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A Daughter of Charity who narrowly survived a building collapse in 1646 still made sure her pot of soup reached the poor before continuing her rounds. Her example reveals three hallmarks of Vincentian spirituality: active love, trust in Providence, and selfless service. Material aid matters most when it becomes a tangible sign of God’s love for those who suffer.
When the neighbor calls, we hear the voice of Christ. When go to visit him, we see the face of Christ. When we pray with the neighbor, together in His name, we feel the presence of Christ. When we feed Him, we are grateful. When we help Him, we feel God’s joyful grace. But when the neighbor calls a second time, a third time, a fourth or fifth time, do we always respond with the same love and gratitude?
We are called as Vincentians to serve person to person, not floor to floor; horizontally, not vertically. We form relationships based on trust and friendship, understanding as brothers and sisters. We can never turn back from our horizontal charity, for when we serve for love alone, no upper floor remains outside of the great hope that through our loving, horizontal charity we may together reach another level.
The motive for our works, the mission of our vocation, and the God whom we serve are all a single thing: charity. This theological virtue, which the Apostle teaches us is above all other virtues, is defined in our catechism with a recitation of the Greatest Commandment: to love God above all things for his own sake, and to love our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
Vincentian Conference meetings are not meant to become mere business sessions. Accountability matters, but their deeper purpose is to help members grow in holiness, friendship, communion, and service. When Christ remains at the center, even practical matters can become part of the shared journey toward heaven.
In our common discussions we often take the word “radical” to mean extreme or drastic; protesters from either end of the political spectrum are often described as radicals. New and unorthodox ideas are termed radical. In pursuing our vocations, professions, or other interests, then, we don’t aspire to be radical. Yet, stemming from the Latin radix, meaning “root,” the word radical does not mean extreme at all – it means fundamental, essential.
In 1634, Geneviève Fayet, Madame Goussault, urged Vincent de Paul to organize a Charity for the overcrowded Hôtel-Dieu of Paris. Drawing women from across the city and collaborating with Louise de Marillac and the Daughters of Charity, the association carried the Châtillon vision beyond the parish and completed the first architecture of the Vincentian Family.
Marguerite Naseau, a self-taught peasant educator, offered the Charities what Paris urgently needed: a life wholly available for service. Her example attracted other country women and inspired Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul to gather a small community on November 29, 1633—the birth of the Daughters of Charity.
By 1629, the Charities had multiplied, but some were losing strength. Vincent de Paul entrusted Louise de Marillac with visiting and renewing them. Traveling difficult roads from village to village, she formed members, corrected problems, adapted rules, and carried the movement into Paris—becoming its first great animator and coordinator.
