Vincent on keeping historical records...
es “Long before anyone had even begun to codify archival practices, St. Vincent de Paul laid out what today would be called “best practices” for documenting the history of those who followed him. To a great extent, this is the structure still used to this day in creating files on each of the Daughters of Charity and their missions. This letter, now located in the Archives of the Mission in Paris, was translated by Sr. Marie Poole, D.C., and is found on p. 467 in Vol. 8 of her monumental edition of Saint Vincent De Paul: Correspondence, Conferences, Documents. It and the picture of St. Vincent, whose feast we celebrate on Thursday, are reproduced with permission of the Daughters of Charity Provincial Archives.To the Superiors
1680
Monsieur,
In the future, please keep the letters written to you and to the members of your house, no matter from whom they may come, whenever they contain any noteworthy details that may be important or may be instructive for the future.
(1) Simply make different files of them, according to subject matter or the year in which you receive them. When they have been arranged in these bundles, keep them in a place set apart for this purpose, where those who come after you can have recourse to them in their need. If there are any such letters in the house from the past, please sort them according to the aforesaid order.
(2) Make note throughout the year of the most important spiritual and temporal affairs that occur in your house and during the missions and other spiritual exercises that take place outside the house. Summarize them in a letter after the feast of Saint John the Baptist [June 24] at which time the missions are usually concluded, and send us the letter so we can make a circular letter of it, if it is judged advisable.
(3) If you have a priest, seminarian, or Brother who has not finished his second year of probation or seminary, let us know, two or three months before the end of the said year, the state or dispositions of the person, so we can tell you whether you may allow him to take his vows after he has completed the two years. When he has taken them, send us immediately his name, surname, etc., in the following manner:
François, born on the. . . day of the month of. . . , in the city, town, or village of. . . , in the diocese of. . . , entered the Congregation of the Mission in (Paris) on the. . . day of the month of. . ., in the year. . ., and took his vows in (Paris) in the presence of M. . . . , on the. . . day of the month of. .. in the year. . . .
If he has any Holy Order, it is advisable to specify when he received it. If anyone does not know the day, for instance, of his birth, have him give the month; if he does not know either one, have him give the time and season of the year when he was born; and so on for the others.
(4) When you inform us of the death of any of our men, please state at the same time–or as soon as possible–the most important things that have been observed during the life and illness of the person. I ask you to inform us from now on of the men who have died in your house, with the day and year of their death, etc., and hereafter to keep a register of them, in which any information sent to the Superior General will also be recorded.