Vincent's decisions in the light of the Gospels

In this second part Sister María Angeles Infante, DC. continues her reflection St. Vincent de Paul: A Man of the Gospel with illustrations of how Vincent let the Gospel inform his decisions regarding

the decision to dedicate his life to the poor,
accept the parish in Chatillon,
total renunciation of dependence on his family,
understake the work with the ordinands,
organize the Tuesday Conferences
foundation of the daughters of Charity
send Missionaries to Algeria, Madagascar and other places

The most radical and important decision of Vincent’s life was that of dedicating his life to the service of the poor. As we all know this decision was made during a time of powerful temptations against the faith. His decision was the fruit of calm discernment. Vincent hoped that this decision would enable him to give honor to Jesus and to live his life doing good, just as Jesus had done … Jesus, the missionary of the Father and the Savior of the world. Abelly describes this situation very well: Vincent experienced strong temptations against the faith. In the midst of this situation he understood that God wanted to test him and so he had recourse to various means in order to confront this situation:

The first [thing Vincent did] was to write out a profession of faith which he placed over his heart as an antidote to his trials … The second remedy he used was to do the exact opposite of what the tempter suggested, striving to act by faith in rendering honor and service to Jesus Christ. He carried this out particularly in his visits to the sick poor of the charity hospital in the faubourg Saint Germain where he lived at the time. This charitable practice is among the most meritorious in Christianity since it bears witness to faith in the Savior’s words and example and to the desire to serve him … Three or four years passed in this severe trial which bore down upon Monsieur Vincent, and he groaned before God under their weight. Yet, seeking to strengthen himself more surely against the attacks of the devil, he thought of taking a firm and unbreakable resolve to honor Jesus Christ and to imitate him more perfectly than ever before by committing his entire life to the service of the poor. No sooner had he done this than, by a marvelous effect of grace, all the suggestions of the evil one disappeared (Abelly III:115-116).

This decision was followed by others: to accept the parish in Châtillon, to organize the Confraternity of Charity there, to return to the de Gondi estate (on certain conditions that were thought out and discerned in light of the gospel: he would no longer tutor their children; he would preach missions on their lands and establish more Confraternities of Charity). Charity and mission became the two pillars of Vincent’s life. Now we come to 1625 … the time of another important decision. Let us allow Abelly to describe this situation:

Madame de Gondi saw both the need and the success of the missions. She had conceived the idea some years before of endowing a foundation of priests or religious to give some of their time to providing missions on her lands … Vincent spoke several times with superiors of various orders and used all his powers of persuasion to have them accept the foundation. However, he found none willing to take up the project for his own community … Madame de Gondi became aware of the refusal of the religious communities to take up this work. She also was aware that doctors and other clerics helped Monsieur Vincent in the work of the missions. She thought that if they had a house in Paris they might possibly come together in some form of community. This might even attract others to this same work, and so perpetuate the work of the missions she had so much at heart. She spoke of this to her husband. He not only approved the idea but wished to become a co-founder with her of this foundation. The two spoke to His Excellency, Jean François de Gondi, the general’s brother, the successor to Cardinal de Retz as leader of the Church in Paris, and later its first archbishop. He heartily approved their plan, since his diocese would likely win many advantages from it. He proposed that on his part he would make available the College des Bons Enfants, which was then at his disposition, as the residence for these priests. The three together considered who might be best suited for bringing this project to a successful conclusion. All three decided to meet with Monsieur Vincent to overcome all objections his humility would raise and to have him accept. All this came about as they hoped, chiefly because Monsieur Vincent’s great respect for all three of these persons led him to do all they asked of him. He agreed to their proposition, first, to take over the direction of the College des Bons Enfants and the priests who might come to live there to help out in the giving of missions; second, to accept, in the name of these priests, the foundation given by the de Gondi’s; and third, to select personally those he thought fit and disposed to participate in this holy work (Abelly I:93-94).

Vincent decided to accept the proposal. He saw that the will of God had been revealed and he also saw this as an opportunity to continue the mission of Jesus Christ, the evangelizer of the poor. Here we are dealing with a decision that was inspired by the gospel even though it was also clear that Vincent wanted to respect the wishes of the de Gondi family.

Previously Vincent had made another decision that he felt would configure his life to that of Jesus Christ, the missionary. This decision involved the total renunciation of any dependence on his family which was followed by an act of entrusting them to the loving Providence of God. Vincent spoke about this during a repetition of prayer:

I call myself as witness to this truth. From the time I was still in the home of the General of the Galleys, and before he made the first establishment of our Congregation, it happened that, when the galleys were at Bordeaux, he sent me there to give a mission to the poor convicts; I did so by using members of some religious Orders of the city, two for each galley. Now, before leaving Paris on this journey, I was talking with two friends concerning the order I had received about this, saying to them, “Messieurs, I am going off to work near the place where I was born; I am wondering if it would be [a] good idea for me to make a visit home.” Both of them encouraged me to go. “Go on, Monsieur,” they said, “your presence will console your relatives; you can speak to them about God, etc.” The reason I wondered about doing this is that I had seen several good priests who had done wonders when they had been away from home for some time, and I noted that when they went to see their family, they returned completely changed and became useless for the people. They got totally involved in the affairs of their families, which occupied all their thoughts, when previously they were busy only with their ministries and were detached from flesh and blood. “I’m afraid of becoming attached like that to my relatives,” I said. And, in fact, after spending eight to ten days with them to instruct them in the ways of salvation and to steer them away from the desire for possessions — even to telling them they should expect nothing from me and that, even if I had chests of gold and silver, I wouldn’t give them anything because a priest who has anything owes it to God and to the poor — the day I departed, it was so painful for me to leave my poor relatives that I did nothing but weep all the way back, and wept almost constantly. Those tears were followed by the thought of doing something to assist them and to better their situation, to give this to one, that to another. My mind was deeply moved and I was sharing in this way what I had and what I did not have. I say this to my own shame, and I say it because perhaps God allowed that to make me understand better the importance of the Gospel counsel of which we are speaking. This troubling passion for improving the lot of my brothers and sisters plagued me for three months; it was a constant weight on my poor mind. In the midst of that, when I found myself somewhat free, I prayed that God would be pleased to deliver me from that temptation, and I prayed to him so much about this that He finally had pity on me and took away those tender feelings for my relatives. And, even though they had to ask for alms, and still do, He gave me the grace of entrusting them to His Providence and to consider them happier than if they had been well off (CCD:XII:179-180).

The decision to undertake the work on behalf of the ordinands in 1628 was also a decision that was made in light of the gospel and was arrived at as a result of the initiative of Agustin Potier, the bishop of Beauvais. This good prelate saw the ways in which God had communicated his Spirit to Vincent in order to provide for the spiritual needs of the people through preaching missions and organizing the Confraternities of Charity. Therefore the bishop felt that Vincent was best qualified to assist in the reform of the clergy. The bishop admired Vincent’s practice of virtue, especially his charity and he frequently opened his heart and spoke to Vincent about the difficulties he experienced with members of the clergy. He invited Vincent to come to Beauvais and at other times he visited Vincent in Paris where together they explored the most effective ways to confront the present situation of the clergy. One day the bishop asked Vincent what could be done to remedy the disorders among the clergy … what could be done to reform the clergy. The wise and experienced missionary responded that he would begin with retreats for the ordinands. This occurred during the month of July, 1628. The bishop asked Vincent to take charge of this task: to develop themes and a schedule for preaching conferences. Vincent saw these events as a revelation of God’s will and decided to undertake and direct this ministry (Abelly I:138-140).

The decision to organize the Tuesday Conferences in 1632 in order to provide for the on-going formation of the clergy was also an action that was inspired by the gospel. Abelly describes this situation in a brief but very concise manner:

The priests always considered Jesus Christ to be present in these meetings because of his word in the Gospel, that when two or three are gathered in his name, he would be in the midst of them. Monsieur Vincent was well aware through his own experience of how useful these conferences were, for he had used them with great blessing from the beginning of his Company. He seized the opportunity offered him by God to extend these conferences to other priests (Abelly 1:144).

Louise de Marillac began to pressure Vincent with regard to the foundation of the Daughters of Charity. Vincent counseled her to move more slowly and to patiently await the revelation of God’s will. In 1633, as the feast of Pentecost approached, Vincent was not yet convinced about the need to create a new community:

With regard to your employment, my mind is not yet enlightened enough before God concerning a difficulty which prevents me from seeing whether it is the Will of His Divine Majesty. I beg you, Mademoiselle, to recommend this matter to Him during these days in which He communicates more abundantly the blessings of the Holy Spirit, rather, the Holy Spirit Himself. Let us persist, therefore, in our prayers, and may you remain quite cheerful (CCD:I:200).

The retreat of August or September 1633 was decisive. As happened ten years earlier in Soissons, Vincent respected the rhythm of Providence and the Spirit opened the path for the creation of this new community. At the end of the retreat Vincent wrote a letter in which he gave his approval of this foundation which he felt was the fruit of a process of true spiritual and gospel discernment:

I beg you, Mademoiselle, in the name of Our Lord, to do all in your power to take care of yourself, no longer as a private individual but as a person upon whose health a number of others are dependent. Today is the eighth day of our little retreat; I hope to continue to the tenth with the help of God. I think your good angel did what you told me in the letter you wrote me. Four or five days ago, he communicated with mine concerning the Charity of your young women. It is true; he prompted me to recall it often and I gave that good work serious thought. We shall talk about it, God willing, on Friday or Saturday, if you do not write to me sooner (CCD:I:215-216).

A similar experience occurred with the decision to send Missionaries to Algeria, Madagascar and other places. In each of these situations Vincent made a decision to respond to the call of the Church which he viewed as a way of fulfilling the mission in accord with the gospel. Abelly summarized this very well when he referred to Vincent as a man of the gospel:

He fled from any dignities with more care than the ambitious sought them. In every sort of circumstance he admired and perfectly imitated this dual public and hidden life of his divine master. Since he knew from his own experience that the treasure of grace lie hidden in the mystical field of the Gospel, he invited and exhorted others to share in them there (Abelly III:84) … [Vincent] seemed to be nourished by the passages of Scripture like a child taking his mother’s milk. He drew such nourishment for his soul that in all his words and actions he seemed filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ(Abelly III:76).

To be continued….

(This article first appeared in La experiencia espiritual de San Vicente de Paúl, XXXV Semana de Estudios Vicencianos, [The spiritual experience of Saint Vincent de Paul, XXXV Vincentian Studies Week], Editorial CEME, Santa Marta de Tormes, Salamanca, 2010)

Tags: Gospel, Vincent

Vincent’s decisions in the light of the Gospels

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