St Vincent de Paul, priest (1581-1660)
During
the French Revolution, when rioting mobs broke into the Pantheon in
Paris they smashed all the religious statues but one - that of Vincent
de Paul.
He had spoken so movingly about the preciousness of the
ordinary person and his image of kindness to the poor was so strong that
they could not bring themselves to throw him out with the rest.
Founder
of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Fathers) and of the
Daughters of Charity, he remains today an icon of charity.
Early life
A peasant by birth, Vincent later came
to associate with both the upper and the lower classes of society.
Educated by the Franciscans at Dax in the south-west of France, he was
ordained when he was only nineteen and four years later (1604) graduated
in theology from the University of Toulouse.
The story that he was
captured by pirates and escaped may be apocryphal. He may have gone to
Rome and for some years led the life of an ambitious court chaplain.
But around 1608, influenced by the spiritual guidance of Pierre de
Berulle, he had a conversion experience.
Parish priest and chaplain to the Gondi family
De
Berulle had him made parish priest at Clichy near Paris. The following
year he became tutor to the children of the de Gondi family, who were
Florentine bankers introduced to France by Catherine de Medici. He began
giving missions to the peasant workers on the Gondi estates.
For a
while - to distance himself somewhat from the Gondis - he went as parish
priest to Chatillon-les-Dombes near Lyons, where he converted several
Protestants to Catholicism and founded the first conference of charity
for the assistance of the poor.
Recalled by the de Gondi in 1617, he resumed his missions for the
peasant workers. Several Paris priests joined in this. After each
mission, a conference of charity was founded for the relief of the poor,
in many places like Joigny, Châlons and Mâcon, where they lasted until
the Revolution.
"Ladies of Charity" and Daughters of Charity
From
this time, Vincent recruited some "Ladies of Charity" to help in the
care of the poor. Many of these ladies were not able, or felt it was
beneath them, to carry out some of the more repulsive tasks.
So Vincent
recruited young humble country women with the energy and attitude to
deal with people weighed down by destitution and providentially a
friend, to whom he was a spiritual guide, Louise de Marillac, undertook
to train them. This was the start of the Daughters of Charity (1633).
Care for prisoners working on the galleys
Vincent
also directed his concern towards the convicts in the galleys. M. de
Gondi was general of the galleys of France so Vincent was able to gain
access to the prisons where they were kept before they were convoyed to
the galleys.
Vincent performed caring services and spoke with kindness
to them and tried to relieve their atrocious conditions. In this way he
won their hearts. He also interested others to come and visit them. He
bought a house in which he set up a hospital.
In 1619 Louis XIII
appointed him royal almoner of the galleys, and Vincent used this title
to visit the galleys of Marseilles and Bourdeaux where he preached
successful missions.
Congregation of the Mission and seminaries
Around
1625, Vincent saw that the success achieved by the missions in rural
areas could not last unless there were priests to maintain it.
Encouraged by Mme de Gondi, he decided to found a religious institute of
priests who would devote their energies to the evangelisation of
country people - the Congregation of the Mission.
The Congregation
acquired a location in the Collège des Bons Enfants in Paris and, with
St Vincent de Paul at its head, was recognised by Rome in 1632. At that
same time Vincent acquired the priory of St Lazarus (formerly a refuge
for lepers) in Paris, whence the name Lazarite or Lazarist Fathers, by
which they were then first known.
But priests were very few and there was a huge need for
training. This need led to another Vincentian initiative. The Council of
Trent (1545-63) had ordered the setting up of seminaries for the
education of the clergy but the wars of religion had hindered the
initiatives taken. Every Tuesday at Saint-Lazare Vincent began giving
spiritual conferences for priests.
Soon the Bishop of Beauvais asked him
to give ascetical conferences for priests lasting ten days.
These
gradually became extended in time until eventually, with Vincent
spearheading the movement, a whole range of seminaries was established
all over France, staffed mainly by priests of the Congregation of the
Mission.
Death and influence
Vincent died in 1660.
The
missions and conferences he conducted and the seminaries he set up
instilled a new Christian spirit and confidence into French priests and
lay people.
Ever the practical man, his gift was that he was able
throughout his life to use his influence among the rich and
fashionable to organise the resources needed for works of charity among
the poor and oppressed.
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