CHAPTER X
A PERSONAL COMMITMENT
A PERSONAL COMMITMENT
"Who decided we should work for the Mission?"
For Vincent , the fifteen years between 1618 and 1633, are a period of growth. They are creative years when Vincent is groping his way, following any indication given by Providence, and taking his own personal decisions. In doing this he becomes aware of the ways in which he will fulfil his special vocation; he creates specific organisations and he sees them fully operational. These are also years when Vincent abandons himself more and more to the influence of grace and reaches a level of human maturity that is very close to sanctity.
When he returned from Chatillon in December, 1617, Vincent was determined to devote himself completely to working for the salvation of poor country people and to relieving their physical sufferings. He would do this through the Mission and by founding the Charities. He had permission from the de Gondis to do this work and, as they were anxious to keep him in their household, they gave him, as promised, an assistant who would be tutor to their sons. This man was Antoine Portail. [1] So Vincent now has the time and the freedom to move about and follow what he now knows to be his vocation. His immediate horizons are the de Gondi [2] estates and he very quickly puts into action a plan to evangelise the people there. His missionary activity is restricted geographically and also by lack of personnel. Vincent, himself, is the Mission. Has he already glimpsed the possibility of founding a new community and been given a hint of the vast horizons, both national and international, of his vocation? According to Vincent no such thought had ever entered his head.
"Who was it that founded the Company? Who sent us to work on the missions and with the ordinands, etc? Was it I? Most certainly not. Was it Fr. Portail whom God sent to join me right at the start? Definitely not. We never thought of such a thing or had any plans like that. Who, then, was the creator of all this? It was God, in his providence and utter goodness." [3]
Here we come to a problem which has long been debated;the question of Vincent de Paul's lack of imagination and spiritual initiative, as well as his natural timidity. Some people think Vincent is rather limited, he does not rise to great heights of contemplation and he can't see the long term consequences of the task he is undertaking. His imagination worked from the particular to the general, and he created nothing more than a chain of minor projects that answered limited needs; the final outcome was way beyond what he hadplanned. All Vincent's works were a response to specific but quite minor events that showed up some moral or social evil. His projects were based on experience, not on natural creativity. [4]
On the other hand there were people who detected in Vincent a certain boldness, he liked things to be on a big scale and was happy to take risks. Any apparent lack of decisiveness or initiative was simply because Vincent was making a very determined effort to carry out to the letter Bérulle's teaching on total submission to God's will. In his striving after sanctity Vincent deemed it absolutely essential to abase himself completely before the divine majesty. This means, in effect, that he is ready to give up his own plans and rely totally on God for guidance. [5] We recognise here a principle that is so characteristic of Vincent de Paul and one which he will repeat over and over again that of never anticipating Providence but always following its guidance. [6] We will see how he lives this out during the year in question. Vincent makes strenous efforts to subdue nature by practising strict, ascetic discipline and he tries to correspond as fully as possible with the demands of his recent conversion. So we shouldn't be surprised by Vincent's voluntary renunciation of his natural inclination towards ambitious projects such as those we noted in the early and eventful years of his priesthood.
It is clearly evident, however, that during his second stay with the de Gondis, between 1618 and 1625, Vincent devoted himself to the work of the Mission and the Charities. He did this single handed except for occasional help from companions who only joined him for certain specific and limited projects. In the year 1618 he preached three Missions that we know about; those of Villepreux, Joigny and Montmirail which were all part of the de Gondi estates. During these missions he received help from good priests some of whom we know by name; Jean Coqueret, a doctor in theology at the College of Navarre, together with Berger and Gontière who were ecclesiastical councillors to the Parlement of Paris. [7] These three accompanied him on the first Mission he preached at Villepreux. But we shouldn't let this statement pass lightly over us as though we fully realised its significance. What precisely was the Mission? More than three centuries of familiarity with the term has trivialisedits meaning. Let us try to rediscover this meaning in the pure, clear light of the Mission's origin.
On the de Gondi estates: the Mission and the Charities.
In Gannes, in Folléville, and in Chatillon, Vincent had discovered the profound spiritual dereliction of these poorcountry people, their ignorance of the fundamental truths of faith, their routine practice of a mildewed, musty Christianity and their lack of even basic preparation for the sacraments. The results of all this were only too evident and Vincent's heart was seared at finding "a people who risked being damned because they were ignorant of the truths neccesary for salvation and because they did not confess their sins." [8] A radical solution had to be found and the missions aimed at providing just this.
Each mission was like planting the seeds of Christianity afresh. Shortly after they arrived at the village, the small team of two, three or four Missionaries would unload their scanty belongings and begin days of intensive preaching. Depending on the size of the place, the work could go on for five or six weeks or even for two months. The missions always lasted a fortnight, even in the smallest villages. The programme was adapted to suit the work routine of the peasants. Early in the morning there would be a sermon on the basic truths of the faith, the virtues, and common sins. At one o'clock in the afternoon there would be catechism class for the children and these youngsters hurried eagerly to it because for so long nobody had bothered about them. And now one of these gentlemen who had come all the way from Paris was going to put on a show especially for them and the performance would not be without its stratagems and ploys to capture a child's imagination.
Late in the evening, when the farm work was finished, there would be the "grande catechisme", during which the adults would be instructed on the articles of the Creed, the commandments of God and of the Church, the sacraments, the Lord's prayer and the Angelus. The Mission ended with a joyful celebration. In the morning those children who had not already done so, made their First Communion, and that evening, after Vespers, there was a splendid procession of the Blessed Sacrament. The children carried lighted candles and behind them walked the clergy and the congregation. The people remembered the mission for a long time. It was an intensive course in Christianity for all who took part in it.
But the course was not just theoretical. Explanations of the truths of faith went hand in hand with strong exhortations for a change in life style, and a call to conversion which would be sealed by a good general confession and receiving Holy Communion. [9] The people who had been neglected for so long, discovered afresh the ancient treasures of their dormant faith. They felt they were living a new and marvellous spiritual adventure; it was a re encounter, or for many of them, their first serious encounter with Christianity. To crown this, the Mission put before them the fundamental goal of the Christian vocation, the practice of charity. The missions invariably ended with the founding of a charity confraternity like the original one that Vincent started at Chatillon.
We know that between the years 1618 and 1625 Vincent preached missions thoughout the entire estates of M. and Mde. de Gondi and that these comprised a nucleus of thirty or forty key towns. He founded a Confraternity of Charity in each one. [10] We still have the constitutions for the Confraternities of Joigny, Montmirail, Folléville, Courbon and Montreuil [11] as well as the General Constitutions which, with some local variations, were to provide the broad outlines for the particular constitutions. [12] All of these clearly show the workings of the same practical mind, the same attention to detail, the same concern for efficiency,the same combination of spiritual and material assistance and the same compassion for the needy that we saw in the constitutions drawn up for the Charity at Chatillon.
Everything was worked out in great detail the acts of piety to be practised by the associates, the sick people's diet, the duties of officers, possible sources of funding for the Charity, the manner of persuading people to receive the sacraments and arrangements for the burial and funeral of those who died. So as not to duplicate resources, the new confraternity would combine with one or other of the pious associations already in existence and, according to the locality, this would be the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, or that of the Holy Name of Jesus or that of the Holy Rosary. [13]
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]
Like concentric circles of waves in the sea, Vincent's work was spreading, through force at circumstances, to ever more far flung territories. Vincent's name began to be known in all parts of the de Gondi's domains because these estates belonged to different dioceses and the fruits of his charitable work were appreciated in Paris, Beauvais, Soissons, Sens... [20] Unforeseen, or perhaps we should say Providential happenings, were soon to expand these enterprises nationwide.
"I have seen these poor people treated like animals."
The office of General of the Galleys that Philippe Manuel de Gondi held, was one of the most prestigious posts in France's armed forces. It provided Count de Joigny with opportunities for deeds of valour commensurate with his reputation for bravery. Among many other armed conflicts that he engaged in, we should remember his intervention in the siege of La Rochelle in October, 1622. The French fleet was under the personal command of the General who decided the outcome of the engagement in a very practical way. On the day after the attack on the fleet of La Rochelle, the rebel city conceded defeat and sued for peace. [21] But, as was customary at that time in history, this glorious navy sailed on an ocean of misery, pain and blood the labours of the galley slaves. It was these men, the scum of society, whose arms toiled at rowing and whose backs were lacerated by the overseer's implacable whip, who sailed the ships that proudly flew the fleur de lys ensign.
There were few situations more heartrending in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than the plight of men sentenced to the galleys. The only comparison we might make would be to compare then with prisoners in the concentration camps of the twentieth century. The horror began the moment they were imprisoned in the Conciergerie in Paris, waiting for the time when they would be part of "the chain" that took them to the ports. It was there that they languished in infectious and nauseous prisons, chained together in pairs, famished with hunger and worn out by fever or by worms. The situation was no better when they were put aboad ship. Awaiting them were endless days of painful rowing when they were scorched by the fierce Mediterranean sun or lashed by rain and storms, as they were whipped by heartless and cruel slave drivers. The worst thing was that they had no legal redress. If they were condemned to two or three years in the galleys they might find their sentence arbitrarily extended for an indefinite period. This might be due to bureaucratic chaos or to the navy's demand for man power. [22]
Vincent de Paul began to visit the galley slaves in Paris in 1618. [23] That same heart which had been touched by the spiritual abandonment and the physical hunger of the peasants of Chatillon and on the de Gondi estates, now shuddered at the sight of this untold misery. Talking to his spiritual daughters forty years later, he could still remember how he felt at that time.
"What happiness, my daughters, to serve these poor prisoners left abandoned in the hands of men who show them no pity. I have seen these poor people treated like animals and their sufferings moved God to show compassion for them." [24]
Vincent's compassion was never passive or sterile. He immediately set about looking for ways of making the prisoners' painful situation a little easier even if he couldn't remedy the problem entirely. His first step was to persuade the General to have the prisoners in Paris moved to a more habitable building in the faubourg St. Honoré near the church of St. Roch and here the prisoners were allowed a more substantial and healthy diet. On Vincent's initiative, the Bishop of Paris issued an injunction ordering parish priests, assistant clergy, and preachers, to urge the faithful to participate in the work of helping the condemned men. [25] Vincent was just as concerned with the spiritual welfare of the galley slaves as he was with their material welfare. He visited the gaols and showed great zeal in preaching missionary style to these people who were as distanced from God as they were abandoned by men. His success was beyond all expectations. There were remarkable conversions and these were all the more sincere as they were in no way dependent on any expectation of material reward such as liberty or a reduction in sentence. The preacher was very careful not to promise this. [26] In this same year, 1618, he made a first journey to Marseilles to take the same consolation to the unfortunate wretches still sentenced to the galleys.
At this juncture it would be well to put into context a rather dubious anecdote which tells how Vincent took the place of a galley slave for a short time so that the man could go free and help his family. Although different witnesses testified to the historical accuracy of the story during the beatification process, it has always raised doubts in the minds of biographers. Even Abelly, who is the first to tell the story, shows a certain scepticism. [27] This leads Collet to argue strongly against it. [28] The controversy has continued ever since. [29] Taken in its most radical version as Vincent having actually replaced a galley slave and given the complicity of those in charge in allowing the man to go free, the story seems highly improbable. Taken as a sudden impulse on Vincent's part to take the seat of an exhausted galley slave and spare him a couple of lashes, the story might be more plausible. This is how modern biographers tend to explain the incident. They are fascinated by such a noble gesture which is very much in keeping with Vincent's burning charity. [30]
Another of Vincent's initiatives to help the galley slaves at Marseilles was destined to have a more lasting effect. Under the auspices of the General of the Galleys, they started to build a hospital. Unfortunately the project was soon halted through lack of funds and wasn't taken up again till twenty five years later. [31]
Vincent's selfless labours in Paris and Marseilles induced M. de Gondi to look for some way of legalising and perpetuating the work. It came into his mind to create the post of chaplain royal to the galleys in France and this work was entrusted to Vincent. The King, "Moved with pity for the prisoners and wishing them to derive spiritual profit from their bodily affliction", approved the plan. On 8th February, 1619, a brief was issued to set up the new post "with authority over all other chaplains" and it was conferred on Vincent de Paul. It carried with it an annual salary of 600 livres and the rank of officer in the Levant Navy. Four days later, on the twelfth day of that month, Vincent took the oath of office in the presence of the General and assumed responsibility for the work. [32] It was the first of Vincent's charitable works to be carried out on a national scale. Vincent was to retain the title all through his life. Shortly before his death he secceeded in having the title linked to the office of Superior General of the Mission in perpetuity. It was no sinecure.
From the outset, Vincent's personal dedication to the work was matched by the commitment shown by his two close collaborators, Father Belin and Father Portail. [33] Later on he would appoint a number of missionaries to help in this work and would enlist the help of the Daughters of Charity to look after the corporal needs of the galley slaves. The Daughters would go down into the prisons like veritable angels of consolation. In the brief intervals that Vincent had free after giving missions to the peasants on the de Gondi estates, he would go to either the Hospital for Galley slaves in Paris or to the galleys themselves to bring to the prisoners, too, the benefits of a mission. He did this in Marseilles in 1622 and in Bordeaux the following year. We will see this a little later on.
"When I founded the Charity at Mâcon..."
On one of his journeys in September, 1612, Vincent passed through the town of Mâcon. It was there that Providence was waiting to launch him into a new enterprise which would establish, beyond any doubt, his organising ability and the effectiveness of the Confraternity he had set up in Chatillon.
Mâcon was swarming with beggars who were a real scourge for the city because of their demands, their wranglings and the inconvenience they caused. Straightaway Vincent tackled the problem and he was particulary concerned about the dreadful condition of these poor people who, in addition to all their bodily miseries were a long way from the practice of their religion. Why shouldn't he apply to the city's problem those same remedies that he had used in the small villages? The plan that he conceived was on a grand scale, so much so that when he was bold enough to present it, some people thought that the man who conceived this plan was interfering or crazy. Those who were more pious recognised the good intentions behind the idea but were sceptical about its chances of success. His plan was to organise a Charity on a city wide scale and thus put and end to begging and to the corporal and spiritual abandonment of these poor wretches. The idea began to gain support. Vincent managed to interest the magistrates of the town, the Bishop, the two canonical Chapters, the municipal Councillors, the burghers and the leading merchants of the town. He presented his plan at a meeting held in the Hôtel de Ville on Thursday, 16th September.
The basis of Vincent's plan was that they should set up two associations of charity, one for men and the other for women. The general outline of his plan provided, first of all, for the compiling of a list of all poor people living in the town and these numbered three hundred. Then they would set up a relief fund which would draw on voluntary donations covenanted annually by the clergy and well to do citizens, as well as agreed revenues specially assigned to this good work; from entrance dues exacted from all the professions in the city, and from collections taken up by the Ladies of Charity every Sunday. On Sundays the poor people would go to the church of St. Nazare to hear Mass and eventually to go to confession and communion. After Mass they would all be given bread and money, according to their family circumstances, except for those who were caught begging during the week. Poor people who were passing through the town would be given a night's lodging and the next day they would be sent on their way with an alms of two sous. The bashful poor would be discreetly helped by the ladies who gave them food and medicine when they were sick. Men who were able to work were only given enough money to supplement their miserable wages because the association didn't believe in encouraging idleness. Members of the Confraternity were to meet once a week to update the list of poor people, to delete the names of those who no longer needed help and to impose the appropriate sanctions on those who didn't deserve to be helped or who had broken the rules.
The plan worked. The sum of two hundred crowns was raised to cover initial expenses. In less than three weeks the scheme was fully operational. Each Sunday 1,200 pounds of bread and 18 or 20 livres of money were distributed. The ladies received 12 or 15 livres for the bashful poor, the apothecaries were paid 100 or 120 livres for their medicines, the surgeon drew 20 livres, and the women who attended to the sick were given 4 livres a month. The officials whose duty it was to ensure that no beggars from outside the area stayed in the town, were each given 20 livres. This total did not include the cost of clothing, firewood and coal which would have come to a considerable sum. [34] One might perhaps be surprised at this mixture of organised charity and preoccupation with good behaviour. Vincent de Paul was no dreamer, but a prudent and realistic organiser. His heart was always moved at the sight of suffering but that did not prevent him from recognising measures that were necessary for the preservation of good public order and he was well aware of roguery's thousand disguises. In a century when social assistance was unheard of, the charity association at Mâcon represents a massive attempt to meet the needs of the poor. He was preparing, or perhaps we should say that Providence was preparing him, for the even more far reaching tasks he would have to undertake.
Once again he had shown that he could rouse people's goodwill, mobilise forces and channel relief aid. Strangely enough it is Vincent himself who has left us the most convincing proof of his success at Mâcon even though this is in a private letter to Louise de Marillac, his principal collaborator and closest confidante. We have already quoted some of the words he wrote to her on 21st July, 1635.
"When I started the charity at Mâcon everybody laughed at me and pointed at me in the street, but when the work was finally accomplished they all shed tears of joy. The local magistrates paid me such honour when I was leaving that I couldn't bear it, and I had to creep away to avoid their praise. And now Mâcon is one of the most solidly established charities."
And, in order to justify this unwonted avowal of personal success, he adds;
"I hope that the confusion you experienced as your work began will be turned into consolation and the enterprise will thus have a more solid foundation." [35]
His duties as chaplain royal to the galleys and his success in organising the charity at Mâcon meant that Vincent's work was beginning to spread beyond the confines of the de Gondi estates. Both these works would soon reveal the true stature of this humble priest who was still in the early stages of his marvellous and providential vocation.
"I begged Our Lord to change my nature."
However, the development of Vincent's works should not distract our attention from his on going spiritual progress during these early years of his apostolate. Guided by Bérulle and Duval, (and he was soon to encounter the third person to have an important influence on his life), and corresponding more and more to the promptings of grace, Vincent was making progress along the difficult path of personal sanctification. Still preserved are a few but significant watersheds in his life that help us trace the secret path of his spiritual progress. It is almost by chance that we have first hand testimony of his personal asceticism. No matter how much he wanted to conceal his departure from Mâcon he had, of course, to tell the Oratorian fathers who had been his hosts in that city. On the day he was leaving, some of them went into his room very early in the morning to say goodbye to him. It was then that they noticed that this energetic organiser of charity was in the habit of removing the mattress from his bed and sleeping on the bare straw. When this regular act of penance came to light all Vincent could do was to murmur a confused and not very convincing explanation. Vincent was faithful to this penitential practice all his life. [36]
In that same year, 1621, Vincent had made his retreat at Soissons. Among other graces he received there, and we will discuss these later on, one particular grace contributed to his personal maturity which is the subject now under discussion. Vincent was not by nature a gentle and affable person. Perhaps he exaggerates to some degree but he often accused himself of "black moods" and of having a "harsh and aggressive manner." [37] This surliness found expression, not so much in angry outbursts as in a brooding silence when he would be closed in on himself, and in periods of deep melancholy. Madame de Gondi suffered from her chaplain's fluctuating moods. She was worried that he was fretting and that one day he might leave them again. One day she summoned up courage and very courteously brought this fault to the priest's notice. Vincent thought about it. Feeling himself called to live in community (significanthy this is the first time we find him thinking along these particular lines), he realised that he would have to live with all types of people and so he resolved to mend his ways. During the retreat at Soissons he reveals, "I turned to Our Lord and begged him to change my brusque and forbidding character and I asked him to help me to become gentle and kind." Vincent was no doubt influenced by Marguerite de Silly when he made this petition, and he was even more strongly influenced by the example of St. Francis de Sales whom he had just come to know. Vincent not only prayed but he also made firm resolutions. He began to make strenuous efforts to acquire the virtues he prayed for and eventually became one of the most amiable men of his time. [38]
In 1621 we have one final indication that Vincent was acquiring a reputation for sanctity and indirectly it points to other things that Vincent did though we have no details of these. On 26th February of that year, Father François de Maida, Superior General of the Minims, presented Vincent with a certificate of affiliation in recognition of his outstanding piety and the services he had rendered to these religious. Being granted associate membership meant he would share in the prayers, sacrifices, almsgiving, indulgences and other good works of the Order. [39] One might consider this a routine act of gratitude towards a benefactor. Unfortunately we don't know the precise reasons that prompted the Superior of the Minims to take this action but we do know that a letter of aggregation was not granted lightly and neither was it a reward for just any ordinary service. Perhaps it wasn't just by chance that the Bishop of Mâcon belonged to that same religious order of Minims, and that Mâcon was the city where eight months later Vincent's charity was to reap such a rich harvest. The certificate of affiliation accorded to the de Gondi chaplain was something more than a mere document.
For Vincent , the fifteen years between 1618 and 1633, are a period of growth. They are creative years when Vincent is groping his way, following any indication given by Providence, and taking his own personal decisions. In doing this he becomes aware of the ways in which he will fulfil his special vocation; he creates specific organisations and he sees them fully operational. These are also years when Vincent abandons himself more and more to the influence of grace and reaches a level of human maturity that is very close to sanctity.
When he returned from Chatillon in December, 1617, Vincent was determined to devote himself completely to working for the salvation of poor country people and to relieving their physical sufferings. He would do this through the Mission and by founding the Charities. He had permission from the de Gondis to do this work and, as they were anxious to keep him in their household, they gave him, as promised, an assistant who would be tutor to their sons. This man was Antoine Portail. [1] So Vincent now has the time and the freedom to move about and follow what he now knows to be his vocation. His immediate horizons are the de Gondi [2] estates and he very quickly puts into action a plan to evangelise the people there. His missionary activity is restricted geographically and also by lack of personnel. Vincent, himself, is the Mission. Has he already glimpsed the possibility of founding a new community and been given a hint of the vast horizons, both national and international, of his vocation? According to Vincent no such thought had ever entered his head.
"Who was it that founded the Company? Who sent us to work on the missions and with the ordinands, etc? Was it I? Most certainly not. Was it Fr. Portail whom God sent to join me right at the start? Definitely not. We never thought of such a thing or had any plans like that. Who, then, was the creator of all this? It was God, in his providence and utter goodness." [3]
Here we come to a problem which has long been debated;the question of Vincent de Paul's lack of imagination and spiritual initiative, as well as his natural timidity. Some people think Vincent is rather limited, he does not rise to great heights of contemplation and he can't see the long term consequences of the task he is undertaking. His imagination worked from the particular to the general, and he created nothing more than a chain of minor projects that answered limited needs; the final outcome was way beyond what he hadplanned. All Vincent's works were a response to specific but quite minor events that showed up some moral or social evil. His projects were based on experience, not on natural creativity. [4]
On the other hand there were people who detected in Vincent a certain boldness, he liked things to be on a big scale and was happy to take risks. Any apparent lack of decisiveness or initiative was simply because Vincent was making a very determined effort to carry out to the letter Bérulle's teaching on total submission to God's will. In his striving after sanctity Vincent deemed it absolutely essential to abase himself completely before the divine majesty. This means, in effect, that he is ready to give up his own plans and rely totally on God for guidance. [5] We recognise here a principle that is so characteristic of Vincent de Paul and one which he will repeat over and over again that of never anticipating Providence but always following its guidance. [6] We will see how he lives this out during the year in question. Vincent makes strenous efforts to subdue nature by practising strict, ascetic discipline and he tries to correspond as fully as possible with the demands of his recent conversion. So we shouldn't be surprised by Vincent's voluntary renunciation of his natural inclination towards ambitious projects such as those we noted in the early and eventful years of his priesthood.
It is clearly evident, however, that during his second stay with the de Gondis, between 1618 and 1625, Vincent devoted himself to the work of the Mission and the Charities. He did this single handed except for occasional help from companions who only joined him for certain specific and limited projects. In the year 1618 he preached three Missions that we know about; those of Villepreux, Joigny and Montmirail which were all part of the de Gondi estates. During these missions he received help from good priests some of whom we know by name; Jean Coqueret, a doctor in theology at the College of Navarre, together with Berger and Gontière who were ecclesiastical councillors to the Parlement of Paris. [7] These three accompanied him on the first Mission he preached at Villepreux. But we shouldn't let this statement pass lightly over us as though we fully realised its significance. What precisely was the Mission? More than three centuries of familiarity with the term has trivialisedits meaning. Let us try to rediscover this meaning in the pure, clear light of the Mission's origin.
On the de Gondi estates: the Mission and the Charities.
In Gannes, in Folléville, and in Chatillon, Vincent had discovered the profound spiritual dereliction of these poorcountry people, their ignorance of the fundamental truths of faith, their routine practice of a mildewed, musty Christianity and their lack of even basic preparation for the sacraments. The results of all this were only too evident and Vincent's heart was seared at finding "a people who risked being damned because they were ignorant of the truths neccesary for salvation and because they did not confess their sins." [8] A radical solution had to be found and the missions aimed at providing just this.
Each mission was like planting the seeds of Christianity afresh. Shortly after they arrived at the village, the small team of two, three or four Missionaries would unload their scanty belongings and begin days of intensive preaching. Depending on the size of the place, the work could go on for five or six weeks or even for two months. The missions always lasted a fortnight, even in the smallest villages. The programme was adapted to suit the work routine of the peasants. Early in the morning there would be a sermon on the basic truths of the faith, the virtues, and common sins. At one o'clock in the afternoon there would be catechism class for the children and these youngsters hurried eagerly to it because for so long nobody had bothered about them. And now one of these gentlemen who had come all the way from Paris was going to put on a show especially for them and the performance would not be without its stratagems and ploys to capture a child's imagination.
Late in the evening, when the farm work was finished, there would be the "grande catechisme", during which the adults would be instructed on the articles of the Creed, the commandments of God and of the Church, the sacraments, the Lord's prayer and the Angelus. The Mission ended with a joyful celebration. In the morning those children who had not already done so, made their First Communion, and that evening, after Vespers, there was a splendid procession of the Blessed Sacrament. The children carried lighted candles and behind them walked the clergy and the congregation. The people remembered the mission for a long time. It was an intensive course in Christianity for all who took part in it.
But the course was not just theoretical. Explanations of the truths of faith went hand in hand with strong exhortations for a change in life style, and a call to conversion which would be sealed by a good general confession and receiving Holy Communion. [9] The people who had been neglected for so long, discovered afresh the ancient treasures of their dormant faith. They felt they were living a new and marvellous spiritual adventure; it was a re encounter, or for many of them, their first serious encounter with Christianity. To crown this, the Mission put before them the fundamental goal of the Christian vocation, the practice of charity. The missions invariably ended with the founding of a charity confraternity like the original one that Vincent started at Chatillon.
We know that between the years 1618 and 1625 Vincent preached missions thoughout the entire estates of M. and Mde. de Gondi and that these comprised a nucleus of thirty or forty key towns. He founded a Confraternity of Charity in each one. [10] We still have the constitutions for the Confraternities of Joigny, Montmirail, Folléville, Courbon and Montreuil [11] as well as the General Constitutions which, with some local variations, were to provide the broad outlines for the particular constitutions. [12] All of these clearly show the workings of the same practical mind, the same attention to detail, the same concern for efficiency,the same combination of spiritual and material assistance and the same compassion for the needy that we saw in the constitutions drawn up for the Charity at Chatillon.
Everything was worked out in great detail the acts of piety to be practised by the associates, the sick people's diet, the duties of officers, possible sources of funding for the Charity, the manner of persuading people to receive the sacraments and arrangements for the burial and funeral of those who died. So as not to duplicate resources, the new confraternity would combine with one or other of the pious associations already in existence and, according to the locality, this would be the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, or that of the Holy Name of Jesus or that of the Holy Rosary. [13]
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]
Like concentric circles of waves in the sea, Vincent's work was spreading, through force at circumstances, to ever more far flung territories. Vincent's name began to be known in all parts of the de Gondi's domains because these estates belonged to different dioceses and the fruits of his charitable work were appreciated in Paris, Beauvais, Soissons, Sens... [20] Unforeseen, or perhaps we should say Providential happenings, were soon to expand these enterprises nationwide.
"I have seen these poor people treated like animals."
The office of General of the Galleys that Philippe Manuel de Gondi held, was one of the most prestigious posts in France's armed forces. It provided Count de Joigny with opportunities for deeds of valour commensurate with his reputation for bravery. Among many other armed conflicts that he engaged in, we should remember his intervention in the siege of La Rochelle in October, 1622. The French fleet was under the personal command of the General who decided the outcome of the engagement in a very practical way. On the day after the attack on the fleet of La Rochelle, the rebel city conceded defeat and sued for peace. [21] But, as was customary at that time in history, this glorious navy sailed on an ocean of misery, pain and blood the labours of the galley slaves. It was these men, the scum of society, whose arms toiled at rowing and whose backs were lacerated by the overseer's implacable whip, who sailed the ships that proudly flew the fleur de lys ensign.
There were few situations more heartrending in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than the plight of men sentenced to the galleys. The only comparison we might make would be to compare then with prisoners in the concentration camps of the twentieth century. The horror began the moment they were imprisoned in the Conciergerie in Paris, waiting for the time when they would be part of "the chain" that took them to the ports. It was there that they languished in infectious and nauseous prisons, chained together in pairs, famished with hunger and worn out by fever or by worms. The situation was no better when they were put aboad ship. Awaiting them were endless days of painful rowing when they were scorched by the fierce Mediterranean sun or lashed by rain and storms, as they were whipped by heartless and cruel slave drivers. The worst thing was that they had no legal redress. If they were condemned to two or three years in the galleys they might find their sentence arbitrarily extended for an indefinite period. This might be due to bureaucratic chaos or to the navy's demand for man power. [22]
Vincent de Paul began to visit the galley slaves in Paris in 1618. [23] That same heart which had been touched by the spiritual abandonment and the physical hunger of the peasants of Chatillon and on the de Gondi estates, now shuddered at the sight of this untold misery. Talking to his spiritual daughters forty years later, he could still remember how he felt at that time.
"What happiness, my daughters, to serve these poor prisoners left abandoned in the hands of men who show them no pity. I have seen these poor people treated like animals and their sufferings moved God to show compassion for them." [24]
Vincent's compassion was never passive or sterile. He immediately set about looking for ways of making the prisoners' painful situation a little easier even if he couldn't remedy the problem entirely. His first step was to persuade the General to have the prisoners in Paris moved to a more habitable building in the faubourg St. Honoré near the church of St. Roch and here the prisoners were allowed a more substantial and healthy diet. On Vincent's initiative, the Bishop of Paris issued an injunction ordering parish priests, assistant clergy, and preachers, to urge the faithful to participate in the work of helping the condemned men. [25] Vincent was just as concerned with the spiritual welfare of the galley slaves as he was with their material welfare. He visited the gaols and showed great zeal in preaching missionary style to these people who were as distanced from God as they were abandoned by men. His success was beyond all expectations. There were remarkable conversions and these were all the more sincere as they were in no way dependent on any expectation of material reward such as liberty or a reduction in sentence. The preacher was very careful not to promise this. [26] In this same year, 1618, he made a first journey to Marseilles to take the same consolation to the unfortunate wretches still sentenced to the galleys.
At this juncture it would be well to put into context a rather dubious anecdote which tells how Vincent took the place of a galley slave for a short time so that the man could go free and help his family. Although different witnesses testified to the historical accuracy of the story during the beatification process, it has always raised doubts in the minds of biographers. Even Abelly, who is the first to tell the story, shows a certain scepticism. [27] This leads Collet to argue strongly against it. [28] The controversy has continued ever since. [29] Taken in its most radical version as Vincent having actually replaced a galley slave and given the complicity of those in charge in allowing the man to go free, the story seems highly improbable. Taken as a sudden impulse on Vincent's part to take the seat of an exhausted galley slave and spare him a couple of lashes, the story might be more plausible. This is how modern biographers tend to explain the incident. They are fascinated by such a noble gesture which is very much in keeping with Vincent's burning charity. [30]
Another of Vincent's initiatives to help the galley slaves at Marseilles was destined to have a more lasting effect. Under the auspices of the General of the Galleys, they started to build a hospital. Unfortunately the project was soon halted through lack of funds and wasn't taken up again till twenty five years later. [31]
Vincent's selfless labours in Paris and Marseilles induced M. de Gondi to look for some way of legalising and perpetuating the work. It came into his mind to create the post of chaplain royal to the galleys in France and this work was entrusted to Vincent. The King, "Moved with pity for the prisoners and wishing them to derive spiritual profit from their bodily affliction", approved the plan. On 8th February, 1619, a brief was issued to set up the new post "with authority over all other chaplains" and it was conferred on Vincent de Paul. It carried with it an annual salary of 600 livres and the rank of officer in the Levant Navy. Four days later, on the twelfth day of that month, Vincent took the oath of office in the presence of the General and assumed responsibility for the work. [32] It was the first of Vincent's charitable works to be carried out on a national scale. Vincent was to retain the title all through his life. Shortly before his death he secceeded in having the title linked to the office of Superior General of the Mission in perpetuity. It was no sinecure.
From the outset, Vincent's personal dedication to the work was matched by the commitment shown by his two close collaborators, Father Belin and Father Portail. [33] Later on he would appoint a number of missionaries to help in this work and would enlist the help of the Daughters of Charity to look after the corporal needs of the galley slaves. The Daughters would go down into the prisons like veritable angels of consolation. In the brief intervals that Vincent had free after giving missions to the peasants on the de Gondi estates, he would go to either the Hospital for Galley slaves in Paris or to the galleys themselves to bring to the prisoners, too, the benefits of a mission. He did this in Marseilles in 1622 and in Bordeaux the following year. We will see this a little later on.
"When I founded the Charity at Mâcon..."
On one of his journeys in September, 1612, Vincent passed through the town of Mâcon. It was there that Providence was waiting to launch him into a new enterprise which would establish, beyond any doubt, his organising ability and the effectiveness of the Confraternity he had set up in Chatillon.
Mâcon was swarming with beggars who were a real scourge for the city because of their demands, their wranglings and the inconvenience they caused. Straightaway Vincent tackled the problem and he was particulary concerned about the dreadful condition of these poor people who, in addition to all their bodily miseries were a long way from the practice of their religion. Why shouldn't he apply to the city's problem those same remedies that he had used in the small villages? The plan that he conceived was on a grand scale, so much so that when he was bold enough to present it, some people thought that the man who conceived this plan was interfering or crazy. Those who were more pious recognised the good intentions behind the idea but were sceptical about its chances of success. His plan was to organise a Charity on a city wide scale and thus put and end to begging and to the corporal and spiritual abandonment of these poor wretches. The idea began to gain support. Vincent managed to interest the magistrates of the town, the Bishop, the two canonical Chapters, the municipal Councillors, the burghers and the leading merchants of the town. He presented his plan at a meeting held in the Hôtel de Ville on Thursday, 16th September.
The basis of Vincent's plan was that they should set up two associations of charity, one for men and the other for women. The general outline of his plan provided, first of all, for the compiling of a list of all poor people living in the town and these numbered three hundred. Then they would set up a relief fund which would draw on voluntary donations covenanted annually by the clergy and well to do citizens, as well as agreed revenues specially assigned to this good work; from entrance dues exacted from all the professions in the city, and from collections taken up by the Ladies of Charity every Sunday. On Sundays the poor people would go to the church of St. Nazare to hear Mass and eventually to go to confession and communion. After Mass they would all be given bread and money, according to their family circumstances, except for those who were caught begging during the week. Poor people who were passing through the town would be given a night's lodging and the next day they would be sent on their way with an alms of two sous. The bashful poor would be discreetly helped by the ladies who gave them food and medicine when they were sick. Men who were able to work were only given enough money to supplement their miserable wages because the association didn't believe in encouraging idleness. Members of the Confraternity were to meet once a week to update the list of poor people, to delete the names of those who no longer needed help and to impose the appropriate sanctions on those who didn't deserve to be helped or who had broken the rules.
The plan worked. The sum of two hundred crowns was raised to cover initial expenses. In less than three weeks the scheme was fully operational. Each Sunday 1,200 pounds of bread and 18 or 20 livres of money were distributed. The ladies received 12 or 15 livres for the bashful poor, the apothecaries were paid 100 or 120 livres for their medicines, the surgeon drew 20 livres, and the women who attended to the sick were given 4 livres a month. The officials whose duty it was to ensure that no beggars from outside the area stayed in the town, were each given 20 livres. This total did not include the cost of clothing, firewood and coal which would have come to a considerable sum. [34] One might perhaps be surprised at this mixture of organised charity and preoccupation with good behaviour. Vincent de Paul was no dreamer, but a prudent and realistic organiser. His heart was always moved at the sight of suffering but that did not prevent him from recognising measures that were necessary for the preservation of good public order and he was well aware of roguery's thousand disguises. In a century when social assistance was unheard of, the charity association at Mâcon represents a massive attempt to meet the needs of the poor. He was preparing, or perhaps we should say that Providence was preparing him, for the even more far reaching tasks he would have to undertake.
Once again he had shown that he could rouse people's goodwill, mobilise forces and channel relief aid. Strangely enough it is Vincent himself who has left us the most convincing proof of his success at Mâcon even though this is in a private letter to Louise de Marillac, his principal collaborator and closest confidante. We have already quoted some of the words he wrote to her on 21st July, 1635.
"When I started the charity at Mâcon everybody laughed at me and pointed at me in the street, but when the work was finally accomplished they all shed tears of joy. The local magistrates paid me such honour when I was leaving that I couldn't bear it, and I had to creep away to avoid their praise. And now Mâcon is one of the most solidly established charities."
And, in order to justify this unwonted avowal of personal success, he adds;
"I hope that the confusion you experienced as your work began will be turned into consolation and the enterprise will thus have a more solid foundation." [35]
His duties as chaplain royal to the galleys and his success in organising the charity at Mâcon meant that Vincent's work was beginning to spread beyond the confines of the de Gondi estates. Both these works would soon reveal the true stature of this humble priest who was still in the early stages of his marvellous and providential vocation.
"I begged Our Lord to change my nature."
However, the development of Vincent's works should not distract our attention from his on going spiritual progress during these early years of his apostolate. Guided by Bérulle and Duval, (and he was soon to encounter the third person to have an important influence on his life), and corresponding more and more to the promptings of grace, Vincent was making progress along the difficult path of personal sanctification. Still preserved are a few but significant watersheds in his life that help us trace the secret path of his spiritual progress. It is almost by chance that we have first hand testimony of his personal asceticism. No matter how much he wanted to conceal his departure from Mâcon he had, of course, to tell the Oratorian fathers who had been his hosts in that city. On the day he was leaving, some of them went into his room very early in the morning to say goodbye to him. It was then that they noticed that this energetic organiser of charity was in the habit of removing the mattress from his bed and sleeping on the bare straw. When this regular act of penance came to light all Vincent could do was to murmur a confused and not very convincing explanation. Vincent was faithful to this penitential practice all his life. [36]
In that same year, 1621, Vincent had made his retreat at Soissons. Among other graces he received there, and we will discuss these later on, one particular grace contributed to his personal maturity which is the subject now under discussion. Vincent was not by nature a gentle and affable person. Perhaps he exaggerates to some degree but he often accused himself of "black moods" and of having a "harsh and aggressive manner." [37] This surliness found expression, not so much in angry outbursts as in a brooding silence when he would be closed in on himself, and in periods of deep melancholy. Madame de Gondi suffered from her chaplain's fluctuating moods. She was worried that he was fretting and that one day he might leave them again. One day she summoned up courage and very courteously brought this fault to the priest's notice. Vincent thought about it. Feeling himself called to live in community (significanthy this is the first time we find him thinking along these particular lines), he realised that he would have to live with all types of people and so he resolved to mend his ways. During the retreat at Soissons he reveals, "I turned to Our Lord and begged him to change my brusque and forbidding character and I asked him to help me to become gentle and kind." Vincent was no doubt influenced by Marguerite de Silly when he made this petition, and he was even more strongly influenced by the example of St. Francis de Sales whom he had just come to know. Vincent not only prayed but he also made firm resolutions. He began to make strenuous efforts to acquire the virtues he prayed for and eventually became one of the most amiable men of his time. [38]
In 1621 we have one final indication that Vincent was acquiring a reputation for sanctity and indirectly it points to other things that Vincent did though we have no details of these. On 26th February of that year, Father François de Maida, Superior General of the Minims, presented Vincent with a certificate of affiliation in recognition of his outstanding piety and the services he had rendered to these religious. Being granted associate membership meant he would share in the prayers, sacrifices, almsgiving, indulgences and other good works of the Order. [39] One might consider this a routine act of gratitude towards a benefactor. Unfortunately we don't know the precise reasons that prompted the Superior of the Minims to take this action but we do know that a letter of aggregation was not granted lightly and neither was it a reward for just any ordinary service. Perhaps it wasn't just by chance that the Bishop of Mâcon belonged to that same religious order of Minims, and that Mâcon was the city where eight months later Vincent's charity was to reap such a rich harvest. The certificate of affiliation accorded to the de Gondi chaplain was something more than a mere document.
