CHAPTER XXXI
CHARITY IN ACTION: WAR BRINGS DISASTER
CHARITY IN ACTION: WAR BRINGS DISASTER
Lorraine, a country caught between two firing lines
France's entry into the Thirty years' War in May, 1635 after the Swedish débacle of Nordlingen, only served to endorse the "covert" or cold war that had been going on for many years. However, the transition from "covert" to "open" warfare brought protests from a wide section of public opinion in France because many people were in favour of making a treaty with Catholic Spain. [1]
During the first year of hostilities Spain clearly held the upper hand. The troops of the Cardinal Infante, the hero of Nordlingen, reached Corbie, in August, 1636, on the outskirts of Paris. As we have already mentioned, this was the first time that Vincent sent missionaries to the army. That same year witnessed the triumph of a French drama that had a Spanish hero, Corneille's play "Le Cid". As yet, wars between nations had not become as fierce as they would be later on with the growth of nationalism. There were still some traces of medieval chivalry left and in 1641 the French opened their border for the funeral cortège of their great enemy, the Cardinal Infante, who was allowed to make his posthumous journey back to Spain. [2]
One of the main theatres of war between the years 1636 and 1643 was the duchy of Lorraine. This tiny, autonomous state, that had France to the west, the Empire to the east, the Spanish possessions in Flanders to the north, and Franche Comté to the south; was destined to be the victim of any and every confrontation between its powerful neighbours. To add to its misfortunes, the triple wedge of the episcopal cities of Metz, Toul and Verdun, had been annexed by France since 1552. So, ethnically and linguistically, Lorraine was partly French and partly German. Its geographical and strategic position made it equally desirable for both contenders. In such circumstances, it would have been nothing short of a miracle if this country could have stayed neutral during the great European conflagration. [3]
Duke Charles IV and his brother and successor, François Nicolas, pursued the political policies they judged most advantageous to their country's interests: They were suspicious of Richelieu's plans to annexe it to France, and so they sided with Spain and the Empire. The flexible, semi feudal structure of the Empire would have made it easier for Lorraine to preserve its national identity and independence. But Lorraine just did not have adequate military forces to follow this option and so had to gamble on political ruses and shrewd alliances. St. Vincent de Paul's eighteenth century biographer, Pierre Collet, who was welcomed in Lorraine precisely because of the publication of his book, roundly condemns the policies followed by Duke Charles IV; policies which, he says, were "vigorous enough to alarm his neighbours, but too feeble to resist them; he was always ready to sign an agreement and even more ready to break it." [4] What else could a minor prince do, when he was surrounded by such formidable enemies?
The full violence of the Thirty Years War erupted over the duchy. France had occupied this territory in 1633, even before her formal entry into the war. This was in reprisal for the asylum Lorraine granted to Gaston d'Orléans, the rother of the French king, and for his secret marriage to Margaret of Lorraine. Louis XIII accused Duke Charles IV of abducting his brother. Charles had to take refuge in Germany and he abdicated in favour of François Nicolas, the unconsecrated bishop of Verdun. The Duke continued to work for his country's independence, from his place of exile. France operated a policy of repression and of cultural assimilation. The city of Saint Mihiel from whose walls a lucky cannon shot destroyed Louis XIII's carriage in 1635, was made to pay a fine of nearly half a million livres, its leading citizens were shut up in the Bastille, 36 officers were imprisoned, and "two or three thousand" soldiers were sentenced to the galleys.
The man appointed to carry out his programme of repression proved to be an implacable governor and Count de La Ferté Senectère was known as the "butcher of Lorraine". Castles were razed to the ground, people were sent into exile and property was confiscated. He forced all the inhabitants to swear an oath of allegiance to the King of France. The people, following the lead of the clergy, adopted an attitude of passive resistance. St. Peter Fournier, the saint of Lorraine, refused to take the oath and had to take refuge in Spanish Franche Comté where he died in exile in 1640. [5] The Oratorians in Nancy, who were French, were the only ones to obey the order to recite the Exaudiat prayer for the King of France in the liturgical office. But when it came to the petition "God save the King", more and more of the choir changed the response to "God save the Duke" so the practice had to be abandoned. [6]
It is impossible, in the space of a few lines, to give a coherent outline of the tangled events of this war. Between 1635 and 1643 the war is nothing more than a series of moves and counter moves by both armies. As many as seven advances were made and a total of 150,000 men were camped, at the one time, within the narrow confines of the dukedom. Most notable among these soldiers were the Swedes, captained by the bloodthirsty Prince Bernard of Sax Weimar whom Richelieu had attracted to his cause. He had three French armies fighting on his side. Opposing them were two contingents of imperial troops led by John de Werth, who in 1635 seized Toul and was one of the leaders of the Spanish march on Corbie the following year. The army of Charles IV of Lorraine completed the picture. None of these forces corresponded to our modern notion of a national army. They all had in their ranks mercenaries from very different countries. As well as Germans, Spaniards and Frenchmen, there were Swedes, Scots, Poles, Croatians, Hungarians, Swiss, and even Turks and Barbarians. Neither was there any clearly demarcated combat line. Troops from different armies had no over all commander so military engagements were just haphazard events, the object of which was pillage and revictualising the troops. Mercenaries were badly and irregularly paid so they lived off the land. The atrocities they committed in search of sustenance added to the wars' savagery. [7]
The man appointed to carry out his programme of repression proved to be an implacable governor and Count de La Ferté Senectère was known as the "butcher of Lorraine". Castles were razed to the ground, people were sent into exile and property was confiscated. He forced all the inhabitants to swear an oath of allegiance to the King of France. The people, following the lead of the clergy, adopted an attitude of passive resistance. St. Peter Fournier, the saint of Lorraine, refused to take the oath and had to take refuge in Spanish Franche Comté where he died in exile in 1640. [5] The Oratorians in Nancy, who were French, were the only ones to obey the order to recite the Exaudiat prayer for the King of France in the liturgical office. But when it came to the petition "God save the King", more and more of the choir changed the response to "God save the Duke" so the practice had to be abandoned. [6]
It is impossible, in the space of a few lines, to give a coherent outline of the tangled events of this war. Between 1635 and 1643 the war is nothing more than a series of moves and counter moves by both armies. As many as seven advances were made and a total of 150,000 men were camped, at the one time, within the narrow confines of the dukedom. Most notable among these soldiers were the Swedes, captained by the bloodthirsty Prince Bernard of Sax Weimar whom Richelieu had attracted to his cause. He had three French armies fighting on his side. Opposing them were two contingents of imperial troops led by John de Werth, who in 1635 seized Toul and was one of the leaders of the Spanish march on Corbie the following year. The army of Charles IV of Lorraine completed the picture. None of these forces corresponded to our modern notion of a national army. They all had in their ranks mercenaries from very different countries. As well as Germans, Spaniards and Frenchmen, there were Swedes, Scots, Poles, Croatians, Hungarians, Swiss, and even Turks and Barbarians. Neither was there any clearly demarcated combat line. Troops from different armies had no over all commander so military engagements were just haphazard events, the object of which was pillage and revictualising the troops. Mercenaries were badly and irregularly paid so they lived off the land. The atrocities they committed in search of sustenance added to the wars' savagery. [7]
"Sola Lotharingia Ierosolyman calamitate vincit."
All the scourges of the Apocalypse were unleashed over the unfortunate duchy. "Mother Courage's" wagon travelled through the countryside of Lorraine for years. (*) One of Bernard de Weimar's bands of troops had, on its standard, the picture, of a woman split in two from head to foot and flanked by two soldiers carrying a flaming torch and a sword. On the banner was blazoned the single word "Lorraine". Nothing could have summed up better the state of that region. [8]
The Swedes, who were rabid Lutherans, vented their savagery with special fury on places and objects connected with Catholic worship. More than 600 churches were desecrated; chalices, albs and chasubles were stolen, relics were burned, altars pulled down, and the sacred species trodden under foot. For their part, the Duke's Croatian and imperial troops hunted down the "traitors" of Lorraine, requisitioned the harvests and burned down villages. All the armies vied with each other in cruelty. After the troops had passed through a village, the roads would be littered with corpses and dead animals. They used some very sophisticated forms of torture. Men would be slowly burned over the fire in their own hearth to force them to confess where they had hidden their money or provisions; others had their arms and legs cut off and others still were beaten to death. Women and children were not spared.
Plague and famine added to the destruction. Food was so scarce that people ate grass and roots; acorns and wild fruits were sold as sweetmeats in the market and people were glad to eat dead animals, particularly the army's dead horses. People spoke of mothers eating their children and of a man who killed his brother for a bit of bread... The Jesuit Caussin, who was confessor to Louis XIII, made the rhetorical comment: Sola Lotharingia Ierosolyman calamitate vincit, "Only Lorraine suffered more calamities than Jerusalem", an allusion to Vespasian's troops whose atrocities were not nearly as horrendous." [9]
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(*) Mother Courage, the main character in Bertolt Brecht's "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" was a camp follower who drove a canteen wagon during the Thirty Years War.
"My Lord, give peace to France"
The first news that Vincent had about the devastation in Lorraine came from the missionaries in Toul, a house that had been founded in 1635. These priests didn't wait for instructions but put themselves at the service of the injured. They converted part of their house into a hospital and lodged between forty and sixty sick people there. They looked after a further hundred or a hundred and fifty in another place on the outskirts of the town. [10]
Vincent immediately took the measure of such a horrific catastrophe. The scale of the relief operation had to match the need.. This period of Vincent's life coincides with what we might call his first involvement in politics. One day he paid a visit to Cardinal Richelieu. He explained to him the misery that war brought in its train, the suffering that people had to endure and the sins that were committed in times of war. At the end of his speech he went down on his knees and exclaimed, "My Lord, give us peace. Have pity on us. Give France peace"! The Minister's reply was what we might have expected from a man of his political astuteness. "Peace? But that's something I never stop working for, Monsieur Vincent. It doesn't just depend on me. A lot of people, both here and abroad, are involved." [11]
Was this just a polite excuse offered to a well intentioned visitor? It could be that the reply might have a different interpretation. This anecdote, related by Abelly, is surprisingly backed up by the Cardinal's letters. In a letter to Chancellor Séguier in 1638, he is recommending a priest friend of "Monsieur Vincent" and he adds a postscript which perhaps reflects the impression made on him by his interview with the Founder of the Mission, "I beg you to redouble your prayers for peace. This is something that I desire so sincerely, and so earnestly, that I don't hesitate to ask God to punish those who are thwarting it." [12] Isn't this the same answer that he gave Vincent, though couched in conventional terms.
Vincent realised he would have to take the initiative himself. He started by making the community do penance. Remembering the words of Joel, he ordered his priests to pray for the people who were suffering such calamities and he imposed various privations on the community as a way of lessening the evil. At the outbreak of war with Spain he ordered one course of the meal to be cancelled. When he first heard about the devastation in Lorraine he gave orders that only black bread should be served at meals. This order remained in force for three or four years. [13]
But if any aid was to prove effective it would need to have for greater resources than any the missionaries could provide from the economies they made. Letters arrived from Toul describing the terrible plight of the people in Lorraine. Vincent read these letters to the Ladies and to other influential people. It was obvious that a massive aid programme was called for, and Vincent's long experience of organising relief at Chatillon, Mâcon, Beauvais and in the charities of the towns and villages, was now to be used to the best advantage. Four things were lacking in the beginning; the collection of funds, distribution centres, information about what was needed, and liaison services.
Fund raising
Right from the outset it was the ladies who took charge of fund raising. The ladies gave out of their own pockets and urged others to do the same. [14] They appealed to the most high ranking people. The King contributed 45,000 livres which was to be allocated, particularly, to religious orders whose members were among the most needy. [15] The duchess d'Aiguillon proved generous on many occasions and to help people in distress she donated the funeral hangings and the linen used at the funeral of her uncle, the Cardinal. The Queen did the same after the funeral of her husband, [16] the King, and she also gave many donations in cash, including the sum of 2,000 livres which was to be used specifically for impoverished nobles. [17] Collet deemed this action all the more meritorious as the Sovereign "had no reason to love the country she was being asked to help." [18] The last thing charity needs is discrimination between friends and political enemies! But all the donations that came in were trifling compared with increasing needs. At the beginning of the campaign, in May 1639, Vincent estimated that they would need 2,000 livres a month. [19] In February, 1640, this figure rose to 2,500. Vincent was afraid they wouldn't be able to keep up that level of fund raising. [20] His tenacity, coupled with the enthusiastic support of the ladies and many other anonymous benefactors, saw the project through to the end in spite of the fact that when the French troops lost control of the province, Richelieu thought that the King had no reason to continue helping those who suffered because of the war.
Relief aid
The work of distributing alms was confided to the missionaries. Vincent sent twelve of his best priests and clerics to help the missionaries at Toul and he also sent brothers who had some knowledge of surgery or medicine. [21] As always when a new work was being undertaken, Vincent drew up for them a set of rules which established strict standards of conduct and adminsitrative practice. [22]
The missionaries worked in pairs from seven strategic points; Toul, Metz, Verdun, Nancy, Pont à Mousson, Saint Mihiel and Bar le Duc and from these centres they looked after the needs of people in the surrounding areas. [23] On a less regular basis, but with no less commitment, they helped out at many other places including Lunéville. [24] Each centre was allocated a monthly sum of 500 livres and Vincent
appointed Fr. Dehorgny as regional Visitor to supervise the work from June to July 1640. [25]
Basic aid consisted of food, particularly bread and soup, medicine and clothing. The same method of distribution was followed in every place. Each week the missionaries would go round their districts and with the help of the parish priest they would draw up a list of poor people. Then they would give the priest or some charitable lady the flour needed for the week's baking, and after the first distribution of bread they would gather the poor people together for a pious exhortation, catechise the children, and help those who were most seriously ill to prepare well for death. [26]
At the regular centres every type of need was addressed. Letters from missionaries, reports by the visitor and the testimony of people from the towns that received aid, all give us some idea of the colossal relief work carried out by the missionaries, even though this evidence is incomplete.
The missionaries' first priority was the distribution of food to starving people in the townships. In Verdun they distributed bread and soup to some five or six hundred people each day, they did the same for a further four or five hundred at Nancy and for a similar number of people at Pont à Mousson, where some of the poor were so famished that they died after swallowing the first mouthful. At Bar le Duc there were sometimes more than 800 needy people and, to add to the difficulty, missionaries from other districts would send people to this city as it was the gateway to Lorraine and these people thought they would find the answer to their problems by going into exile there. At Saint Mihiel the people used to eat snakes and dead horses. During March, 1640, food was distributed to 1,132 poor people. Sometimes the number of needy people who begged the missionaries for bread rose to between four and five thousand.
Famine led to an increase in the number of sick people. Many of these were lodged in the missionaries' houses at Toul and Nancy. In other places like Bar le Duc, and even in Nancy itself, the sick were sent to hospital and the missionaries sent clothing, food and medicine there. The sick who remained at home were not neglected either. About 50 of these were visited in the town of Nancy. Sick people were provided with a more substantial diet than the ordinary poor people had; they were given bread, soup and meat as well as clothing and medicine. One of the most common infections was ringworm. The brothers had discovered the "sovereign remedy" for this and it made the infection disappear within a few days. More than 25 people at Bar le Duc were cured by this remedy.
The "bashful poor", to use a popular expression of the time, were even more deserving of pity because being people of rank, and even of the nobility, they felt they couldn't make their situation known. This class of people was to be found in many places. At Nancy, the missionaries reckoned there were about 50 middle class people in need and they delivered bread to these people's homes. They found thirty of the nobility in reduced circumstances and these were given money. At Pont à Mousson there were 50 or 60 people of this social class who were dying of hunger; at Verdun there were 30, and at Toul and Saint Mihiel they were "numerous".
There was also a serious shortage of clothing. At Nancy, clothing was distributed and the old clothes of the poor were washed and mended. In this way they were able to recycle 6 or 7 dozen shirts which were given to people in even greater need. The same thing happened at Bar le Duc. Here, clothing was distributed to 260 poor people and any chothes that were too old to use, were carefully washed and made into bandages for the injured. Shoes and tools were also distributed.
The relief workers were very concerned about the plight of many young women who were reduced to great poverty and so were open to the temptation of selling their virtue or, as reports described it, their "honour" for a piece of bread or a little money. This was happening throughout the whole province. The missionaries congratulated themselves on rescuing countless young women, including some ladies from distinguished families, from this peril.
Amidst all these forms of misery there was perhaps no situation more distressing than that of nuns in enclosed orders. Shut up in their convents, unable to collect the income from their dowries, and deprived of the usual alms because of the poverty that prevailed all round, some would ring the convent bells for hours on end in a vain appeal for help. A good number of nuns were forced to leave their convents, either to look for assistance outside, or because they were turned out by the troops. One of the best documented aspects of Vincent's work is the charity he showed towards nuns. Between 1642 and 1649, in the city of Verdun alone, 2,740 livres were given to the Carmelites, 1,338 livres to the Poor Clares, and 1,630 livres to the Benedictines of St. Maur. [27] Reports for the year 1647 tell us that from 28th January to 8th April, 8,495 livres were distributed to 52 convents and monasteries of different orders; Sisters of the Annunciation, Poor Clares, Dominicans, Daughters of St. Francis, Benedictines, Visitation nuns, Carmelites, Magdalens and the Congregation of Our Lady. [28] As well as money they were given a lot of help in kind; blankets, furniture, habits, clothing and medicines [29] Others discovered, in the upheaval of war, an opportunity to found new convents. The Benedictine nuns at Rambervilliers, who had taken refuge in Saint Mihiel, moved to Paris on Vincent's advice. At the head of this community was Mother Catherine de Bar who transferred from the Annunciation Order to the Benedictines and changed her name to Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament. In the Paris district of Saint Germain they founded the Benedictine Nuns of the Blessed Sacrament. The Queen and high ranking ladies vied with each other in being the nuns' patrons so as to obtain for the city the blessings that come from perpetual adoration. [30]
In Lorraine, too, spiritual help went hand in hand with material aid. The missionaries spent long hours preaching, instructing, and administering the sacraments. At Pont à Mousson they preached a short mission to the refugees. A missionary in Verdun reckoned that he had helped more than a thousand people to prepare well for death. "How many souls will enter Paradise thanks to poverty"! he exclaimed. More than 2,000 people attended the catechism classes at Saint Mihiel. It was such a heavy task that one of the missionaries became ill. At Bar le Duc, the missionaries heard over 800 general confessions in just over a month and a half. Religious instruction was given every day at Nancy, and the priests successfully exhorted the people to go to confession and communion every month. The Lorraine campaign was one of the best examples we have of the Priests of the Mission working hand in hand with the charities.
"It is enough that God knows our works;" publicity.
Reports about help given to the needy and on the distribution of relief aid, arrived punctually at Saint Lazare. Vincent had instructed the missionaries to obtain a receipt for the alms they distributed [31] but on the other hand, he didn't want these receipts to be seen as so many certificates of merit. "It is enough", he said, "that God knows our works and that the poor are being helped." [32] But he couldn't prevent the inevitable. The Vicar General and the Dominican nuns from Toul, the Councillors and the "thirteen" from Metz, the mayor and the magistrates of Pont à Mousson, the deputy, the provost and the Governor of Saint Mihiel, the officials and councillors of Lunéville, as well as countless private citizens, priests, and religious; all wrote to Vincent, praising to the skies the missionaries' charity and spirit of self sacrifice. They hailed Vincent as father of the poor and saviour of their country. Some witnesses remarked, "Monsieur Vincent must be a native of Lorraine since he does so much for that region." [33]
Although at the outset he was very much opposed to the idea, Vincent decided to capitalise on that enormous stack of reports and mount a publicity campaign to attract further support. Every month he would read out to the ladies in Paris the amount of aid distributed, and in this way he encouraged them to persevere in their efforts; "they were very encouraged". [34] He started something else, (a technique he was to perfect later on); he began to send the most heart rending of the letters he received to various places, "to move the rich to compassion by describing such suffering, and also to give encouragement to benefactors by letting them see the happy results of their almsgiving." These letters were passed round from hand to hand so the effect was multiplied. Unfortunately for us, it is precisely for this reason that an incomparable source of first hand documentation has been lost for ever. [35]
"They think they are not made of flesh and blood"
The fervour that Vincent had inculcated in his missionaries was the dynamism that made such a great outpouring of charity possible. In Lorraine, as had happened in Ireland, Tunis and Marseilles, there were numerous examples of heroism. The most outstanding case was that of Fr. Germain Montevit, who died at Bar le Duc on 19th January, 1640, at the age of 28, after contracting an illness while serving the poor. He lived at the Jesuits' house and the Superior of that community gave this wonderful eulogy.
"He suffered a lot during his illness which was a very long one and I can say, in all honesty, that I have never seen patience and resignation like his. We never heard him utter a word of complaint or show the slightest impatience. All his words revealed an extraordinary piety. The doctor often told us that he had never treated such an obedient and simple patient. He received communion frequently during his illness, as well as on the two occasions that he had holy viaticum. Even when he was delirious for a week, he was fully conscious when he received extreme unction, though he lost consciouscess immediately afterwards. In a word, I would like to die in same dispositions as he had, and I beg God to grant me this grace.
The two canonical chapters at Bar attended his funeral, as did the Augustinian priests, but the greatest honour paid him during his obsequies was that six or seven hundred poor men accompanied his remains. They each carried a lighted candle and they wept as though it were their own father's funeral. This was the poor people's way of showing their gratitude for the fact that he had caught this illness while he was curing their ills and alleviating their poverty. He was always with them, breathing in their foul odours. He was
so diligent in hearing their confessions during the mornings and after the mid day meal that I could never get him to take any rest or come out for a stroll with me. We had him buried next to the confessional where he had taken ill and where he stored up the merits he is now enjoying in heaven.
Two days after this priest's death, his companion fell ill with continuous fever and for a whole week he was at death's door. He recovered. His illness was due to overwork and long periods of time spent serving the poor. On Christmas Eve he went 24 hours without food or sleep and only left the confessional to say Mass. Your fathers are very docile and reasonable except when they are advised to take a little rest. Either they think they are not made of flesh and blood or else they think they have only one year left to live." [36]
"Our brother Matthew does marvels": "the link service."
Heroic deeds and willingness to work were not enough. It would have been impossible to bring aid to Lorraine if there had been no communication link service between that region and Paris. Given the dangerous conditions of those times, one could come upon bands of soldiers lying in ambush at any bend in the road, waiting to set upon any unwary traveller. To deal with such dangers you would need to be very astute and cool headed. Brother Matthew Renard had both these qualities. Vincent appointed him his emissary and he soon became notorious. The story of his adventures spread from mouth to mouth and Anne of Austria summoned him to her palace to hear the accounts at first hand. Some incidents could have cost him his life. Brother Matthew wrote an account of his exploits which is now lost but Abelly made a very good summary of it. People called him "The Fox", a pun on his surname, because of his proverbial astuteness. [37]
There were 18 incidents that Matthew described as extremely dangerous but the total number of journeys he made was 54 and each time he carried with him twenty or thirty thousand livres. One can imagine the temptation his saddlebags must have been for bands of marauders but he always managed to escape them.
On one occasion he fell into the hands of some footpads who searched every fold of his clothing but didn't find anything of value. When they got tired of searching him they made him an offer: "Fifty pistoles or your life." 38] "Fifty pistoles!" exclaimed the brother in astonishment. "Even if I had 50 livres I couldn't give you even a Lorraine sou for them." The miscreants were almost ready to give him an alms! As soon as they disappeared, Matthew picked up his saddlebags which he had hidden in a bend in the road.
On another occasion, a horseman who was armed to the teeth, stopped him, threatened him with his pistol and then led him to the edge of a precipice where he could take his time in searching him. The brother's saddlebags contained no less than 34,000 livres. As they walked along, Matthew would turn to the rider every so often and make a little bow. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that his pursuer had turned his head away for a few moments. Quick as a flash, Matthew threw away the saddlebags. A hundred paces further on, he turned round again and bowed deeply several times, making sure that his footprints were clearly marked in the recently ploughed soil. The only thing found on him after the rigorous search that followed was a knife. The robber immediately took possession of this and then he let this strange traveller, whom he took to be a bit crazy, go free. When the danger was over and the coast clear, the brother retraced his steps, and guided by the footprints he had left, was able to recover his treasure.
Most of Charles IV's "Croatians" were really men from Lorraine and they were among the worst for looting. On one occasion Matthew came across a band of them in the open countryside. He sensed danger and acted quickly. He hid his saddlebag in some thick bushes, and four or five paces further on, he dropped his stick. Then he deliberately walked towards the soldiers, looking the picture of innocence. The Croatians searched him and then let him go on his way. Matthew waited till it got dark. Then he went back and started to look for his bags but he couldn't find them all night. At daybreak, and after much prayer, he found the stick. A few yards further on lay the bag, hidden in the undergrowth where he had left it the previous day.
The "Fox's" adventures became legendary and this proved no help at all in his difficult work. Not far from Saint Mihiel he was recognised by a captain who pointed him out to his men and said, admiringly, "This is the famous Brother Fox." The soldiers were about to rush at him when the captain, pistol in hand, stopped them and said, "Anyone who dares to harm a man who does so much good will have his brains blown out." The brother arrived at his destination with no further mishap.
On another occasion some Croatians discovered that Matthew was lodging at the castle of Nomény, and they posted sentries on every road so that he couldn't escape. Before it was daylight the brother left his hiding place by a false door, took to a footpath that nobody knew about, and presented himself in Pont à Mousson before his besiegers knew he had even left. When the people in the castle said that the brother had left Nomény, the Croatians couldn't believe their ears and in their rage they cursed and blasphemed saying, "Either God or the devil must have carried him over the woods."
Travelling with Matthew was like having a guarantee against all accidents. The Countess of Montgomery was travelling on a journey and she had a passport from the King of France, the King of Spain and the Duke of Lorraine. In spite of having all these safe conducts she had been attacked on various occasions. She was just about to set out again from Metz to Verdun when she learned that the brother was travelling along the same road. She immediately begged him to get into her carriage saying, "Your company will be more use to me than all the passports in the world." And in fact, they did both arrive at Verdun without encountering either soldiers or bandits.
As he finished telling the story of his adventures, the brother assured them that if he had been able to come safely through so many dangers, then this was due to the special protection that God granted him because of the faith and the prayers of M. Vincent. This is no doubt true, but Vincent's more matter of fact comment was, "Our brother Matthew does wonders and this is due to a very special grace given him by God." [39]
Exiles
It was not just the people living in the duchy of Lorraine who received help. The war was responsible for the exodus of thousands of people of all ages and every social class. Half the country was left uninhabited. The principal centre that these poor, harrassed and destitute people made for, was Paris. Vincent poured out his tenderness on these poor exiles, too, and he started with the most vulnerable groups; young girls and children.
Brother Matthew was also given the job of leading this flood of humanity to Paris. If he couldn't save all of them, he gave priority to helping the weakest and those most at risk. In September, 1639, he brought 46 girls and 54 boys to the capital. [40] He guided many more there in the course of later expeditions.
Young girls were chosen from among the "best developed",
to use Abelly's phrase, because these were more in danger of being raped by soldiers. They were temporarily lodged at the Foundlings' Home and later were found situations as maids or servants in better off households. The boys were housed at Saint Lazare until such times as work could be found for them. [41]
Adults who were in exile received spiritual as well as material help. Vincent was for all those people from the provinces, the refuge of the afflicted. They were sent to him by their relatives and their parish priests and brought with them eloquent letters of recommendation, but even without these the compassionate Superior of Saint Lazare was ready to open his arms and his house to them. [42]
He set up a refuge camp at La Chapelle, at the gates of Paris and not far from Saint Lazare. Vincent had his priests and those of the Tuesday Conferences (so here we have the fourth Vincentian work taking part in the action) preach three missions to these people in 1639, 1641 and 1642. During the first mission these people were given food as well as spiritual nourishment. Vincent's great friend, François Perrochel, preached at the final mission. We have already mentioned this man who, by this time, was appointed bishop of Boulogne. [43]
A good number of the exiles were noblemen who had been ruined by the war and whose rank and dignity prevented them from publically asking for help. Vincent showed great ingenuity in finding ways of helping them without hurting their feelings. He gathered together a group of his friends who were also noblemen, brought them to Saint Lazare and put the problem to them. The group included the Duke of Liancourt, the Count of Brienne and the Marquis of Fontenay, but the most notable person there was Baron Gaston de Renty (1611 1648) [44] These men set up an association whose first priority was to find out the number of refugees and what their need were. Gaston de Renty, himself, took on this task and his outstanding piety soon gained him the reputation of being a saint. [45] Once the census had been taken, they calculated how much money would be required to meet all the needs and then every member of the association, including Vincent, pledged himself to contribute. There was a meeting on the first Sunday of every month to review the situation, to update the list of those needing help, and to collect contributions.
At one of these meetings they found they were 200 livres short of their target. Vincent sent for his bursar and asked him how much money they had in the safe.
"Just enough to feed the community tomorrow", answered the bursar.
"And how much is that?"
"Fifty écus"
It was almost the amount they needed. So Vincent insisted.
"Haven't we got any more?"
"No, father. There are only fifty écus.
"Well, bring them to me, please."
The bursar, somewhat displeased, obeyed and Vincent used his community's money to make up the amount of money needed to help the people of Lorraine. The next day, one of the gentlemen who had overheard the Superior's conversation with the bursar, sent 1,000 livres to Saint Lazare. Vincent's trust in divine providence was never disappointed.
The members of the association were very discreet in giving alms and they used the occasion to show friendship and solidarity with their comrades from Lorraine, so that these would not feel offended at being given alms. The association was in operation for 7 or 8 years until the troubles in Lorraine began to subside. Even then, Vincent made sure that the refugees' return journey would be paid for and he gave them something towards initial expenses when they got back. Years later, Vincent gave similar help to English and Scottish nobles who were fleeing from Cromwell's persecution. [46]
The final total
Systematic help continued to be given to Lorraine until 1643, the year which saw an end to distributions of bread and soup. But aid continued, on a less regular basis, for a further five or six years. According to Brother Renard's calculations the total amount of money distributed in Lorraine came to 1,500,000 livres. This is the figure given by Abelly. Other sources suggest a sum of two million livres. [47] There is no contradiction between these two estimates if we remember that the brother was only referring to the amount of money in cash that he took there. We shuold add to this, the cost of help given in kind (14,000 yards of cloth were supplied) as well as the cost of looking after the refugees, the expenses incurred in their travels, and other help they received.
Besides, it would be childish to measure Vincent's charity only by the amount of money distributed. There was a much deeper significance to the aid given to Lorraine. Vincent proved himself a genius at organising and a real statesman. His name broke out of purely ecclesiastical circles to reach coteries that decided the nation's fate. Everyone realised that Vincent had at hand the organisation procedures to successfully tackle even the direst catastrophes. It wouldn't be long before these mechanisms would be called into action again. [48]
All the scourges of the Apocalypse were unleashed over the unfortunate duchy. "Mother Courage's" wagon travelled through the countryside of Lorraine for years. (*) One of Bernard de Weimar's bands of troops had, on its standard, the picture, of a woman split in two from head to foot and flanked by two soldiers carrying a flaming torch and a sword. On the banner was blazoned the single word "Lorraine". Nothing could have summed up better the state of that region. [8]
The Swedes, who were rabid Lutherans, vented their savagery with special fury on places and objects connected with Catholic worship. More than 600 churches were desecrated; chalices, albs and chasubles were stolen, relics were burned, altars pulled down, and the sacred species trodden under foot. For their part, the Duke's Croatian and imperial troops hunted down the "traitors" of Lorraine, requisitioned the harvests and burned down villages. All the armies vied with each other in cruelty. After the troops had passed through a village, the roads would be littered with corpses and dead animals. They used some very sophisticated forms of torture. Men would be slowly burned over the fire in their own hearth to force them to confess where they had hidden their money or provisions; others had their arms and legs cut off and others still were beaten to death. Women and children were not spared.
Plague and famine added to the destruction. Food was so scarce that people ate grass and roots; acorns and wild fruits were sold as sweetmeats in the market and people were glad to eat dead animals, particularly the army's dead horses. People spoke of mothers eating their children and of a man who killed his brother for a bit of bread... The Jesuit Caussin, who was confessor to Louis XIII, made the rhetorical comment: Sola Lotharingia Ierosolyman calamitate vincit, "Only Lorraine suffered more calamities than Jerusalem", an allusion to Vespasian's troops whose atrocities were not nearly as horrendous." [9]
______________________________
(*) Mother Courage, the main character in Bertolt Brecht's "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" was a camp follower who drove a canteen wagon during the Thirty Years War.
"My Lord, give peace to France"
The first news that Vincent had about the devastation in Lorraine came from the missionaries in Toul, a house that had been founded in 1635. These priests didn't wait for instructions but put themselves at the service of the injured. They converted part of their house into a hospital and lodged between forty and sixty sick people there. They looked after a further hundred or a hundred and fifty in another place on the outskirts of the town. [10]
Vincent immediately took the measure of such a horrific catastrophe. The scale of the relief operation had to match the need.. This period of Vincent's life coincides with what we might call his first involvement in politics. One day he paid a visit to Cardinal Richelieu. He explained to him the misery that war brought in its train, the suffering that people had to endure and the sins that were committed in times of war. At the end of his speech he went down on his knees and exclaimed, "My Lord, give us peace. Have pity on us. Give France peace"! The Minister's reply was what we might have expected from a man of his political astuteness. "Peace? But that's something I never stop working for, Monsieur Vincent. It doesn't just depend on me. A lot of people, both here and abroad, are involved." [11]
Was this just a polite excuse offered to a well intentioned visitor? It could be that the reply might have a different interpretation. This anecdote, related by Abelly, is surprisingly backed up by the Cardinal's letters. In a letter to Chancellor Séguier in 1638, he is recommending a priest friend of "Monsieur Vincent" and he adds a postscript which perhaps reflects the impression made on him by his interview with the Founder of the Mission, "I beg you to redouble your prayers for peace. This is something that I desire so sincerely, and so earnestly, that I don't hesitate to ask God to punish those who are thwarting it." [12] Isn't this the same answer that he gave Vincent, though couched in conventional terms.
Vincent realised he would have to take the initiative himself. He started by making the community do penance. Remembering the words of Joel, he ordered his priests to pray for the people who were suffering such calamities and he imposed various privations on the community as a way of lessening the evil. At the outbreak of war with Spain he ordered one course of the meal to be cancelled. When he first heard about the devastation in Lorraine he gave orders that only black bread should be served at meals. This order remained in force for three or four years. [13]
But if any aid was to prove effective it would need to have for greater resources than any the missionaries could provide from the economies they made. Letters arrived from Toul describing the terrible plight of the people in Lorraine. Vincent read these letters to the Ladies and to other influential people. It was obvious that a massive aid programme was called for, and Vincent's long experience of organising relief at Chatillon, Mâcon, Beauvais and in the charities of the towns and villages, was now to be used to the best advantage. Four things were lacking in the beginning; the collection of funds, distribution centres, information about what was needed, and liaison services.
Fund raising
Right from the outset it was the ladies who took charge of fund raising. The ladies gave out of their own pockets and urged others to do the same. [14] They appealed to the most high ranking people. The King contributed 45,000 livres which was to be allocated, particularly, to religious orders whose members were among the most needy. [15] The duchess d'Aiguillon proved generous on many occasions and to help people in distress she donated the funeral hangings and the linen used at the funeral of her uncle, the Cardinal. The Queen did the same after the funeral of her husband, [16] the King, and she also gave many donations in cash, including the sum of 2,000 livres which was to be used specifically for impoverished nobles. [17] Collet deemed this action all the more meritorious as the Sovereign "had no reason to love the country she was being asked to help." [18] The last thing charity needs is discrimination between friends and political enemies! But all the donations that came in were trifling compared with increasing needs. At the beginning of the campaign, in May 1639, Vincent estimated that they would need 2,000 livres a month. [19] In February, 1640, this figure rose to 2,500. Vincent was afraid they wouldn't be able to keep up that level of fund raising. [20] His tenacity, coupled with the enthusiastic support of the ladies and many other anonymous benefactors, saw the project through to the end in spite of the fact that when the French troops lost control of the province, Richelieu thought that the King had no reason to continue helping those who suffered because of the war.
Relief aid
The work of distributing alms was confided to the missionaries. Vincent sent twelve of his best priests and clerics to help the missionaries at Toul and he also sent brothers who had some knowledge of surgery or medicine. [21] As always when a new work was being undertaken, Vincent drew up for them a set of rules which established strict standards of conduct and adminsitrative practice. [22]
The missionaries worked in pairs from seven strategic points; Toul, Metz, Verdun, Nancy, Pont à Mousson, Saint Mihiel and Bar le Duc and from these centres they looked after the needs of people in the surrounding areas. [23] On a less regular basis, but with no less commitment, they helped out at many other places including Lunéville. [24] Each centre was allocated a monthly sum of 500 livres and Vincent
appointed Fr. Dehorgny as regional Visitor to supervise the work from June to July 1640. [25]
Basic aid consisted of food, particularly bread and soup, medicine and clothing. The same method of distribution was followed in every place. Each week the missionaries would go round their districts and with the help of the parish priest they would draw up a list of poor people. Then they would give the priest or some charitable lady the flour needed for the week's baking, and after the first distribution of bread they would gather the poor people together for a pious exhortation, catechise the children, and help those who were most seriously ill to prepare well for death. [26]
At the regular centres every type of need was addressed. Letters from missionaries, reports by the visitor and the testimony of people from the towns that received aid, all give us some idea of the colossal relief work carried out by the missionaries, even though this evidence is incomplete.
The missionaries' first priority was the distribution of food to starving people in the townships. In Verdun they distributed bread and soup to some five or six hundred people each day, they did the same for a further four or five hundred at Nancy and for a similar number of people at Pont à Mousson, where some of the poor were so famished that they died after swallowing the first mouthful. At Bar le Duc there were sometimes more than 800 needy people and, to add to the difficulty, missionaries from other districts would send people to this city as it was the gateway to Lorraine and these people thought they would find the answer to their problems by going into exile there. At Saint Mihiel the people used to eat snakes and dead horses. During March, 1640, food was distributed to 1,132 poor people. Sometimes the number of needy people who begged the missionaries for bread rose to between four and five thousand.
Famine led to an increase in the number of sick people. Many of these were lodged in the missionaries' houses at Toul and Nancy. In other places like Bar le Duc, and even in Nancy itself, the sick were sent to hospital and the missionaries sent clothing, food and medicine there. The sick who remained at home were not neglected either. About 50 of these were visited in the town of Nancy. Sick people were provided with a more substantial diet than the ordinary poor people had; they were given bread, soup and meat as well as clothing and medicine. One of the most common infections was ringworm. The brothers had discovered the "sovereign remedy" for this and it made the infection disappear within a few days. More than 25 people at Bar le Duc were cured by this remedy.
The "bashful poor", to use a popular expression of the time, were even more deserving of pity because being people of rank, and even of the nobility, they felt they couldn't make their situation known. This class of people was to be found in many places. At Nancy, the missionaries reckoned there were about 50 middle class people in need and they delivered bread to these people's homes. They found thirty of the nobility in reduced circumstances and these were given money. At Pont à Mousson there were 50 or 60 people of this social class who were dying of hunger; at Verdun there were 30, and at Toul and Saint Mihiel they were "numerous".
There was also a serious shortage of clothing. At Nancy, clothing was distributed and the old clothes of the poor were washed and mended. In this way they were able to recycle 6 or 7 dozen shirts which were given to people in even greater need. The same thing happened at Bar le Duc. Here, clothing was distributed to 260 poor people and any chothes that were too old to use, were carefully washed and made into bandages for the injured. Shoes and tools were also distributed.
The relief workers were very concerned about the plight of many young women who were reduced to great poverty and so were open to the temptation of selling their virtue or, as reports described it, their "honour" for a piece of bread or a little money. This was happening throughout the whole province. The missionaries congratulated themselves on rescuing countless young women, including some ladies from distinguished families, from this peril.
Amidst all these forms of misery there was perhaps no situation more distressing than that of nuns in enclosed orders. Shut up in their convents, unable to collect the income from their dowries, and deprived of the usual alms because of the poverty that prevailed all round, some would ring the convent bells for hours on end in a vain appeal for help. A good number of nuns were forced to leave their convents, either to look for assistance outside, or because they were turned out by the troops. One of the best documented aspects of Vincent's work is the charity he showed towards nuns. Between 1642 and 1649, in the city of Verdun alone, 2,740 livres were given to the Carmelites, 1,338 livres to the Poor Clares, and 1,630 livres to the Benedictines of St. Maur. [27] Reports for the year 1647 tell us that from 28th January to 8th April, 8,495 livres were distributed to 52 convents and monasteries of different orders; Sisters of the Annunciation, Poor Clares, Dominicans, Daughters of St. Francis, Benedictines, Visitation nuns, Carmelites, Magdalens and the Congregation of Our Lady. [28] As well as money they were given a lot of help in kind; blankets, furniture, habits, clothing and medicines [29] Others discovered, in the upheaval of war, an opportunity to found new convents. The Benedictine nuns at Rambervilliers, who had taken refuge in Saint Mihiel, moved to Paris on Vincent's advice. At the head of this community was Mother Catherine de Bar who transferred from the Annunciation Order to the Benedictines and changed her name to Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament. In the Paris district of Saint Germain they founded the Benedictine Nuns of the Blessed Sacrament. The Queen and high ranking ladies vied with each other in being the nuns' patrons so as to obtain for the city the blessings that come from perpetual adoration. [30]
In Lorraine, too, spiritual help went hand in hand with material aid. The missionaries spent long hours preaching, instructing, and administering the sacraments. At Pont à Mousson they preached a short mission to the refugees. A missionary in Verdun reckoned that he had helped more than a thousand people to prepare well for death. "How many souls will enter Paradise thanks to poverty"! he exclaimed. More than 2,000 people attended the catechism classes at Saint Mihiel. It was such a heavy task that one of the missionaries became ill. At Bar le Duc, the missionaries heard over 800 general confessions in just over a month and a half. Religious instruction was given every day at Nancy, and the priests successfully exhorted the people to go to confession and communion every month. The Lorraine campaign was one of the best examples we have of the Priests of the Mission working hand in hand with the charities.
"It is enough that God knows our works;" publicity.
Reports about help given to the needy and on the distribution of relief aid, arrived punctually at Saint Lazare. Vincent had instructed the missionaries to obtain a receipt for the alms they distributed [31] but on the other hand, he didn't want these receipts to be seen as so many certificates of merit. "It is enough", he said, "that God knows our works and that the poor are being helped." [32] But he couldn't prevent the inevitable. The Vicar General and the Dominican nuns from Toul, the Councillors and the "thirteen" from Metz, the mayor and the magistrates of Pont à Mousson, the deputy, the provost and the Governor of Saint Mihiel, the officials and councillors of Lunéville, as well as countless private citizens, priests, and religious; all wrote to Vincent, praising to the skies the missionaries' charity and spirit of self sacrifice. They hailed Vincent as father of the poor and saviour of their country. Some witnesses remarked, "Monsieur Vincent must be a native of Lorraine since he does so much for that region." [33]
Although at the outset he was very much opposed to the idea, Vincent decided to capitalise on that enormous stack of reports and mount a publicity campaign to attract further support. Every month he would read out to the ladies in Paris the amount of aid distributed, and in this way he encouraged them to persevere in their efforts; "they were very encouraged". [34] He started something else, (a technique he was to perfect later on); he began to send the most heart rending of the letters he received to various places, "to move the rich to compassion by describing such suffering, and also to give encouragement to benefactors by letting them see the happy results of their almsgiving." These letters were passed round from hand to hand so the effect was multiplied. Unfortunately for us, it is precisely for this reason that an incomparable source of first hand documentation has been lost for ever. [35]
"They think they are not made of flesh and blood"
The fervour that Vincent had inculcated in his missionaries was the dynamism that made such a great outpouring of charity possible. In Lorraine, as had happened in Ireland, Tunis and Marseilles, there were numerous examples of heroism. The most outstanding case was that of Fr. Germain Montevit, who died at Bar le Duc on 19th January, 1640, at the age of 28, after contracting an illness while serving the poor. He lived at the Jesuits' house and the Superior of that community gave this wonderful eulogy.
"He suffered a lot during his illness which was a very long one and I can say, in all honesty, that I have never seen patience and resignation like his. We never heard him utter a word of complaint or show the slightest impatience. All his words revealed an extraordinary piety. The doctor often told us that he had never treated such an obedient and simple patient. He received communion frequently during his illness, as well as on the two occasions that he had holy viaticum. Even when he was delirious for a week, he was fully conscious when he received extreme unction, though he lost consciouscess immediately afterwards. In a word, I would like to die in same dispositions as he had, and I beg God to grant me this grace.
The two canonical chapters at Bar attended his funeral, as did the Augustinian priests, but the greatest honour paid him during his obsequies was that six or seven hundred poor men accompanied his remains. They each carried a lighted candle and they wept as though it were their own father's funeral. This was the poor people's way of showing their gratitude for the fact that he had caught this illness while he was curing their ills and alleviating their poverty. He was always with them, breathing in their foul odours. He was
so diligent in hearing their confessions during the mornings and after the mid day meal that I could never get him to take any rest or come out for a stroll with me. We had him buried next to the confessional where he had taken ill and where he stored up the merits he is now enjoying in heaven.
Two days after this priest's death, his companion fell ill with continuous fever and for a whole week he was at death's door. He recovered. His illness was due to overwork and long periods of time spent serving the poor. On Christmas Eve he went 24 hours without food or sleep and only left the confessional to say Mass. Your fathers are very docile and reasonable except when they are advised to take a little rest. Either they think they are not made of flesh and blood or else they think they have only one year left to live." [36]
"Our brother Matthew does marvels": "the link service."
Heroic deeds and willingness to work were not enough. It would have been impossible to bring aid to Lorraine if there had been no communication link service between that region and Paris. Given the dangerous conditions of those times, one could come upon bands of soldiers lying in ambush at any bend in the road, waiting to set upon any unwary traveller. To deal with such dangers you would need to be very astute and cool headed. Brother Matthew Renard had both these qualities. Vincent appointed him his emissary and he soon became notorious. The story of his adventures spread from mouth to mouth and Anne of Austria summoned him to her palace to hear the accounts at first hand. Some incidents could have cost him his life. Brother Matthew wrote an account of his exploits which is now lost but Abelly made a very good summary of it. People called him "The Fox", a pun on his surname, because of his proverbial astuteness. [37]
There were 18 incidents that Matthew described as extremely dangerous but the total number of journeys he made was 54 and each time he carried with him twenty or thirty thousand livres. One can imagine the temptation his saddlebags must have been for bands of marauders but he always managed to escape them.
On one occasion he fell into the hands of some footpads who searched every fold of his clothing but didn't find anything of value. When they got tired of searching him they made him an offer: "Fifty pistoles or your life." 38] "Fifty pistoles!" exclaimed the brother in astonishment. "Even if I had 50 livres I couldn't give you even a Lorraine sou for them." The miscreants were almost ready to give him an alms! As soon as they disappeared, Matthew picked up his saddlebags which he had hidden in a bend in the road.
On another occasion, a horseman who was armed to the teeth, stopped him, threatened him with his pistol and then led him to the edge of a precipice where he could take his time in searching him. The brother's saddlebags contained no less than 34,000 livres. As they walked along, Matthew would turn to the rider every so often and make a little bow. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that his pursuer had turned his head away for a few moments. Quick as a flash, Matthew threw away the saddlebags. A hundred paces further on, he turned round again and bowed deeply several times, making sure that his footprints were clearly marked in the recently ploughed soil. The only thing found on him after the rigorous search that followed was a knife. The robber immediately took possession of this and then he let this strange traveller, whom he took to be a bit crazy, go free. When the danger was over and the coast clear, the brother retraced his steps, and guided by the footprints he had left, was able to recover his treasure.
Most of Charles IV's "Croatians" were really men from Lorraine and they were among the worst for looting. On one occasion Matthew came across a band of them in the open countryside. He sensed danger and acted quickly. He hid his saddlebag in some thick bushes, and four or five paces further on, he dropped his stick. Then he deliberately walked towards the soldiers, looking the picture of innocence. The Croatians searched him and then let him go on his way. Matthew waited till it got dark. Then he went back and started to look for his bags but he couldn't find them all night. At daybreak, and after much prayer, he found the stick. A few yards further on lay the bag, hidden in the undergrowth where he had left it the previous day.
The "Fox's" adventures became legendary and this proved no help at all in his difficult work. Not far from Saint Mihiel he was recognised by a captain who pointed him out to his men and said, admiringly, "This is the famous Brother Fox." The soldiers were about to rush at him when the captain, pistol in hand, stopped them and said, "Anyone who dares to harm a man who does so much good will have his brains blown out." The brother arrived at his destination with no further mishap.
On another occasion some Croatians discovered that Matthew was lodging at the castle of Nomény, and they posted sentries on every road so that he couldn't escape. Before it was daylight the brother left his hiding place by a false door, took to a footpath that nobody knew about, and presented himself in Pont à Mousson before his besiegers knew he had even left. When the people in the castle said that the brother had left Nomény, the Croatians couldn't believe their ears and in their rage they cursed and blasphemed saying, "Either God or the devil must have carried him over the woods."
Travelling with Matthew was like having a guarantee against all accidents. The Countess of Montgomery was travelling on a journey and she had a passport from the King of France, the King of Spain and the Duke of Lorraine. In spite of having all these safe conducts she had been attacked on various occasions. She was just about to set out again from Metz to Verdun when she learned that the brother was travelling along the same road. She immediately begged him to get into her carriage saying, "Your company will be more use to me than all the passports in the world." And in fact, they did both arrive at Verdun without encountering either soldiers or bandits.
As he finished telling the story of his adventures, the brother assured them that if he had been able to come safely through so many dangers, then this was due to the special protection that God granted him because of the faith and the prayers of M. Vincent. This is no doubt true, but Vincent's more matter of fact comment was, "Our brother Matthew does wonders and this is due to a very special grace given him by God." [39]
Exiles
It was not just the people living in the duchy of Lorraine who received help. The war was responsible for the exodus of thousands of people of all ages and every social class. Half the country was left uninhabited. The principal centre that these poor, harrassed and destitute people made for, was Paris. Vincent poured out his tenderness on these poor exiles, too, and he started with the most vulnerable groups; young girls and children.
Brother Matthew was also given the job of leading this flood of humanity to Paris. If he couldn't save all of them, he gave priority to helping the weakest and those most at risk. In September, 1639, he brought 46 girls and 54 boys to the capital. [40] He guided many more there in the course of later expeditions.
Young girls were chosen from among the "best developed",
to use Abelly's phrase, because these were more in danger of being raped by soldiers. They were temporarily lodged at the Foundlings' Home and later were found situations as maids or servants in better off households. The boys were housed at Saint Lazare until such times as work could be found for them. [41]
Adults who were in exile received spiritual as well as material help. Vincent was for all those people from the provinces, the refuge of the afflicted. They were sent to him by their relatives and their parish priests and brought with them eloquent letters of recommendation, but even without these the compassionate Superior of Saint Lazare was ready to open his arms and his house to them. [42]
He set up a refuge camp at La Chapelle, at the gates of Paris and not far from Saint Lazare. Vincent had his priests and those of the Tuesday Conferences (so here we have the fourth Vincentian work taking part in the action) preach three missions to these people in 1639, 1641 and 1642. During the first mission these people were given food as well as spiritual nourishment. Vincent's great friend, François Perrochel, preached at the final mission. We have already mentioned this man who, by this time, was appointed bishop of Boulogne. [43]
A good number of the exiles were noblemen who had been ruined by the war and whose rank and dignity prevented them from publically asking for help. Vincent showed great ingenuity in finding ways of helping them without hurting their feelings. He gathered together a group of his friends who were also noblemen, brought them to Saint Lazare and put the problem to them. The group included the Duke of Liancourt, the Count of Brienne and the Marquis of Fontenay, but the most notable person there was Baron Gaston de Renty (1611 1648) [44] These men set up an association whose first priority was to find out the number of refugees and what their need were. Gaston de Renty, himself, took on this task and his outstanding piety soon gained him the reputation of being a saint. [45] Once the census had been taken, they calculated how much money would be required to meet all the needs and then every member of the association, including Vincent, pledged himself to contribute. There was a meeting on the first Sunday of every month to review the situation, to update the list of those needing help, and to collect contributions.
At one of these meetings they found they were 200 livres short of their target. Vincent sent for his bursar and asked him how much money they had in the safe.
"Just enough to feed the community tomorrow", answered the bursar.
"And how much is that?"
"Fifty écus"
It was almost the amount they needed. So Vincent insisted.
"Haven't we got any more?"
"No, father. There are only fifty écus.
"Well, bring them to me, please."
The bursar, somewhat displeased, obeyed and Vincent used his community's money to make up the amount of money needed to help the people of Lorraine. The next day, one of the gentlemen who had overheard the Superior's conversation with the bursar, sent 1,000 livres to Saint Lazare. Vincent's trust in divine providence was never disappointed.
The members of the association were very discreet in giving alms and they used the occasion to show friendship and solidarity with their comrades from Lorraine, so that these would not feel offended at being given alms. The association was in operation for 7 or 8 years until the troubles in Lorraine began to subside. Even then, Vincent made sure that the refugees' return journey would be paid for and he gave them something towards initial expenses when they got back. Years later, Vincent gave similar help to English and Scottish nobles who were fleeing from Cromwell's persecution. [46]
The final total
Systematic help continued to be given to Lorraine until 1643, the year which saw an end to distributions of bread and soup. But aid continued, on a less regular basis, for a further five or six years. According to Brother Renard's calculations the total amount of money distributed in Lorraine came to 1,500,000 livres. This is the figure given by Abelly. Other sources suggest a sum of two million livres. [47] There is no contradiction between these two estimates if we remember that the brother was only referring to the amount of money in cash that he took there. We shuold add to this, the cost of help given in kind (14,000 yards of cloth were supplied) as well as the cost of looking after the refugees, the expenses incurred in their travels, and other help they received.
Besides, it would be childish to measure Vincent's charity only by the amount of money distributed. There was a much deeper significance to the aid given to Lorraine. Vincent proved himself a genius at organising and a real statesman. His name broke out of purely ecclesiastical circles to reach coteries that decided the nation's fate. Everyone realised that Vincent had at hand the organisation procedures to successfully tackle even the direst catastrophes. It wouldn't be long before these mechanisms would be called into action again. [48]
