From his appearance portrayed in pious images, one can not say enough to praise this Saint, who deserves the title of father of all the suffering.
Newsroom (15/01/2022 5:55 PM Gaudium Press) If it were not for this confession, I would have condemned myself! – exclaimed the dying man, revealing, before everyone, the sad state of soul in which he had lived for so many years, confessing only halfheartedly and being tormented by remorse, to the point of losing hope of saving himself.
Only then, thanks to the firm and kind exhortation of his confessor, had he regained peace of conscience and confidence in the mercy of God.
If that was the situation of that honorable peasant, what could it be for the other people in the region? As elsewhere in the country, one could feel the spiritual misery of its children, most of them abandoned at the mercy of unzealous and poorly educated pastors.
There were even priests who did not know how to celebrate Mass. Each improvising his own liturgical ceremonial and many who were ignorant of the formula for absolution.
It was urgent to do something to help the flock and, above all, to train those who were supposed to guide them and be an example to them. How could such profound needs be resolved?
The missions
A few days later, St. Vincent went up to the pulpit in the Church of Folleville and preached to the people, explaining the importance and usefulness of the General Confession and encouraging the faithful to benefit from it. Indeed, he obtained excellent results.
With the help of the Jesuits of the Diocese of Amiens, he dedicated himself to confessing and catechizing the local population. When he finished his task, he went to the neighboring villages, proceeding the same way and achieving similar success.
In this way, as he scoured the countryside in search of stray sheep, the humble Father Vincent, then 36 years old, was sowing the first seeds of his masterpiece: the Congregation of the Mission. Its members – known as Lazarists because they had gathered in the former leprosarium of Saint Lazare in Paris – would extend “the kingdom of the Divine Master to those places where his glory was forgotten and his vineyard idle and fruitless for lack of workers.”
By defining the purpose of this institute, the founder, in his desire to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ, left three principles that can well summarize the glorious Vincentian epic:
First, to work on one’s perfection, doing everything possible to practice the virtues that the Sovereign Master has deigned to teach us by his word and example.
Second, to preach the Gospel to the poor, particularly to the peasants.
Third, to help ecclesiastics acquire the science and virtues necessary for their state.
A charitable Saint
As we contemplate these brief biographical sketches of Saint Vincent de Paul, we may wonder where in that context does the conception of some paintings that portray him smiling and welcoming, carrying a sleeping child on his lap and looking compassionately at the little one sheltering under his mantle fit.
It is not difficult to find an explanation if we compare his life to a polished stone. Those who look closely at him will see that these images reflect one side – undoubtedly the most beautiful – of his rich personality. But, they also can see many other, less-known sides to him that are equally worthy of being admired by the faithful.
As for the character represented in the pious images, one can never say enough to praise this man, who well deserves the title of father of all the suffering.
In the middle of the 17th century, his influence made Christian charity spread all over France and throughout the world. He inspired the generosity of the rich and powerful in favor of the poorer classes.
Abandoned children, the sick, the elderly, the insane, misguided youth, prisoners, slaves, victims of war, among others, make up the multitudinous procession of unfortunates on whom the protective hand of Saint Vincent rested.
It was neither natural gifts nor academic preparation – of which he had an abundance – that was the secret to the effectiveness of his apostolic activities, but love for God, the only source of true love for the neighbor.
His projects began under the sign of this virtue, and in its spirit, they consolidated and spread throughout the world, showing that the solution to social problems begins by placing God at the center of hearts.
Following the same spirit, Vincent modeled the Institute of the Daughters of Charity, founded by him and Louise de Marillac. In one of his conferences to young religious women, he stated in no uncertain terms what the priority should be in caring for the sick:
“Our Lord’s purpose when founding your Company was not that you should care only for the body because there would never be a shortage of people to do this; he intended that you should care for the souls of the poor sick […].
A Turk and an idolatrous can care for the body equally, and Our Lord would not have instituted a Company just for that because nature itself demands it.
However, the same cannot be said [of the care] of the soul; not all can exercise it, and for this reason, God has chosen you above all to teach them the things necessary for their salvation. Consider this well and say:
Have I cared for the poor only concerning the physical? If I have been concerned only with giving them food, medicine, and other things of the body, I have not done my duty.”
A Fiery Soul
Besides the combat waged against misery, our Saint was in front of a battle of enormous importance that took place in France in the middle of the 17th century. That was when the Vincentian apostolate was at its peak of productivity and expansion.
It was not an ostensive enemy; on the contrary, it was so subtle that it was not even declared as such: Jansenism. And it was then that his combativeness, another facet of his adamantine soul, shone through specially.
Facing the icy winds of a wrong doctrine, Vincent’s fidelity to the Church manifested itself not only in a vigorous rejection, when the Jansenists wanted to entangle him in their fallacies, but also in his skillful acting as a defender of the Faith, in the manner of the ancient Fathers.
Holding a privileged position in the Council of Conscience of the Regent Queen, Anne of Austria, he watched the breaches through which heresy intended to infiltrate, prevented the conferring of dignities to its sowers, and took measures to keep them away from the pulpits.
Relying on the enormous influence he exerted over different ecclesiastical sectors, he gathered and maneuvered the Catholic forces to make the truth triumph. Furthermore, he guided the three Catholic doctors sent by the French clergy to Rome to ask Pope Innocent X to condemn the dreadful heresy.
On May 31, 1653, the pontifical sentence was finally published in the Bull Cum Occasione. The Saint celebrated the victory with the unpretentiousness of authentic heroes.
Indeed, humility was the foundation on which the Highest built the monumental castle of Saint Vincent’s virtues. As we will see below, he perfectly accomplished the advice given to the missionaries: God does not tolerate emptiness; that is why, when we strip of ourselves, He will fill us with Himself.
A long preparation
Such a great mission was not the outcome of some superficial and passing enthusiasm but of a long preparatory path, which the Saint followed with all fidelity.
Vincent de Paul was born on April 24, 1581, in the tiny village of Pouy, located in the Landes region in southern France. Nevertheless, the blood that ran in his veins was Spanish, inheriting the determined character with which he carried out the daring ventures God had destined for him.
His father was quick to realize that the boy had a higher calling than shepherding. Although mixed with human interests, his father’s decision was right when he directed his son to an ecclesiastical career.
The young Vincent was ordained priest on September 23, 1600, before his 20th birthday. That was possible because of the lack of structure at the time – which he would later strive to correct.
Like so many other contemporary priests, he wanted to work for the Church and save souls. But, he also aspired to positions and particular benefits and exercised his ministry for almost a decade.
However, the Lord wanted him for Himself, and to purify him, sent him a painful ordeal. For three or four years, he suffered a dark night of the spirit, for he had offered himself to God to suffer in the place of a theologian the temptations against Faith that the latter had confided in him.
Finally, the hour of Providence came: when moved by grace, Father Vincent took the resolution to give himself to the service of the poor, out of love for Jesus Christ, the interior darkness dissipated, and he felt his soul filled with light.
That was the inaugural mark of his glorious trajectory as an apostle of charity.
Obeying the orders of his spiritual director, Father Pierre de Berulle, founder of the Oratory in France, Vincent renounced his honorable position as chaplain to Queen Marguerite of Valois. He became the pastor of the village of Clichy, near Paris. It was May 12, 1612.
Shortly, Berulle appointed him as a tutor for the children of Philip Manuel de Gondi, general of the galleys and royal lieutenant, whose wife was Marguerite de Silly, mistress of Folleville.
And it was while visiting the castles and lands of this noble lady that Father Vincent got to know at first hand the harvest to which he had to dedicate his life, and without delay, he put his best talents to use there.
After a long and fruitful existence marked by the purest and most authentic charity, Vincent de Paul gave his beautiful soul to God on September 27, 1660.
When he gave his last blessing to his spiritual sons, he said to them: God bless you; He who began this work will bring it to completion.
Compiled by Ena Alfaro