And that’s where a new outlook on the world was to develop thanks to contact with the wealthy, an outlook from which he would subsequently know how to draw great profit in his apostolate. He was not so much an originator, but rather a great organizer. After the experience of Folleville, this text of the Gospel affirming that Jesus came to evangelise the poor confirmed Saint Vincent in his call to evangelise them. His heart would then quicken, being profoundly touched. Review Cathedral Protocols for Mass. The result was that the course of his life was changed. The congregation was the first noncloistered religious institute of … how beautiful to see the poor if we consider them in God and in the esteem which Jesus showed them! Let us recall it in a few words. Let’s cite another great challenge which anyway is closely linked to the mission’s: Saint Vincent saw clearly that the clergy of his day, often lacking a true vocation, badly formed and with lax morals were incapable of looking after the ordinary spiritual needs of the people, especially in the country, as well as assuring a follow-up to the missions. We find a very evocative picture of this in his letter of 16 August 1652 to Pope Innocent X whom he asks to intervene in favour of peace. b) The poor country people are in a profound ignorance of their faith , according to Saint Vincent who says with compassion:The poor people coming to confession are so gross, so ignorant, so obtuse, not to say so animal! It was useless to preach the contrary to them because the example of their ancestors and the bad advice of their own relatives regarding to this vice were so deeply rooted in their minds that they were incapable of accepting any opinion to the contrary (IV, 412). Support the Catholic Services Appeal. I recall on one occasion in the school where I studied I was told my father came to see me, a poor farmer. They would do it by preaching forcefully on the subject and by making much personal contact with the people concerned so that they might become reconciled and forgive one another and might restore ill-gotten goods. He had the confidence of Mme de Gondi and was her spiritual director. In spite of the ambiguity of this procedure — he was seeking social advancement — it was for him an opportunity to develop another way of looking at the world. a) It is in a re-reading of the Gannes-Folleville event in the light of the Gospel, especially Luke 4, 17-22, that he understands the depth of the challenge which is thrown at him. View a seating map  and entrances/exits to plan for Mass. Just before preaching, a message was brought to me, he recounts, that there was a poor man who was sick and very badly housed in a wretched barn….. LEARNING TO SERVE VINCENTIANS A Formation Network on St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise de Marillac and the Vincentian Charism and Works in the world, yesterday, today and tomorrow. Volunteer with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) and become part of the largest and oldest voluntary charitable organisation in Ireland. The lady is alarmed: “Ah!, if this man who was taken for a good person was in a state of damnation, what about others who live worse lives? God is not neglected if your leave him for such service. He, in November 1611, had him appointed parish priest of Clichy, near Paris, where he was to spend 16 months happily in the midst of poor country people (IX,646). 239 Selby Avenue (XI, 201). And that is why, a few months after the experience at Folleville, he secretly went away from the de Gondis and from any idea of personal promotion. A A. (XI,4) Mme de Gondi begged M. Vincent to preach on the theme of general confession in the church in Folleville. Vincent was sensitive to the needs of the people and the difficulties of the Church in his time. St Vincent did not straight away turn upon the world this compassionate look which we know and which made him undertake a rich diversity of apostolic and charitable works. I refused to go out and see him.” It is interesting to note that above and beyond an indispensable effort towards individual conversion, the mission was the occasion of a whole drive to build up a communitarian life of fraternal charity and peace which should be a gospel sign at the level of the family, the village and the parish. St Vincent de Paul charity prepares for tough winter as pandemic bites Lack of face-to-face interaction due to Covid-19 has made volunteers’ work more difficult Mon, Sep 28, 2020, 06:00 b) Other challenges By way of exemplifying the work of converting the day-to-day living of people which takes place during missions let’s briefly mention: concubinage and irregular unions. The reason for this is that he was still centred on himself and on his immediate family as extensions of himself. He maintained a deep sympathy for them. I’m horrified when I think that in my diocese there are almost seven thousdand drunk or unchaste priests who daily mount the altar steps and who have no vocation (II, 428-429). Archdiocesan Year of St. Joseph- Read the Decree here. Disunity between people in whatever form was a frequent evil in families and in village or parish communities. A bishop, in a letter to Saint Vincent, complained of the large and inexplicable number of ignorant and lax priests who compose my clergy and who can’t be corrected either by word or by example. If we were to fail to identify today’s challenges and to face them with inventiveness and a spirit of faith, we would be staying at the edge of the real problems of the Church, and parish missions would be insignificant and without real impact. Letters of St. Vincent de Paul, translated and edited by Joseph Leonard (1937), reveal the religious spirit and practical genius of the man. They don’t know how many gods there are, or how many persons in God. LEARNING TO SERVE VINCENTIANS A Formation Network on St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise de Marillac and the Vincentian Charism and Works in the world, yesterday, today and tomorrow. In fact: We have been established, Saint Vincent used to say, to reconcile people with God and people with one another. In order to remedy this inefficiency, due to lack of organisation in their generosity, Saint Vincent set them up as a Confraternity of Charity to help the poor who have often suffered owing more to lack of order in assisting them rather than lack of charitable people (First Rule of the confraternity of Charity of Châtillon, XIII, 423). Vincent was a model of zeal in ministry and he appreciated the power of prayer, the need for spiritual growth and the happiness that comes from doing the work of God, especially among the poor. We find in mission reports very numerous descriptions of these broken relationshps and of the missioners’ attempts to repair them in order to build up a family, or village or parish community where there would exist a practical charity worthy of true christians. I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine , you did it to me. He was to do the same thing in nearby villages on subsequent days. It would be one of the principal aims of the missions to try to remedy this. This is also what is at stake concerning our reflexions here and the very reason for this Vincentian Month. Thus at Niolo in Corsica, Etienne Blatiron writes: We found almost no other traces of the faith except that they said they had been baptised; and there were a few churches, but badly kept. That will be able to help and stimulate us in seeking those of our own time and our own region of the world. This text throws a clear light on the Châtillon event and gives him confirmation of his call to relieve all suffering, since anyway, it is Jesus whom one meets and helps in the person of the poor and the suffering. The St. Louise chapter of St. Vincent de Paul has seen a large increase in requests for assistance in the past few weeks and expect this increase to continue. The St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia Inc., ABN 50 748 098 845, Charity Number 23838, is endorsed by … Then he began to speak to them: “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.”. He acquired it progressively along a complex route. Other moral disorders ought to be mentioned which the missioners tried to remedy: blasphemies, excesses of the carnival, drunkenness, etc. The missioners would try to bring those whose situation was amenable into a true religious marriage and would try to persuade others to separate. Ah! Leonard von Matt and Louis Cognet produced a beautiful … At the same time he said in a loud voice: “Let a certain person (his nephew’s murderer) come forward so that I can embrace him”. And some eight years later (1633) together with St. Louise de Marillac, the founded the Sisters of Charity, whose main work was care of the sick and care of orphans and children in need. It is this openness of the heart to the neighbour and to God which enabled him to read the meaning of events and to see God’s call in them. (I, 514). 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