CHAPTER XV
THE STRUGGLE TO PUT THE CONGREGATION ON A MORE SOLID FOUNDATION
THE STRUGGLE TO PUT THE CONGREGATION ON A MORE SOLID FOUNDATION
Behind the scenes politics
Like it or not, we have to turn our minds back to politics. The year 1630 saw yet another key event in Louis XIII's reign. It affected both Vincent and Louise though to different degrees. Cardinal Richelieu had been putting his political policies into action between 1624 and 1630. The first of his objectives to be achieved was the dismantling of Protestant power within the kingdom. To secure this he engaged in a war that lasted for years (1625 1629) and the most outstanding event of this war was the seige, and ultimately the surrender, of La Rochelle. While the war was going on Richelieu had to canceal his hostility towards Spain and he signed the Treaty of Monzón (5th March 1626) which was negotiated by two of Vincent's friends, Pierre de Bérulle and Charles d'Angennes, lord of Fargis, who was married to Madeleine de Silly, the frivolous sister of Mde. de Gondi. That treaty which ended the war of La Valtelina, could almost be considered a victory for Spain. The Queen Mother and the most fervent Catholics in France had always favoured a policy of maintaining good relations with Spain. They were delighted with this turn of events in French foreign policy and gave enthusiastic support to Richelieu in his struggles against the Huguenots. Their joy was to be short lived. The peace of Alès (28th June, 1629) saw an end to the Protestant problem but the question was settled by the granting of an Act of Pardon and while this rescinded the political and military privileges enjoyed by Protestants it reffirmed religious concessions made to them and tolerance of their sect.
A political party of some importance gathered round Marie de Medicis who was still jealous of Richelieu's rise to power. This group soon became known as the "Devout Party" and it took offence at the terms offered at Alès. Their recognised leader was Bérulle who had been a Cardinal from 30th August, 1627. With him were the two Marillacs; Louis the Marshall and Michel, Keeper of the Seals, Fargis and his wife and some others who were not quite so important. In opposition to the "Devout Party" Richelieu's followers called themselves "The Good Frechmen". Tension mounted between the two especially over the War of Mantua which broke out between France and Sapin over the question of who was to succeed to the duchy. This was a further indication that Richelieu's anti Spanish policy had not changed. It was in these circunstances that the sudden death of Bérulle, (2nd Oct. 1629) mentioned earlier, deprived the Devout Party of their strongest support. Up to now they had had a cardinal to oppose another cardinal and Bérulle enjoyed the advantage of his formidable intelligence, his influence at Rome and his reputation for sanctity.
The King's serious illness in 1630 and a fresh aoutbreak of the Italian campaign with the taking of Piñerol, made them realise that their time for action was running short. The Queen Mother was already in open conflict with Richelieu whom she reproached for taking over from her in the management of public affairs and for alienating her from the King's affection. So the events of one of the most famous days in French history were being hatched.
"The day of the Dupes"
On 10th November, 1630, the King held a Council at which the Queen Mother was present together with Richelieu and the Keeper of the Seals, Michel de Marillac. It was the final attempt at a reconciliation. Rechelieu made concessions and even accepted the nomination of Louis de Marillac as Commander in Chief of the army in Italy. It was to no avail. When the Council was over the Queen Mother informed the Cardinal that she no longer had any confidence in him and that from now on he was relieved of all his duties in her household; Controller, Head of her Coucil and Principal Chaplain. Also dismissed were Richelieu's trusted companions who held office in the Queen's household and in particular his niece, Marie de Wignerod the future Duchesse d'Aiguillon who had been lady of the bedchamber. When these dismissals were made public the whole court believed that anyone losing the Queen's favour would then be in disgrace with the King.
The following day, 11th November, the Queen prepared the deal the final blow. About eleven o'clock in the morning she had an interview with her son during which she tried to get Rechelieu dismissed. This meeting took place at the Queen's residence, the Palais de Luxembourg. The Queen took the precaution of locking all the doors leading to her apartments as she wanted the interview between herself and the King to be strictly private. But Richeliue went to the palace, too, on the pretext of taking his leave of the Queen. As soon as he arrived he realised the gravity of the situation. He came to a desperate decision. He went to the chapel. At the back of the sacristy was a half concealed staircase which led directly to the Queen's apartments. It was hardly ever used and in all probability nobody had bothered to lock it. The gates were, in fact, unlocked. He pushed his way through the last of the gates and burst into the room where Marie de Medici and Louis XIII were in conference.
"I wager your Majesties are discussing me", were his fisrt words. After a moments attempt to pretend this wasn't so, the Queen admitted it.
"Yes, we were saying you were the most ungrateful and wicked man alive."
Then followed a long tirade during which the Queen lost all self control. She shouted, insulted the Cardinal and reproached her son for preferring a servant to his own mother.
Faced with this torrent of accusations Richelieu considered himself lost. He began to weep and then knelt down and kissed the hem of the Queen's robe. Apparently the King was the only one not to lose his nerve. He gave a sign for Richelieu to withdraw and then, bowing to the Queen, he also left. He went sown to the courtyard to prepare for the journey to Versailles. Richelieu was already in the courtyard and bowed low to the King who didn't even look at him. Richelieu then retired to his residence.
The news spread like wildfire all through Paris Richelieu had fallen from power. Michel de Marillac rushed to the Luxembourg Palace pretending he knew nothing about it. The Queen received him in her bondoir and, in the presence of Madame de Fargis, brought him up to date with what had happened and told him he was to be the new Prime Minister. This was resonading victory for the Devout Party. Marillac began to prepare his new government which would embrace all the different elements that surfaced after these important political changes; sincere party members, opportunist climbers, ambitions flatteres and yesterday's enemies who were now life long friends.
However, the battle was not won. During the afternoon the King summoned Richelieu to Versailles and the two were reconciled. The Cardinal offered to resign but the Kingg assured him thatt he looked on him as his most loyal and devoted servant and that he would continue to protect him and keep him in power in spite of all intrigues against him. He knew that Richelieu had not acted against the Queen but against a scheming cabale whose members were enemies of the realm.
Immediately following this there was an emergency meeting of Richelieu's party ministers and it was then that de Marillac's fate was decided. Evening saw a complete reversal of the way events had earlier promised to turn out. Everyone was proved wrong; the Queen Mother, Marillac and even Richelieu himself who thought he was in disgrace. One of the courtiers coined the phrase which has gone down in history, "La journée des Dupes" the Day of the Dupes.
Michel de Marillac was ordered to Glatigny near Versailles. This time the Keeper of the Seals was under no illusion, he knew he was defeated. He hurriedly burned any incriminating documents and hastened to the rendez vous. It was one o'clock in the morning. Early in the day a royal comissary arrived while Marillac was hearing Mass. He asked to be allowed to stay till the end and his request was granted. When he left the chapel he was ordered, in the King's name, to hand over the Royal Seals. He did so. Then a captain of the guard ordered Marillac to follow him; he was a prisoner. The ex Miniter was taken first to Caen, then to Lisieux and finally to Châteaudun where two years imprisonment awaited him. This proved too much for him and he died in the castle in 1632.
And even worse fate befell his brother Louis. On that same night, November 11th, a secret messenger left for Italy with orders to relieve Marillac of his office and to arrest the Marshall. This order was immediately carried out by two of his colleagues, Marshalls Schomberg and Laforce and Marillac was dispatched to France. Louis was a greater threat than Michel because he had married a cousin of the Queen and also because of his close links with the army. it wasn't difficult to find some pretext for bringing him to trial; he was accused of misappropriating funds. There were few officials at that time who could have thrown the first stone from their glass houses. After a mock trial on 8th May, 1632 he was condemned to death. The execution was carried out two days later in the Place de la Grève, Paris. [1]
Others who had participated in the "Day of the Dupes" suffered reprisals, too. The Queen Mother never recovered political influence over her son. After a lengthy imprisonment at Compiègne she fled to the Spanish Netherlands where she remained until her death in 1642. Madame de Fargis, Madeleine de Silly, was condemned to be beheaded but she escaped death by fleeing to the Low Countries where she, too, died in 1639. Her husband, the former Ambassador to Spain, was imprisoned in the Bastille. He was to end his days in the Congregation of the Mission on 20th Dec. 1648. People who played a minor role in the drama were given highter sentences. It spelled complete defeat for the Devout Party. For Richelieu and his "Good Frenchmen Party" it was an overwhelming victory. The astute cardinal's power was consolidated once and for all.
Two Policies
A superficial reading of the events of the Day of the Dupes would lead one to think that it was just a struggle between the personal ambition of Marie de Medicis and Michel de Marillac on the one hand, and Richelieu on the other. Really it was the final quarrel between the two policies. It was Rechelieu's policy to wage war against Spanish supremacy even though this meant indirect support for the Protestant cause and led to increased taxes which crushed the people. Bérulle's policy which was backed up and continued by Marillac, was a policy of peace or at least of détente and it was based on two principles. The first of these was a religious principle and attempts were made to come to an agreement with Spain about Catholic interests in the field of international politics. The second principle was social in character and its object was to relieve the enormous economic burden weighing down the people and provoking serious disturbances throughout the country. Marillac was a mystic whose deeply spiritual life was in no way incompatible with political activity and personal ambition and his convictions were all the more deeply rooted as he considered them to be matters of religion and of conscience.
These were two diametrically opposed policies yet both were possible options for France in the first third of the 17th century. Richelieu's policy put the emphasis on military and political power; Marillac's stressed the welfare of the people and the triumph of Catholic interests. The time had come to choose which policy to follow. In spite of the Thirty Years War's consequences which began in 1618 and in which France had not as yet played a direct part, Louis XIII sided with Richelieu. Five years later this policy would lead to war being declared against Spain and the Empire. [2]
Did Vincent de Paul play any part in this duel between Richelieu and Marillac? Whatever his sympathies might have been, and in spite of his friendship with nearly all the members of the Devout Party, everything suggests that he kept aloof from the political skirmish. Bérulle had died before this great political storm blew up but Vincent's friendship for him had already begun to cool off. Over the next few years we are to see Vincent drawing closer to Richelieu. This doesn't seem in keeping with Vincent's political stance, given the spiteful character of the Cardinal Minister. However, Vincent had friends in Richelieu's party, too. By this time he had come into contact with the wives of Ministers and members of the Parlement and in particular with Marie de Wignerod, the Cardinal's niece and the only person for whom Richelieu was known to show any affection.
Louise de Marillac was more directly affected by events. She was grief stricken by the disgrace of her two uncles and especially by the execution of Louis. Vincent wrote her a letter and we don't know which to admire more, the sobre asceticism and the sublime challenges of the counsels he showen on her, or the political asepsis of his style. This is what he wrote:
"What you tell me about M. le Maréchal de Marillac is very tragic and I am most upset about it. But let us honour God's will in this and reflect on the happiness of those who, through their own pains, honour the sufferings of the Son of God. It matters not how our relations go to provided they are with him. Putting this manner of dying to good use is one of the surest means of attaining eternal life. So let us not grieve but rather let us find peace in God's adorable will." [3]
"In the beginning every Congregation has worthy motives"
Although he was a contemporary of Richelieu and shared his preocupations with the problems of their day, Vincent's concerns followed a different direction altogether. He was preoccupied with obtaining official approval for his Congregation and having it put on a sound juridical basis. The speed with which Vincent accomplished this is remarkable but so, too, is his calculation of every move. Each step was only taken after careful preparation.
The early stages proved relatively easy. We have already noted how the Archbishop of Paris, (he was a de Gondi, remember,) had given his approbation even before the first companions had officially joined the Company on 24th April, 1626. [4] It wasn't difficult, either, to get the consent of the King who granted them Letters Patent in May, 1627. [5]
The problems began when they tried to get the royal assent ratified by the Parlement of Paris. For some unknown reason Vincent had left this formality so late that he had to obtain a second royal letter to validate the first one if it had expired. [6]
The parish priests in Paris heard about the moves that were being made and they expressed their opposition to the ratification. Their syndic, Etienne le Tonnelier, wrote to the Parlement saying that while it wasn't his intention to impede the work of the new Congregation, he wanted to avoid the trouble and dissension this might arouse though put forward in the guise of piety. In view of this the parish priests demanded a guarantee that the new institution would agree to three conditions; firstly that "the missioners should give up all appointments in the country's churches and parishes"; secondly, that they should refrain from entering any church without the authorisation of the bishop and the permission of the parish priest and not conduct any services at the same time as ordinary parish services; thirdly, that they should renounce "all hope of claiming or ever asking for any payment or salary from the benefice in which they preached or from the local people." The syndic added to the petition a long series of arguments liberally spiced with clerical mistrust. Here is an example.
"Every Congregation is born of deep piety and starts off with the purest of intentions but over the years these motives are completely debased by avarice and ambition." It was for this reason that he considered the foundation clause requiring them to renounce all work in the city inadequate and he demmanded that "the Court oblige, constrain and order that no person should enter the Congregation unless he had specifically agreed to this condition." It was not out of self interest, of course, that the cure's refused to allow Priest of the Mission to work in their parishes; they were merely doing what was their duty in charity, "defending all rural parishes in every diocese throughout France from the demage that could ensue from granting approbation to this new Institute." [7]
Vincent and his missioners made a formal declaration that they would comply with the guarantees demanded. [8] They found no difficulty at all in doing this since the conditions laid down by the curés in Paris were in complete accord with the special characteristics of their Congregation as defined in the foundation contract. Vincent was careful to safeguard the distinctive marks of his community; withdrawal from the cities, non payment for missions, and submission to parish priests and the bishop. He was doubtless influenced in this by the vigorous opposition shown by the curés of Paris. It was the first opposition to his plan that he encountered. We should not be surprised by it since this was the price he had to pay for his novel approach.
The Parlement took no heed of the priests' opposition and on 4th April, 1631, they recorded and ratified the letters giving royal approval to the Congregation of the Mission. This recognition of its civil identity was achieved in just under five years. [9]
Victory in Rome
Vincent was not satisfied with just having diocescan and royal approval. He also cherished the hope that his Congregation would be recognised by the Holy See and this would give it an ecclesial dimension. The most surprising part of all this is the speed with which Vincent acted. For someone who, as we have seen, declared that it was never his idea to found the Congregation, it is hard to explain the haste with which he threw himself into the task of gaining papal approval. We can be sure that even from the beginning Vincent's project was more ambitions than the terms of the contract would suggest.
In 1627, two years after the foundation of the Mission and a few months or days after it had received royal approval. Vincent set about winning the approbation of the Holy See. This shows how certain he was that the work he was undertaking was in conformity with God's designs and that it fulfilled a need in the Church as a whole as well as the Church in France.
It is quite true that the step he took in 1627 was only a very small one. All he was asking from the recently established Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was a special blessing from the Holy Father and the usual faculties to be granted to the missioners. For the moment it was not a question of founding a society of pontifical right, whose members lived in community. So for this reason the text of the petition makes no mention of community, but only of "mission", a techorical term then applied to different groups of people devoted to apostolic work even in Catholic countries. These groups were often comprised of religious communities whose apostolic work had to be approved by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
The petition was presented by Blaise Féron, the doctor of the Sorbonne who accompanied Vincent and Duchesne on the mission to Marchais. Although he did not belong to the main body of the Congragation he considered himself one of its missioners and he, too, was following the same sign that the Lord had given to Vincent.
Considering how things usually worked in Rome, the Sacred Congregation acted with unusual promptness. On 5th June the matter was studied for the first time in plenary session and it was decided to ask from the nuncio in France to send a report. They wrote to him on the eleventh of that month and he sent back a letter, on 26th September, which was full of praise for Vincent.
"The opinion of people who are absolutely trustworthy comfirms my own judgment regarding the worthiness of the said Doctor Vincent and the eight companions who live in community with him; they will be wormly welcomed in many dioceses in France and this country can expect a rich harvest from their labours."
It was with this important recommendation before them that the Sacred Congregation met again, this time in the presence of the Pope and they confirmed and approved Vincent de Paul's Mission on 5th November.
As we can see, the Sacred Congregation also confined itself to speaking of "mission" and did not use the term "congregation" "company" or "confraternity". For the momentthis was sufficient. No longer was Vincent's work to be
merely diocescan based; it was to be an ecclesial mission.
There were some limits put on the approval that was granted; submission to the ordinaries in the use of faculties that were granted, restriction of these faculties to a seven year period and, something which the Sovereign Pontiff himself
suggested, that the archbishop of Paris be nominated protector of the new mission. The first step had been taken, Vincent's name had become known to the Curia in Rome. The Pope and the Cardinals had given great praise to the mission's founder. [10]
"It is something more than a mission"
After the success of his first venture in Rome Vincent was encouraged to take the second step. This time he wanted more. So with this in mind, in June, 1628, Vincent addressed to Pope Urban VIII a long and carefully reasoned petition. He signed this himself, and so did his first eight companions including Louis Callon who, as we know, did not sign the document for admission into the Company and left shortly afterwards. [11]
The gist of the petition was a request that the Institute be confirmed and approved, with a new foundation if necessary; that Vincent be nominated president or Superior General, that permission be given for them to accept new members be these priests or laymen and to establish norms and rules, subject to the approval of the Holy See, as was the case with other Orders and Congregations; permission to open new houses even outside the diocese of Paris with the consent of the bishop of the locality, to receive donations and to use these without having recourse to diocescan authorities; in short the permissions usually granted to missionaries ad gentes. The most important matter was his petition the the Holy See for the new Congregation to be canonically exempt from the authority of the Ordinary and to be directly dependent on the Apostolic See. [12]
Vincent had this petition presented by the Papal Nuncio in Paris, Guidi dei Conti di Bagno, or Monsignor Guidi for short. This was the man who had given such a favourable report in the 1627 negotiations. Once again he gave his strong support and in a letter dated June 21st which accompanied Vincent's petition, he recommended it be granted "with some privileges". This was a kindly strategy which was meant to minimize the important concessions that were being requested. [13] Not content with this in a further communication of 23rd July, he sent the Sacred Congregation two letters from the King of France. One of these letters was addressed to the Pope and the other to the ambassador in Rome. In his letters the King strongly recommended that approval be given to the Institute. The nuncio took advantege of the occasion to inform the Congregation that he, himself, was confident that the new Congregation would do great work for souls. [14] Vincent had certainly tied up the loose ends. He had come a long way since those naive days when he petitioned for the parish of Tilh or for the abbey of Saint Léonard de Chaumes.
But Rome was not to prove so easily influenced by kindly nuncios or devout menarchs. The Sacred Congregation studied Vincent's petition in minute detail. Monsignor Ingoli, their secretary, who had given a favourable report when the Congregation was appoved in 1627, was under no illusions about these far reaching new petitions. They seemed to him "exorbitant". [15] If the request were to be granted the foundation would no longer be a simple mission but would turn into something resembling a religious order with its own spirituality and its own special works. [16] He communicated this to the Congregation of Cardinals. His advice was that they should only authorise the mission to be founded in France with a maximun number of 20 or 25 priests and that it should not be accorded the title of Order, Confraternity or Congregation of the Mission. A "mission" was, by its very nature, something temporary and it should be disbanded once the need that had created it had been met. [17]
Vincent had been unlucky in coming up against Mons. Ingoli. Later on this man would be a great help to Vincent de Paul but by and large he was not very favourably inclined towards the religious communities that were already in existence. He was even less happy about new ones being established. [18] What is more, Vincent's projects were rejects by some very important assessors. Among these was no less a personage than his former guide and protector. Cardinal Bérulle. In 1628 this man who was so influential in political and church circles wrote to Father Bertin, his representative in Rome.
"You write to me that these people are planning to present the mission question in various, and to my mind, devious ways. This is highly suspect and it cuold oblige us to forsake the moderation and straightforwardness that I consider the right way of acting in matters that pertain to God, providing others do likewise." [19]
So here we have the great cardinal prepared to use all his influence against his former disciple, even to the point of "being forced" to act in a not very "straightforward", that is to say, a not very honourable way. Vincent was not Richelieu so he was unseccessful of course. On 22nd August the Sacred Congregation settled the "mission affair" as Bérulle called it. Vincent's petition was rejected out of hand because it "went further than the term "mission" implied and was veering towards the foundation of a new religious Order." The rejection did not take up, (and this was the only concession given) the secretary's suggestion that they limit the number of missionaries. To sweeten the pill a bit he advised the nuncio to persuade "Dr. Vincent" and his companions to forget the idea of a new congregation and to keep within the limits of a simple "mission". The ilustrious cardinals promised to have this confirmed by the Holy Father with all the faculties normally accorded to missions in France. [20]
But Rome didn't know Vincent de Paul. When it was a question of giving glory to God he, too, could be obstinate. As Richelieu was to have two years later, Vincent had suffered his "Day of the Dupes". No matter how long it took to win the battle, he refused to concede defeat. Before the first petition was sent to Rome he had already despached a second one dated 1st August and the wording of this was only slightly different from the previous one. [21] Again he looked for people to give him references. Once again he was recommended by the nuncio and then came a new factor, he also sent a recommendation from the reigning Queen, Anne of Austria, and not the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. [22] We need to emphisize this point; it is a detail that Coste didn't know about. It may perhaps help us to assess Vincent's stance in the political crisis which was then brewing at the French court. It is the first time we see Vincent dealing with Anne of Austria, the Queen who was to play an important part in the way his future works of charity developed. The second petition and new references were late in arriving. By then the matter was already settled. At a meeting on 25th September the Sacred Congregation limited itself to acknowledging receipt of the communication and it referred back to the decisions taken on 22nd August. [23]
Vincent did not give up hope. He continued negotiations bearing well in mind the reasons for previous failures. When we speak of Vincent not wanting his Congregation to be considered a religious Order one must keep in mind the secular nature of the work he was undertaking. We must never forget, and Vincent himself would never forget, that his first attempt to have the Congregation approved by the Holy See had been rejected because it was a new form of "religious life". Vincent was a man of experience who was always ready to learn from events and looked on these as signs sent by Providence.
"If Your Holiness only knew the need there is..."
Vincent had a new objective and a different way of working for the second assault on Rome's fortress. Instead of going to the Congregation of Propaganda he addressed himself to the Congregation of Bishops and Religious, and instead of working from a distance with all the hazards of corresponce, he detailed Father François du Coudray to go to Rome as his personal assistant. This priest was one of the original three companions and after Vincent he was the eldest. He was certainly the most learned and brillant of them all. He had such a good knowledge of Hebrew that Vincent was wont to say, "he could argue the Son of God's case in his own language". The same could be said for his knowledge of Syrian, so much so that it was suggested that while in Rome he should translate the Syrian Bible into Latin. [24]
Du Coudray arrived in Rome in the middle of 1631. [25] Through their frequent correspondence Vincent was able to follow closely every step in the negotiations. Unfortunately there are very considerable gaps in the letters that are still preserved but we can still follow the main stages of the arbitration.
A letter dated 1631 reveals the base line beyond which Vincent refused to make any concessions. His approach is based on a personal and fundamental religious experience that gave rise to his Congregation.
"They must be made to understand that poor people are losing their souls because they are ignorant of the truths necessary for salvation and because they do not know how to go to Confession."
This is Vincent's overriding conviction, the goad that will allow him no rest or let him abandom his plans; the guiding force that impels him to fight on for the Congregation to be approved. It is his message for the Church, the raison d'être of all his work and indeed for his whole life.
"It was knowing this state of affairs that made us establish the Company."
He had no doubt that the person with supreme responsability for governing the Church would share this conviction. If told about it he would share Vincent's sorrow and his anxiety for the salvation of souls;
"If Your Holiness knew about this need you would not rest until you had done all in your power to right the matter."
With the exception of some passages from conferences given towards to end of his life, never has Vincent's voice been more prophetic.
He then comes down to a more practical level and states the five maxims he considers basic for the Congregation. They are in fact the five conditions already stated in the foundation contract and reaffirmed after the controversy with the parish priests; submission to the bishops and parish priests in matters concerning missions, the total gratuity of their work, the missionaries of the Congregation were to keep away from the towns and the Superior was to be autonomous with regard to the internal affairs of the Company. His insistence that these conditions were not negotiable was based on the teaching of someone who, for him, embodied the highest moral authority, M. Duval. [26]
"Act in the most Christian way possible"
Vincent's efforts were to meet with opposition just as they had done in 1628. We know from the correspondence that has been preserved, some of the objections put forward and we have a general idea from which quarter the opposition came.
They said apparently, that the factt that the missionaries were based in Paris proved that they were not as exclusively dedicated to the poor people in country areas as they would have had people believe.
"In Paris "replied Vincent", we live as solitary a life as that of Carthusians. As we do not preach, give instructions or hear confessions in the city, hardly anybody has any dealings with us and we have nothing to do with them; this solitude makes us long to work in country places and that work makes us long for solitude." [27]
Carthusians at home and apostles abroad is the phrase which traditionally has encapsulated this thought of Vincent's. This interpretation is a far too sweeping a generalisation of an idea which is not meant to be a rule of life for the community but a description of the reality of the situation where they had to contend with ill informed opponents.
Who were these opponents? We don't know any names but we certainly do know the group they belonged to; it was a section of the Oratorian Order who wanted to continue acting in the same way as their founder. Some of them tried to cause complications for the various stages of the negotiation. There was one particular person who was actively engaged in this and he was "someone frm whom, after God, we would have exprected most help." [28]
Vincent was certain that this attitude was not shared by Father Condren, Superior General of the Oratorians and Bérulle's successor. This man disapproved of such manoeuvres and gave Vincent every help he could. More interesting than anecdotes about the tricks they played and the snares they put in the Founder's path was Vincent's reaction to all these. In demonstrates the high level of human and supernatural development that Vincnet had reached by the time he was 51, nearing the highest point of his creative powers and within reach of his most cherished ambitions.
"I beg you to act", he writes to Du Coudray, "in the most Christian way possible to those who are trying to make difficulties for us. I often meet these people and by God's grace I am able to show them the same cordiality as before. It seems to me that by the grace of God I not only have no aversion for them but that I show them more honour and affection. And I will tell you something else I have never complained to Father Gondi for fear of unsettling him in his vocation. I beg you, Father, do not stop seeing these priests; practise in their regard what Our Lord consels us to do to those who vex and baulk us, and please ask all those whom God inspired with charity towards us not to do them any harm either by word or by action." [29]
One wouldn't want to write a panegyric but these lines leave us in no doubt about the deep transformation grace had worked in the soul of the humble Gascon priest; the man who years earlier was falsely accused of theft and had merely replied, "God knows the truth". That reply now answered the most sublime demande of the Gospel, that we love our enemies.
"Salvatoris nostri"
In spite of the opposition, negotiations followed their normal course. Du Coudray presented the petition to the Sacred Congregation for approval. It was a long document in Latin and Italian and it kept strictly to the instructions received from Vincent. [30] The Sacred Congregation studied itfor the first time on 13th Feb. 1632 and designated Cardinal Bentivoglio assessor for the final scrutiny. He had played the same role when previous petitions had been presented to the Congregation of Propaganda in 1628 and been rejected. The four years that had elapsed since then and Vincent's new tactics had made the Cardinal change his mind. At the session held on 30th April, 1632, he gave a favourable report, merely pointing out that they would have to get the necessary reports from the nuncio and the Archbishop of Paris. [31] Vincent lost no time in requesting these. [32]
In the end, the outcome of all the negotiations was an undreamt of success. The Congregation of the Mission received approval under just those precise conditions that the Founder wanted; not by a simple rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Bishop and Religious, but by the most solemn of all Pontifical documents, a Bull issued by the Holy Father himself. On 12th January, 1633, Urban VIII signed the Bull "Salvatori nostri" which officially approved and established the Congregation of the Mission. [33]
The bull began with a brief history of the foundation of the Congregation by Philippe Manuel de Gondi and his wife, Marguerite de Silly. Then followed a statement giving the reasons which had led the pious founders and Vincent himself to start the Congregation. Using thoughts and phrases taken from the petition, it described the terrible spiritual condition of poor country people and those in neighbouring towns, villages and territories. The state of people in these areas was very different from that of people living in the big cities. People in rural areas ignorant of the truths of faith and did not know how to go to confession; they were ignorant of all the things necessary for salvation and so many souls redeemed by the blood of Christ were being lost. The Pope had taken up Vincent's challenge, "If Your Holiness knew the need". [34]
Vincent, who was so accustomed to seeing the decision of the Church as so many manifestations of God's will, must have been particularly consoled that the Supreme Pontiff had accepted that the inspiration for the foundation had come from God.
"And having begun this worthy project, the said Vincent whom God, the author of all good had inspired with his thought, took upon himself the task of starting this Congregation."
The Pope said this idea had come from Gog and for Vincent there couldn't have been a more authoritative or decisive endorsement of his project. It was just as M. Duval had said. Vincent would use these words of the Holy Father to affirm that the words of the Congregation, and the Congregation itself, were not his doing but God's.
The main part of the Bull traces the basic outlines of the Institute. It gives a more detailed definition of its objectives; the members would devote themselves to their personal sanctification and to that of poor people in country towns and villages; they would not preach in the cities except to give retreats to ordinands. Then follows a description of their ministry; teaching the truths of religion, giving instruction on how to make a good general confession, administering the sacraments, preaching, catechising, setting up confraternities of charity, settling disputes, giving retreats to parish priests and promoting meetings of the clergy to study matters of conscience. The juridical structure is set out. This is to be a Congregation of secular priests and laymen under the authority of the Superior General for life, Vincent de Paul, who had authority to change the rules and statutes with the approval of the Archbishop of Paris. Also defined is the method of electing Vincent's successor and permission is given for the Congregation to own property, to open houses and to acquire and transfer goods. Their ministry is to be gratuitous and they are exempt from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary except in matters pertaining to their minitry. The bull also maps out the framework of the new Congregation's rules; daily Mass, Communion for lay members, one hour's mental prayer each day and examination of conscience. It emphasizes the key points of this approved Congregation's spirituality; devotion to the Blessed Trinity, to the Incarnation and to the Blessed Virgen. [35]
The bull "Salvatori Nostri" marked the decisive establishment of the Congregation of the Mission. No longer was it to be a simple "mission" with the limitations of time and space imposed by its definition in 1625 and ratified by
the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda in 1627. It had now become a religious institute of pontifical right, freely available for service within the wider horizons of the universal Church. A canonical entity of extraordinary oroginality had come into being since the new Institute was exempt from the Ordinary while at the same time retaining its secular character. For Vincent the most important thing was that its basic message "the poor people are being lost" had been accepted by the Church and such a grave need was being met. Religious reforms would now reach the mass of poor people who needed them most. So it represented a triumph for Vincent but no way was it the end of his career; in fact it was the starting point for great enterprises.
Like it or not, we have to turn our minds back to politics. The year 1630 saw yet another key event in Louis XIII's reign. It affected both Vincent and Louise though to different degrees. Cardinal Richelieu had been putting his political policies into action between 1624 and 1630. The first of his objectives to be achieved was the dismantling of Protestant power within the kingdom. To secure this he engaged in a war that lasted for years (1625 1629) and the most outstanding event of this war was the seige, and ultimately the surrender, of La Rochelle. While the war was going on Richelieu had to canceal his hostility towards Spain and he signed the Treaty of Monzón (5th March 1626) which was negotiated by two of Vincent's friends, Pierre de Bérulle and Charles d'Angennes, lord of Fargis, who was married to Madeleine de Silly, the frivolous sister of Mde. de Gondi. That treaty which ended the war of La Valtelina, could almost be considered a victory for Spain. The Queen Mother and the most fervent Catholics in France had always favoured a policy of maintaining good relations with Spain. They were delighted with this turn of events in French foreign policy and gave enthusiastic support to Richelieu in his struggles against the Huguenots. Their joy was to be short lived. The peace of Alès (28th June, 1629) saw an end to the Protestant problem but the question was settled by the granting of an Act of Pardon and while this rescinded the political and military privileges enjoyed by Protestants it reffirmed religious concessions made to them and tolerance of their sect.
A political party of some importance gathered round Marie de Medicis who was still jealous of Richelieu's rise to power. This group soon became known as the "Devout Party" and it took offence at the terms offered at Alès. Their recognised leader was Bérulle who had been a Cardinal from 30th August, 1627. With him were the two Marillacs; Louis the Marshall and Michel, Keeper of the Seals, Fargis and his wife and some others who were not quite so important. In opposition to the "Devout Party" Richelieu's followers called themselves "The Good Frechmen". Tension mounted between the two especially over the War of Mantua which broke out between France and Sapin over the question of who was to succeed to the duchy. This was a further indication that Richelieu's anti Spanish policy had not changed. It was in these circunstances that the sudden death of Bérulle, (2nd Oct. 1629) mentioned earlier, deprived the Devout Party of their strongest support. Up to now they had had a cardinal to oppose another cardinal and Bérulle enjoyed the advantage of his formidable intelligence, his influence at Rome and his reputation for sanctity.
The King's serious illness in 1630 and a fresh aoutbreak of the Italian campaign with the taking of Piñerol, made them realise that their time for action was running short. The Queen Mother was already in open conflict with Richelieu whom she reproached for taking over from her in the management of public affairs and for alienating her from the King's affection. So the events of one of the most famous days in French history were being hatched.
"The day of the Dupes"
On 10th November, 1630, the King held a Council at which the Queen Mother was present together with Richelieu and the Keeper of the Seals, Michel de Marillac. It was the final attempt at a reconciliation. Rechelieu made concessions and even accepted the nomination of Louis de Marillac as Commander in Chief of the army in Italy. It was to no avail. When the Council was over the Queen Mother informed the Cardinal that she no longer had any confidence in him and that from now on he was relieved of all his duties in her household; Controller, Head of her Coucil and Principal Chaplain. Also dismissed were Richelieu's trusted companions who held office in the Queen's household and in particular his niece, Marie de Wignerod the future Duchesse d'Aiguillon who had been lady of the bedchamber. When these dismissals were made public the whole court believed that anyone losing the Queen's favour would then be in disgrace with the King.
The following day, 11th November, the Queen prepared the deal the final blow. About eleven o'clock in the morning she had an interview with her son during which she tried to get Rechelieu dismissed. This meeting took place at the Queen's residence, the Palais de Luxembourg. The Queen took the precaution of locking all the doors leading to her apartments as she wanted the interview between herself and the King to be strictly private. But Richeliue went to the palace, too, on the pretext of taking his leave of the Queen. As soon as he arrived he realised the gravity of the situation. He came to a desperate decision. He went to the chapel. At the back of the sacristy was a half concealed staircase which led directly to the Queen's apartments. It was hardly ever used and in all probability nobody had bothered to lock it. The gates were, in fact, unlocked. He pushed his way through the last of the gates and burst into the room where Marie de Medici and Louis XIII were in conference.
"I wager your Majesties are discussing me", were his fisrt words. After a moments attempt to pretend this wasn't so, the Queen admitted it.
"Yes, we were saying you were the most ungrateful and wicked man alive."
Then followed a long tirade during which the Queen lost all self control. She shouted, insulted the Cardinal and reproached her son for preferring a servant to his own mother.
Faced with this torrent of accusations Richelieu considered himself lost. He began to weep and then knelt down and kissed the hem of the Queen's robe. Apparently the King was the only one not to lose his nerve. He gave a sign for Richelieu to withdraw and then, bowing to the Queen, he also left. He went sown to the courtyard to prepare for the journey to Versailles. Richelieu was already in the courtyard and bowed low to the King who didn't even look at him. Richelieu then retired to his residence.
The news spread like wildfire all through Paris Richelieu had fallen from power. Michel de Marillac rushed to the Luxembourg Palace pretending he knew nothing about it. The Queen received him in her bondoir and, in the presence of Madame de Fargis, brought him up to date with what had happened and told him he was to be the new Prime Minister. This was resonading victory for the Devout Party. Marillac began to prepare his new government which would embrace all the different elements that surfaced after these important political changes; sincere party members, opportunist climbers, ambitions flatteres and yesterday's enemies who were now life long friends.
However, the battle was not won. During the afternoon the King summoned Richelieu to Versailles and the two were reconciled. The Cardinal offered to resign but the Kingg assured him thatt he looked on him as his most loyal and devoted servant and that he would continue to protect him and keep him in power in spite of all intrigues against him. He knew that Richelieu had not acted against the Queen but against a scheming cabale whose members were enemies of the realm.
Immediately following this there was an emergency meeting of Richelieu's party ministers and it was then that de Marillac's fate was decided. Evening saw a complete reversal of the way events had earlier promised to turn out. Everyone was proved wrong; the Queen Mother, Marillac and even Richelieu himself who thought he was in disgrace. One of the courtiers coined the phrase which has gone down in history, "La journée des Dupes" the Day of the Dupes.
Michel de Marillac was ordered to Glatigny near Versailles. This time the Keeper of the Seals was under no illusion, he knew he was defeated. He hurriedly burned any incriminating documents and hastened to the rendez vous. It was one o'clock in the morning. Early in the day a royal comissary arrived while Marillac was hearing Mass. He asked to be allowed to stay till the end and his request was granted. When he left the chapel he was ordered, in the King's name, to hand over the Royal Seals. He did so. Then a captain of the guard ordered Marillac to follow him; he was a prisoner. The ex Miniter was taken first to Caen, then to Lisieux and finally to Châteaudun where two years imprisonment awaited him. This proved too much for him and he died in the castle in 1632.
And even worse fate befell his brother Louis. On that same night, November 11th, a secret messenger left for Italy with orders to relieve Marillac of his office and to arrest the Marshall. This order was immediately carried out by two of his colleagues, Marshalls Schomberg and Laforce and Marillac was dispatched to France. Louis was a greater threat than Michel because he had married a cousin of the Queen and also because of his close links with the army. it wasn't difficult to find some pretext for bringing him to trial; he was accused of misappropriating funds. There were few officials at that time who could have thrown the first stone from their glass houses. After a mock trial on 8th May, 1632 he was condemned to death. The execution was carried out two days later in the Place de la Grève, Paris. [1]
Others who had participated in the "Day of the Dupes" suffered reprisals, too. The Queen Mother never recovered political influence over her son. After a lengthy imprisonment at Compiègne she fled to the Spanish Netherlands where she remained until her death in 1642. Madame de Fargis, Madeleine de Silly, was condemned to be beheaded but she escaped death by fleeing to the Low Countries where she, too, died in 1639. Her husband, the former Ambassador to Spain, was imprisoned in the Bastille. He was to end his days in the Congregation of the Mission on 20th Dec. 1648. People who played a minor role in the drama were given highter sentences. It spelled complete defeat for the Devout Party. For Richelieu and his "Good Frenchmen Party" it was an overwhelming victory. The astute cardinal's power was consolidated once and for all.
Two Policies
A superficial reading of the events of the Day of the Dupes would lead one to think that it was just a struggle between the personal ambition of Marie de Medicis and Michel de Marillac on the one hand, and Richelieu on the other. Really it was the final quarrel between the two policies. It was Rechelieu's policy to wage war against Spanish supremacy even though this meant indirect support for the Protestant cause and led to increased taxes which crushed the people. Bérulle's policy which was backed up and continued by Marillac, was a policy of peace or at least of détente and it was based on two principles. The first of these was a religious principle and attempts were made to come to an agreement with Spain about Catholic interests in the field of international politics. The second principle was social in character and its object was to relieve the enormous economic burden weighing down the people and provoking serious disturbances throughout the country. Marillac was a mystic whose deeply spiritual life was in no way incompatible with political activity and personal ambition and his convictions were all the more deeply rooted as he considered them to be matters of religion and of conscience.
These were two diametrically opposed policies yet both were possible options for France in the first third of the 17th century. Richelieu's policy put the emphasis on military and political power; Marillac's stressed the welfare of the people and the triumph of Catholic interests. The time had come to choose which policy to follow. In spite of the Thirty Years War's consequences which began in 1618 and in which France had not as yet played a direct part, Louis XIII sided with Richelieu. Five years later this policy would lead to war being declared against Spain and the Empire. [2]
Did Vincent de Paul play any part in this duel between Richelieu and Marillac? Whatever his sympathies might have been, and in spite of his friendship with nearly all the members of the Devout Party, everything suggests that he kept aloof from the political skirmish. Bérulle had died before this great political storm blew up but Vincent's friendship for him had already begun to cool off. Over the next few years we are to see Vincent drawing closer to Richelieu. This doesn't seem in keeping with Vincent's political stance, given the spiteful character of the Cardinal Minister. However, Vincent had friends in Richelieu's party, too. By this time he had come into contact with the wives of Ministers and members of the Parlement and in particular with Marie de Wignerod, the Cardinal's niece and the only person for whom Richelieu was known to show any affection.
Louise de Marillac was more directly affected by events. She was grief stricken by the disgrace of her two uncles and especially by the execution of Louis. Vincent wrote her a letter and we don't know which to admire more, the sobre asceticism and the sublime challenges of the counsels he showen on her, or the political asepsis of his style. This is what he wrote:
"What you tell me about M. le Maréchal de Marillac is very tragic and I am most upset about it. But let us honour God's will in this and reflect on the happiness of those who, through their own pains, honour the sufferings of the Son of God. It matters not how our relations go to provided they are with him. Putting this manner of dying to good use is one of the surest means of attaining eternal life. So let us not grieve but rather let us find peace in God's adorable will." [3]
"In the beginning every Congregation has worthy motives"
Although he was a contemporary of Richelieu and shared his preocupations with the problems of their day, Vincent's concerns followed a different direction altogether. He was preoccupied with obtaining official approval for his Congregation and having it put on a sound juridical basis. The speed with which Vincent accomplished this is remarkable but so, too, is his calculation of every move. Each step was only taken after careful preparation.
The early stages proved relatively easy. We have already noted how the Archbishop of Paris, (he was a de Gondi, remember,) had given his approbation even before the first companions had officially joined the Company on 24th April, 1626. [4] It wasn't difficult, either, to get the consent of the King who granted them Letters Patent in May, 1627. [5]
The problems began when they tried to get the royal assent ratified by the Parlement of Paris. For some unknown reason Vincent had left this formality so late that he had to obtain a second royal letter to validate the first one if it had expired. [6]
The parish priests in Paris heard about the moves that were being made and they expressed their opposition to the ratification. Their syndic, Etienne le Tonnelier, wrote to the Parlement saying that while it wasn't his intention to impede the work of the new Congregation, he wanted to avoid the trouble and dissension this might arouse though put forward in the guise of piety. In view of this the parish priests demanded a guarantee that the new institution would agree to three conditions; firstly that "the missioners should give up all appointments in the country's churches and parishes"; secondly, that they should refrain from entering any church without the authorisation of the bishop and the permission of the parish priest and not conduct any services at the same time as ordinary parish services; thirdly, that they should renounce "all hope of claiming or ever asking for any payment or salary from the benefice in which they preached or from the local people." The syndic added to the petition a long series of arguments liberally spiced with clerical mistrust. Here is an example.
"Every Congregation is born of deep piety and starts off with the purest of intentions but over the years these motives are completely debased by avarice and ambition." It was for this reason that he considered the foundation clause requiring them to renounce all work in the city inadequate and he demmanded that "the Court oblige, constrain and order that no person should enter the Congregation unless he had specifically agreed to this condition." It was not out of self interest, of course, that the cure's refused to allow Priest of the Mission to work in their parishes; they were merely doing what was their duty in charity, "defending all rural parishes in every diocese throughout France from the demage that could ensue from granting approbation to this new Institute." [7]
Vincent and his missioners made a formal declaration that they would comply with the guarantees demanded. [8] They found no difficulty at all in doing this since the conditions laid down by the curés in Paris were in complete accord with the special characteristics of their Congregation as defined in the foundation contract. Vincent was careful to safeguard the distinctive marks of his community; withdrawal from the cities, non payment for missions, and submission to parish priests and the bishop. He was doubtless influenced in this by the vigorous opposition shown by the curés of Paris. It was the first opposition to his plan that he encountered. We should not be surprised by it since this was the price he had to pay for his novel approach.
The Parlement took no heed of the priests' opposition and on 4th April, 1631, they recorded and ratified the letters giving royal approval to the Congregation of the Mission. This recognition of its civil identity was achieved in just under five years. [9]
Victory in Rome
Vincent was not satisfied with just having diocescan and royal approval. He also cherished the hope that his Congregation would be recognised by the Holy See and this would give it an ecclesial dimension. The most surprising part of all this is the speed with which Vincent acted. For someone who, as we have seen, declared that it was never his idea to found the Congregation, it is hard to explain the haste with which he threw himself into the task of gaining papal approval. We can be sure that even from the beginning Vincent's project was more ambitions than the terms of the contract would suggest.
In 1627, two years after the foundation of the Mission and a few months or days after it had received royal approval. Vincent set about winning the approbation of the Holy See. This shows how certain he was that the work he was undertaking was in conformity with God's designs and that it fulfilled a need in the Church as a whole as well as the Church in France.
It is quite true that the step he took in 1627 was only a very small one. All he was asking from the recently established Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was a special blessing from the Holy Father and the usual faculties to be granted to the missioners. For the moment it was not a question of founding a society of pontifical right, whose members lived in community. So for this reason the text of the petition makes no mention of community, but only of "mission", a techorical term then applied to different groups of people devoted to apostolic work even in Catholic countries. These groups were often comprised of religious communities whose apostolic work had to be approved by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
The petition was presented by Blaise Féron, the doctor of the Sorbonne who accompanied Vincent and Duchesne on the mission to Marchais. Although he did not belong to the main body of the Congragation he considered himself one of its missioners and he, too, was following the same sign that the Lord had given to Vincent.
Considering how things usually worked in Rome, the Sacred Congregation acted with unusual promptness. On 5th June the matter was studied for the first time in plenary session and it was decided to ask from the nuncio in France to send a report. They wrote to him on the eleventh of that month and he sent back a letter, on 26th September, which was full of praise for Vincent.
"The opinion of people who are absolutely trustworthy comfirms my own judgment regarding the worthiness of the said Doctor Vincent and the eight companions who live in community with him; they will be wormly welcomed in many dioceses in France and this country can expect a rich harvest from their labours."
It was with this important recommendation before them that the Sacred Congregation met again, this time in the presence of the Pope and they confirmed and approved Vincent de Paul's Mission on 5th November.
As we can see, the Sacred Congregation also confined itself to speaking of "mission" and did not use the term "congregation" "company" or "confraternity". For the momentthis was sufficient. No longer was Vincent's work to be
merely diocescan based; it was to be an ecclesial mission.
There were some limits put on the approval that was granted; submission to the ordinaries in the use of faculties that were granted, restriction of these faculties to a seven year period and, something which the Sovereign Pontiff himself
suggested, that the archbishop of Paris be nominated protector of the new mission. The first step had been taken, Vincent's name had become known to the Curia in Rome. The Pope and the Cardinals had given great praise to the mission's founder. [10]
"It is something more than a mission"
After the success of his first venture in Rome Vincent was encouraged to take the second step. This time he wanted more. So with this in mind, in June, 1628, Vincent addressed to Pope Urban VIII a long and carefully reasoned petition. He signed this himself, and so did his first eight companions including Louis Callon who, as we know, did not sign the document for admission into the Company and left shortly afterwards. [11]
The gist of the petition was a request that the Institute be confirmed and approved, with a new foundation if necessary; that Vincent be nominated president or Superior General, that permission be given for them to accept new members be these priests or laymen and to establish norms and rules, subject to the approval of the Holy See, as was the case with other Orders and Congregations; permission to open new houses even outside the diocese of Paris with the consent of the bishop of the locality, to receive donations and to use these without having recourse to diocescan authorities; in short the permissions usually granted to missionaries ad gentes. The most important matter was his petition the the Holy See for the new Congregation to be canonically exempt from the authority of the Ordinary and to be directly dependent on the Apostolic See. [12]
Vincent had this petition presented by the Papal Nuncio in Paris, Guidi dei Conti di Bagno, or Monsignor Guidi for short. This was the man who had given such a favourable report in the 1627 negotiations. Once again he gave his strong support and in a letter dated June 21st which accompanied Vincent's petition, he recommended it be granted "with some privileges". This was a kindly strategy which was meant to minimize the important concessions that were being requested. [13] Not content with this in a further communication of 23rd July, he sent the Sacred Congregation two letters from the King of France. One of these letters was addressed to the Pope and the other to the ambassador in Rome. In his letters the King strongly recommended that approval be given to the Institute. The nuncio took advantege of the occasion to inform the Congregation that he, himself, was confident that the new Congregation would do great work for souls. [14] Vincent had certainly tied up the loose ends. He had come a long way since those naive days when he petitioned for the parish of Tilh or for the abbey of Saint Léonard de Chaumes.
But Rome was not to prove so easily influenced by kindly nuncios or devout menarchs. The Sacred Congregation studied Vincent's petition in minute detail. Monsignor Ingoli, their secretary, who had given a favourable report when the Congregation was appoved in 1627, was under no illusions about these far reaching new petitions. They seemed to him "exorbitant". [15] If the request were to be granted the foundation would no longer be a simple mission but would turn into something resembling a religious order with its own spirituality and its own special works. [16] He communicated this to the Congregation of Cardinals. His advice was that they should only authorise the mission to be founded in France with a maximun number of 20 or 25 priests and that it should not be accorded the title of Order, Confraternity or Congregation of the Mission. A "mission" was, by its very nature, something temporary and it should be disbanded once the need that had created it had been met. [17]
Vincent had been unlucky in coming up against Mons. Ingoli. Later on this man would be a great help to Vincent de Paul but by and large he was not very favourably inclined towards the religious communities that were already in existence. He was even less happy about new ones being established. [18] What is more, Vincent's projects were rejects by some very important assessors. Among these was no less a personage than his former guide and protector. Cardinal Bérulle. In 1628 this man who was so influential in political and church circles wrote to Father Bertin, his representative in Rome.
"You write to me that these people are planning to present the mission question in various, and to my mind, devious ways. This is highly suspect and it cuold oblige us to forsake the moderation and straightforwardness that I consider the right way of acting in matters that pertain to God, providing others do likewise." [19]
So here we have the great cardinal prepared to use all his influence against his former disciple, even to the point of "being forced" to act in a not very "straightforward", that is to say, a not very honourable way. Vincent was not Richelieu so he was unseccessful of course. On 22nd August the Sacred Congregation settled the "mission affair" as Bérulle called it. Vincent's petition was rejected out of hand because it "went further than the term "mission" implied and was veering towards the foundation of a new religious Order." The rejection did not take up, (and this was the only concession given) the secretary's suggestion that they limit the number of missionaries. To sweeten the pill a bit he advised the nuncio to persuade "Dr. Vincent" and his companions to forget the idea of a new congregation and to keep within the limits of a simple "mission". The ilustrious cardinals promised to have this confirmed by the Holy Father with all the faculties normally accorded to missions in France. [20]
But Rome didn't know Vincent de Paul. When it was a question of giving glory to God he, too, could be obstinate. As Richelieu was to have two years later, Vincent had suffered his "Day of the Dupes". No matter how long it took to win the battle, he refused to concede defeat. Before the first petition was sent to Rome he had already despached a second one dated 1st August and the wording of this was only slightly different from the previous one. [21] Again he looked for people to give him references. Once again he was recommended by the nuncio and then came a new factor, he also sent a recommendation from the reigning Queen, Anne of Austria, and not the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. [22] We need to emphisize this point; it is a detail that Coste didn't know about. It may perhaps help us to assess Vincent's stance in the political crisis which was then brewing at the French court. It is the first time we see Vincent dealing with Anne of Austria, the Queen who was to play an important part in the way his future works of charity developed. The second petition and new references were late in arriving. By then the matter was already settled. At a meeting on 25th September the Sacred Congregation limited itself to acknowledging receipt of the communication and it referred back to the decisions taken on 22nd August. [23]
Vincent did not give up hope. He continued negotiations bearing well in mind the reasons for previous failures. When we speak of Vincent not wanting his Congregation to be considered a religious Order one must keep in mind the secular nature of the work he was undertaking. We must never forget, and Vincent himself would never forget, that his first attempt to have the Congregation approved by the Holy See had been rejected because it was a new form of "religious life". Vincent was a man of experience who was always ready to learn from events and looked on these as signs sent by Providence.
"If Your Holiness only knew the need there is..."
Vincent had a new objective and a different way of working for the second assault on Rome's fortress. Instead of going to the Congregation of Propaganda he addressed himself to the Congregation of Bishops and Religious, and instead of working from a distance with all the hazards of corresponce, he detailed Father François du Coudray to go to Rome as his personal assistant. This priest was one of the original three companions and after Vincent he was the eldest. He was certainly the most learned and brillant of them all. He had such a good knowledge of Hebrew that Vincent was wont to say, "he could argue the Son of God's case in his own language". The same could be said for his knowledge of Syrian, so much so that it was suggested that while in Rome he should translate the Syrian Bible into Latin. [24]
Du Coudray arrived in Rome in the middle of 1631. [25] Through their frequent correspondence Vincent was able to follow closely every step in the negotiations. Unfortunately there are very considerable gaps in the letters that are still preserved but we can still follow the main stages of the arbitration.
A letter dated 1631 reveals the base line beyond which Vincent refused to make any concessions. His approach is based on a personal and fundamental religious experience that gave rise to his Congregation.
"They must be made to understand that poor people are losing their souls because they are ignorant of the truths necessary for salvation and because they do not know how to go to Confession."
This is Vincent's overriding conviction, the goad that will allow him no rest or let him abandom his plans; the guiding force that impels him to fight on for the Congregation to be approved. It is his message for the Church, the raison d'être of all his work and indeed for his whole life.
"It was knowing this state of affairs that made us establish the Company."
He had no doubt that the person with supreme responsability for governing the Church would share this conviction. If told about it he would share Vincent's sorrow and his anxiety for the salvation of souls;
"If Your Holiness knew about this need you would not rest until you had done all in your power to right the matter."
With the exception of some passages from conferences given towards to end of his life, never has Vincent's voice been more prophetic.
He then comes down to a more practical level and states the five maxims he considers basic for the Congregation. They are in fact the five conditions already stated in the foundation contract and reaffirmed after the controversy with the parish priests; submission to the bishops and parish priests in matters concerning missions, the total gratuity of their work, the missionaries of the Congregation were to keep away from the towns and the Superior was to be autonomous with regard to the internal affairs of the Company. His insistence that these conditions were not negotiable was based on the teaching of someone who, for him, embodied the highest moral authority, M. Duval. [26]
"Act in the most Christian way possible"
Vincent's efforts were to meet with opposition just as they had done in 1628. We know from the correspondence that has been preserved, some of the objections put forward and we have a general idea from which quarter the opposition came.
They said apparently, that the factt that the missionaries were based in Paris proved that they were not as exclusively dedicated to the poor people in country areas as they would have had people believe.
"In Paris "replied Vincent", we live as solitary a life as that of Carthusians. As we do not preach, give instructions or hear confessions in the city, hardly anybody has any dealings with us and we have nothing to do with them; this solitude makes us long to work in country places and that work makes us long for solitude." [27]
Carthusians at home and apostles abroad is the phrase which traditionally has encapsulated this thought of Vincent's. This interpretation is a far too sweeping a generalisation of an idea which is not meant to be a rule of life for the community but a description of the reality of the situation where they had to contend with ill informed opponents.
Who were these opponents? We don't know any names but we certainly do know the group they belonged to; it was a section of the Oratorian Order who wanted to continue acting in the same way as their founder. Some of them tried to cause complications for the various stages of the negotiation. There was one particular person who was actively engaged in this and he was "someone frm whom, after God, we would have exprected most help." [28]
Vincent was certain that this attitude was not shared by Father Condren, Superior General of the Oratorians and Bérulle's successor. This man disapproved of such manoeuvres and gave Vincent every help he could. More interesting than anecdotes about the tricks they played and the snares they put in the Founder's path was Vincent's reaction to all these. In demonstrates the high level of human and supernatural development that Vincnet had reached by the time he was 51, nearing the highest point of his creative powers and within reach of his most cherished ambitions.
"I beg you to act", he writes to Du Coudray, "in the most Christian way possible to those who are trying to make difficulties for us. I often meet these people and by God's grace I am able to show them the same cordiality as before. It seems to me that by the grace of God I not only have no aversion for them but that I show them more honour and affection. And I will tell you something else I have never complained to Father Gondi for fear of unsettling him in his vocation. I beg you, Father, do not stop seeing these priests; practise in their regard what Our Lord consels us to do to those who vex and baulk us, and please ask all those whom God inspired with charity towards us not to do them any harm either by word or by action." [29]
One wouldn't want to write a panegyric but these lines leave us in no doubt about the deep transformation grace had worked in the soul of the humble Gascon priest; the man who years earlier was falsely accused of theft and had merely replied, "God knows the truth". That reply now answered the most sublime demande of the Gospel, that we love our enemies.
"Salvatoris nostri"
In spite of the opposition, negotiations followed their normal course. Du Coudray presented the petition to the Sacred Congregation for approval. It was a long document in Latin and Italian and it kept strictly to the instructions received from Vincent. [30] The Sacred Congregation studied itfor the first time on 13th Feb. 1632 and designated Cardinal Bentivoglio assessor for the final scrutiny. He had played the same role when previous petitions had been presented to the Congregation of Propaganda in 1628 and been rejected. The four years that had elapsed since then and Vincent's new tactics had made the Cardinal change his mind. At the session held on 30th April, 1632, he gave a favourable report, merely pointing out that they would have to get the necessary reports from the nuncio and the Archbishop of Paris. [31] Vincent lost no time in requesting these. [32]
In the end, the outcome of all the negotiations was an undreamt of success. The Congregation of the Mission received approval under just those precise conditions that the Founder wanted; not by a simple rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Bishop and Religious, but by the most solemn of all Pontifical documents, a Bull issued by the Holy Father himself. On 12th January, 1633, Urban VIII signed the Bull "Salvatori nostri" which officially approved and established the Congregation of the Mission. [33]
The bull began with a brief history of the foundation of the Congregation by Philippe Manuel de Gondi and his wife, Marguerite de Silly. Then followed a statement giving the reasons which had led the pious founders and Vincent himself to start the Congregation. Using thoughts and phrases taken from the petition, it described the terrible spiritual condition of poor country people and those in neighbouring towns, villages and territories. The state of people in these areas was very different from that of people living in the big cities. People in rural areas ignorant of the truths of faith and did not know how to go to confession; they were ignorant of all the things necessary for salvation and so many souls redeemed by the blood of Christ were being lost. The Pope had taken up Vincent's challenge, "If Your Holiness knew the need". [34]
Vincent, who was so accustomed to seeing the decision of the Church as so many manifestations of God's will, must have been particularly consoled that the Supreme Pontiff had accepted that the inspiration for the foundation had come from God.
"And having begun this worthy project, the said Vincent whom God, the author of all good had inspired with his thought, took upon himself the task of starting this Congregation."
The Pope said this idea had come from Gog and for Vincent there couldn't have been a more authoritative or decisive endorsement of his project. It was just as M. Duval had said. Vincent would use these words of the Holy Father to affirm that the words of the Congregation, and the Congregation itself, were not his doing but God's.
The main part of the Bull traces the basic outlines of the Institute. It gives a more detailed definition of its objectives; the members would devote themselves to their personal sanctification and to that of poor people in country towns and villages; they would not preach in the cities except to give retreats to ordinands. Then follows a description of their ministry; teaching the truths of religion, giving instruction on how to make a good general confession, administering the sacraments, preaching, catechising, setting up confraternities of charity, settling disputes, giving retreats to parish priests and promoting meetings of the clergy to study matters of conscience. The juridical structure is set out. This is to be a Congregation of secular priests and laymen under the authority of the Superior General for life, Vincent de Paul, who had authority to change the rules and statutes with the approval of the Archbishop of Paris. Also defined is the method of electing Vincent's successor and permission is given for the Congregation to own property, to open houses and to acquire and transfer goods. Their ministry is to be gratuitous and they are exempt from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary except in matters pertaining to their minitry. The bull also maps out the framework of the new Congregation's rules; daily Mass, Communion for lay members, one hour's mental prayer each day and examination of conscience. It emphasizes the key points of this approved Congregation's spirituality; devotion to the Blessed Trinity, to the Incarnation and to the Blessed Virgen. [35]
The bull "Salvatori Nostri" marked the decisive establishment of the Congregation of the Mission. No longer was it to be a simple "mission" with the limitations of time and space imposed by its definition in 1625 and ratified by
the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda in 1627. It had now become a religious institute of pontifical right, freely available for service within the wider horizons of the universal Church. A canonical entity of extraordinary oroginality had come into being since the new Institute was exempt from the Ordinary while at the same time retaining its secular character. For Vincent the most important thing was that its basic message "the poor people are being lost" had been accepted by the Church and such a grave need was being met. Religious reforms would now reach the mass of poor people who needed them most. So it represented a triumph for Vincent but no way was it the end of his career; in fact it was the starting point for great enterprises.
