Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical (Dilexit nos, “He Loved us,” October 2024) finds a welcome place in our Vincentian reflections.  The focus of the document falls “On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.”

In several parts of the encyclical (§§ 148, 180, 207), the Holy Father draws particular attention to Vincent de Paul and his loving heart.  He observes:

The flames of love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also expand through the Church’s missionary outreach, which proclaims the message of God’s love revealed in Christ. Saint Vincent de Paul put this nicely when he invited his disciples to pray to the Lord for “this spirit, this heart that causes us to go everywhere, this heart of the Son of God, the heart of our Lord, that disposes us to go as he went… he sends us, like [the apostles], to bring fire everywhere.” (Dilexit nos, 207)

Vincent called his followers to love the poor.  It was a fundamental element in his ministry.  And, he connects the love of the poor with the love of the Lord.  They cannot be separated.  Together they express the heart of the relationship between the two great commandments.

[Fr. Robert P. Maloney, C.M. has written a significant essay (2014) on “The Heart of Jesus in the Spirituality of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac,” Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 32: Spring.]

In her artwork, St. Louise depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  We also find the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on the back of the Miraculous Medal—a medal that then rests upon our own hearts. Of course, the seal of the Daughters of Charity places the crucified Jesus on a heart enflamed with love.  We might well ask whether this fiery heart belongs to Jesus or to each of us as we respond to his urging.  Perhaps to both!  Visual images only begin to point to the frequent use of heart and love in the thinking and writing of our two Founders.

Seeking out all the times that Vincent uses and applies the image of the heart in his writings would be a significant task.  Maloney notes that the heart of Jesus for Vincent may be viewed as primarily caught up with missionary zeal while for Louise the emphasis rested more on affective and effective charity.  We easily see how both elements describe who we are as a Vincentian Family.

Vincent writes:

“God asks primarily for our heart — our heart — and that’s what counts. How is it that a man who has no wealth will have greater merit than someone who has great possessions that he gives up? Because the one who has nothing does it with greater love; and that’s what God especially wants….” (CCD 11:228)

And he urges the Daughters of Charity to: “find in the heart of Our Lord a word of consolation for the sick poor person.”  (CCD 10:269-270)

Spending some time reading and praying over Pope Francis’ encyclical on the Sacred Heart is time well spent.  One readily recognizes the connections to the loving hearts of Vincent and Louise.