If by “Social Welfare” we mean a certain consolation, a certain support, in the difficulties caused by frailties such as illness, old age, unemployment, or by social crises such as wars and epidemics, we can say that St. Vincent de Paul also had this in mind and thus relate it to the concept of something approaching the concept of Social Welfare. Let us not imagine dues, fees, discounts or fixed allowances or pensions. None of that. That was something from the late 19th and early 20th century. But the idea of being present and active to help free from misfortune those who had been hit by it was in his mind, because misery, both within the city of Paris and in the distant lands of the war-torn provinces, was overwhelming. There, in Paris, every day he encountered the most flagrant misery; from the distant lands of Lorraine (war between France, Austria and Prussia) came horrible descriptions of the real hell and heart-rending pleas for help.

From Paris, from the house of Saint Lazare, as if it were a ministry of Social Welfare, boats left on the Seine River and wagons on the roads, sometimes dusty and sometimes muddy, loaded with clothes, provisions and everything necessary for the survival of thousands and thousands of people. In addition to the rudeness of the transport, there were the thieves to contend with, who were also poor and hungry; but also dangerous were the mercenary soldiers who were not paid their due wages.

And what did these cargoes carry from the house of Saint Lazare and from the “Store of Charity,” a sort of warehouse where everything was prepared by the Confraternities of Charity? (1) Clothes, warm items, provisions? Everything was very convenient thanks to the ladies of the Confraternities and the nuns of the convents…

There came a time when Father Vincent realized that money was running out and the generosity of the people was reaching its limit. The needs are always there and the help is always punctual! And people cannot feed themselves with money if there is nothing to buy. And so he began to develop a pedagogy that was intended to lead to self-sufficiency. To the artist, in addition to emergency food, he provided the tools of his trade; to the farmer, if land was available, he provided hoes, plows and seeds. And there is no shortage of advice from someone with some childhood experience: “make the most of any piece of land”, “turn it well” and “fertilize it, because I don’t know if I will have anything to send next year”. Here are some excerpts from the letters or simple notes that accompanied these shipments. I can’t help transcribing part of a letter whose basic ideas are repeated over and over again in other letters with the same destination:

you are asked to find out in what parts of Champagne and Picardy there are very poor people who may have need of such assistance — I mean, the greatest need. You could recommend to them in passing to prepare a small plot of land, to plough and fertilize it, and to ask God to send them some seed to plant in it. In addition, without making them any promises, give them the hope that God will provide. They would also like to enable all the other poor people who have no land-men as well as women-to earn their own living, by giving the men some tools for working and the girls and women spinning wheels and flax or linen for spinning-but only the poorest. When peace is restored, everyone will have something to do and, since the soldiers will no longer seize their property, they will be able to put something by and gradually get back on their feet. (2)

Many people were taking refuge in the city of Paris; fleeing the horrors of war, they were then facing the horrors of unemployment and hunger. There were an estimated 40,000 beggars in Paris. A merchant offered Father Vincent de Paul the substantial sum of 100,000 pounds. He decided to put into practice an idea that was taking on more and more strength and a certain form: to create a temporary home with a capacity for 40 residents (20 men and 20 women), to which could go all the artisans who had exercised a profession and who had been thrown into misery by the war. He conceived the project, sketched it out, but entrusted its realization to Louise de Marillac, his right-hand woman in the service of the poorest and co-founder of the Company of the Daughters of Charity.

Since this was an unprecedented work in the service of the poor, she made every effort to ensure that everything went well. In a brief note to Father Vincent de Paul, Louise told him that there were only two places left to fill, that the ladies of the Confraternity had made new clothes for everyone, and asked him to come the next day to inaugurate it.

In this house they would carry out their former profession and the proceeds of their work would be used for their personal expenses (for example, it was said that it could be for their cup of wine), inspiring them with a certain security for the future. And the idea was so well received that it aroused the enthusiasm of the various charitable associations of the city of Paris, who wanted to do something bigger: the so-called “Hotel Dieu”. But because it was so vast, the political powers seized the idea and took it upon themselves to make it a reality, using the forces of law and order to do so. Of course, it didn’t work. Such a beautiful idea did not achieve its goal.

Of these and many other initiatives of Fr. Vincent de Paul, which it would be too long to mention, a few ideas stand out, which were novel for their time and which continue to make their way:

1. Christian charity and social support cannot be reduced to mere assistentialism. It is a question of dignity. It is also part of Christian charity to awaken the creativity of people, whether elderly or unemployed, to preserve and develop their productive capacity; to make them agents of their own development and of the struggles against the situation in which they find themselves, and to accompany them.
2. From the Christian point of view, those who commit themselves to this work are the expression of God’s Providence: “let them ask God… and without promising anything, they can leave the hope that God will listen to them”. God will only act if there is someone who is a living expression of his concern and thus helps to “remake” and “rebuild” life with dignity.
3. The need for organization is obvious, as is the need for a serious study of who are the needy. Assistance cannot be random, obeying the law of “every man for himself”: “It will be necessary, then, for you to write down the names of those poor people so that when the time for distribution arrives, they will get the alms, and not others who can manage without them. Now, to discern this correctly, those poor people should be observed in their own homes so you can see for yourself who are the most needy and who are less so.” (3)
4. Christian life has always developed and, in order to be authentic, must continue to develop around these three pillars that have Christ as the cornerstone: the deepening of faith, in evangelization; celebration, in liturgy; and the realization, in the practice of charity. This is how St. Vincent de Paul understood it, inspiring not only the works of Christian Charity, but also other social works that have developed over the last four centuries.

Fr. José Alves, CM

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(1) The Confraternities of Charity, first founded by Vincent in 1617, consisted of organized parish charitable groups.

(2) Letter to Jean Parre, dated August 9, 1659, CCD  VIII, 82-83 SVP ES VIII, 66.

(3) Letter to Jean Parre, dated July 21, 1657, CCD VI, 388 SVP ES V, 348.