“It is not enough to be convinced,” Bl. Frédéric wrote to a friend. “You have to believe.” [34, to Falconnet, 1831] A bright intellect from a very young age, Frédéric had gone through his own period of doubt in his faith as he absorbed so many great accomplishments of reason and science in his studies. Many of the youth around him were falling away from the church, and perhaps there was an element of peer pressure helping to sow Frédéric’s doubts.

Ever the scholar, he sought to ease he doubts, and to “read every book that gave proofs for religion,” but none fully satisfied him, and soon he would doubt again. He “preferred to believe without any reason rather than to doubt,” but still could not peace. [12, to Materne, 1830] Only fourteen years old at the time, Frédéric was experiencing a “dark night of the soul” which we read about in so many lives of the saints, and that we all may experience in our own lives.

As he was discovering, it is not reason alone that can relieve us of doubt, because it is not reason alone that gives us faith. Faith is a virtue, the first of the theological virtues, in which we believe in God because He is truth. Reason can lead us to faith but cannot give it to us. Yet faith is also a gift from God. To accept this gift, we fully commit ourselves to God, we live and profess our faith through works of charity, because faith without works is dead. [CCC 1814-1816]

The young Frédéric, nearly overwhelmed by his doubts, found himself near a church while walking in the hills of his native Lyon. He felt drawn towards it. Once inside, he fell to his knees, praying for deliverance from his anguish, and in the prayer, he found his faith and his peace. As he later recounted, “I believed henceforth with an assured faith, and, touched by this mercy, vowed to consecrate my days to the service of that truth which had given me peace.” [O’Meara, 9]He no longer felt a conflict between faith and reason, because there is none, and throughout his life he remained dedicated to showing, by his words and his works, the beauty of the church, the good of the faith, and the truth of the God who gave us both.

It was this very spirit, this very commitment, that just a few short years later would inspire Frédéric’s response to the challenge of the Saint-Simonians, who demanded of the Catholic students “what are you doing to show the vitality and efficacy, to prove the truth of your faith?” Saddened at first by the challenge, but filled with zeal, he could see the answer to the challenge was not to convince, but to believe, in both words and action, for the proof of faith is also its fruit. And so, he answered, “we must do what Our Lord Jesus Christ did when preaching the Gospel. Let us go to the poor.” [Baunard, 64ff]

Contemplate

Are my actions a proof of my faith?

By Timothy Williams,
Senior Director of Formation & Leadership Development
Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA.