Putting On the Virtue of Gentleness
December 12, 2022
Gentleness involves compassion for others. St. Vincent states that the missionary must be filled with compassion,1 particularly since he is called to serve the most miserable, the most abandoned, and those overwhelmed by spiritual and physical ills. He consistently links compassion with douceur. In the 12th rule for the Daughters of Charity he states: “Their principal concern shall be to serve the sick poor, treating them with compassion, gentleness, cordiality, respect, and devotion.”2 He tells the Daughters that their holiness consists in observing their rules well and in the right spirit by serving the poor with love, gentleness, and compassion.3 During the conference given on July 24, 1660, “On the Virtues of Louise de Marillac,” it was precisely this mixture of douceur and compassion that one of the sisters noted in Louise.4
1CCD XI, 77.
2CCD X, 331.
3CCD X, 353.
4CCD X, 727.
Source: Fr. Robert P. Maloney, C.M. A Further Look at “Gentleness”
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