Saint Vincent de Paul

CORMAC SAYS: Today the Roman Catholic Church is celebrating the life of Saint Vincent de Paul. Born at Gascony in 1581 he died at Paris in 1660. As a priest, he spent a lifetime working among the poor, and founded two religious orders: The Congregation of the Mission, for priests, and for women, the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, through which his work for the poor lives on; as it has, in the lay association known as the Society of Satin Vincent de Paul. Living as we do, in an age of relativism: in which one person’s view is deemed as good as another, and the idea of “revealed truth” is dismissed by many, as absurd, what is striking about the passage quoted below (apart from its spiritual content,) is how, in practical terms, it is as fresh and relevant now, as it was when it was written more than three hundred years ago; the exception being, that we have many more disturbing, and global examples, to draw on, than did Saint Vincent de Paul. And how powerful his conclusion: “They [the poor] have been given to us as our masters and patrons.”

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“Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seemed to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God, who choose to be poor. Although in his passion [His final suffering] he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool by the Gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews, he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: He sent me to preach the good news to the poor. We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.

“Since Christ willed to be born poor, he choose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went as far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to be understanding where they are concerned. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: I have become all things to all men. Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbours’ worries and distress. We must beg God to pour into our hearts sentiments of pity and compassion and to fill them again and again with these dispositions.

“It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that the very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been give to us as our masters and patrons.

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