The third part of the article explores how Vincentian spirituality can adapt to the modern world, characterized by secularization, estrangement from the Church and structural injustice. In a world alienated from the faith, the Vincentian mission focuses on evangelizing the poor and marginalized. Despite the autonomy of the secular world, Vincentian spirituality remains relevant because of its secular and missionary character. The article stresses that structural injustice, which affects multiple aspects of social life, is an opportunity for the followers of St. Vincent to fully live their charism. Finally, it points out the need for a renewal of the Vincentian spirit, emphasizing direct contact with the poor as the only way to God through Christ.

The Past and Future of the Vincentian Spirit (cont.)

3. Today’s World

I am not going to follow the customary post-conciliar approach of attempting a thorough and penetrating description of the tendencies and ways of the modern world. I will limit myself to three characteristics of that world that bear directly on three characteristics of Vincentian spirituality.

1) The world of today is a world distant from the Church.

First of all there is an immense number of believers in other religions (more than 3,500,000,000 people). But it also applies to a large percentage of baptized Christians and Catholics. At the same time, we have to acknowledge and thank God that in this world distant from the Church there are abundant signs of “the seeds of the Word.” For example: works for the poor and the struggle for human rights by individuals and organizations that are not officially Christian and that do not consider themselves Christian. These seeds of the Word spread throughout the world are doing good either by means of the historical and millennial influence of the Gospel and of the educational action of the Church, or by means of what theologians call “natural revelation.”

This reality of distance from the Church ought not to disillusion Vincentian organizations, for it places them in the middle of the world and in a state of mission that responds completely to their original missionary vocation. Regarding the Congregation of the Mission, this missionary vocation is seen in the very title, and, regarding the Daughters of Charity, their Constitutions affirm it: “The Company is missionary by its nature” (2.10).

“Missionary” in its strongest and most general meaning is applied to all the faithful who are concerned with attracting to Christ those who do not (explicitly) believe in him. Since the Christian world and the non-Christian world are full of such non-believers, there is no danger that the communities of St. Vincent will be without work in the foreseeable future.

Since mission according to Paul VI expresses the true nature of the Church (EN, 14), it is consequently true that Vincentian missionary spirituality finds its place in the very heart of what the Church is and ought to be. There are other, also very important, dimensions in the life and being of the Church; dimensions which refer to what might be called her internal life: worship, sacraments and shepherding the people of God in faith and in practice. The communities of St. Vincent live, of course, completely in these dimensions, since they also believe and live out the faith. However, the communities of St. Vincent were not created to maintain these dimensions. Theirs is to work for and among those who do not believe and/or do not practice. Their vocation is to be missionaries.

2) The second characteristic of the modern world that is of interest from our perspective is its autonomy, its secularity, its lay character.

Any one of these three terms can express what I have in mind here. Using all three avoids making a detailed analysis of each term. We will detail only what is of greatest interest to this work.

From about the 6th until the 18th century, the Church in large measure was able to instill a religious spirit (although not always specifically Christian) in nearly all the creations of European society, whether its social and political forms of living together, its cultural patterns, philosophy, history, and art or even its science and economics. Today, however, things have changed. The church’s monopoly and clerical dominance over nearly all the cultural forms of society have ended. There is no aspect of modern culture which does not see itself as autonomous and which does not rebuff in principle any type of tutelage or guidance from religious institutions. Everything in today’s world which does not specifically belong to the internal life of the Church strongly insists on its lay and secular character.

This second aspect of the modern world, like the first, ought not to disillusion our Vincentian spirit, because it also reveals to us a world inviting mission. When we remember that the words, “lay” and “secular” are analogical terms that have a positive meaning for us, it is valuable to recall, then, that the spirituality of St. Vincent has a secular and lay character.

Although the theology of religious life today is making efforts to orient itself to the world, it was not always this way, neither at the time of St. Vincent, nor before or after him. Religious life focused on centering oneself on God and keeping one’s distance from the world. That was the way not only in cloistered orders but also in those with apostolic goals.

By contrast . . . the mottos “to evangelize the poor” and “the charity of Christ urges us” suggest a secular orientation. What does charity urges us to? …to turn toward the poor of the world. It is true that for the Franciscans, so also for the men and women followers of St. Vincent, “Jesus Christ is the rule (of the Mission)” (CM Constitutions, 5; DC Constitutions, 1, 5). However, the Vincentians and Daughters know very well that the Christ whom they serve is not simply the poor Christ, but the Christ who came into the world to preach the Good News to the poor. All the Vincentian institutions were founded for the “secular,” in whatever way one wishes to understand that word (in the world, time or history) in order to move within the world and to bring it to God by means of Christ. So it is easy to understand the insistence of St. Vincent on the clearly secular character of his foundations (not diocesan, but missionary), including the clerical members of the Congregation of the Mission. The secular character of the members of all the Vincentian institutions and the lay membership of nearly all of them (excluding the clerics of the Congregation of the Mission) has made them very appropriate “instruments” for moving easily in a world which considers itself secular and lay.

However, there is still more, which it is good to recall, so that the clerical members of the Congregation of the Mission do not fall into the temptation of believing that they are the ones who primarily incarnate the Vincentian spirit, as if the rest (coadjutor Brothers, Daughters of Charity, AIC, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the youth) are not Vincentian except in a secondary and participative way. It is good to recall that throughout three centuries of history, the clergy have been only a small minority among the men and women who have considered themselves followers of St. Vincent. This means that the Vincentian spirit has been lived overwhelmingly in numbers and time (also today) by lay Christians in the world.

It is not a matter of asking the embarrassing question of who has lived out the life better, clergy or laity. Only God knows and God will tell us at the appropriate time. However, we can affirm that lay members in overwhelming numbers have lived out the Vincentian spirit during three centuries with total fidelity. They did so including the final and supreme test of love for Christ and for the poor that consisted in giving their lives for him and them.

The predominant and secular or lay character of the real world (and it seems like the future of the world for some time to come) suggests an interesting question for the future of the Vincentian spirit. Today, that same spirit lives incarnated in a great number (more than a million, as we noted above), out of whom some 2,800 are ordained priests of the Congregation of the Mission. The question is this: Does it not seem to indicate the fact that the non-clerical status, far from being an impediment for living out the Vincentian spirit in its fullness, lends itself more easily to living it out? Already we have said that the clerical status should not be an obstacle to living out the missionary dimension of the priesthood. The proof is in St. Vincent himself and in the many priests of the Congregation of the Mission, inspired by him. Neither the clerical nor the episcopal status are obstacles. Remember St. Justin de Jacobis, just to mention one example.

Clerical status should not be an obstacle. However, we have to admit frankly what we have seen happen frequently and continues to happen today. We see so many priests employing the major part of their time and energy, not in the work of the missions (although they are called missionaries: CM Constitutions, n. 51, 1), but in the works of the internal strengthening of the Church, especially in parishes. Perhaps there may be no easy answer to the actual situation in the short run, but through wise planning for the future, what the priests of the Congregation of the Mission can do at the very least (even though nothing is impossible, it is very likely that the number of Vincentian clerics will grow even smaller), is to dedicate a small part of their energy to animating and inspiring those who are not clerics. This work is also explicitly requested by the Constitutions (C. 1, 14, 17) and Statute 7. All this is done with the hope that the laity can bring to completion in the Vincentian circle that which the priests are not able to do by reason of their clerical status.

3) The third characteristic of the modern world that interests us and profoundly affects Vincentian spirituality is the fact of structural injustice.

To tell the truth, structural injustice does not belong exclusively to the modern world, because it is found in practically all known forms of social organization. What is new in this context is the following. First, no one attributes to God the injustice of the social organization (like they did in the past, and not so very long ago), but rather injustice is known and recognized as the work of human beings. Secondly, the consciousness of injustice is practically universal. This applies equally to those who are the victims of injustice, who previously were easily subjugated by injustice when it masqueraded as-the will of God, as well as those who benefit from injustice, who previously found all kinds of convenient reasons, even religious reasons, to justify their position of privilege.

Structural injustice in the modern world is not merely economic, but it shows itself in all the systems of the social order: access to healthcare, to culture, to the means of social communication, to many forms of sports and leisure; and finally to the benefits of the Church, although it may hurt to admit it. Today, as also in the time of St. Vincent, the poor masses are inadequately served by the efforts of the Church, unlike the well-to-do. The overall picture of social injustice is certainly depressing, but it ought not to dishearten the Vincentian soul, since that scene is the natural place of its activity and its care.

On this point, as was also noted in the first point of this section, it would be wonderful to look forward to that time when Vincentian institutions would be left without work. If by some stretch of the imagination (John 12, 8) all injustices and the resultant poverty ceased and universal justice would be established, then the end of history will have arrived for the Vincentian institutions which began in1617.

Let us summarize this section which tries to highlight the characteristics of the modern world that are most directly related to how we live Vincentian spirituality today, and which must be taken into account in order to be a spirituality for today, that is, an experience of faith which is alive and meaningful.

• Today’s world is a world far removed from the Christian vision of life and history. This aspect pushes us to be more focused on the missionary dimension of Vincentian spirituality, more than we have in the immediate past.
• Today’s world is a secular world which will be very difficult to evangelize from a clerical posture which tends, by its very nature, to center on the internal life of the Church. Since the time of Origin, in the third century, the word “cleric” was applied explicitly to those who dedicated their life to the service of the Church itself, in contrast to the rest of the people of God, the laity. In order to evangelize such a world, Vincentian spirituality will need to give a privileged place to secular and lay aspects which belong to its very origin.
• The real world is a profoundly unjust one which segregates the poor by themselves in numbers greater than in the past. Vincentian spirituality, centered on the spiritual experience of Christ-evangelizer-of-the-poor, has possibly before its eyes a panorama in which Vincentian spirituality can be expressed with an intensity maybe greater than in the time of St. Vincent.

4. The Future of the Vincentian Spirit

To realize such a project in the future, the Vincentian spirit will need to begin where the founder began, namely, by a true conversion, by turning-toward-the-poor. It will not be enough simply to turn more to Christ, that is to say, a Christ removed from the poor. Berulle had already done that. Before and after him, many other forms of spirituality did it too; forms which certainly took into account the poor, but in a manner, more or less, marginal and secondary. For the Vincentian spirit, the Christ who evangelizes the poor is not secondary but totally central.

This spiritual journey (access to God through Christ), this Vincentian journey, has to begin where Christ began and also where his disciple Vincent de Paul began. We need to begin in the world of the poor, in physical contact and close to them. The Vincentian organizations and members who compose them cannot convert themselves into bureaucratic agencies that try to improve the living condition of the disenfranchised through a kind of ministry of social well-being. For each one of them, dedication to the poor is the only road that gives access to God through Christ. The most direct relationship possible with the actual poor is the first step that opens its proper way toward God.

This first step cannot be avoided. Anyone with a Vincentian soul who removes himself or herself from direct contact with the poor, for whatever reason (studies, sickness, work in an institution, age…) ought to feel a tension which makes him or her uncomfortable about being physically distant from their proper world, which also nourishes their spiritual life.

On the other hand, neither the Constitutions of the Congregation of the Mission nor those of the Daughters of Charity mention explicitly how to relate certain expressions of personal or communal piety (expressions which have always been considered essential elements of any spirituality) with the spirit of their proper spirituality, the evangelization of the poor. Nothing is said about the Vincentian dimension when speaking about fundamentals like the Eucharist (CM Constitutions, 45,1 / DC Constitutions 2.12); penance (45, 2 / 2, 13, S.8); liturgical prayer ( 45, 3 / 2. 12); spiritual exercises (47, 1 / 2. 14, S. 10); and devotion to the Virgin Mary (49,1 / 12, 2. 11, 2.16, S. 7). Referring to those necessary aspects of all spirituality, the Constitutions, which define Vincentian spirituality now and in the future, leave the followers of St. Vincent without knowing how to integrate those aspects with what constitutes the soul of their spiritual life. The Constitutions do not state how to understand daily Eucharist or devotion to the Virgin Mary in relation to one’s dedication to the poor. It runs the risk of a certain spiritual schizophrenia when one ends up not knowing how to integrate and unify the center of one’s own spirituality with the fundamental elements intended to nourish it. This danger is, of course, very real. Look at this: how much of our veneration of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal remain merely enthusiastic devotions but do not serve to help us in evangelizing the poor?

The abundant and profound theological-exegetical investigations of the last 50 years have succeeded in emphasizing the importance, fundamental for the Christian faith, of what is now called the historical Jesus, the historical journey of Jesus which began in Bethlehem and ended on the cross and in the tomb. In reality, this was the Christ who served as a definite model for the spiritual experience of St. Vincent. So, it seems that his personal, spiritual genius would feel at home in the theological vision predominant in contemporary biblical studies.

Such work still remains to be done in the area of Mariology (although something is being done). The infrequent though significant references of Saint Vincent to the Virgin Mary always point to the “historical” Mary and not to Mary assumed and glorified, the dimension which has dominated in theological circles and popular piety until this very day. The true Mary, however, who serves as model and inspiration for the Vincentian spirit, is the “historical” Mary of the “fiat,” the one who visited Elizabeth, the one of the birth and infancy of Jesus, the one at the wedding feast of Cana, at Calvary, at Pentecost, and most especially the Mary who in the Magnificat announced with joy and thanksgiving and with tremendous power the full redemption of the poor and the total ruin of those who believe themselves rich and powerful.

All that we have been saying points out two dynamics: on the one hand, the necessity of returning decisively to that which is most basic to the heart of St. Vincent’s theological vision, and, on the other hand, the value of using contemporary theological formulations which can reflect Vincent’s spiritual sensitivity adapted to our times. If Vincentian communities cannot produce or in fact do not produce such formulations, it would seem to be wise to borrow from competent theologians who have indeed produced them. Today, in the Church, there are theological models which certainly seem to formulate in a “modern” fashion those fundamental aspects, proper to St. Vincent de Paul. One example is liberation theology.

The spiritual experience of St. Vincent is completely Christocentric, as all the experts who know him well observe. That is a definite and fundamental fact. It is also the spiritual experience of St. Louise. This evidence is clear in itself, but besides that we know St. Louise was the person who best assimilated the Vincentian spirit from the very beginning and before any other person. This being true, it is not necessary to give much credence to one of the best experts about both founders, Jean Calvet, when he stated that the spiritual vision proper to St. Louise was more properly centered on the Holy Spirit. This affirmation of Jean Calvet, nevertheless, reminds us of something very fundamental which we are in the habit of forgetting frequently: the role of the Holy Spirit.

Explicit references of St. Vincent to the person of the Holy Spirit and its influence in history are actually quite limited, which is not the case with St. Louise, who offers many explicit references to the Holy Spirit. Now then, a true Christian spirituality cannot pass over something that in the very teaching of Christ appears fundamental. Jesus himself attributes to the Holy Spirit all that the Christian is able to do from the Ascension onwards.

The role of the Spirit is not some abstract dogmatic affirmation without a real relationship with history, but actually the key and the soul of history. Based firmly on the words of the Lord, the Church and its members under the action of the Holy Spirit have to adapt the teachings of Christ in changing historical circumstances. This function is not limited to the teaching authority proper to the hierarchy. For example, the Christian (and the follower of Vincent) under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are called to learn how to discern “the cry of the poor” in changing historical circumstances as a sign of the will of God, without always waiting for an official word from the Church hierarchy. “The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds so that we may know more thoroughly the needs of the world” (CM Constitutions, 43); “…attention to persons, their lives, the social-cultural realities of people and attention to the Holy Spirit of God who is acting in the world…” (DC Constitutions 2.8).

All that we are saying above ought not to create problems for the Vincentian spirit in the modern world. The two founders are models of courageous adaptation of an ancient spirit of charity in the historical circumstances of their times, certainly without getting ahead of Providence (the historical action of the Holy Spirit). They responded with bravery and imagination to their changing times.

There is a lack of similar valor and imagination in one area: the updating of the works of the Congregation. When one appeals to our glorious and historic past as a criterion for maintaining a house or a work that no longer meets the proper end of the Congregation, he is naming a criterion which the founder never considered and which the Constitutions do not take into account.

We need to avoid the trap of preserving things at all costs or giving way to timidity and undue respect for history. From the “historical” life of Jesus and from the spiritual and historical experiences of the founders, we need to extract the founding elements for today, without neglecting our own spiritual experience of being Vincentian. However, knowing how to apply them to changing, historical circumstances and to the changing forms of poverty, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is another matter.

5. Conclusion

All the organizations founded by St. Vincent or inspired by his spiritual experience are today trying to reformulate and to relive the original experience adapted to these times.

Why would it be necessary to reformulate it? Is it not enough simply to read the 13 volumes of letters, conferences and documents in which the original experience was imparted? Actually, it would be enough to return to rereading them in order to relive them with fidelity, if the times in which St. Vincent lived were our own times; if men and women of today were the same as in his time, if the Church of today were the same as in his time; more importantly, though, if the poor of today were the same as the poor of his time.

However, not one of these suppositions is accurate. It was precisely the constellation of social changes that started the volcanic eruption of the French Revolution that made sure that neither men nor women nor the Church itself, nor, of course, the poor, would be today what they were in the time of St. Vincent. That is why whoever intends to relive the original Vincentian spirit today will not find it sufficient to reread the letters in order to capture the original spirit. He or she must try to relive the spirit by taking from the original experience the foundational elements, which, after all the changes and revolutions that have occurred in society and in the Church, can continue to be significant guides so that our spiritual-Christian experience can be considered for us today legitimately Vincentian.

Jaime Corera CM
Source: Reavivemos el Espíritu Vicenciano: Semana de Estudios Vicencianos, XXII (CEME, Salamanca, 1995).

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