CHAPTER XXVII
CHARITY'S ARMOURY CONFRATERNITIES AND LADIES OF CHARITY
CHARITY'S ARMOURY CONFRATERNITIES AND LADIES OF CHARITY
"To evangelise by word and by action"
If Vincent de Paul's biography were to end at the preceding chapter, the reader who had no access to any other source of information would really think that this was end of the story, for his missionary activity was more than enough for one life's work. But if we stopped at this point we would have to omit the most brilliant and admirable aspect of his life, his works of charity. We shouldn't use that phrase because charity characterised everything that Vincent did; whether it was the Mission, seminary work, or giving retreats. All these activities were to include works of charity which were not seen as a marginal extra to the work of evagelisation, but rather as an additional way of spreading the gospel. Vincent de Paul's torrent of charitable works flows simultaneously from the double source of mission and charity. The systematic approach we adopted towards our subject has necessarily led us to deal separately with works and foundations which were, in fact, mutually dependent and supportive. If a distinction has to be made between the two, it is the distinction of results. There is no difference in the spiritual sap from which both draw nourishment, evangelical charity with all the demands that this makes.
The pivot of all these works was the Congregation of the Mission. When Vincent was explaining to the missionaries the real essence of their vocation he made this point very strongly,
"If there are any among us who think that they are in the Mission in order to evangelise the poor and not to look after them, to see to their spiritual but not to their temporal needs, then I have to tell them that we must assist the poor and see that they are helped in every possible way, either by ourselves or by other people, if we hope to hear those beautiful words spoken by the sovereign Judge of the living and the dead, "Come, you blessed of my Father, and enter into the kingdom that is prepared for you because I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me." When we do this we are evangelising by word and by action; it is the most perfect way of acting and this is what Our Lord did. Those who represent him on earth by reason of their calling and their mission, as priests do, are called to act in the same way." [1]
These words were spoken in 1658 but they only summarise and justify what had been written 25 years earlier in the bull "Salvatoris nostri."
"They (the members of this Congregation) will endeavour to establish confraternities called charities in every place where they preach or give instructions, so that poor sick people will be helped." [2]
We have already noted the establishment and the spread of these confraternities throughout the de Gondi territories and in certain towns that Vincent himself passed through; Paris, Mâcon, Beauvais... After 1633 the increased number of missions and the founding of new houses of the Congregation of the Mission meant that the Confraternities of Charity also multiplied. These proved successful because they responded to a real need and they offered a solution that was not difficult to organise. Soon charities sprung up, not only in those dioceses where there were missionaries or where they preached, but also in other areas of France where they were not directly involved. Vincent's formula was copied by bishops, parish priests and religious associations. The Company of the Blessed Sacrament sent its associates a memo about the practices of the company of the Ladies of Charity... so that they could set up similar associations in other parts of the country. [3] Nicolas Pavillon, the bishop of Alet, approved the rules for a charity in his diocese and these rules repeated word for word those drawn up by Vincent. [4]
In documents that are still extant we find references to about sixty parish charities. [5] There were many more than that. A veritable network of charity covered almost the whole of France or, to use Abelly's words, "confraternities were established in so many places that we just don't know how many they were." [6]
Most of these charities were for ladies. The men's charities or those confraternities that admitted both men and women members seem to have been abandoned after the first few were tried out. A failure? It would be nearer the mark to speak of the triumphant development of the ladies' charities which marked the first serious attempt to promote the position of women in the Church after relegating them to a merely passive rôle for centuries. It was thanks to the charities that the Church could be a mother to the destitute. At a time when women were regarded as nothing more than men's servants or, worse still, as instruments of the devil, Vincent de Paul gave them pride of place in the noblest work of the Church, the proclamation of charity.
The aim of parish charities was to help the poor sick people in their area. Many began to work for all poor people, not just those who were sick. The pressures of the times led to a broader concept of poverty. People complained that the term "poor" was restricted to those had no possessions. It was often said that people who couldn't sell their lands because of mortgages were in a worse state, they got no profit from their lands and no help from the charities. [7]
The charities provided an on going remedy for problems arising from inadequate social planning. They were charities for times of peace. In a relatively stable society the administrative authorities should have been able to eliminate the problem of poverty completely by making the comfortably off in every area help those who were destitute. Vincent could not be accused of excessive optimism, in his time he had sounded the terrifying depths of poverty. He knew, though, that it was possible to at least reduce poverty to tolerable levels, to make the rich aware of their obligations and to move gradually closer to the ideal of a Christian society.
But society is not something static. It wasn't static in the seventeenth century either. A long period of economic depression marked the progressive impoverishment of most country areas and this led either to the unending series of revolts recorded in Porchnev's studies, [8] or else to the emergence of colossal hordes of beggars. In addition, there were the catastrophic consequences of the wars. For a period of 25 years (1635 1659), France was continually at war with other countries and the situation was made worse by frequent wars at home, revolts by the nobility, uprisings among the common people and the long, drawn out, blood letting of the Fronde. As well as the calamities of war there were occasional outbreaks of plague, that terrible scourge which periodically devasted the cities and rural areas of Europe.
Conventional charitable associations proved inadequate for dealing with these new forms of poverty and so the Ladies of Charity of the Hôtel Dieu took on an increasingly important rôle in tackling the problem. They gradually began to take on all Vincent's enterprises; galley slaves, foundlings, captives, foreign missions, disaster areas. [9]
"Our hearts are burning within us when M. Vincent speaks"
As happened with the Tuesday Conferences, Vincent was the guiding spirit of the association and also its director for life.
The ladies used to meet every week and either Vincent or one of his delegates would preside. Some items on the agenda dealt with administrative problems but he also gave spiritual encouragement. We still have some manuscripts containing the notes he made to prepare for these meetings. They are too brief for us to recapture the passion of his spoken words but at least they show us the subjects dealt with as well as the tone of these meetings. Vincent would talk about the particular work under consideration and the spirit in which it was to be undertaken. As in all assemblies convoked by Vincent, the tone was informal, so that everyone present felt part of the proceedngs and called to action. [10]
A few anecdotes help to recreate the atmosphere. As a rule, Vincent accepted majority decisions. One particular lady thought he was too ready to accept other people's opinions and she wasn't slow to reprove him for this. This was Vincent's disarming reply to the lady;
"Madame, God does not want my poor ideas to override those of other people. You don't know how delighted I am that God should perform these works without any help from a wretched sinner like me." [11]
On another occasion during the effusive farewells after
the meeting was over, three ladies spoke to each other about M. Vincent's address.
"Don't you think, Madame," said Mde. de Lamoignon to Louise Marie de Gonzaga, "that when M. Vincent was speaking we could say, like the disciples at Emmaus, that our hearts were on fire with the love of God? I must confess that although I am very indifferent to spiritual things, my heart was burning within me after what the holy man said to us."
"That's not surprising", replied the future Queen of Poland, "M. Vincent is an angel of the Lord and his lips are touched with the glowing coals of that divine love which burns in his heart."
"Yes, yes, that's true", added the third speaker, "and all we have to do is to share that fire." [12]
It was not until 1660 that the rules for the ladies were ultimately settled. [13] In fact, the association continued to function without written rules, or perhaps we should say with rules that were operational even though they had not been formally approved. These rules were as much concerned with the spirit in which the ladies should visit the Hôtel Dieu as they were with defining the association's structures. One particular thing that was specifically laid down was the way in which they were to exhort the sick to make a general confession, for this was the original aim of the association together with the distribution of food. After 1636, only fourteen ladies undertook to give spiritual assistance to poor sick people and they took turns in doing this, the rota being changed every three months. [14] Two of them would go through the wards each day, to instruct and catechise the sick. The ladies financed a group of chaplains who were to work exclusively at instructing sick men and hearing confessions. At first there were two chaplains and then the number increased to six. Each one received 40 crowns a year as well as a stipend for the Mass they said each day in the cathedral. This payment was in addition to their board and lodging in the hospital. They were required to make a retreat at St. Lazare before taking on the work and to do the same annually. [15] The ladies' efforts were very successful. In the first year alone, 760 non catholics were converted. These included Lutherans, Calvinists and Turks. Years later Vincent speaks of 200 heretics being converted. [16] Another group of ladies would serve the meals and very soon these ladies were helped by the Daughters of Charity. [17]
The organisation of this society was confided to its director and a few committee members who were the "Superior" and two assistants who were originally named treasurer and assistant. The first Superior was Madame la Présidente Goussault, who founded the association. She held this office from 1634 1639. During Vincent's lifetime she was succeeded by Mde. de Souscarrière (1639 43), Mde. de Lamoignon (1643 51) and the Duchess d'Aiguillon (1651 75). [18]
"The party of God and the party of charity"
The number of ladies fluctuated quite a bit. We know this from remarks that Vincent made though perhaps we shouldn't take his words too literally. Shortly after the association was founded there were 120 ladies [19] and this number soon increased to more than 200. [20] By 1656 there were only 50 and in 1657 they numbered 150. [21]
Each lady had to make sure she would be replaced and she named her successor from among her relations and friends. Vincent refuted, in advance, the shallow jibes made by the more frivolous sector of society at that time, by demanding that his aspirants be people completely dedicated; he repeated and emphasised the word "completely", to the service of God and to charity, and they must have renounced vain or dangerous pastimes such as gambling or the theatre. Above all, they were "not to be motivated by vanity or the desire to gain a reputation for being pious". [22] Vincent was far from naive. Even before Molière he had unmasked the false piety of all Tartuffes. (1664).
Some of these ladies are already known to us. Others must always remain anonymous since the list of names we have is incomplete and nobody has made a systematic study of the social class, income, and the family or political links of what we might call the Higher Estate of charity. And so, many of the references are generalisations. Taking into account some of the very distinguished names that appear, it has even been said that the whole of France's aristocracy joined in performing the works of charity which were the fruit of Vincent de Paul's genius. This observation is not altogether true. Vincent was not as influential among the highest ranks of that society and with the ladies at court as he would have wished. Around the year 1641, perhaps as a result of the second mission to Saint Germain en Laye, he drew up the rough draft of a set of rules for an association of charity for ladies at court. It was his intention to bring all the other charities under the patronage of these influential ladies and the members of this charity were to be "the sacred person of the Queen" and the noble ladies she saw fit to nominate. [23] This association never saw the light of day. Vincent could count on the Queen's help on many occasions but this help was to come through other channels as we shall see in due time. [24]
The Ladies of Charity had among their members some of the most distinguished ladies of noble birth. These included, among others, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, princess of Condé, Marie d'Orléans, duchess of Nemours and Louise Marie de Gonzaga who was later to became Queen of Poland. These three were destined to play a very significant part in the historical events of that period. As a young woman Charlotte de Montmerency had married the elderly Count to please Henry IV who considered him to be a suitable husband for her, and she nearly provoked a war between France and Spain when the Green Gallant made ready to take the beautiful princess by force away from the Low Countries where she had been taken by her husband. Ravaillac's dagger put a stop to that crazy adventure. [25] In later years she was involved in a web of political and military intrigues hatched by her husband and three sons. The great Condé, the prince of Conti, and the duchess of Longueville all paid for their share in the intrigues with different prison sentences. Caught up as she was, in these turbulent events, she could decide to devote much of her time and her fortune to works of charity.
Life was more peaceful for the duchess of Nemours but her great wealth and extensive lands aroused the envy of powerful enemies like the Kings of France and Prussia as well as the Duke of Savoy.
As we have mentioned earlier, Louise Marie de Gonzaga was outstanding among the ladies of France for her intelligence, piety and beauty and so came to occupy the throne of Poland.
These three ladies would all be present, at least from time to time, at the meetings of the Ladies of Charity [26] but their main support was in the form of financial aid. [27]
As well as these ladies of royal blood there were equally distinguished people such as the duchess d'Aiguillon and the duchess de Ventadour who, at various times, held the office of President of the Association, [28] and several other Countesses and Marquesses.
Most of the ladies belonged to the upper middle class of the Parlement and were known as the "noblesse de robe", a class of people whose social and economic progress played such a decisive part in changing the Ancien Régime. [29] Nearly all the important names connected with Parlement, the palace secretariates, the royal household and tribunals are featured in the register of these ladies. Madame Goussault was the daughter of one President of the Exchequer and the wife of another, Mlle. Pollalion was a widow whose husband had been a gentleman of the royal household, Marie L'huiller, Châtelaine de Villeneuve, belonged to the provincial aristocracy and had brothers in law in the Government and in Parlement, Mde. de Miramion was related by birth and by marriage to noblemen with extensive estates, the name Lamoignan is inseparably linked, through mother and daughter, with the celebrated first President of the Parlement; Mesdames Fouquet, Herse and Traversay were all married to Councillors of the Parlement, while the husbands of Isabel de Aligre and Magdalen Fabri both held the office of Chancellor. [30]
All these ladies were more famous for their devotion to works of charity and for their generosity than they were for their high rank and fortune. In Vincent's school, which was so different from Molière's famous "école des femmes", they learnt to put their lives and their wealth at the service of the poor. Some of them founded or endowed religious congregations which were dedicated to answering the most pressing needs of the Church. The Daughters of Providence, dedicated to the education of poor girls and young people at risk, owe their origin to Mlle. Pollalion. Their work was later amalgamated with that of the Nouveaux Catholiques and the Sisters eventually became known as the Religious of Saint Chaumont. Mde. de Villeneuve came to the rescue of the Daughters of the Cross who were about to die out because of the war and because they were falsely accused of illuminism, a charge that Vincent played an important part in refuting. Mde. de Miramion founded the Daughters of the Holy Family who were later amalgamated with the Daughters of St. Genevieve and devoted themselves to the difficult work of helping fallen women.
Vincent helped all these foundations; sometimes by drawing up their statutes, sometimes by negotiating their approbation, sometimes by getting money for them and, in every case, by giving spiritual guidance to the foundresses. The Association of Ladies regarded this as one of their works and often sent gifts of money to these communities. Sometimes they sent one of their members to lead these congregations when the foundress died. [31]
We could go on for ever about the virtues of these pious ladies. Vincent liked to talk about them to the missionaries and the Daughters of Charity.
One day when he was speaking about how we should put up with our disabilities and have sympathy for those of other people, he told the story of Mlle. du Fay, one of the oldest members of the association:
"We all knew good Mlle. du Fay, the sister of M. de Vincy," he said. "This lady had one leg two or three times heavier than the other but she was so close to God I don't think I've ever known anyone so united to God as she was. She used to refer to her leg as "her blessed leg" since it was this which kept her out of company and even stopped her from getting married, in which state she might have lost her soul." [32]
To the Daughters of Charity who sometimes complained about the heavy work involved in carrying heavy soup pots to dwellings that had many steps, he quoted the example of the Princess de Condé.
"The story is told that when the Princess went one day to visit the sick she had to climb up eighty steps. When she came back, her servants were amazed to see her clothes all splashed with mud. What do you think led her to do this? It was because she realised her need to practise penance." [33]
Speaking about Mde. de Fouquet, the mother of two bishops and of five Visitation nuns he said, "If by mischance the Gospel were to disappear we would find its spirit and its maxims in the actions of Mde. Fouquet." And he went on to say, "She makes piety seem so attractive that others are drawn to practise it." [34]
"Join this holy company."
It was largely due to Vincent's efforts that this great upsurge of goodness came from the best elements of French society. The captivating influence of a priest of such lowly origins on the privileged classes of such a structured society is truly remarkable. The reason for his success may be simply that Vincent represented the voice of the people, and he made this voice heard even by those who had it in their power to inflict the most misery. It is no rhetorical expression to describe him as the voice of the voiceless. His words translated the lament of the masses into a language that the ruling classes prided themselves on being able to understand, the language of the gospel. The most sincere among them couldn't help but comply with its precepts. Vincent never led any of the peasant rebellions which other more or less enlightened priests often directed, but he achieved much more than any of these. While Chancellor Séguier was crushing with an iron hand "the barefoot of Normandy" [35] his wife, who had something of a reputation for being tight fisted, was generously contributing to Vincent's charities that cared for orphans, widows and those wounded in the war. Vincent was calling them to a non violent struggle and for this reason people listened to his call and responded to it.
"Join this holy company" he exclaimed during the general assembly of 1657, "Join us, you ladies who haven't yet enrolled. This Company's sole aim is to have a heart only for God alone, a will only to love him and time only to serve him." [36]
The works performed by the association of Ladies of Charity are incorporated into those of Vincent de Paul himself. We will illustrate this as we describe their works.
If Vincent de Paul's biography were to end at the preceding chapter, the reader who had no access to any other source of information would really think that this was end of the story, for his missionary activity was more than enough for one life's work. But if we stopped at this point we would have to omit the most brilliant and admirable aspect of his life, his works of charity. We shouldn't use that phrase because charity characterised everything that Vincent did; whether it was the Mission, seminary work, or giving retreats. All these activities were to include works of charity which were not seen as a marginal extra to the work of evagelisation, but rather as an additional way of spreading the gospel. Vincent de Paul's torrent of charitable works flows simultaneously from the double source of mission and charity. The systematic approach we adopted towards our subject has necessarily led us to deal separately with works and foundations which were, in fact, mutually dependent and supportive. If a distinction has to be made between the two, it is the distinction of results. There is no difference in the spiritual sap from which both draw nourishment, evangelical charity with all the demands that this makes.
The pivot of all these works was the Congregation of the Mission. When Vincent was explaining to the missionaries the real essence of their vocation he made this point very strongly,
"If there are any among us who think that they are in the Mission in order to evangelise the poor and not to look after them, to see to their spiritual but not to their temporal needs, then I have to tell them that we must assist the poor and see that they are helped in every possible way, either by ourselves or by other people, if we hope to hear those beautiful words spoken by the sovereign Judge of the living and the dead, "Come, you blessed of my Father, and enter into the kingdom that is prepared for you because I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me." When we do this we are evangelising by word and by action; it is the most perfect way of acting and this is what Our Lord did. Those who represent him on earth by reason of their calling and their mission, as priests do, are called to act in the same way." [1]
These words were spoken in 1658 but they only summarise and justify what had been written 25 years earlier in the bull "Salvatoris nostri."
"They (the members of this Congregation) will endeavour to establish confraternities called charities in every place where they preach or give instructions, so that poor sick people will be helped." [2]
We have already noted the establishment and the spread of these confraternities throughout the de Gondi territories and in certain towns that Vincent himself passed through; Paris, Mâcon, Beauvais... After 1633 the increased number of missions and the founding of new houses of the Congregation of the Mission meant that the Confraternities of Charity also multiplied. These proved successful because they responded to a real need and they offered a solution that was not difficult to organise. Soon charities sprung up, not only in those dioceses where there were missionaries or where they preached, but also in other areas of France where they were not directly involved. Vincent's formula was copied by bishops, parish priests and religious associations. The Company of the Blessed Sacrament sent its associates a memo about the practices of the company of the Ladies of Charity... so that they could set up similar associations in other parts of the country. [3] Nicolas Pavillon, the bishop of Alet, approved the rules for a charity in his diocese and these rules repeated word for word those drawn up by Vincent. [4]
In documents that are still extant we find references to about sixty parish charities. [5] There were many more than that. A veritable network of charity covered almost the whole of France or, to use Abelly's words, "confraternities were established in so many places that we just don't know how many they were." [6]
Most of these charities were for ladies. The men's charities or those confraternities that admitted both men and women members seem to have been abandoned after the first few were tried out. A failure? It would be nearer the mark to speak of the triumphant development of the ladies' charities which marked the first serious attempt to promote the position of women in the Church after relegating them to a merely passive rôle for centuries. It was thanks to the charities that the Church could be a mother to the destitute. At a time when women were regarded as nothing more than men's servants or, worse still, as instruments of the devil, Vincent de Paul gave them pride of place in the noblest work of the Church, the proclamation of charity.
The aim of parish charities was to help the poor sick people in their area. Many began to work for all poor people, not just those who were sick. The pressures of the times led to a broader concept of poverty. People complained that the term "poor" was restricted to those had no possessions. It was often said that people who couldn't sell their lands because of mortgages were in a worse state, they got no profit from their lands and no help from the charities. [7]
The charities provided an on going remedy for problems arising from inadequate social planning. They were charities for times of peace. In a relatively stable society the administrative authorities should have been able to eliminate the problem of poverty completely by making the comfortably off in every area help those who were destitute. Vincent could not be accused of excessive optimism, in his time he had sounded the terrifying depths of poverty. He knew, though, that it was possible to at least reduce poverty to tolerable levels, to make the rich aware of their obligations and to move gradually closer to the ideal of a Christian society.
But society is not something static. It wasn't static in the seventeenth century either. A long period of economic depression marked the progressive impoverishment of most country areas and this led either to the unending series of revolts recorded in Porchnev's studies, [8] or else to the emergence of colossal hordes of beggars. In addition, there were the catastrophic consequences of the wars. For a period of 25 years (1635 1659), France was continually at war with other countries and the situation was made worse by frequent wars at home, revolts by the nobility, uprisings among the common people and the long, drawn out, blood letting of the Fronde. As well as the calamities of war there were occasional outbreaks of plague, that terrible scourge which periodically devasted the cities and rural areas of Europe.
Conventional charitable associations proved inadequate for dealing with these new forms of poverty and so the Ladies of Charity of the Hôtel Dieu took on an increasingly important rôle in tackling the problem. They gradually began to take on all Vincent's enterprises; galley slaves, foundlings, captives, foreign missions, disaster areas. [9]
"Our hearts are burning within us when M. Vincent speaks"
As happened with the Tuesday Conferences, Vincent was the guiding spirit of the association and also its director for life.
The ladies used to meet every week and either Vincent or one of his delegates would preside. Some items on the agenda dealt with administrative problems but he also gave spiritual encouragement. We still have some manuscripts containing the notes he made to prepare for these meetings. They are too brief for us to recapture the passion of his spoken words but at least they show us the subjects dealt with as well as the tone of these meetings. Vincent would talk about the particular work under consideration and the spirit in which it was to be undertaken. As in all assemblies convoked by Vincent, the tone was informal, so that everyone present felt part of the proceedngs and called to action. [10]
A few anecdotes help to recreate the atmosphere. As a rule, Vincent accepted majority decisions. One particular lady thought he was too ready to accept other people's opinions and she wasn't slow to reprove him for this. This was Vincent's disarming reply to the lady;
"Madame, God does not want my poor ideas to override those of other people. You don't know how delighted I am that God should perform these works without any help from a wretched sinner like me." [11]
On another occasion during the effusive farewells after
the meeting was over, three ladies spoke to each other about M. Vincent's address.
"Don't you think, Madame," said Mde. de Lamoignon to Louise Marie de Gonzaga, "that when M. Vincent was speaking we could say, like the disciples at Emmaus, that our hearts were on fire with the love of God? I must confess that although I am very indifferent to spiritual things, my heart was burning within me after what the holy man said to us."
"That's not surprising", replied the future Queen of Poland, "M. Vincent is an angel of the Lord and his lips are touched with the glowing coals of that divine love which burns in his heart."
"Yes, yes, that's true", added the third speaker, "and all we have to do is to share that fire." [12]
It was not until 1660 that the rules for the ladies were ultimately settled. [13] In fact, the association continued to function without written rules, or perhaps we should say with rules that were operational even though they had not been formally approved. These rules were as much concerned with the spirit in which the ladies should visit the Hôtel Dieu as they were with defining the association's structures. One particular thing that was specifically laid down was the way in which they were to exhort the sick to make a general confession, for this was the original aim of the association together with the distribution of food. After 1636, only fourteen ladies undertook to give spiritual assistance to poor sick people and they took turns in doing this, the rota being changed every three months. [14] Two of them would go through the wards each day, to instruct and catechise the sick. The ladies financed a group of chaplains who were to work exclusively at instructing sick men and hearing confessions. At first there were two chaplains and then the number increased to six. Each one received 40 crowns a year as well as a stipend for the Mass they said each day in the cathedral. This payment was in addition to their board and lodging in the hospital. They were required to make a retreat at St. Lazare before taking on the work and to do the same annually. [15] The ladies' efforts were very successful. In the first year alone, 760 non catholics were converted. These included Lutherans, Calvinists and Turks. Years later Vincent speaks of 200 heretics being converted. [16] Another group of ladies would serve the meals and very soon these ladies were helped by the Daughters of Charity. [17]
The organisation of this society was confided to its director and a few committee members who were the "Superior" and two assistants who were originally named treasurer and assistant. The first Superior was Madame la Présidente Goussault, who founded the association. She held this office from 1634 1639. During Vincent's lifetime she was succeeded by Mde. de Souscarrière (1639 43), Mde. de Lamoignon (1643 51) and the Duchess d'Aiguillon (1651 75). [18]
"The party of God and the party of charity"
The number of ladies fluctuated quite a bit. We know this from remarks that Vincent made though perhaps we shouldn't take his words too literally. Shortly after the association was founded there were 120 ladies [19] and this number soon increased to more than 200. [20] By 1656 there were only 50 and in 1657 they numbered 150. [21]
Each lady had to make sure she would be replaced and she named her successor from among her relations and friends. Vincent refuted, in advance, the shallow jibes made by the more frivolous sector of society at that time, by demanding that his aspirants be people completely dedicated; he repeated and emphasised the word "completely", to the service of God and to charity, and they must have renounced vain or dangerous pastimes such as gambling or the theatre. Above all, they were "not to be motivated by vanity or the desire to gain a reputation for being pious". [22] Vincent was far from naive. Even before Molière he had unmasked the false piety of all Tartuffes. (1664).
Some of these ladies are already known to us. Others must always remain anonymous since the list of names we have is incomplete and nobody has made a systematic study of the social class, income, and the family or political links of what we might call the Higher Estate of charity. And so, many of the references are generalisations. Taking into account some of the very distinguished names that appear, it has even been said that the whole of France's aristocracy joined in performing the works of charity which were the fruit of Vincent de Paul's genius. This observation is not altogether true. Vincent was not as influential among the highest ranks of that society and with the ladies at court as he would have wished. Around the year 1641, perhaps as a result of the second mission to Saint Germain en Laye, he drew up the rough draft of a set of rules for an association of charity for ladies at court. It was his intention to bring all the other charities under the patronage of these influential ladies and the members of this charity were to be "the sacred person of the Queen" and the noble ladies she saw fit to nominate. [23] This association never saw the light of day. Vincent could count on the Queen's help on many occasions but this help was to come through other channels as we shall see in due time. [24]
The Ladies of Charity had among their members some of the most distinguished ladies of noble birth. These included, among others, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, princess of Condé, Marie d'Orléans, duchess of Nemours and Louise Marie de Gonzaga who was later to became Queen of Poland. These three were destined to play a very significant part in the historical events of that period. As a young woman Charlotte de Montmerency had married the elderly Count to please Henry IV who considered him to be a suitable husband for her, and she nearly provoked a war between France and Spain when the Green Gallant made ready to take the beautiful princess by force away from the Low Countries where she had been taken by her husband. Ravaillac's dagger put a stop to that crazy adventure. [25] In later years she was involved in a web of political and military intrigues hatched by her husband and three sons. The great Condé, the prince of Conti, and the duchess of Longueville all paid for their share in the intrigues with different prison sentences. Caught up as she was, in these turbulent events, she could decide to devote much of her time and her fortune to works of charity.
Life was more peaceful for the duchess of Nemours but her great wealth and extensive lands aroused the envy of powerful enemies like the Kings of France and Prussia as well as the Duke of Savoy.
As we have mentioned earlier, Louise Marie de Gonzaga was outstanding among the ladies of France for her intelligence, piety and beauty and so came to occupy the throne of Poland.
These three ladies would all be present, at least from time to time, at the meetings of the Ladies of Charity [26] but their main support was in the form of financial aid. [27]
As well as these ladies of royal blood there were equally distinguished people such as the duchess d'Aiguillon and the duchess de Ventadour who, at various times, held the office of President of the Association, [28] and several other Countesses and Marquesses.
Most of the ladies belonged to the upper middle class of the Parlement and were known as the "noblesse de robe", a class of people whose social and economic progress played such a decisive part in changing the Ancien Régime. [29] Nearly all the important names connected with Parlement, the palace secretariates, the royal household and tribunals are featured in the register of these ladies. Madame Goussault was the daughter of one President of the Exchequer and the wife of another, Mlle. Pollalion was a widow whose husband had been a gentleman of the royal household, Marie L'huiller, Châtelaine de Villeneuve, belonged to the provincial aristocracy and had brothers in law in the Government and in Parlement, Mde. de Miramion was related by birth and by marriage to noblemen with extensive estates, the name Lamoignan is inseparably linked, through mother and daughter, with the celebrated first President of the Parlement; Mesdames Fouquet, Herse and Traversay were all married to Councillors of the Parlement, while the husbands of Isabel de Aligre and Magdalen Fabri both held the office of Chancellor. [30]
All these ladies were more famous for their devotion to works of charity and for their generosity than they were for their high rank and fortune. In Vincent's school, which was so different from Molière's famous "école des femmes", they learnt to put their lives and their wealth at the service of the poor. Some of them founded or endowed religious congregations which were dedicated to answering the most pressing needs of the Church. The Daughters of Providence, dedicated to the education of poor girls and young people at risk, owe their origin to Mlle. Pollalion. Their work was later amalgamated with that of the Nouveaux Catholiques and the Sisters eventually became known as the Religious of Saint Chaumont. Mde. de Villeneuve came to the rescue of the Daughters of the Cross who were about to die out because of the war and because they were falsely accused of illuminism, a charge that Vincent played an important part in refuting. Mde. de Miramion founded the Daughters of the Holy Family who were later amalgamated with the Daughters of St. Genevieve and devoted themselves to the difficult work of helping fallen women.
Vincent helped all these foundations; sometimes by drawing up their statutes, sometimes by negotiating their approbation, sometimes by getting money for them and, in every case, by giving spiritual guidance to the foundresses. The Association of Ladies regarded this as one of their works and often sent gifts of money to these communities. Sometimes they sent one of their members to lead these congregations when the foundress died. [31]
We could go on for ever about the virtues of these pious ladies. Vincent liked to talk about them to the missionaries and the Daughters of Charity.
One day when he was speaking about how we should put up with our disabilities and have sympathy for those of other people, he told the story of Mlle. du Fay, one of the oldest members of the association:
"We all knew good Mlle. du Fay, the sister of M. de Vincy," he said. "This lady had one leg two or three times heavier than the other but she was so close to God I don't think I've ever known anyone so united to God as she was. She used to refer to her leg as "her blessed leg" since it was this which kept her out of company and even stopped her from getting married, in which state she might have lost her soul." [32]
To the Daughters of Charity who sometimes complained about the heavy work involved in carrying heavy soup pots to dwellings that had many steps, he quoted the example of the Princess de Condé.
"The story is told that when the Princess went one day to visit the sick she had to climb up eighty steps. When she came back, her servants were amazed to see her clothes all splashed with mud. What do you think led her to do this? It was because she realised her need to practise penance." [33]
Speaking about Mde. de Fouquet, the mother of two bishops and of five Visitation nuns he said, "If by mischance the Gospel were to disappear we would find its spirit and its maxims in the actions of Mde. Fouquet." And he went on to say, "She makes piety seem so attractive that others are drawn to practise it." [34]
"Join this holy company."
It was largely due to Vincent's efforts that this great upsurge of goodness came from the best elements of French society. The captivating influence of a priest of such lowly origins on the privileged classes of such a structured society is truly remarkable. The reason for his success may be simply that Vincent represented the voice of the people, and he made this voice heard even by those who had it in their power to inflict the most misery. It is no rhetorical expression to describe him as the voice of the voiceless. His words translated the lament of the masses into a language that the ruling classes prided themselves on being able to understand, the language of the gospel. The most sincere among them couldn't help but comply with its precepts. Vincent never led any of the peasant rebellions which other more or less enlightened priests often directed, but he achieved much more than any of these. While Chancellor Séguier was crushing with an iron hand "the barefoot of Normandy" [35] his wife, who had something of a reputation for being tight fisted, was generously contributing to Vincent's charities that cared for orphans, widows and those wounded in the war. Vincent was calling them to a non violent struggle and for this reason people listened to his call and responded to it.
"Join this holy company" he exclaimed during the general assembly of 1657, "Join us, you ladies who haven't yet enrolled. This Company's sole aim is to have a heart only for God alone, a will only to love him and time only to serve him." [36]
The works performed by the association of Ladies of Charity are incorporated into those of Vincent de Paul himself. We will illustrate this as we describe their works.
