Homecare, one of the most talked about and admired aspects of the so-called “European welfare state”, is not a new insight. It began, precisely 407 years ago, as a result of an attentive and compassionate look at the fragility of the human condition.

On a Sunday morning, Father Vincent was getting ready in the sacristy for the celebration of the Eucharist. That is where the parish priest always receives the latest news. And the one that he got was quite depressing. Let’s hear him tell it himself:

I was vesting to celebrate Holy Mass one Sunday when I was told that in an isolated house a quarter of a league away everyone was ill. None of them was able to help the others, and they were all in indescribable need. That touched me to the heart. During the sermon, I made sure to commend them zealously to the congregation, and God, touching the hearts of those who heard me, moved them with compassion for those poor afflicted people. After dinner a meeting was held in the home of a good towns woman to see what help could be given them, and everyone present felt urged to go to visit them, console them with their words, and do what they could to help them. After Vespers, I took with me an upright citizen of the town, and we set out together to go there. Along the way, we met some women who had gone before us and, a little farther on, we met others who were returning home. Since it was summertime and the weather was very hot, those good ladies were sitting by the side of the road to rest and refresh themselves. In a word, Sisters, there were so many of them, you would have said it was a procession. On my arrival, I visited the sick persons and went to get the Blessed Sacrament for those in greatest danger–not at the parish church for the district wasn’t a parish but depended on a Chapter of which I was the Prior. So, after I had heard their confessions and given them Holy Communion, the next thing was to see how to provide for their needs. I suggested that all those good persons animated by charity to go there might each take a day to make soup, not for those sick persons only, but also for others who might come afterward, and that’s the first place where the Confraternity of Charity was established. (1)

Some attitudes are worth mentioning in this account:

1. The attentive gaze of that person who observed the situation and his/her ability to transmit it. An anonymous parishioner of Châtillon who remains nameless, but witnesses and is moved by what he/she sees.
2. Father Vincent was moved by what he saw: “I was moved to the depths”. And he spoke in such a way that he induced the participants in the Eucharist to “allow themselves to be moved with compassion for these poor afflicted people”.
3. The inner movement (this is what it is to be “touched”) led to the outer movement, to putting into practice (by Fr. Vincent and the Eucharistic participants) and to feeling a new wave of compassion, through direct observation.
4. Finding a solution, not episodic, ephemeral, but one that provides answers for both the present and the future. Hence the need to organize the generosity of these people. Father Vincent’s participative leadership in involving the people contributed greatly to this, as can be seen in expressions such as: “we got together”, “everyone was willing to come and visit them”, “we set out” and “I proposed to these people that they join in”.
5. The parish takes care of those in need. This is something new. Until then, the “Third Orders” or the “Misericordies” had assumed this task of making Christian Charity a reality. And with great merit! They were constituted outside the parish. But from this intuition of Father Vincent de Paul, a parish initiative was born. And so, in an organized way, a lay and parish association was born, which provided the first home help and which was given the name of “Charities”.

And so that it would last and not just be the fruit of the feeling of the moment, the organizing spirit of Father Vincent de Paul drew up a set of rules, of which I transcribe below a few paragraphs::

When the person whose turn it is has received from the Treasurer whatever is needed on her day for the food of the poor persons, she will prepare the dinner and take it to the patients, greeting them cheerfully and kindly. She will set up the tray on the bed, place on it a napkin, a cup, a spoon, and some bread, wash the patient’s hands, and then say grace. She will pour the soup into a bowl, and put the meat on a plate. She will arrange everything on the bed tray, then kindly encourage the patient to eat for the love of Jesus and His holy Mother. She will do all this as lovingly as if she were serving her own son– or rather God, who considers as done to Himself the good she does for persons who are poor.

She will say some little word to him about Our Lord, making an effort to cheer him up if he is very downhearted; sometimes she will cut his meat or pour him something to drink. Once she has him beginning to eat she will leave if he has someone with him, and will go to find another patient, acting with him in the same way, remembering to begin always with the person who has someone with him and to end with those who are alone so she can spend more time with them. Then, she will return in the evening to bring them their supper, using the same system and order as above. (2)

Four centuries have passed. All these truly dramatic social situations, previously ignored by the public administration, have now also begun to be taken on by the State. And that is a good thing. However, I believe that those institutions born of Christian charity preserve something ever new, fresh, profoundly human, which the State does not have and, therefore, does not give… Only a moved heart, which looks into human misery to heal and raise up those who lie prostrate in it, can do so… And our Christian communities are the ones who have this mission– among others.

I would emphasize the affection and gentleness with which the sick are treated; the care with which everything is prepared for them, accompanied by a friendly word of encouragement, so that they do not lose their appetite and recover their enthusiasm and joy for life.

The concern to “begin always with the person who has someone with him” (which in human terms would be more encouraging) and “end with those who are alone so she can spend more time with them” (whose conversation is more difficult to maintain, but where it is most needed) reveals an attention that social workers seldom have, either for lack of time or lack of sensitivity.

A young man of the 19th century (1830), Frederic Ozanam, a student at the Sorbonne, shocked by the de-Christianization of Paris, founded a group inspired by the experience of Father Vincent de Paul, transmitted by the great apostle of the poor neighborhoods of Paris, Sister Rosalie Rendu, a Daughter of Charity. Today there are many institutions that provide goods (food, clothing, meals…). And that is good. But there are very few that provide what perhaps our elderly, sick or those affected by other miseries really need: that humanity, that affection, that care that is given through home visits.

The Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul, created by the young student Frederic Ozanam, inspired by the experience of their patron, work as a network with other institutions, distributing food, clothing and other basic necessities to the needy, but they retain as their distinctive quality, as their hallmark, the home visit, the accompaniment, the attention to the person they accompany in his or her weakness. They provide a true public service.

Fr. José Alves CM

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(1) Cfr. Vincent de Paul, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, {newly translated, edited and annotated from the 1924 edition of Pierre Coste, CM), New City Press, New Hyde Park, NY, 2003, Volume IX, 192.

(2) Vincent de Paul, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, {newly translated, edited and annotated from the 1924 edition of Pierre Coste, CM), New City Press, New Hyde Park, NY, 2003, Volume XIIIb, p. 8-22.