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| Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C. |
At the Last Supper, the Lord
gave the disciples a clear way of Christian living - “A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another; even as I have loved you… By this all men will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
The early Church was characterized by its heart for the needy. In a world where
the trend is to accumulate, the call to be church is to give. A saint who
brought the focus of the Church back to loving Christ in the least of the
brethren is St. Vincent de Paul. His impression on the Church to make it a
serving church remains to this day.
“I Have Kept You And Given You As A Covenant To The People” (Isaiah
49:8)
History
records that Vincent de Paul was not born a saint - neither were his intentions
saintly when he opted for the priestly vocation. Priesthood was not so much a
loving surrender to Godliness in those dark Middle Ages, rather, it was an
option for easy and secured living from a very materialistic point of view.
Radical changes came into his life due to the many adversities that moulded his
heart after the very Heart of Jesus. While on a journey, his ship was taken
over by ruthless Turkish pirates and he was taken as a slave to Tunis. On the
ship, apart from the cruel lashings, he was chained to the gallows on the lower
level of the ship and had to row the big ship together with other slaves. After
two years of slavery, he returned to France. His sufferings were not over. He
took very ill and was wrongly accused of having stolen a large sum of money!
Such
traumatic twists in his life crushed his worldly spirit and in this furnace of
humiliation, the dross was burnt out and the treasure of saintliness shone
forth. We know well that adversity does not always bring out the best in the
human spirit. If adversity did bring out the saint in him, it was because of
his constant contemplation of the Cross of Christ that enabled him not to sink
into despair but to fly above the thick dark clouds. The comfort seeking young
Vincent learnt the futility of grabbing possessions, pleasures and securities
of this world. He opted to give himself and found meaning in total self
surrender to Jesus Christ in the person of His poor.
In
these crucial years of trial a very clear conviction took shape in his heart
and became the main spring of his spirituality moulding his entire life and
ministry - ultimately etching its impact indelibly on the future of the Church
and humankind at large. His heart warmed up with a lively compassion for the
poor and the brokenhearted. He was able to see the face of the Crucified Lord
in every suffering person. Vincent de Paul speaks about his experience, “The net result
of my experience is the judgment I have formed, that true religion is to be
found amongst the poor.”
“Pour Yourself Out For The Hungry” (Isaiah 58:10)
This
deep religious experience moved him with an urgent necessity to serve the poor.
He founded the Congregation of Mission for priests and the Daughters of Charity
for women religious to commit their lives for the poor. He also founded an
association of women lay helpers to find resources for the needy. The heart of
this mission was clear – it was not meant to be like any other charitable
organization doling out to the ‘less fortunate’. He clarified to them - “You will find out that Charity is a heavy
burden to carry, heavier than the kettle of soup and the full basket. But you
will keep your gentleness and your smile. It is not enough to give soup and
bread. This the rich can do. You are the servant of the poor, always smiling
and good-humored. They are your masters, terribly sensitive and exacting master
you will see. And the uglier and the dirtier they will be, the more unjust and
insulting, the more love you must give them. It is only for your love alone
that the poor will forgive you the bread you give to them.”
The
work that was done was extensive and seemingly unceasing. The Sisters once
asked him whether they should go out to respond to a sick person who comes knocking
at the door during their time of prayer. He explained to them that in fact in
such instances they were leaving God’s presence to go to the presence of God -
because it was God waiting for them in the person of poor. “When you are called from your prayers or
the Eucharistic celebration to serve the poor, you lose nothing, since to serve
the poor is to go to God. You must see God in the faces of the poor.”
One cannot miss that their extensive services were all deeply rooted in a
commitment to the love of God. “The poor are your masters. You are the servant. Cherish
them since our Lord is in them, and they are in our Lord,” he explained.
As
his spiritual services for the poor became widely known and accepted, he was also
being identified by the royalty of France for his deep spirituality. He used his
influence with the higher circles of society to sensitise them to their
responsibility to the poor. “Go to the poor: you will find God,” was his bold directive to them. We need to remember
that during this Dark Age in Europe, the poor were despised and exploited by
the rich with no qualm of conscience. The feudal system in which the society
was organized relegated the poor as the cursed. No one could even imagine
taking up their cause. The poor had no role in decision making - not even in
the local bodies of administration. The policies and regulations were made by
the rich and powerful who with a firm determination kept the poor out of the
mainstream of society. The poor had abandoned themselves to their wretched
fate. It was at this juncture that God raised up Vincent de Paul to be the
champion of the marginalized. The poor
got a new lease of hope for a human existence. He became a shining light that
shone through the ages - a witness of love divine that no one could ignore or
reject.
It is recorded in history that
when the French Revolution broke out, the mobs went all over France breaking
down every symbol and structure of power and authority. The Church was not
spared in anyway. Building and statues were broken into pieces. When such a
vandalizing mob came past a statue of St. Vincent de Paul and were about to
break it in their frenzy, one among them indentified it to be the Great Apostle
of Charity and they immediately drew back in reverence for one whom they could
identify as the Saint of Compassion to the Poor.
“He Has Anointed Me To Preach Good News To The Poor” (Luke 4:18)
St. Vincent de Paul insisted
that his followers should not imagine themselves as mere philanthropists, going
about doing works of charity. They should most importantly sit at the Feet of
the Lord to recapture their love and commitment for God. This experience of
compassion was clearly to be recognized as the fruit of their relationship with
God. The
work of the Congregation increased and multiplied until it seemed almost too
much for human capacity. But Vincent knew therein lay the strength of the
Mission Priests. "How may we hope to
do our work?" he would ask. "How
can we lead souls to God? How can we stem the tide of wickedness among the
people? Let us realize that this is not man's work at all, it is God's. Human
energy will only hinder it unless directed by God. The most important point of
all is that we should be in touch with our Lord in prayer."
This
‘Great Apostle of Charity’ knew in the intense moments of his prayer that his
call was not only to care for the material needs of the poor. In order to bring
about total wellbeing to their lives, one’s spiritual life was to be renewed in
the Love of God. The saint was once called to the bedside of a dying person. St.
Vincent realized that this man was tormented by guilt and fear about the sinful
past. He had never experienced the liberating Love of the Lord that the soul
had always been crying for. A cry that was more intense than any cry of hunger
or physical pain. This man had wasted his life satiating the needs of his flesh
with no consideration for the deeper longings of the soul. Now he was dying in
despair, still dissatisfied, filled with regrets and above all with a deep fear
and insecurity for his failure to God and to his soul. Vincent de Paul led him
to open his heart in prayer seeking the Mercy of God in the Sacrament of
Confession - assuring him of the God’s compassionate response. Looking at the
face of this dying man, Vincent de Paul heard the Call of God to lead the
people to the experience of Forgiving Love of the Lord. With this, Vincent
launched the great ministry of preaching. He trained the priests of his
Congregation for the special ministry of the Word which he called as the
Popular Mission. The name is significant because it required that those in the
Word ministry be charged with the mission of proclaiming the Mercy of the Lord
to all - rich and poor, thus bringing about a conversion of the heart. Moreover
the timings of the retreats were to be such that even the common people of the
working class will be able to participate. He also insisted that the style of
the preaching must be simple and straightforward so that even the poor and
illiterate should be touched and converted. "Our
sermons must go straight to the point," he would say, "so that the humblest of our hearers may
understand; our language must be clear and unaffected." The love of
virtue and the hatred of evil were the points to be insisted on; the people
were to be shown where virtue lay and how to attain it. For "fine
sermons" Vincent had the greatest contempt; he would use his merry wit to
make fun of the pompous preachers whose only thought was to impress their
audience with an idea of their own eloquence.
Because
of his intense love for God, his heart went out to those living in the misery
of sin - unable to open their heart to the Infinite Mercy of God waiting to
save them. Even in his frailty and old age, Vincent had a strong sense of
obligation to preach the Word of God reaching out to those living in the
slavery of ignorance. “In spite of my age (79), I tell you before God that I do
not feel excused from the responsibility of working for the salvation of the
poor. For what could really get in the way of my doing that now? If I cannot
preach every day, all right, I'll preach twice a week. If I cannot preach more
important sermons, I will preach less important ones. If the congregation
cannot hear me at a distance, what is to prevent me from speaking in an
informal, more familiar way to those poor just as I am speaking to you right
now? What is to hinder me from gathering them near me just as you are sitting
around me now?” One is reminded of the
famous cry of St. Paul, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians
9:16)
“You Shall Raise Up The Foundations Of Many Generations” (Isaiah
58:12)
Vincent’s zeal for souls would
have great impact. It is described that even in his first appointment as parish
priest - In him the sick and the infirm
found a friend such as they had never dreamed of and any son of poor parents
who showed a vocation for the priesthood was taken into the presbytery and
taught by Vincent himself. The parish church, which was in great disrepair, was
rebuilt; old, standing quarrels were made up; men who had not been to the Sacraments
for years came back to God. Such was the influence of the Curé of Clichy that
priests from the neighbouring parishes came to learn the secret of his success
and to ask his advice.
Vincent
was well aware that God’s Love will reach every broken heart only through the
zealous ministry of the clergy. Unfortunately the spiritual and intellectual
standards of the priests of the time were not worth any mention. The clergy had
become servants of the rich catering to their needs as they were offered a
comfortable life. With the consent of the higher authorities, both in the
Church and in the State, Vincent set out on a fervent trail of the renewal of
the clergy. His zeal for the sanctity and intellectual formation of the clergy
attracted the attention of the authorities. He was appointed to head the
Committee to select candidates for the bishopric, depending solely on their
holiness and commitment to the poor. There were many pressures on him to select
unworthy candidates for such a holy position but he never gave in. A high society woman slapped him on his face
with her footwear for not considering her son as candidate for Bishop. Vincent
was not grieved but admired the great love of a mother, “See how much she loves
her son.” Vincent de Paul took special care in the formation of the priests of
his own congregation and he took many measures to improve the spiritual and
intellectual calibre of the diocesan clergy as well. He prescribed as one of
the aims of the Congregation a sincere attempt to help the diocesan clergy in
their formation.
Always
committed to the cause of the poor, St. Vincent de Paul was a man of voluminous
action and intelligent planning. It is said about him that in his lifetime he
has contributed to the Church what a dozen saints would have achieved. However,
when
we study his life closely, we understand that all his activities flowed out of
an intimate and vibrant relationship with God. Bérulle, a reputed orator-priest
of the time and spiritual guide of St. Vincent de Paul remarked in the early
days of Vincent’s priestly ministry that “This humble priest will render great
service to the Church and will work much for God's glory.” St. Francis de
Sales, a contemporary of St. Vincent de Paul spoke in awe of him - “He will be
the holiest priest of his time.”
The
one longing of the Saint was to be united with God in every decision and in all
actions. The invitation of the Lord to be one with Him resounded in his heart
always - leading him to see the Face of Christ in every broken person. His
zealous ministry for the poor was the fruit that was borne in his life being
united with the Lord. St. Vincent de Paul has a message to the men and women
who want to make a good difference in the world. Take the heartbeat of Jesus
expressed in the Last Supper, “You abide in me and I will abide in you… thus you will
bear fruit.” (John Chapter 15) Every activity of the ministry of the Lord
must be not merely an action or a piety but a flow out of our intimacy with the
Lord reaching the least of our brethren.
Let Us
Pray:
Lord
God, You are Love. We praise You that Your Love saves us from every need. We
thank You for the gift of St. Vincent de Paul who reflected this love so
tremendously - leading us to understand that You care for the poor and the
forgotten. No one is hidden from You, O God. Today as we come to You, Jesus, we
offer our hearts to You. Transform us in the Fire of the Holy Spirit that we
may long for all that You long for. As we follow St. Vincent de Paul, may our
hearts be drawn to loving You more dearly and to honour and serve others more
sincerely. Then will our lives be the blessing that You need us to be.
Amen.
