You must have an inner life, everything must tend in that direction. If you lack this, you lack everything.”.
We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.
The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.
Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?
The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.
Free your mind from all that troubles you; God will take care of things. You will be unable to make haste in this (choice) without, so to speak, grieving the heart of God, because he sees that you do not honor him sufficiently with holy trust. Trust in him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfillment of what your heart desires.
It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer…. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity.
Human nature grows tired of always doing the same thing, and it is God’s will that this because of the opportunity of practicing two great virtues. The first is perseverance, which will bring us to our goal. The other is steadfastness, which overcomes the difficulties on the way.
We should strive to keep our hearts open to the sufferings and wretchedness of other people, and pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion which is truly the spirit of God.
Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.
As it is most certain that the teaching of Christ cannot deceive, if we would walk securely, we ought to attach ourselves to it with greatest confidence and to profess openly that we live according to it, and not to the maxims of the world, which are all deceitful. This is the fundamental maxim of all Christian perfection.
We have never so much cause for consolation, as when we find ourselves oppressed by sufferings and trials; for these make us like Christ our Lord, and this resemblance is the true mark of our predestination.
Perfection consists in one thing alone, which is doing the will of God. For, according to Our Lord’s words, it suffices for perfection to deny self, to take up the cross and to follow Him. Now who denies himself and takes up his cross and follows Christ better than he who seeks not to do his own will, but always that of God? Behold, now, how little is needed to become as Saint? Nothing more than to acquire the habit of willing, on every occasion, what God wills.
He who allows himself to be ruled or guided by the lower and animal part of his nature, deserves to be called a beast rather than a man
Whoever wishes to make progress in perfection should use particular diligence in not allowing himself to be led away by his passions, which destroy with one hand the spiritual edifice which is rising by the labors of the other. But to succeed well in this, resistance should be begun while the passions are yet weak; for after they are thoroughly rooted and grown up, there is scarcely any remedy.
The first step to be taken by one who wishes to follow Christ is, according to Our Lord’s own words, that of renouncing himself - that is, his own senses, his own passions, his own will, his own judgment, and all the movements of nature, making to God a sacrifice of all these things, and of all their acts, which are surely sacrifices very acceptable to the Lord. And we must never grow weary of this; for if anyone having, so to speak, one foot already in Heaven, should abandon this exercise, when the time should come for him to put the other there, he would run much risk of being lost.
We ought to deal kindly with all, and to manifest those qualities which spring naturally from a heart tender and full of Christian charity; such as affability, love and humility. These virtues serve wonderfully to gain the hearts of men, and to encourage them to embrace things that are more repugnant to nature.
It ought to be considered a great misfortune, not only for individuals, but also for Houses and Congregations, to have everything in conformity with their wishes; to go on quietly, and to suffer nothing for the love of God. Yes, consider it certain that a person or a Congregation that does not suffer and is applauded by all the world is near a fall.
