Remembering the Saint of Catholic Charity

On September 27, the universal Catholic Church remembers Saint Vincent de Paul. He is a 17th century French priest known as the patron of Catholic charities for his apostolic work among the poor and marginalized. Vincent de Paul transformed the way social service was practised in Europe. One of the lessons St. Vincent de Paul offers the Christian is that there can be no sharing of God’s love if we don’t first possess it ourselves.

Vincent de Paul was the third of six children born to peasant farmers in the village of Pouy in the Kingdom of France. As a child, he worked the fields and tended the livestock, but also showed great intelligence. Although he was quite devout as a child, he was ashamed of his poverty and longed to advance in society. When Vincent was a young teenager, his father sold an ox so that he could send his son to be formally educated. Vincent was sent to the seminary in Dax, a town about 100 miles to the west, where he lived with the Franciscan Friars. A few years later, he was sent to the University of Toulouse to study theology and was ordained a priest at the age of twenty.

Dangerous cruise

In 1604, Father Vincent received an inheritance from a wealthy woman and travelled to Marseilles to sell the property. Marseilles was about 200 miles to the east of Toulouse by foot but could be reached much more quickly by boat. After selling the property, he was invited by a man to accompany him by boat to the port of Narbonne. Travelling by boat was known to be dangerous since many North African Muslim pirates patrolled those waters, looking for men to enslave.

Father Vincent decided to sail to Narbonne because the wind was in their favour and the trip should be quick. However, pirates did intercept them, attacked the boat, killed some onboard, and injured everyone else. Father Vincent received an arrow in his shoulder. Once captured, they were taken to the North African port of Tunis (modern-day Tunisia) where they were humiliated and sold. Father Vincent reports that over the next two years, he was bought and sold multiple times. He somehow managed to escape with his master.

Concern for the poor

Father Vincent’s imprisonment profoundly affected him. One of his motivations for priestly ordination was to escape poverty as a peasant farmer and lead a more comfortable life. Being a slave transformed him. His faith deepened, and his concern for the poor and suffering grew. Many opine that his captivity moulded him into the saint he became. After returning to France from two years in captivity in 1607, Father Vincent met Monsignor de Berulle (later Cardinal) and travelled to Rome with him where he continued his studies. Monsignor de Berulle was an influential writer often credited as the founder of what came to be known as the French School of Spirituality, a movement that focused on fostering a deep personal relationship with Christ.

In France, he also became a pastor and entered the service of the wealthy and generous Gondi family. In 1617, he became their personal chaplain and tutor to their children. While serving them, he gave missions to the rural populations on their properties. The Gondi family also supervised the prisoners who served as rowers in the galleys of France. This connection allowed Father Vincent to start a ministry for these prisoners, who often had dire spiritual needs.

In 1625, to address the growing needs he observed, Father Vincent founded the Congregation of the Missions, later known as the Vincentians. This small congregation had begun the prior year when five other priests started assisting Father Vincent with his missions on the Gondi property. The group aimed to minister to the rural poor. St. Vincent de Paul had a simple but profound statement that served as a guiding principle for all of his actions: “God sees you.” This simple phrase distils the powerful reality that each person’s life is sacred in the gaze of the Almighty God. St. Vincent de Paul burned with a desire to reach those who felt most unseen, uncared for and unloved.

Turbulent time

Father Vincent once said, “Our vocation is to go and enflame the hearts of men, to do what the Son of God did”. One of the characteristics of his work was his willingness to respond to any cause. Vincent de Paul lived during a turbulent time in Europe. During his life, France fought the Thirty Years War with other great powers in Europe. Entire regions of Europe were devastated by the war. Father Vincent raised aid for war-torn regions of France, served in prisons, started schools and cared for orphans.

Just over 150 years later, Saint Vincent’s ministry continued to inspire, leading to Frédéric Ozanam’s founding of what is today known as the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, an international lay organization providing direct relief and compassion to the poor at local levels. All followers of Jesus Christ are responsible for helping share the Gospel with those God puts in our lives. Vincent honoured the human dignity of the individual and inspired community transformation for the common good. He sought to promote in those he led virtues that included simplicity, honesty, and zeal.

Through his example, St. Vincent de Paul teaches us to see Christ in the poor and suffering, helping us to live out Jesus’ calling, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Saint Vincent de Paul recognized that his faith in Christ needed to be an active faith in service of his neighbour. Through his example of charitable work, we can learn to be more aware of the needs of others. By extending a helpful hand or lending an ear to the less fortunate, we show God’s love and acceptance of all. St. Vincent de Paul said to his priests, “Do the good that presents itself to be done”. St. Vincent de Paul’s life reveals the love of neighbour that flows from a heart that loves God.