December 8 marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the canoncial establishment of the Confraternity of Charity- 1617; one of the four major feasts chosen by the Society of St. Vincent DePaul 1834 and the day on which many groups of the Sisters of Charity renew their vows.It also marks the publication (1975) of the Paul VI’s exhortation to announce the Good News (Evangelii Nuntiandi)
For further information about the founding of the Confraterinities of Charity a biographer of Vincent writes…
“The Confraternities of Charity were originally set up to channel the religious fervour of pious ladies. Vincent soon realised that this promising mobilisation of charity could also include men. So men’s confraternities were set up and the first of these seems to have been in Folléville which was founded on 23rd October, 1620. [14]
The main difference between the two types of confraternity was that the ladies’ work was specifically to care for poor sick people while the men worked with the able-bodied. Consequently their activities were not the same. One of the principal commitments of the men’s confraternities was the setting up of workshops. Here, children and young people between the ages of eight and twenty, lived together under ecclesiastical direction, and learned a trade which they, in their turn, undertook to teach other apprentices gratis.
Without expressing it in so many words Vincent had discovered the maxim, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for life.”
There were also some Charities which had mixed membership. Those of Joigny, Montmirail, Courbon and Montreuil had both men and women members. [15] But these were only moderately successful and had to be disbanded. In the light of experience Vincent concluded that it wasn’t the women’s fault that these Charities failed.
“When you have men and women working together they can’t agree on matters of administration; the men want to be in charge of everything and the ladies don’t like this. In the beginning the Charities of Joigny and Montmirail had mixed membership; the men took charge of the able-bodied poor while the ladies cared for the sick, but as their funds were held in common we found it necessary to withdraw the men. As for the ladies, I can only speak highly of them; nobody could fault their adminstration for they were very careful and most trustworthy.” [16]
One woman in particular played a decisive role in the development of that floodtide of charity that Vincent unleashed. This woman was Madame de Gondi, whom we know about already.
Prompted by her chaplain’s contagious fervour, she took an active part in Vincent’s missions, not just by giving alms but by going in person to visit and console the sick. She also saw that disputes and lawsuits were settled and her involvement lent outhority to all the initiatives undertaken by Vincent and his companions. [17]
Her influence was crucial for the founding of the Charities. When illness prevented Vincent from being present, it was she who presented to the local parish priest the official approbation of the Confraternity that the Archbishop of Sens had granted them. The new Confraternity elected Mde. de Gondi its Prioress and received its first funding from the money she set aside from the taxes that mariners paid for sailing their boats and barges under the town’s bridges on Sundays and festivals. [18]
At the request of the Countess, the Bishop of Soissons approved the constitutions of the Charity Confraternity at Montmirail and in other parts of the de Gondi estates that belonged to his diocese. The Countess refused to be elected to any office in the Confraternity but in the end she had to agree to being nominated assistant to fill this post that was left vacant. [19]
Jos Maria Roman – ST. VINCENT DE PAUL: A BISOGRAPHY
