Vincentian stories

Anniversaries: A Time to Reflect

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Throughout the upcoming year, people will observe many kinds of anniversaries. They may throw a party for a friend or family member’s birthday. Partners or spouses may exchange gifts to commemorate their first date or wedding anniversary. Countries may celebrate the date of their founding. Others still may remember a family member on the anniversary of their passing. All these occasions provide us with an opportunity to pause and reflect on the significance of a particular date tied to events in our past that make the day impactful.

When asked to identify the origin of “the mission,” Vincent de Paul noted that it all began on January 25, 1617. Several days prior he had heard a confession from a sick peasant, and on January 25 he preached at St. James church in Folleville, France, about that transformational experience. It was on that day that Vincent’s life took a turn, and what we now know as the Vincentian Mission was born.1

Today, then, is celebrated as the 404th anniversary of the foundation of the Vincentian Mission. As such, it provides the DePaul University community and the Vincentian Family a time to reflect upon that mission. January 25 is a day to remember the part we have played in this movement that started in a small countryside town in France. This mission has spread across the globe and impacted millions of people, including our own students, faculty, and staff at DePaul

When thinking about the 404-year history of the Vincentian Tradition, how have you played a role in continuing its legacy? What are other anniversaries that you celebrate or observe throughout the year that are important in helping you to remember what is most important in your life?

If you are interested in learning more about Foundation Day, see this new reflection by the Vice President of Mission and Ministry, Fr. Guillermo Campuzano, C.M.:

Anniversary of the Foundation

1 Conference 112, Repetition of Prayer, 25 January 1655, CCD, 11:162-164.

Reflection by:

Michael Van Dorpe, Program Manager for Faculty & Staff Engagement, Mission & Ministry

JOIN US FOR:

Sustaining the Mission: Integrating Vincentian Mission into Our Work at DePaul

Thursday, February 18th

9:30 – 11:00 am

Zoom

The Division of Mission and Ministry invites you to new workshop that is focused on the practice of “mission integration,” that is, ways of applying DePaul’s Vincentian mission to one’s daily life and work. Participants will be invited to reflect on how they might be agents or leaders for mission in their areas of responsibility and influence. Please join us.

Register here: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=qiic4w6ab&oeidk=a07ehj28vy045bb4fab

From Darkness to Light

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“I felt interiorly moved freely to place myself in a disposition of total availability…” – Louise de Marillac.  A.5, (Retreat), c. 1632, Spiritual Writings, 715.

A woman entered a church in a large city. Anxious and uncertain about her future, she sought a few moments of peace, and perhaps a hint of clarity. Taking her place amidst still surroundings, she closed her eyes and began to interlace words and images into the form of prayer. She was comfortable in the familiar ritual, gradually feeling calm restored to her spirit as she gently drew nearer to God—a power greater than her own anxieties. Attentive to what stirred within her heart during this quiet time, the woman had a vision. A moment when her mind was instantly freed of all doubt. She received a glimpse of her future and knew that her deepest desire would someday be realized.

The woman at prayer that day went by the name of Madame le Gras, but she is better known to history, and to us at DePaul, as Saint Louise de Marillac. The vision she experienced led her to understand that her greatest desire would be fulfilled, and that she would someday live in a community spending her life serving the poor. Upon leaving the church that day in 1623, Louise immediately wrote about what she called her “Lumiere” (or Enlightening) experience. She carried this description with her always so that she would never forget the grace of that moment, and the peace and purpose it provided her.

Almost 400 years separate Louise and her Lumiere from us today. But, like Louise, we too know periods of anxiety and confusion, as well as times of great peace and clarity of purpose. We harbor hopes for what the future could be for ourselves and for the world.

Perhaps today we can be like Louise, make a calm space around and inside of us, and devote a few moments to silent meditation or prayer. We can use this quiet time to begin to listen for the voice within and to pay attention to the desires of our heart. What may they be telling us? Maybe, like Louise, we can make this time of contemplation a regular habit to help us meet the challenges of the day, as well as to discover the grace and peace that await.

Reflection by:

Tom Judge, Chaplain, Division of Mission & Ministry

Seeing with Vincentian Eyes

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You will attain this happiness if you practice faithfully humility, gentleness, and charity toward the poor…1

Vincent de Paul remembered the moment captured in the featured illustration as pivotal for him in transforming his sense of mission and vocation. The sacred dignity of this poor, dying peasant became evident to him. With Madame de Gondi’s help, Vincent came to realize there were many people like this who lacked vital spiritual and physical care, and that existing systems within both the Church and society routinely neglected their needs.

Over time, Vincent de Paul grew to be consistent in living the mission he professed. He encouraged his companions to look at reality through the perspective of those enduring poverty, those who suffered basic needs, or those who were routinely left out by the status quo of church, state, and society at the time. He would ask his community, in essence: What do these people need and how do our actions and decisions impact them? How can our resources be used to better serve them? Vincent further recognized the importance of forming leaders who shared his vision and were committed to this sense of mission. He envisioned a community of solidarity that surrounded and supported people in need, and in so doing, enabled all to flourish.

Compassion and care for those struggling with the effects of material and systemic poverty is essential to a Vincentian perspective. Their realities make a claim on us, inviting us to take action. They call us to make changes individually and collectively to address their immediate needs, as well as to confront the root causes of their suffering. This is what we are challenged to do when asking ourselves what has come to be known as the Vincentian question: “What must be done?”

The COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath have required us to make difficult decisions about what we value, as well as the vision we will pursue, both individually and collectively. Vincent’s example invites us to center the perspective of those in poverty, or of those suffering or in pain, and to care for them. Currently, this includes those facing the horrible effects of COVID-19, those who have died, those who have lost loved ones, or those struggling because of unemployment. Vincent’s vision ensures that all people experience a sense of human community and that they are given both the opportunities and resources necessary to flourish. For Vincent, safeguarding hope for those left behind or forgotten by society, especially those in dire conditions, was a necessary part of working for the good of all humanity.

How might “seeing with Vincentian eyes” shape our vision for how to respond to the current crisis? For the education we offer? For the way we go about business as a university? What does it invite you to consider in your work as a colleague, or in your role as a neighbor, citizen, or family member?

1 2787, To Sister Françoise Ménage, In Nantes, 12 February 1659, CCD, 7:471.

Reflection by:

Mark Laboe
Associate Vice President
Faculty and Staff Engagement
Division of Mission and Ministry

Vincent’s “Great Sin”

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In the telling of our story, we find out who we truly are.

DePaul University is graced with an array of statues and artwork that remind us of our founder. However, how often do we actually reflect on the person of Vincent de Paul, and the sometimes-surprising joys and challenges that made him a real person?

Vincent de Paul came from “peasant stock,” yet his life would lead him to the highest civil and ecclesiastical circles of seventeenth-century France, and would connect him to people with social standing far above his own. A challenge that first confronted Vincent, when still an adolescent, was how to integrate his humble roots with his education and rising social status.

A poignant moment in Vincent’s early life reveals this struggle. Vincent wrote, “I remember that once… at the college where I was studying, I was informed that my father, who was a poor peasant, was asking for me. I refused to go talk to him. In so doing I committed a great sin.”

We know from Vincent’s writings that he wrestled with ambivalent feelings regarding his humble background. However, over the years, Vincent was able to integrate these challenging thoughts into an evolving and authentic sense of self in terms of who he was becoming.

Vincent’s life presents us with an invitation to ask ourselves, how successfully have we integrated our past into the reality of our present? What lessons do our personal histories still have to teach us? As DePaul itself seeks to flourish by moving forward, how can we look back and remain true to the roots that ground us as an institution?

Citation: Stafford Poole, C.M., “The Formative Years of a Saint: Vincent de Paul,” Vincentian Heritage 13:2 (1992), 82.

 

Reflection by Siobhan O’Donoghue

The Story of the White Tablecloth

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Sometimes the smallest things can make a very big difference….

Many have shared the “Story of the White Tablecloth” around our DePaul community to emphasize the reverent dignity and care Vincent de Paul expected to be modeled by his followers in their service of others.

In the Foundation documents and the Rules established for the Confraternity in Châtillon in 1617, and later in Montmirail, Vincent de Paul explained how to minister to the sick poor and to treat those they would serve, greeting them “cheerfully and kindly,” “with gentleness, humility, and true charity,” and with a “consoling word.” He noted the importance of taking great care to offer a blessing, and asked that they carefully arrange a napkin, plate, and spoon before serving food. Vincent’s attention to such gestures clearly communicates the importance he placed on the dignity of those being served, as well as on the relational dimension to the service being performed. The fact that Vincent would include such details is remarkable, revealing how essential it was in his mind that we treat others with the greatest of respect and dignity.

What are the small details and gestures that you include in your daily activities at work, or in your home, that elevates the dignity of others?

Vincentian historian, Fr. John Rybolt, C.M., tells the full story in this video, describing the spirit with which Vincent wanted his followers to care for the poor: Story of the White Tablecloth

Reflection by:

Amanda Thompson, Director of Catholic Campus Ministry, Division of Mission and Ministry

  1. Charity of Women (Châtillon-Les-Dombes), 1617, CCD 13b, pp. 12-13.
  2. Charity of Women (Montmirail – II), CCD 13b, p. 40.

Vincent’s Turning Point

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In 1617, when Vincent was serving as chaplain and tutor to the noble Gondi family, Madame de Gondi asked him to hear the confession of an elderly dying peasant. On realizing that this man knew next to nothing about his religion, Vincent was inspired to consider how the Church might better serve the needs of the rural poor. What happened during this encounter, and shortly thereafter, is often referred to as a “turning-point” for Vincent de Paul. It was an experience that seemed to contribute significantly to a change of heart and mind in how he understood, and would live out, his life’s purpose.

Has there been a moment in your life that crystallized your purpose? How does that turning point relate to your work at DePaul today?

Vincent and Louise: A Model for Teamwork

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When Louise de Marillac first discovered that Vincent de Paul had been assigned to be her new spiritual director, she stated, “It was repugnant for me to accept him.” While it is hard to know exactly what was behind Louise’s sentiments, it is clear that she was not pleased by the idea of working together with this Gascon peasant. However, as time went on, Vincent and Louise developed a deep and effective collaboration that would transform service to the poor and marginalized in seventeenth-century France and beyond. From a less than promising start, their friendship lasted 35 years, and their work together created a living legacy of which we are all part.

Think back to an instance when your initial perception of a work relationship changed over time. What did you learn from this experience?

A.2, Light, in Louise de Marillac, et al., Spiritual Writings of Louise De Marillac: Correspondence and Thoughts (New City Press, 1991), 1.

Love is Inventive to Infinity

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“Love is inventive to infinity” – Vincent de Paul

In the year 1617, in Châtillon, France, the new pastor Vincent de Paul preached about a sick and impoverished family who were in need of assistance. Vincent’s appeal proved so persuasive that it led many more people to respond to the family’s needs than was necessary. In witnessing such an overwhelming response, Vincent became convinced that if good works are to be effective they need to be well organized. This incident was the catalyst that led Vincent to found conferences of charity to care for the poor and marginalized in parishes throughout France, and eventually all over the world.

Vincent’s experience in Châtillon helped him see the need to make substantial changes to the way charity was administered. In the good work being done at DePaul, how do you see ways that might help us fulfill our mission in a more sustainable or effective way?