CHAPTER XIX

EXPANSION OF THE CONGREGATION

The Congregation of the Mission mirrored the many facets of Vincent himself; it shared his charism and was destined to inherit and continue it. The full flowering of Vincent's vocation would depend on the degree to which it was shared by the small group of men gathered around him. This group was the focal point of all Vincent's activities and whenever he delegated authority to others, the impetus and inspiration for doing so came from this central work. It is only to be expected, therefore, that Vincent's best efforts and most of his energy would be put into developing his most important work, the one that would prove a continuation and expansion of the man himself.


"Let us honour the small number of Christ's disciples."

At the present time we have no monographs on the men who belonged to the Congregation of the Mission during the Founder's lifetime. Although the data I am about to offer is reliable in broad outline, it cannot be as precise and definite as one would wish. [1]

In the first 10 or 12 years of the Congregation's history there was a fairly slow increase in numbers. Vocations were few and averaged 3 or 4 a year. Up to 1636 the numbers would be about fifty; of these thirty were priests, ten or so were clerics waiting to be ordained, and another ten were lay brothers. Was such slow growth due to prevailing circumstances or was it Vincent's deliberate intention not to recruit candidates too quickly, so that new members could assimilate and be imbued with his spirit? What we know of Vincent's attitude to the vocation of the Company makes us incline to the latter view. It was during this particular period we are studying that Vincent made these revealing observations:

"Since you left", he wrote to Antoine Portail, on 16th Sept. 1635, "the number of men entering our Congregation has risen to six. How fearful I am, Monsieur, of big numbers and expansion. And how many reasons do we not have, to bless God who allows us to be few in number, like the disciples of his Son.!" [2]


"It is for God alone to choose those he wishes to call."

As a matter of principle he did not go looking for vocations but was content with those that the Lord deigned to send him. He kept to this practice all through his life so that as late as May. 1660 he kept back a letter which one of his missionaries had written to a priest trying to persuade him to join the Company. This gave him the opportunity to express his thoughts on the question of recruiting vocations. The religious principle underlying his words was the simple but profound conviction that a vocation comes from God.


"We have the principle... of never urging anyone to join us. It is for God alone to choose those he wishes to call, and we are convinced that one missionary given by his fatherly hand, will do more good than many others who do not have a true vocation. We must beg Him to send labourers for his harvest, and to live such good lives that our example will attract them and not deter them from working with us." [3]

He was even slow to accept the idea of praying for vocations:

"For more than 20 years I haven't dared to ask this grace from God, believing that as the Congregation was His work, I should leave concern for its preservation and growth to providence alone; but after reflecting on the gospel's counsel that we should pray to him to send labourers for his harvest, I am now convinced of the importance and efficacy of such acts of devotion." [4]

When assessing the qualities of aspirants, he was very demanding, not so much as regards their intellectual or physical endowment, but concerning their spiritual outlook and the purity of their intentions. [5]

The most striking feature of Vincent's attitude to vocations is his complete lack of self interest. This prevented him from capitalising on the contacts he made with good people seeking guidance about their vocation, contacts made in the course of retreats for ordinands, and similar works. The directives he gives on this point might seem uncompromising, and even inhuman, if we didn't know that they were based on his personal understanding of the Gospel. Here are a few examples:

"Fathers, and especilly those among you who direct retreats, be very careful not to urge anybody to join the Company, but be satisfied with encouraging them in their good resolutions and trying to help them decide for themselves the place they believe God is calling them to be. I go further; even if they manifest this desire, and tell you that they feel a certain attraction for our way of life, be very much on your guard about saying they should be missionaries; do not advise or exhort them to do this. Simply say to them that it is all the more important that they put this plan in God's hands, and that they should consider it very carefully, as it is a matter of supreme importance. Point out, too, the difficulties that human nature would have to contend with and how necessary it is, if they do decide to embrace this state, to expect to endure much labour and suffering for God's sake. If after all this, they make up their minds to join well that's all right you can arrange for them to speak to the Superior and discuss their vocation with him in greater depth. Let us allow God to act, Fathers, and let us humbly await and depend on His providence. By his mercy the Company has acted in this way up to now, and we can say that there is nothing in the Company which has not come from God, and that for our part, we have never gone looking for men, possessions or foundations. In God's name, Fathers, please keep to this practice, let God act and let us be content to co operatewith him. Believe me, Fathers, if the Company continues to act in this way God will bless it. So we must be satisfied with the candidates God sends us." [6]

"Somebody comes to make a retreat to decide on his future state in life you see one going to the Jesuits, another to the Carthusians. What! Isn't the Mission a holy Congregation, too, and you can save your soul there just as well as in other places? Human prudence! I remember a certain occasion when one of the most intelligent men on earth, somebody who had held the office of Councillor Advocate, consulted me about his vocation. He was hesitating between becoming a Carthusian or a Missionary. I felt honoured but God gave me the grace never to speak to him about becoming a missionary. He went to the Carthusians. I told him, "God is calling you to the Carthusians, go wherever God is calling you." [7]

He even wanted vocations to the Company to rise to the heights of heroism.

"My very dear Fathers and Brothers, would to God that all those who enter the Company could come with the desire for martyrdom, wishing to suffer martyrdom in the Company and to consacrate their whole lives to God's service, either in far off lands, here, or in any place he may wish to use this poor little Company." [8]


"Not many of us come from noble families."

In spite of his precautions, or maybe indeed because of them, the Congregation increases in number more rapidly after 1637. The cause, and also the effect, could have been the establishment, that year, of a sort of novitiate for aspirants. Vincent used the term "internal seminary" so that this Congregation would not be confused with a religious order. After this year the average number of new entrants was 23 and of these, again we are talking of averages, 16 would be priests or clerics, and 7 would be lay brothers. The year 1645 saw the highest number of entrants; a total of 38. Between 1648 and 1652 there was a notable drop in the number of vocations and these were at their lowest level in 1652 with only 3 new entrants. Such a large decrease in numbers was no doubt due to the upheaval caused by the Fronde which interrupted the usual flow of aspirants to St. Lazare. Once these adverse circumstances were reversed, then things returned to normal and in 1653 there were 25 new entrants.

Altogether, there were 614 aspirants received into the Congregation during the Founder's lifetime, and of these, 425 were priests and 189 were lay brothers. Some did not complete their probationary period and quite a number of others leftthe Congregation after a few years' study or work. If we add to this the number of those who died, (life expectancy in the 17th century was short and the missionaries' work, especially in aiding victims of the plague, was very dangerous), we find that the total number of active members of the Congregation which rose to 200 in 1645, was never to be more than 250. This was a very small number compared with those of the large and well establised communities and it was small in proportion to the enormous task it carried out, but all the same it was a fairly acceptable figure for the young Congregation which was growing up during a period in history when there was a superabundance of religious communities, both old and new. Vincent always called his community, "the Little Company". He meant this title to reflect the lowliness of its members and the modest works they performed but the name was also appropriate in a numerical sense.

As we might expect, vocations to the Company came from those regions where there was the strongest community presence. Most of the missionaries came from Northern France; from Champagne, Artois, Picardy, Ile de France, Normandy and Brittany. The four dioceses of Amiens, Paris, Rouen and Arras alone, provided a contingent of more than 140 missionaries. On the other hand, places south west of a line Loire Rhône provided fewer than 30. It's a strange fact that during Vincent's lifetime there wasn't a single missionary from Dax, the diocese the Founder came from. When the Congregation began to spread outside of France there was an immediate influx of foreign vocations. About 20 came from Ireland and as many again from Italy, together with a few from Poland and from Switzerland. There were a considerable number, too, from Lorraine and from Savoy but the political development of these regions was such that we cannot call them non French in the strict sense of the term.

Vincent always insisted that his Company was made up of ordinay people with no rank, wealth, or learning. In this he recognised the hand of God who is pleased to choose the weak and the foolish of this world to confound the strong. [9] Perhaps he was exaggerating slightly, for some important people did put on the missionary's habit. One such was M. de Fargis, Charles d'Angennes, the former ambassador to Spain and brother in law of the de Gondis. He joined the
Congregation towards the end of his life and died in it twelve months later, on 20th December, 1648, before completing his period of probation. [10] A similar case was that of M. René Alméras who was admitted into the Company his son already belonged to, and after serving as secretary royal, Treasurer of France, secretary to Marie de Medici, Master of the Accounts and Controller General of the Mail, he joined the Company at the age of eighty one and lived in the internal seminary from 1657 1658: It seemed to Vincent that this man accepted death with as much trust and resignation as any saint. [11] Apart from these truly exceptional cases, there were other missionaries who came from families noted for their rank or their intellectual endowments. Among these were René Alméras Junior, the two Fathers Watebled who were related by marriage to the famous Vatable, [12] and there were the Fathers Le Vacher who were nephews of Dr. Duval. [13]

Vincent's early companions included many graduates from the Sorbonne and gifted people like François de Coudray or Jean Dehorgny. But on the whole, we have to agree with Vincent that most of his missionaries were good French countrymen who belonged to the same social class as the people they were called to evangelise. And that was a good thing. Vincent abhorred nothing so much as a Company made up of learned men or noble gentlemen who couldn't adapt themselves to working among the poor and lowly people of the country districts.

In the early years nearly all those who entered the Congregation were ordained priests, and these joined Vincent straightaway in his work of preaching missions or giving retreats to ordinands. As the institute became more stable and began to develop along the lines of traditional communities, so the number of young entrants who were not ordained increased. These men were called "clerics" in community parlance, though at this stage they had not yet received the tonsure. Of the 425 mentioned earlier, only 125 were ordained before they entered the Company. So more than two thirds were aspirants to the priesthood who saw in the Congregation the answer to their apostolic calling.

It is even more difficult to calculate the ages of these new members. One thing we do know for certain, is that the two thirds of those entering the community before ordination were below the age of 26. The bull, "Salvatoris nostri" fixed the minimum age for admission at 17 or 18. [14] Even so, about a dozen lads were admitted before their seventeenth birthday. So it wasn't just the novelty of its works, but also the ages of its members, that made the Congregation of the Mission burst out like a youthful tidal wave over the weary scene of life in France during the second third of the 17th century.

"You will be tried like gold in the crucible"

For the first 10 or 12 years Vincent, himself, took responsibility for training aspirants. The Congregation had no educational structure, properly so called. The new entrants received their training from living in direct contact with the older members of the Congregation and especially with the Founder. The fact that they were few in number made for a direct spiritual osmosis and Vincent intensified this, as much as possible, by means of his talks and conferences, his repetition of prayer and his letters. Rather than use the term "Congregation" in the strict sense of the word, we should perhaps speak of a team, whose leader was at once superior, spiritual director, master of novices and spiritual guide. We have already noted Vincent's skill and sureness of touch in the exercise of these offices and he continued this work until he died. But as numbers increased it became necessary to devise a specific system for welcoming new recruits and imbuing them with the spirit of the community. To prepare for this, he sent Jean de la Salle, the youngest of his first three companions, to spend some months in the Jesuit novitiate, following their practices and seeing how these could be adapted for an istitute of secular priests such as the Congregation of the Mission. [15] De la Salle was a great missionary; he was extremely devout and an excellent debater. When he was in charge of the seminary he managed, in barely a year, to create such a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere that the older missionaries regretted that they and their contemporaries had not been able to enjoy such benefits. He died in 1639, at the age of 41.In his dying moments he felt the urge to strip himself completely naked in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi whose life he had listened to with great devotion, and a saint who stripped himself so as to be like Our Lord in all things. [16] He was succeeded as director by Frs. Dehorgny, Alméras, Dufour, Jolly and Delespinay.

The period spent in the internal seminary lasted for 2 years. At the end of the first year the seminarists declared their intentions, i.e. they stated publicly that they intended to live and die in the Congregation. Until 1642, this bond which had already been prescribed in the bull of foundation, [17] was the only official record of membership.

Before Vincent accepted postulants he would subject them to a rigorous scrutiny of their natural and spiritual dispositions. The two years probation period was not meant to test the candidates suitability, but to strengthen them in their vocation and build on to this foundation the virtues that constitute a good missionary. [18] Vincent's aim was to inculcate solid virtue. What he understood by this expression is summarised in one of the finest passages that ever came from his pen.

"Anyone who wishes to live in this community must be prepared and determined to live like an exile on this earth and live only for Christ; to change his ways and mortify his passions, to seek God alone, to be submissive to everybody and to be convinced that he has come here to serve, and not to govern; to suffer, and not to have an easy life; to labour, and not to live in ease and idleness. He must realise that he will be tried like gold in the crucible, and that it is impossible for him to persevere unless he humbles himself before God, and finally, that the true way of being happy is to nourish himself with the thought of martyrdom and the desire to attain it." [19]

There were no esoteric forms of initiation and no extraordinay ascetic practices in the Vincentian novitiate. The order of the day was more or less that prescribed for everyone, with time for a few personal acts of devotion. Importance was given to reading the New Testament, to knowing the works of spiritual writers, to maintaining a pure conscience through frequent confession, and to the assimilation of the doctrines and disciplines of Trent. [20] Vincent kept a close eye on the workings of the seminary and he interested other missionaries in it by often giving them news about the increase, or the lack, of new vocations, the number of seminarists, and the type of formation they were receiving. [21]

Later on, as the Congregation began to grow in number, other seminaries besides that of St. Lazare were needed, so seminaries were opened at Richelieu, Genoa and Rome.[22] It often happened that if seminarists were already ordained priests, they would be sent out to give missions during the second year of their probationary period. [23] On the other hand, Vincent was not so happy about seminarists pursuing a course of studies during their formation period, and he saw that this might prove an obstacle to the validity of the vows. [24]


"Learned and humble missionaries are the treasure of the Company"

As more and more young men joined the Company before completing their ecclesiastical studies, the establishment of internal seminaries was followed by that of the scholasticate. We have nothing resembling a "ratio studiorum" preserved from those early days but we do know that included in the programme was the study of philosophy and theology, and that these courses were followed, either at the Bons Enfants, or at Saint Lazare. We have the names of quite a few of the professors and among these were Damiens, Dufour, Gilles, Watebled, just to mention a few of the names that will crop up in other contexts.

Vincent kept careful watch on the training that these men gave, and he, too, joined in the work. He was firmly opposed to the dictating of notes in class, in these seminaries or in seminaries for externs. The method he favoured was for teachers to give an explanation of the manuals they used; he recommended "disputes" and trained students in the art of preaching through the talks and sermons they were required to give in the refectory. He chose the textbooks to be studied, especially those written by the Jesuits, Becan and Binsfeld, [25] and he was involved in the day to day events of life in the scholasticate.

As so easily happens among young people, a row broke out one day. This occurrence became grist to Vincent's pedagogical mill as he pondered aloud, and somewhat rhetorically, the gravity of the fault. He even went so far as to compare it with an incident that took place about that time in an Augustinian monastery in Paris when Parlement troops had to intervene to restore order and two religious were killed.

"Shall I tell you something else; something that happened here at Saint Lazare? What I'm about to tell you took place among the students. They went out for a walk in the courtyard, and two of them who were walking ahead of the others, found a game of skittles so they started to play. Then the others arrive and say that they want to join in. One of them knocks over the skittles, and when one of the students who started the game sees this, he picks up one of the skittles and hits the one who knocked them over in the stomach with it. Not content with this, he strikes him again, this time on the back and with such force that the student still feels the pain. Just think, please, of the extremes he went to when he let himself be carried away by anger; just reflect whether this Company hasn't reason to lament over this. Oh, if such things can happen when men are just starting out in the Company, what could happen after a few years when their first fervour and observance of the Rules has become more lax? There was nothing for it but to have this student locked up". [26]

The Founder's directives were not always welcomed by the students, and Vincent's moral authority was not so strong as to suppress a certain degree of opposition. One of the professors of theology, Father Damiens, had a certain sympathy for Jansenist teachings, and he expressed his opinions in his lectures. After several warnings which were all to no avail, Vincent had to take him out of teaching. But the students had taken a liking to him. They came in a body to Vincent's room to ask him to revoke the decision. Vincent refused to listen to them and sent them away with a stern reprimand. [27]

At the beginning of every year the students, led by their director, would come to Vincent's room to ask for his blessing. The Founder would take advantage of such occasions to inculcate in them the right dispositions they should have with regard to study. People have spoken, sometimes too lightly, about Vincent's mistrust of learning. Some of his words taken out of context might give the impression that this was so. All that can safely be said on this subject is that Vincent was too practical a man to take empty satisfaction in knowledge that didn't lead to action. Wasn't one of the first things to stimulate his vocation, the fact that thousands of men with doctorates were living idly in Paris, while the poor people were in danger of damnation because of their ignorance? Vincent was not an intellectual, but an apostle, whose concern was for the salvation of souls. Whatever the cost might be, he had to make sure that his Congregation did not fall into the very vices he claimed to be remedying.

Then there were the usual pitfalls for students, that he knew about, from experience and from observation. The greatest risk was that they might come to value knowledge more than piety.

"The transition from seminary to study is a very dangerous step and causes the downfall of many... It is very dangerous to go from one extreme to the other; just as glass that is taken from the heat of the oven and put in a cold place is in danger of breaking."

For this reason he recommended that study should always go hand in hand with piety.

"If every time we grasp the meaning of something, we could also make the effort to strenthen our will, then we can be sure that study is a way of serving God." [28]

A second danger could be vanity studing just to excel, to be esteemed, to have the reputation of being a learned intellectual.

"To prevent this evil falling upon us, my brothers, do not be anxious for success, for carrying off prizes, or for earning a reputation as a debater whichever side you may be representing; you should rather wish, yearn for, and often beseech Our Lord for the grace to practise humility, in everything and for everything..." [29]

Finally, there was the danger of curiosity. People could seek knowledge for its own sake, knowledge of abstract things that is far removed from real life; they could have no understanding of the real aim of knowledge and they might make it an end in itself, divorcing it from its true function in the Church. So they had a duty "to study in moderation, desiring to know only those things that are in keeping with our state in life." [30]

None of these reservations can be taken to mean that Vincent was against the acquisition of knoweledge; on the contrary they show his strenuous efforts, after meditating on the subject, to put knowledge and study in the context of his vocation and that of his followers; that is to say, to use them for the apostolic aims of the Company.

"Although all priests need to be well instructed, we have a special obligation in this matter, because of the retreats and other works confided to us by divine Providence, such as the ordinands, our direction of ecclesiastical seminaries and missions. We need knowledge. And he added that those men who combined learning with humility were the treasures of the Company, just as good and pious Doctors are the greatest treasure of the Church." [31]

Vincent, himself, has left us the best summary of his thinking on the usefulness and the dangers of study, which came at the end of a repetition of prayer given at the relatively early date of Oct. 1643. In it we can admire the vigour and the coherence of his ideas, as well as the fine irony of its closing words:

"We have to have knowledge, my brothers, and woe to those who neglect to use study time well. But let us be afraid, my brothers, let us fear and tremble, and tremble a thousand times more than I can say. Those with talent have every reason to be afraid, for "scientia inflat", and it is even worse for those who lack talent unless they humble themselves." [32]


"Am I dying? What do I need to do?"

Vincent's labours, and his concern to set up a fine training ground for young and holy seminarists, were crowned with succes. There emerged from the internal seminary and the scholasticate that small but hardy phalanx which would sow the missionary seed in every corner of France. One of Vincent's achievements, and possibly his most creative one, was the formation he gave to men like Thomas Berthe, Jean and Philippe Le Vacher, René Alméras, Edmund Jolly, Lambert aux Couteaux, Charles Nacquart, Claude Dufour, Jean Martin, Etienne Blatiron and many others whose work we will describe in later chapters. Others were destined not to reach the stage of working in the apostolate; they had matured so early that they were ripe for heaven's harvest. Such was the case with Martin Jamain who entered Saint Lazare on 8th Oct. 1640, at the age of twenty one, and died four years later, before he could finish his studies. Vincent gives an account of his death, in a fine letter that reads something like a legend, or rather, it reflects the sense of awe whixh a person feels when he has come into contact with sanctity.

"These few lines are just to let you know that recently the number of missionaries who have been called home to heaven has increased, after the blessed death of one of our students, good Brother Jamain, who came from Verdun. God allowed him to miss out on scholastic theology here, so that he could understand heavenly theology straightaway. His exemplary life, and his holy death, lead us to the pious belief that he is already enjoying the immortality of the saints... His final illness only lasted a week but he suffered more for Christ during that week than he had done in the whole of his life till then. He suffered intense pain and practised great virtue, so much so that we were all astonished that his mind could be completely on God. On the fourth Sunday of Lent when he was suddenly struck down with this illness. It started off as very violent cholic and after a few days this turned into inflammation of the lungs which quickly rotted away. You can't imagine the intense pain and distress he suffered, yet he showed extraordinary patience and wonderful peace of mind. When they told him that death was near, he showed he was quite prepared for this, and without any trace of anxiety he said, "Very well, Father. What do I need to do?" He received the sacraments with unusual devotion and peace, and had the happiness of gaining the jubilee indulgence. Right to his last breath he continued to practise the virtues that merit heaven; sometimes praying in his heart, and sometimes aloud, especially when anyone spoke to him. His agony lasted only a very short time. Perhaps this was God's way of rewarding him for having struggled so hard during life to practise the virtue of mortification." [33]


The pace of establishing foundations

As numbers swelled there was a corresponding increase in the number of houses of the Congregation. The dioceses of France seemed to have caught the contagion, and bishops wished to take advantage of one or other of the pastoral movements initiated by the missionaries. As we follow the history of successive foundations, it is just like following Vincent himself, as his sphere of influence progresively widens. Each new establishment is a replica of the original foundation, but with different people, and a different setting. Vincent returns again and again to the origins of the Company; he recalls its basic objectives, he lays down conditions, and he adapts to circunstances. Unlike St. Teresa, he doesn't travel to all the towns where he is going to send his companions, but controls and directs everything from his room in Saint Lazare; he discusses matters with benefactors in his letters, he strikes bargains, makes concessions, signs contracts. The result of all this is a network of missionary posts scattered over different regions, each one with its own individual characteristics, and these spread ever more widely the work of renewal. At the same time, each house he establishes gives added touches to the traditional works. So Vincent's achievement is enriched and diversified. The time will come when it will cross frontiers to reach Italy, Poland, the British Isles all the vast world of missionary territories.

Until the year 1635, the Congragation only had the two houses in Paris. We know that the Congregation did not have many members at this time and further expansion was not possible. Most of the missionaries lived in Saint Lazare. Four or five had stayed at the Bons Enfants to continue the work laid down in the founding contract, giving missions on the de Gondi estates and providing lodgings for the students whose numbers were gradually decreasing. Vincent changed the work of the house. About the year 1636 he set up the first seminary there. This was modelled on the directives of Trent and catered for young boys and adolescents but in 1645 this seminary was moved to a building inside the precinct of Saint Lazare. It was then renamed St. Charles. So now there were three houses in Paris. The Bons Enfants, which was not very roomy, became an ecclesiastical seminary for ordinands. At the same time its buildings were used as a retreat house, atheological scholasticate for clerics in the Company, and also, at times, it was used to house foreign students who were spending a short time in the capital. [34]

The first foundation outside Paris was made at Toul, in Lorraine, in 1635. Then followed the foundation at Aiguillon (1637) which was soon to be moved to the sanctuary of Notre Dame de la Rose; then came Richelieu, Luçon and Troyes in 1638; Alet, which only lasted three years, and Annecy in Savoy followed in 1639 and then Crécy was founded in 1641.

The year 1642 is a watershed in the history of the Company. With the official opening of the house in Rome, the Mission crosses frontiers, and at the same time continues its programme of expansion throughout France, as houses are set up in Cahors, Marseilles and Sedan (1643), Montmirail and Saintes (1644), Le Mans and Saint Méen (1645), Tréguier (1648), Agen (1650), Périgueux which only lasted a few months, and Montauban (1652), so that the missionary influence was making itself felt in ever more distant regions. The foundation at Genoa followed in 1645, (the same year that the missionaries went to Tunis), and then came foundations in the British Isles (1646), Algeria (1646),Madagascar (1648), and Poland (1651).

Towards the end of Vincent's life the pace of expansion is slower and more hesitant. Several of the foundations he had in mind were only finalised after his death. This happened at Metz, Amiens and Noyon. Other houses, like those of Agde (1654), Meaux (1657), and Montpellier (1659), only lasted a short time. The only solidly established foundations were those of Turin (1654), and Narbonne (1659).

The rate at which houses were established each year from 1632 to 1660 is a good indication of the young Congregation's

healthy growth, and it shows that the works they undertook responded to very real needs in the Church in France. [35]


"We have never requested a foundation."

The setting up of new foundations always followed the same basic pattern. As Vincent was often to repeat, the initiative did not come from him.

"Some years ago we made a commitment that we would never ask for a foundation, since we have always experienced God's special Providence in our regard. It is this same Providence that has established us in all the foundations we now have, and this without any initiative on our part, so that we can truly say that we own nothing that has not been offered and given to us by Our Lord, God." [36]

The usual procedure for setting up a new house was as follows; some pious person (secular or ecclesiastic) would see the need to have missionaries in a particular locality and take his request to M. Vincent, who would consider the proposal and satisfy himself that the work was in keeping with the aims and spirit of his Congregation. Then he would study the conditions, and if the initiative had come from some outside source, he would seek approval from the bishop. Only then would he accept the foundation and sign the contract.

Foundations made before 1642 were devoted exclusively to the work of preaching missions and giving retreats to ordinands. They were new models of the Bons Enfants and Saint Lazare. After this date many of the houses took on the additional work of directing seminaries. This was the way that Vincent efforts to reform the clergy had developed, and later on we will examine the scope and the characterstics of this work.

In many cases, and this was particularly true during the second period of expansion, the initiative for making a foundation came from the bishops who wanted their dioceses to benefit from missions, or wanted to open a seminary in order to guarantee the supply of new priests. This happened at Toul, Saintes, Alet, Cahors, Saint Méen and some other places. In Sedan the impetus came from the monarchs, who wanted to halt the spread of Protestantism in territories recently annexed by the Crown. In many other places it was private individuals who took the initiative in setting up foundations; Troyes and Annecy, for example, were the work of knight Commander Noél Brûlart de Sillery (1577 1640), a distinguished layman who was converted by the joint efforts of Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul, and followed Vincent's spiritual direction until he died. [37] Montmirail was established by Pierre de Gondi, the eldest son of the family Vincent had once worked for, and who had been tutored by him as a boy. The foundation at Crécy owed its origin to Monsieur de Lorthon, a Concillor and Royal Secretary, who also secured royal patronage for the house. Cardinal Richelieu was responsible for establishing the missionaries in the town that bears his name, as well as at Luçon, the episcopal see of his former diocese. However, the tangledstate of the Cardinal Minister's personal finances, and his sudden death, posed not a few financial problems which were finally settled through the intervention of his niece, the duchess d'Aiguillon. This lady was the generous benefactress of the foundation at Aiguillon (transferred and annexed to the sanctuary of Notre Dame de la Rose by the bishop of Agen), and the houses at Marseilles and Rome. It was through her efforts, too, that the missionaries were established in Tunis and Algeria. The pious Duchess d'Aiguillon was the most outstanding of all the Mission's benefactors. She was able to do so much for them because she had an immense fortune, but this in itself would have been no use, if she had not been endowed with intelligent and fervent piety. Marie de Wignerod was the great cardinal's good angel. Her life, however, was suffused with sadness. At the age of 16 she entered into a politically arranged marriage with the Marquis de Combalet, nephew of Luynes, the favourite of Louis XIII. The political alliance between Luynes and Richelieu at this time was therefore strengthered by the bonds of kinship. Neither of these two unions was destined to last. Luynes died suddenly, leaving the field wide open for Richelieu's ambition. The marriage lasted even shorter a time. Two years after the marriage, Combalet died in military action outside the walls of Montpellier. His young widow of eighteen renounced the world and entered Carmel. She was brought out from the cloister by her influential uncle, who had procured a papal brief forbidding Mde. de Wignerod to embrace the religious life. She then held several important positions at court. After the Day of the Dupes that we have already referred to, she devoted her time and her fortune to pious and charitable works. It was not long before she came into contact with Vincent de Paul, who was to find in this lady an inexhaustible provider of funds for his charitable works. Later on we will see the results of this alliance, between the noble lady and the humble shepherd of Pouy. [38]


"The missionaries should have what they need for their livelihood and their work"

Special mention should be made of the financial aspect of these foundations. The missionaries gave their service
free so this meant they had to find other sources of guaranteed income. Vincent de Paul is adamant on this point:

"I don't pay the slightest heed to all these people who come with plans for a foundation but haven't the resources to put the plan into practice; people who are full of good intentions but who don't want to spend any money... It is not sufficient to provide lodgings for the missionaries, for these should have what they need for their livelihood and for their work. This must be provided because they are not allowed to take up collections and it is not fitting that they should do this." [39]
The commitments of each house, and the number of missionaries who could live there, depended on the amount of capital put into the foundation. The endowment capital, however, could come in very different forms and it could be said that every means of producing income known to preindustrialised society was represented in contracts for Vincent's foundations.

When bishops were involved in the business transaction the usual procedure was to link the missionaries' house to some ecclesiastical benefice. In Toul they were given the Hôpital du Saint Esprit; in Cahors the priories of Vairette and Saint Martin de Balaguier, in Saintes the parish of Saint Preuil; at Saint Méen the abbey of that name; at Agen a chapel and the priory of La Sainte Foi; at Montauban the parish of Saint Aignan and the chapel of Notre Dame de l'Orme etc.

Another source of income was derived from the transfer of rights to claim tax duties. Noël Brûlart de Sillery handed over to the house at Troyes the money he received in taxes on merchandise, food and wines in the two parishes at Ponts de Cé, and to the house at Annency he ceded his rights to the "aides" [40] at Melun which provided the capital sum of 40,000 livres. The foundation at Crécy was established on the basis of a house left to them in perpetuity by the King, together with an income of 8,000 livres, derived partly from the revenue of 5 estates and partly from dues collected from the salt vendors at Largny sur Marne.

Some foundations were better provided for and one such was Sedan. In his will, Louis XIII had bequeathed the sum of 64,000 livres for the preaching of missions, and 24,000 livres from this was specifically allocated to the work of giving two missions a year in the city of Sedan. His widow, the Queen, provided all the capital for the foundation of a permanent mission and the Abbot of Mouzon gave them the parish of Sedan. Vincent invested the capital in the construction of thirteen small houses near Saint Lazare and he hired these to the Ladies of Charity as a refuge for the foundlings. [41] Good provision was also made for the house at Le Mans. This foundation enjoyed the amenities of the estates belonging to the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Coëffort which included farms, farm houses, dwellings, lands, woods, meadows, orchards, kitchen gardens, and the right to present candidates for the parishes of Montbézat and the Maison Dieu. The poorest house was Montmirail which only had the priory of La Chausée, and the state of this building left much to be desired.

The initial capital for the house at Marseilles was reckoned to be 14,000 livres and this was given by the Duchess d'Aiguillon to invest in any way Vincent thought proper. [42] The house in Rome, and that of Notre Dame de la Rose, were also founded through the generosity of the Duchess while the main source of income for the missions in Algeria and Tunis were the coach hire businesses of Chartres, Rouen, Orleans, Soissons and Bordeaux. Vincent was the concessionary for these businesses and he contracted out this prerogative in return for an annual income. [43] We have to remember, too, that the early foundations often received further gifts of money from other benefactors.


"In the diocese of the saints"

Each foundation had its own individual history with a mixture of incidents that could be mundane, edifying, surprising, curious or mysterious. All these help to give us a more detailed picture of Vincent's style of governing the Community.

The bonds between Vincent and Saint Chantal were strengthened when missionaries were sent to Annecy. Vincent wrote her a precious letter to explain the spirit, the aims, and the life style of the missionaries who were to be her neighbours, and after expressing his joy at being able to send companions to work in "the diocese of the saints", he gives a summary of the Congregation's Rule as it was lived in 1639. [44] If Vincent was a father to the Visitation nuns in Paris, the missionaries at Annency were to find a mother in Saint Chantal. This is how the indefatiguable collaborator of St. Francis de Sales described her first impressions of the newly arrived missionaries.

"The Bishop of Geneva and myself were consoled beyond words. They seem just like brothers to us, as we have so much in common, and there is great simplicity, openness and mutual trust. We talked together and for me it was like speaking to Visitations nuns. They are all very kind and very open
The third and the fifth missionaries (Jacques Tholard and Etienne Bourdet) need a little encouragement to draw them out of themselves, and I will say as much to the Superior (Bernard Codoing) who is just the right man to do this. Fr. Escart is a saint. I gave each one a practice... Well, they are all very pleasant and since they have the same spirit as my dear Father, theyhave given a very good example to this town in the three days they have been here." [45]


"We have no wish to bring a lawsuit against our benefactor."

After the missionaries had been working in Crécy for a fair number of years the founder had second thoughts about his good intentions, and decided to divert to the hospital the income which had been destined for the missionaries. This left them without resources, so much so that Vincent recalled them, leaving only one priest and one brother. He was quite prepared to give up the foundation but the bishop of Meaux, Dominique Séguier ( 1659) and brother of the chancellor, intervened.

"This good prelate", relates Vincent, "took our cause in hand. Since God has granted the Company the grace to be ready to leave everything rather than vex the man who made that foundation, we wanted to satisfy him by leaving. We did this purely out of love for God and for no other reason. During the proceedings, the bishop told me that we should make another attempt to go back. I asked him to excuse us as we had no wish to go to court against our benefactor. "It was he who established us there, and now he wants to use the foundation for some other purpose. We don't mind, we want him to do as he thinks best."

" Well, you can do that but I will act differently and try to thwart this man's plans."

In fact, the bishop paid the cost of that lawsuit and continued to give us support until justice was done. We stayed there and they allocated to us the funds that would have gone to the main hospital. Providence moved the person who started the foundation to come and apologise for his conduct, when he learnt that out of respect for him we would have preferred to leave rather than defend our case." [46]


..."some joker is making these noises."

The house at Saintes had other problems and these show us Vincent's natural common sense and his realistic outlook on life. For several nights on the run, mysterious bangs had been heard in the house and the missionaries decided this must be the work of the devil. The Superiors consulted Vincent about it and his reply was both reassuring and faintly ironic.

"The first thing that occurs to me about all this is that some joker is making these noises so as to have a laugh at you and enjoy your discomfiture, or maybe someone wants to stop you having any peace or rest so that in the end you will leave the house. I spoke to the Penitentiary about your letter and he agrees with me. I'm even more convinced about this when I think back to something very similar that happened here in Saint Lazare. Some people amused themselves by making strange, wailing, noises to frighten everyone else. Well, if this particular noise is, as you say, like that of a rafter crashing down from the roof, it could also be similar
stop you having any peace or rest so that in the end you will leave the house. I spoke to the Penintentiary about your letter and he agrees with me. I'm even more convinced about this when I think back to something very similar that happened here in Saint Lazare. Some people amused themselves by making strange, wailing, noises to frighten everyone else. Well, if this particular noise is, as you say, like that of a rafter crashing down from the roof, it could also be similar to the noise made by a cracker that is used on Good Friday. This can be heard a good distance away, and is used to summon people to the church services. This noise can be heard all over the house, and if it is set off in the cellar, then it sounds even louder. So, Father, what you are hearing might be something like that, and somebody could be banging hard against the woodwork from somewhere underground or even inside the house, or in the house next door. If they are doing it for a joke they will keep it up and enjoy your panic, but if there is somthing more sinister about this or if someone is using an illegal workshop, perhaps to make counterfeit coins, as people have suggested, then they will stop this activity as soon as they find out that people have noticed these thudding noises at night, and they will be so afraid they will be discovered that they will move to another district. So make sure this isn't some human trickery. If you judge this is not the case, and you think it possible that some evil or demonic spirit is causing this noise to disturb you, then the Penitentiary says you should have recourse to the blessings that the Church permits in such cases; you should sprinkle holy water and recite some appropriate psalms from the ritual..." [47]

There is a gap in Vincent's correspondence so unfortunately we don't know how this story ended.


..."how you settled the house's debts."

Some of the houses had a more complicated history and this was true of the foundation at Marseilles. It was originally established for the purpose of bringing spiritual help to the galley slaves in the hospital there, and to ensure that a mission was preached every five years at each galley. [48] To do this more effectively, Vincent manged to secure permission for his personal title of Chaplain to the Galleys to be linked once more to his position as Superior General of the Mission, with the right to pass on this title to his successors and delegate it to other missionaries. [49]

The original work soon expanded to include other forms of service. In 1648 they opened a seminary, [50] and most of its students came from the abbey of Saint Victor. The project fell through because most of those aspiring to the religious life were young men who had no genuine vocation, but whose parents had forced them to enter the monastery so that they could be sure of a benefice. [51]

But their biggest problems were financial ones. The Superior was Fr. Fermin Get who was an enterprising man but somewhat too reckless. He didn't hesitate to take on debts for the building of the seminary, but he concealed the extent of these debts from Vincent. When at last Vincent got to know the exact state of their finances, he sent the Superior a stern reprimand, reproaching him particularly for the lack of trust between father and friend that this indicated.

"May I ask you, Father, what reasons you had for concealing the matter you wrote to me about in your last letter; the fact that you borrowed 1,300 livres from the hospital administrators. How did you manage to pay 1,500 livres to settle part of the house's debts and how much will you need to pay off these debts in full? I must say, Father, that I was astonished, because nothing like this has happened for a long time. If you came from Gascony, or Normandy, I wouldn't be quite so surprised, but for an honest fellow from Picardy, whom I know to be one of the most upright members of the Company, to have concealed this from me, is something I could never have imagined, any more than I can imagine how we are going to pay for all this. Mon Dieu! Why didn't you tell me? We would have seen to it that the works continued as far as our resources or, maybe I should say, our lack of resources, allowed." [52]

Once the culprit had admitted his fault Vincent stopped reproaching him, and promised to set the situation right as soon as he could. [53] He was more concerned about settling the debt than about the actual amount involved. Except for a short interval when he was negotiating the foundation of Montpellier, Fermin Get continued as Superior until after the Founder's death. His management of affairs in Barbary on behalf of those who were acting as Vincent's delegates, reveals his skill and sureness of touch. The financial situation of the house improved considerably in 1659, when he received a legacy of 18,000 livres from the Marquise de Vins. This was for the purpose of preaching missions to peasants and for organising retreats for priests on her estates. To comply with this, Vincent sent two extra priests to the house at Marseilles. [54]


"We will be sent to prison."

The most colourful episode in the history of any of Vincent's foundations happened in Brittany, at the abbey of St. Méen. The bishop of Saint Malo had ruled that this property should be given to the Priests of the Mission so that they could open a seminary there. However, the Reformed Benedictines of the Congregation of St. Maur thought that the bishop was exceeding his powers, as the abbey was only held "in commendam". They took their case to the Breton Parlement and obtained an injunction stating that the missionaries had to leave the abbey.

This order was put into effect during the early hours of 23rd July, 1646. The Parlement deputy, accompanied by several officials and nine Benedictines, forced the doors of the building which had been barricaded by the seminarists who were led by the Vicar General. The missionaries and their companions took refuge in the abbey house while the monks occupied the community premises. This ucomfortable situation lasted for a fortnight. The seminarists and servants did everything they could to make life difficult for the monks. One night they filled the wells with rubbish. Finally, they were obliged to leave the building on 7th August, after a new order was issued bythe Parlement. Before they did so, the Vicar General formally excommunicated the monks and issued an interdict, forbidding them entrance into the church. The bishop was not content with spiritual warfare, and took even stronger action than his Vicar General. Armed with letters patent from the king authorising him to occupy the abbey, he went to the Lieutenant of Brittany, Marshal de La Meilleraye.

The Marshal sent a squadron of horsemen with an officer at its head, and this detachment entered the church, still on horseback, and with drawn swords. This happened in the early hours of August 20th, and, to the shouts of 'Out with the monks', the military took possession of the abbey. The missionaries and their seminarists were reinstated. Then the Parlement was petitioned once again by the Benedictines and launched a counter attack. On 28th August, they issued a warrant for the arrest of the Superior of the Missionaries, Fr. Bourdet, his assistant, Fr. Beaumont, the Vicar General, the Captain of the Guard, and some other individuals; and all these were ordered to leave the seminary forthwith.

The man responsible for seeing that this order was carried out was the Advocate General who was accompanied by the Provost General, at the head of all his armed men. An armed struggle seemed inevitable but when the small army arrived at the abbey they found it deserted. That night Marshal de La Meilleraye had given his soldiers the order to retreat. The missionaries had no option but to follow suit. Fr. Bourdet, the Superior, fled on horseback and galloped for a whole night and a day without stopping. He was exhausted by the time he reached a hostelry which was a good distance away from where these events had taken place. However, when he went into the stables he saw two horses there, and was told that these belonged to two of the Parlement's ushers who had just arrived. Without waiting to hear any more he got on his horse again and continued his frenzied ride till the poor beast dropped dead under him.

Fr. Beaumont had more valour. When the others left he agreed to stay behind and guard the house. He was arrested by the deputies and sent to prison where his feet were put in fetters. He was only there for four days because the President of Parlement judged these measures to be too harsh and the missionary was set free. Meanwhile, the bishop's efforts didn't slacken. He obtained a royal edict which ordered the monks to leave the abbey immediately, and vehemently denounced two Councillors and the Parlement's Procurator General, and had them dismissed. On 22nd Sept. a nephew of the bishop enforced this order from the king, and this time there was no opposition. Parlement presented the King with a humble and reasoned petition but this fell on deaf ears. In an attempt to have the matter settled once and for all, they appealed to the Holy See, which imposed a cooling off period of 12 years, and then issued a bull annexing the abbey of Saint Méen to the diocesan seminary of Saint Malo which was to be directed by the priests of the Mission to whom they gave fulsome praise. [55]

Vincent de Paul's beatification process the Devil's Advocate exploited this episode to the full, but his efforts were counter productive. The postulator of the cause had Vincent's letters in hand and showed that the founder's conduct was irreproachable. The conflict and all its ensuing vicissitudes had been engineered by the bishop, not by Vincent. Just a few months earlier, the founder who had written to his missionaries that "it was better to withdraw than go to court", [56] remained faithful to that maxim even during the most critical moments in the dispute. He ordered his missionaries to stay at their posts only out of deference to the bishop whom he considered to be absolutely in the right. Indeed, on 1st Sept. 1646, he wrote to the Superior of the abbey seminary, unaware, at this time of the missionary's flight on horseback;

"If the Company had any say in the matter we would have recalled you as soon as the trouble broke out, but we were working with a bishop who had some problems and was negotiating to help other people. If we had thought that by not going to court we were following the evangelical counsel, then we would have been guilty of gross ingratitude, which is the greatest crime of all. It is true that the Company holds to the principle of preferring to lose everything rather than initiate a lawsuit, and I beg God to grant us the grace of always being faithful to this. But this principle is for matters that we can control. In this instance, it is not we who are bringing the lawsuit, but a prelate. He has called us to serve God in his diocese but other people are trying to have you moved out."

In virtue of this and some other impportant considerations, Vincent exhorted Fr. Bourdet to show courage in facing up to the sufferings that might ensue.

"What dangers will the Company have to face in all this? 'We'll be sent to prison', you say. "That's the worst that can happen. Mon Dieu! What will we ever be able to put up with if we can't suffer this for God? Can we see regiments of 500 soldiers, from the most meanly born men to royal princes; all fighting for their country, and risking not just prison, but death itself, while Our Lord can't find five or six brave and faithful souls to serve him?" [57]

If this strong clarion call had arrived earlier we don't know whether the good Fr. Bourdet would have found the courage to stand firm when the Parlement's troops arrived, instead of escaping at the gallop. Fr.Beaumont's conduct earned great praise from Vincent, [58] who had petitioned the President of the Breton Parlement for his release. In his letter, he pleads the innocence of the arrested missionary, "one of the best men in the world, whose work for the peasants has brought many blessings from God" and then he presents a calm and respecful account of the affair saying that if it had depended on the missionaries, they would have left everything as soon as the disagreement started. He further states that the conflict has no way lessened his affection for the Benedictines:

"There is nobody in the world who loves and esteems them as much, thank God, as I try to do, and they themselves can testify to this." [59]

Vincent's spirit of detachment, and his charity, were vindicated by the setback. Whether the bishop had any right or not to secularise the property of religious was not for him to say. His duty was to show obedience to the bishop and to the King. Faced with Vincent's humility and his common sense, the Devil's Advocate had to concede defeat.


"Is the Catholic any less guilty just because he is a Catholic?"

Sedan had problems of a different kind. The town had a great number of Protestants and this made for continual tension between them and the Catholics. In a climate of religious strife, fuelled by doctrinal theories and by self interest, the missionaries allowed themselves to be carried away by polemic attitudes which bordered on the unjust. This was particularly true of the Superior, Fr. Gallais, who was a fiery, argumentative man. Nothing could have been more contrary to Vincent's convictions. In a century where violence in the name of religion was the general rule, (let us not forget the Thirty Years' War was escalating at this time) Vincent made the gentleness he had learnt from St. Francis de Sales his invariable rule of conduct when dealing with dissidents. For this reason he wrote to the Superior at Sedan in 1643:

"When the King asked for you to be sent to Sedan it was on condition that you would never enter into dispute with the heretics, either from the pulpit or in private. Little good comes of this for often it is more of an outward show than something that bears fruit. A good life, and the good odour of the Christian virtues you practise, attract the lapsed back to the right path and strengthen Catholics in their faith. This is how the Company can profit from its work in Sedan; by adding good example to our practice of virtue, by instructing the people just as we usually do, by preaching against vice and evil habits, by persuading people to lead a good life and speaking to them of the beauty and the necessity of practising different virtues as well as the means they have to acquire these. This is your main task. If you want to discuss some controversial topic you should only do so if it follows on naturally from the Gospel of the day. In that case you could state and prove truths that heretics are attacking. You could reply to their objections but on no account must you mention heretics by name or speak of them."
[60]

In spite of Vincent's advice, Fr. Gallais's stout heart and his partisan feelings, that are understandable in this situation, carried the day and he leapt to the defence of Catholics who were in litigation against the Protestants. Happy fault which meant we now have one of the most eloquent proofs of Vincent de Paul's equanimity and sense of justice which could rise so far above party or factional bitterness.

"O Father Gallais, my dear brother! What good missionaries you and I would make if we could inspire people with the spirit of the Gospel which would lead them to live as Christ did! I assure you that this is the most powerful means we have of sanctifying Catholics and converting heretics. There is nothing more likely to confirm heretics in their wrong ways, than for us to act in any other way. Remember, Father, Our Lord's words to the man who complained about his brother, 'Quis me constituit iudicem inter te et fratrem tuum?' So you should say to those who want you to take up their case , 'Quis me constituit advocatum vel negotiarem vestrum?'

"But you will say to me" 'am I to see a Catholic persecuted by someone of the other faith and not do anything to help him?' "I would answer that there must be some reason for the persecution; it might be on account of some debt that the Catholic owes the Huguenot, or some injury or damage that he has done. Well, in that case, isn't it only right that the Huguenot should seek satisfaction through the court. Is the Catholic any less guilty just because he is a catholic?" [61]



The good Superior's breviary

Towards the end of his life Vincent put together the experiences of more than thirty years in office, when, in the course of a private conversation, he drew up for the young and inexperienced Fr. Durand, what might be called, "the goo Superior's breviary" before sending him out to take up office in the house at Agde. It shows us the way of life that Vincent wanted his Congregation to follow and it reveals the secret of the Congregation's success, in spite of the fact that there were still not enough missionaries to staff so many foundation, as Vincent, himself, realised. [62] Vincent's thinking may be summarised as follows.

Most importantly of all, the Superior should let himself be ruled entirely by God, and be filled with his spirit. The means, par excellence, of governing well, is to have recourse to prayer. The Superior must pray so that he, himself, will persevere in virtue, and also to beg God to grant graces to the companions entrusted to his care. He must excercise his office as Superior in the same spirit of humility and service which characterised the Son of God, and not rule in any spirit of domination or pride. If he wants to find the right words and make the right decisions he must let the conduct of Jesus be his constant guide. On the other hand, the authority given to the local superior is subject to that of the Superior General, and all important matters must be referred to him. Vincent's vision of how authority should be exercised tends towards centralisation. The successful Superior will shun all singularity. It is vital that the Superior exercise a good influence on his brothers in community. Finally, the good Superior must be concerned for the temporal interests and material needs of those in his care, as well as for their spiritual welfare. Vincent's realism causes him to read the Gospel through the wary eyes of the peasant he would always remain. The more attention that was paid to the physical needs of the missionaries the better would be their spiritual dispositions. [63]


"We are having a visitation here."

Instructions sent by letter were soon reinforced by another instrument of government which has a long tradition in religious communities viz, the canonical visitation. Vincent carried out many of these himself, but he often delegated to others this task which he considered to be of the utmost importance. He saw it as a means of spiritual renewal for the Company and something essential for the preservation of its spirit. He wrote about the visitation to St. Lazare in 1640 as follows:

"We are having a visitation here just now. I've never before seen so clearly our need to use this occasion, given to us by Providence, for our greater spiritual progress. In God's name, say as much to the Company, and tell them how important it is to give all the time we can to carrying it out properly. We should therefore stop doing any other sort of work, even preaching or visiting places where we intend to give missions, and leave this for another time. We must strive to let God reign fully in our lives and then in the lives of others." [64]

Those authorised to make visitations were Frs. Alméras, Berthe, Dehorgny, Lambert, Le Gros, Portail and a few others. A detailed study of their journeys would provide material for a much longer book. Suffice it to say that all the houses had several visitations and Vincent was always satisfied with the results.

He, himself, was pleased to submit to this obligation imposed by rule on the Congregation in 1642, and gave an account of how the visitator's recommendations were carried out. In 1641, he wrote to Fr. Lambert who had made a visitation at Saint Lazare:

"I think we have been quite faithful in following out the directives given at your visitation and we have read these every two months since you left. I, myself, have tried to recall what you said in the language of your beloved region (this is a reference to Lambert's habit of speaking the Picardy dialect) although I have failed once or twice, and I've also neglected to visit two of the sick in the infirmary. You can't imagine how frequently and how earnestly I speak of our duty abserve these directives faithfully."
[65]

The Congregation was beginning to express its way of life in concrete terms and norms conceived independently of its Founder and Superior.