Simplicity

The Vincentian Roots of Friendship

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Written By: Miranda Lukatch, Editor, Vincentian Studies Institute

What do Vincent de Paul, Louise de Marillac, Elizabeth Seton, and Frédéric Ozanam have in common? Some answers are obvious: they loved God deeply, they shared a mission, and they accomplished enormous good for the poor. But they shared commonalities not only in what they did but how they did it. All these dynamic Vincentian figures relied on the power of friendship. This could take a practical form, such as networking to found and support their organizations. But they also relied on it to fulfill personal needs—to mature their outlooks and nurture the incredible amount of spirit it took to accomplish their goals. Much of what we know about these figures comes from the letters they wrote, and, especially in Elizabeth’s and Frédéric’s cases, many of these were to their friends. [1] Therefore, it seems fitting that before Valentine’s Day, which many countries now celebrate as a friendship day, we consider the role of friendship in our Vincentian heritage, our DePaul community, and in our own daily lives.

Let’s put the importance of friendship within our own cultural context—both in broader American culture and in the culture that exists at DePaul. Back in 2023, the US surgeon general made headlines when he declared loneliness a public health epidemic. In early 2024, a poll from the American Psychiatric Association found that “30% of adults [said] they have experienced feelings of loneliness at least once a week over the past year, while 10% [said] they are lonely every day. Younger people were more likely to experience these feelings, with 30% of Americans aged 18–34 saying they were lonely every day or several times a week.” [2] Considering the student population DePaul serves, these are essential statistics. A significant benefit of being a college graduate is an increased likelihood of having more friends, which provides cascading advantages over a lifetime. [3] This is a benefit we hope our students will derive from their time in our community. But forming and maintaining friendships in adulthood is so difficult that a specific branch of therapy, friendship therapy, has recently been created to address this need. Whole books are being written on how to make friendships work, and the New York Times even has a “friendship correspondent.” (That’s Anna Goldfarb, who has written an excellent book called Modern Friendship.)

Given the importance and difficulty of cultivating friendships, what can we learn from the Vincentian figures who excelled at this? They teach us that we should accept difficulty; just because their friendships were powerful doesn’t mean that they were easy to develop or maintain. When Louise first met Vincent, she felt accepting him as her spiritual director would be “repugnant.” Vincent did not want to be anyone’s director, and a curious two-year gap in an otherwise voluminous correspondence between them has led more than one scholar to believe there was a period of “coolness” in their relationship. [4] I highly recommend reading the published collections of the letters of the four Vincentian personages, which DePaul has made available online. [5] They show how affection within their relationships grew. There are two major threads running through all of them. First, these friendships were grounded not just in common interests but in a deep and common love (of God and of the poor) that was carried out in common enterprises. Second, the letters are supreme demonstrations of simplicity. Simplicity in the Vincentian sense usually means cultivating a deep sincerity, expressing a total alignment of our values, words, and behavior. But I think it could be extended to mean something else: profound openness about thoughts and feelings, in the sense of our internal states, in the sense of our affections, and in the sense of accepting the thoughts and feelings of others. Author and scholar Brené Brown has observed that the word courage “originally meant ‘to speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.’” [6] This is what we see happening in the lives and letters of our Vincentian forebears. They had the courage to practice simplicity.

So, Vincentian wisdom shows us that the best friendships are based on shared values and what might be called applied simplicity. We at DePaul have a particularly promising chance to strengthen relationships with those around us based on this wisdom. We are a community “gathered together for the sake of a mission,” so we know it is likely that others here share at least some of our deepest values. And if we practice simplicity, if we have the courage to make first moves and to be (appropriately) persistent, if we are open about what is in our hearts, then in time we can build the same types of friendships that sustained our Vincentian exemplars.

Reflection Questions:

  1. Who are the people who seem the likeliest partners in friendships for you? Are these people you need to reach out to, or are they people you already know? Where are the existing opportunities to deepen these relationships, and what are some ways you can create more?
  2. How have your friendships with colleagues at DePaul inspired and nurtured you? Is there anything you would like to accomplish as a joint effort with your friends?

Reflection by: Miranda Lukatch, Editor, Vincentian Studies Institute

[1] Numerous articles have been written on the role of friendship in these Vincentians’ lives. In addition to those cited in other footnotes in this article, some of the best are Margaret J. Kelly, D.C., “The Relationship of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise from Her Perspective,” Vincentian Heritage 11:1 (1990): 77–114. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol11/iss1/6; Wendy M. Wright, “Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton and the Art of Embodied Presence,” Vincentian Heritage 18:2 (1997): 249–60. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol18/iss2/9; Judith Metz, S.C., “The Key Role of Friendship in the Life of Elizabeth Bayley Seton,” Vincentian Heritage 29:1 (2009): 8–23. Available at: https://‌‌via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol29/iss1/2; and Frederick J. Easterly, C.M., “Frédérick Ozanam, A Layman For Now,” Vincentian Heritage 4:2 (1983): 140–71. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol4/iss2/4. If you visit Vincentian Heritage’s website at https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/, use “friend” as a search term to get results for many more.

[2] American Psychiatric Association, “New APA Poll: One in Three Americans Feels Lonely Every Week,” January 30, 2024, https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/new-apa-poll-one-in-three-americans-feels-lonely-e.

[3] Daniel A. Cox, “The College Connection: The Education Divide in American Social and Community Life,” Survey Center on American Life, December 13, 2021, https://‌www.americansurveycenter.org/research/the-college-connection-the-education-divide-in-american-social-and-community-life/.

[4] There’s some ambiguity about whether Louise mentions this repugnance specifically about Vincent as a person or just about changing directors in general. Louise de Marillac, document A.2, “Light,” n.d., Spiritual Writings, 1. Available online at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/ldm/; Hugh O’Donnell, C.M., “The Relationship of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise from His Perspective: A Personal and Theological Inquiry,” Vincentian Heritage 11:1 (1990): 62. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol11/iss1/5; Loretto Gettemeir, D.C., “Louise: A Life in Her Own Words,” Vincentian Heritage 12:2 (1991): 111. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol12/iss2/2/; see also O’Donnell, “Relationship of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise from His Perspective,” 69.

[5] For Vincent’s letters, see: https://via.library.depaul.edu/coste_en/. For Louise’s, see: https://via.library.depaul.edu/ldmlcd/. For Elizabeth’s, see: https://via.library.depaul.edu/seton_lcd/, and for Frédéric’s, see: https://via.library.depaul.edu/ozanam_law/.

[6] Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are (Hazelden, 2010), 12.

St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week: What Is the Vincentian Way?

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Happy St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week!

Each year on September 27th, the Vincentian Family and the Catholic Church worldwide celebrate the Feast Day of St. Vincent de Paul. Here at DePaul University, the Division of Mission and Ministry (DMM) typically builds a week of events connected to the Feast Day. This year, these include a Loop Campus Luncheon on Wednesday, a Friday Prayer Breakfast, Feast Day Masses at each campus with lunch included, and the always popular Vinny Fest! This year we have added an interfaith dialogue-oriented event falling on Monday, September 23rd, entitled “In To Light” and a Sustainability Network Weaving event on Wednesday. We hope you will RSVP and join us for one or more of these events during this week!

Photo montage, Vincent de Paul, science students and faculty

This year, during St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week, I’d like to invite the university community to reflect on the question, “What is the Vincentian way?” In other words, what does the adjective “Vincentian” mean for the way you go about your life and work specifically at DePaul (rather than how you might at another higher ed institution, for example)? What do you do differently because you are at DePaul, where we seek to put our Vincentian mission into practice?

One important question in this conversation is whether and how any understanding of the adjective “Vincentian” connects back authentically and substantively to our founder and the larger Vincentian family, which grew from his life example and work. Here are a few ideas offered to initiate a conversation about what defines a Vincentian way:

  1. Reflection on experience: Since 2002, the Division of Mission and Ministry’s (DMM) Vincentian Community Service and Formation Office (VSFO) team has practiced a model of service, reflection, and community engagement with students. The model they use is called “VIA,” an acronym for “Vincentians in Action.” You may recognize that the word “VIA” can be translated as “the way,” and it is derived from the work of Theodore Weisner, C.M. Weisner writes from a historical and theological perspective as a Christian, Catholic, Vincentian priest, and also the perspective of Vincent de Paul, yet the insights he offers have found resonance with students from many diverse religious and secular worldviews for the past two decades.

Weisner suggests three important dimensions of a process of transformation (or conversion) rooted in attending carefully to reality and reflecting on our experiences and encounters in the context of service:

  • the way of awareness and appreciation
  • the way of dialogue
  • the way of solidarity

This approach offers a valuable contribution to what might be considered a Vincentian way. Begin with awareness and appreciation. Enter more deeply into relationship through dialogue. Recognize our fundamental interdependence and stand and walk together with others in solidarity.

2.  Openness to “encountering God” through our relationships: Inherent in Weisner’s work is a focus on “encountering God” in our relationships. This focus needs to be further unpacked to understand how it is a core part of a Vincentian way. Ultimately, it is about recognizing that there is much more going on in our experiences and relationships than a transactional or superficial exchange. Those who are not theists might participate in this encounter through honoring the deep meaning and wisdom revealed through relationships and life experience.

    • First, Vincent de Paul clearly understood God’s “Providence” to be present concretely in the lived experiences of our lives. Therefore, making intentional space to reflect together, or to “look again” at how God, or a deeper meaning, might be present in those experiences is an important part of a Vincentian way of proceeding. Vincent was careful to emphasize to his followers that they focus not on what they were doing for themselves, so much as on what God was doing in and through their experiences and encounters. He suggested that “wisdom consists in following Providence step by step” and “the things of God come about by themselves,” not (only) through human effort. [1] Careful attention to the presence and movement of Providence, or the deeper meaning inherent in the events and relationships in our lives, is another important dimension of any approach we might deem to be the Vincentian way.
    • Second, another aspect of a Vincentian way that emerges from Weisner’s work is a strong emphasis on relationships, or a relational approach to transformation. While we often emphasize Vincent’s pragmatism or what we interpret through our more contemporary language to be a commitment to social justice, it is Vincent’s relational approach to working for social or systemic change that I would suggest is distinctly characteristic of a Vincentian way. A strong case can be made that Vincent experienced transformation primarily through relationships with a broad range of people at all levels of society.
    • A third point of emphasis that follows from Weisner’s work is that Vincent clearly understood encounters or relationships with those most abandoned in society as central to his mission. It was in these relationships, he believed, that God would be encountered, and transformation would happen. He understood that recognizing and responding with compassion to the spiritual and physical needs of the impoverished was at the very heart of what he was called to address.

3. Simplicity: To further deepen the emphasis on Vincent’s relational approach, we have come to understand figuratively that he “always wore the same cloak,” regardless of who he was with, whether someone begging in the streets or the most powerful people in the country. To me, this means he valued simplicity and transparency, that is, remaining focused on what was most important and being direct and straightforward, rather than overly complicated or pretentious. It meant not putting on airs with the well-to-do, pretending to be who he was not, or treating them any differently than he did the poorest of the poor, always emphasizing the sacred dignity of the other. Vincent was known to have said that “simplicity is the virtue I love the most and to which, I think, I pay the most attention in my actions.” [2] How often do we get bogged down on the complexity of things and lose touch with the simple essence of who we are called to be, or the most straightforward solution to an issue? This call to simplicity—to be honest, direct, humble, straightforward—is, I believe, a key element of a Vincentian way.

4.  An Asset-Based Approach: DePaul’s Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning, in partnership with the Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCDI) housed there, emphasizes and practices another characteristic dimension of a Vincentian way, flowing naturally from the previous emphases above: an asset-based approach. If we recognize, as Vincent did, the presence of Providence in our life events and relationships, then we have our eyes open for what is already present. We trust in what has already been given or is yet unrecognized more than focusing our energies on what is lacking, which is a deficit-minded approach. Vincent de Paul was a master at recognizing and developing the talent and potential in others while encouraging and empowering them to orient it for good. This is evident in his recognition of the untapped potential of the rural poor, such as the classic example of Marguerite Naseau. The Steans Center, ABCDI, and DePaul’s Council on Community Engagement use an asset-based approach to center the strengths and leadership of those in the communities with whom they engage, thus counteracting a deficit-based approach that tends to be imperious rather than empowering.

5.  Motivated by Love: One final characteristic that is integral to a Vincentian way is that of charity (caritas, love). Because Vincent de Paul was known as the “apostle of charity,” I use this word, even though it is often mischaracterized today, particularly as a contrast to social justice. Rather, I believe, charity is an affective and relational dimension essential to social justice, particularly when we speak of addressing the needs of society’s most abandoned and forgotten. Love is also important in the field of education, often reflected in one’s investment in a subject of learning, as well as in our motivations for teaching and educating. Furthermore, learning to see the other through a “charitable” or appreciative lens is essential to the bridge-building needed in communities harmed by antagonistic conflict.

I hope these five ideas can get the conversation started. Please share your thoughts on these questions by adding a comment below or sharing with others this week when you attend Heritage Week events!

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

  • How would you describe a Vincentian way of engaging in service, in your work, or in your life and relationships?
  • How might you more intentionally integrate a Vincentian way into your approach to your work and life at DePaul?

Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Interim VP for Mission and Ministry

[1] Letter 720, “To Bernard Codoing, Superior, in Rome,” August 6, 1644, CCD, 2:521.

[2] Letter 188, “To François du Coudray, in Rome,” n.d., CCD, 1:265.

The Journey to Simplicity

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“For myself I don’t know, but God gives me such a great esteem for simplicity that I call it my gospel. I have a particular devotion and consolation in saying things as they are.”[1]—Vincent de Paul

Recently I had the opportunity to address a group of students about nurturing mental wellness during law school. Knowing intimately some of the emotional challenges we shared during that period in our lives, one of my close friends from that time messaged me; I enjoyed the fact that we both had enough perspective now to laugh at the idea that I would be addressing others on such a topic. At the best of times, while accompanying students on their journeys I sometimes feel like saying, “I know and honor that this is really challenging for you now, but you are going to look back and really miss these times!” At other times I know students are faced with challenges that are more serious. But, in any case, I hold onto hope that there is room for perseverance and growth through all circumstances.

One of the reflections I had upon addressing this group of students was that, in many ways, law school was for me a time of emotional solitude. Since I planned to talk about the importance of a supportive community in nurturing mental wellness, I wanted to be honest that my own experience was often characterized by its absence. Still, I felt that was a tremendous opportunity for growth. As someone who was making major changes in my life during that time, as young adults often are, I found large amounts of time alone to have great benefits. While a healthy community is one in which we can embrace what Vincent called simplicity, or what we might call sincerity or authenticity, social relations inevitably involve some challenges to sincerity. Relations with others often invite the questions, Am I saying what I truly believe or what I think will raise me in the esteem of those around me? Do I present myself as I truly am or as others would like me to be? (Or as I would like to be?)

In a university environment, we pride ourselves on cherishing values such as academic freedom as essential to the pursuit of truth. However, a recent survey showed that among college faculty, whom we often think of as enjoying the height of such freedom and protections, more than 80 percent feel the need to “self-censor” their true views on at least one especially contentious issue.[2] While I don’t think all issues are that contentious, I don’t believe this is limited to one issue, nor is this only a recent phenomenon.[3]

In academia, as in other spaces, those who succeed can sometimes be those who learn best how to know what others expect them to think or say and learn to meet those expectations. It can be developmentally appropriate or indicative of an appropriate humility to tailor one’s self-presentation to the expectation of others. As I often explore with students, however, it is one thing to selectively choose to share what one thinks at the appropriate time and place. It is another thing to realize that one is so good at saying or doing what is expected that one no longer has an authentic sense of self that is independent of what is rewarded in a certain environment. In pursuit of such authenticity or simplicity, important tools can include solitude in which dialogue with the self or the Divine takes place, and a supportive community where one is free to explore ideas in a challenging but safe way. Christians in our community have entered the Lenten season, and Muslims will soon enter the month of Ramadan. These blessed times are filled with time honored traditions which blend individual and communal encounters with the self and the transcendent in ways which invite us to cultivate our best, most authentic selves.

Being people who can truly know what we think (what we might think of as sincerity with ourselves) requires certain conditions. Being able to share heartfelt and considered views with others requires other conditions, such as trust and charity toward each other. Some might argue that the primary condition required in all such circumstances is courage, and I agree. I would join that with a call for examining the environments and cultures we create, and the ways in which we nurture sincerity or encourage conformity and groupthink.

For Reflection:

Do you feel that you are able to bring your authentic self to your work at DePaul? What practices help you to establish and maintain a connection with your true opinions and desires? What do you think is the most essential characteristic of individuals or communities in fostering simplicity or authenticity?

REFLECTION BY: Abdul-Malik Ryan, Assistant Director, Office of Religious Diversity, Division of Mission and Ministry.

[1] Conference 52, “The Spirit of the Company,” February 24, 1653, CCD, 9:476.

[2] Manuela López Restrepo, “’Fear Rather Than Sensitivity’: Most U.S. Scholars on the Mideast Are Self-Censoring,” NPR, December 15, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1219434298/israel-hamas-gaza-palestinians-college-campus-free-speech.

[3] See this thoughtful exploration of the intellectual costs of such self-censorship from thirty years ago: Glenn C. Loury, “Self-Censorship in Public Discourse: A Theory of ‘Political Correctness’ and Related Phenomena,” Boston University, accessed February 15, 2024, https://‌www.brown.edu/‌Departments/‌Economics/‌Faculty/Glenn_Loury/‌louryhomepage/papers/Loury%20(Politcal%20Correctness)_02.pdf.

 

 

Living Our Words through Actions

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During this Black History month, I have been reflecting a great deal, as I often do, on the life of Malcolm X. February 21 marked the fifty-seventh anniversary of his martyrdom. Encountering the life and work of Malcolm, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, changed the course of my own life, and I have studied and taught about him for three decades now.

There is often mystery involved in who becomes known and influential and who is largely forgotten to history. Some people are famous during their lifetimes and become unknown later. Others are obscure in their lifetimes and become famous after their deaths. Many people become known and thought of in ways that would surprise them and those who knew them. For those of us who have faith, we believe there is divine providence in these processes, and yet none would deny that many truly good people are never known or recognized beyond their families.

One of the Vincentian virtues, in fact the virtue most beloved to Vincent de Paul, was simplicity.[1] Although Malcolm first came to national prominence on the basis of his rhetorical powers, I believe it is his simplicity that continues to inspire. Simplicity involves actions such as witnessing to what is true, living in a way where deeds match words, and believing with complete sincerity in ideals. None of us—not even Vincent or Malcom X—are perfect, but if we strive in a way that honors this virtue, it will show in our lives.

It can at times be easier to love such exemplars from a distance. Simplicity requires us to tell the truth, as we understand it, to ourselves, those whom we love, and those who have power. It requires us to push ourselves and others to live up to our words when hypocritical virtue is often more comfortable. It requires us to not only speak what is popular but to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done. It requires us to change and grow, which often demands more courage than facing physical danger.[2] In the last years of his life, Malcolm was passionate about acknowledging the shortcomings of people and institutions to whom he had devoted all his gifts and energies. He saw it as necessary to honoring the ideals that he held sacred.

Some may say Malcolm X is far different than Vincentian role models such as Vincent, Louise de Marillac, or Frédéric Ozanam. Malcolm’s rhetoric was revolutionary and at times harsh, even if often marked with humor and love that are salient to anyone truly familiar with his life and character. Yet the similarities are what strike me. Malcom and our Vincentian role models were all committed, not just to speaking about suffering or injustice, but acting effectively to lessen it. They were all driven by a need to be true to their ideals and to form and live in vibrant, life-giving communities. And they were all willing to change and grow even when it was hard or scary. They were all able to embrace these challenges due to their profound faith in God and love for humanity.[3]

Christians around the world are preparing to enter the season of Lent, when, through intensified worship and closeness to God, they prepare themselves to better meet such challenges. This year, the fasting month of Ramadan falls shortly after, when Muslims will pursue similar goals.

What are some ways you can live up to your own ideals effectively through your work at DePaul? Are there ways in which you have changed or may feel a need to change to be true to your values, even if it is hard or frightening?

Reflection by: Abdul-Malik Ryan, Assistant Director and Muslim Chaplain, Office of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care, Division of Mission and Ministry

[1] For past reflections on simplicity, visit https://blogs.depaul.edu/dmm/tag/simplicity/.

[2] For Malcolm, change involved physical danger as well. Vincentian role models also faced danger in their work. For example, Marguerite Naseau, who is regarded as the first Daughter of Charity, followed God’s call to serve the poor and the sick. This resulted in ridicule and, eventually, in her own illness and death. For more, see https://daughters-of-charity.com/marguerite-naseau/.

[3] For a deeper examination of what we may learn from Malcom X, see my article, “Lessons from the Life of Malcom X.” Available at https://muslimmatters.org/2011/06/29/lessons-from-the-life-of-malcolm-x/.

 

UMMA’s Fast-a-Thon Iftar Dinner will take place this year on March 9, 2022, at 5:30 PM in Cortelyou Commons. DePaul community members can RSVP on DeHub: https://‌dehub.‌campusgroups.com/‌event_‌details?uid=d5ef46fe6af4f974d637b60ec8a25c2b

Simplicity in Hectic Times

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Since the academic year started, I’ve felt like I’m learning to juggle while the balls are already in the air. Fall Quarter is hectic in ordinary times, but this school year is anything but average. We face a global pandemic, systemic racism and racist violence, a declining economy, massive unemployment numbers, and political upheaval and uncertainty. The pandemic has made burdens that people already carried much heavier, and it has added new burdens to our loads.

In those moments when it feels like there are too many balls to juggle, I turn toward the Vincentian virtue of simplicity. In the Vincentian tradition, the value of simplicity is twofold. On the one hand, it refers to clear and honest speech. When we speak simply, we are our most authentic selves. In The Way of Vincent de Paul, Robert Maloney, C.M., writes “The heart must not think one thing while the mouth says another.”1 In our context today, simplicity might invite us to name honestly when we have reached our limits and need support. Likewise, it might mean speaking truth to power in the face of injustice and political turmoil.

Simplicity also invites us to clear away the clutter in our lives to make room for the things that truly matter. In a time when we face an immense amount of mental clutter and overstimulation, simplicity can remind us to pause and refocus our attention where it needs to be. It reminds us to make room in our lives for stillness and rest.

As you start the week, notice the ways you feel called toward simplicity.

  • Where do you feel you need to speak your truth?
  • Where do you feel stretched too thin? If you’re juggling too many balls, is it possible to remove one from the rotation and/or ask for support?
  • Where is the clutter in your life? How can you actively clear it away to find room for stillness?
  • What is one way you can rest today?

1) Robert P. Maloney, C.M., The Way of Vincent de Paul: A Contemporary Spirituality in the Service of the Poor (New York: New City Press, 1992), 38. See: https://via.library.depaul.edu/maloney/13/

 Reflection by:    Emily LaHood-Olsen, Ministry Coordinator for Service Immersions, Division of Mission and Ministry

Simplicity is the Virtue I Love the Most

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 “Simplicity is the virtue I love the most and to which, I think, I pay the most attention in my actions.”
— Vincent de Paul (CCD, 1:265)

Recent social movements have made transparency a growing expectation for companies and organizations in society. Along with this, authenticity has become a cherished value for many people in a world under barrage by social media and advertisements that make it difficult for us to determine what is real or true.

Vincent de Paul’s understanding of simplicity – the virtue he cherished most – emphasized this type of transparency and authenticity. As Vincent understood it, being simple means being honest, as well demonstrating what we believe in concrete ways through our actions. Vincent would have been comfortable saying that it is not what we say but rather what we do that communicates what we truly value. The wisdom found in Vincent’s notion of simplicity asks us to ensure that our professed values are evident in our daily decisions, behaviors, and relationships.

A focus on the virtue of simplicity, therefore, would beg a number of questions both personally and collectively: What are the core values that are most important to you? Would others see these values shine through in your daily actions? Based on our shared Vincentian mission, what values are most important to us at DePaul? Do our daily actions and decisions match these ideals or, conversely, where do we fall short? How can we better practice what we preach to live the values we espouse?

Reflection by:

Mark Laboe, Associate Vice President, Mission and Ministry

Day with Vincent: A Day of Service and Reflection for Faculty and Staff

Friday, March 6th, 2020. 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Are you interested in joining your colleagues to put mission into action during a day of service and reflection? Join us for this special mission engagement and learning opportunity for DePaul’s faculty and staff. We will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of DePaul’s Vincentian mission by integrating a commitment to service with our personal sense of purpose. This Day with Vincent retreat doubles as Part II of the Explore Your Purpose Workshop series for staff and faculty. For more information, please contact Tom Judge at tjudge@depaul.edu.

The Long and Winding Road

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“Let us go in simplicity where merciful Providence leads us, content to see the stone on which we should step without wanting to discover all at once and completely the windings of the road.”

Frédéric Ozanam (Dirvin, Letters, p. 93)

Portrait de FrŽdŽric OZANAM, par L. Janmot, mars 1852

In a letter to a friend, Frédéric Ozanam, founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, identified within himself something that many of us also experience: we restlessly focus upon the future, only to miss out on the peace and purpose to be found in the present. For Ozanam, faith meant an embrace of the present moment and a willingness to be led by God one-step at a time even at the risk of not knowing where the journey will take you.

Are you willing to let go of certainty and take life one step at a time?  If you pause and reflect, what needs tending to in your life, both in and outside of DePaul, right now?

Inspired by the lives of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, and influenced by Rosalie Rendu, D.C., Frédéric Ozanam co-founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in 1833 to tend to the spiritual and material needs of the poor in Paris. Today, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul numbers nearly one million members worldwide.

Joseph I. Dirvin, C.M., trans and ed., Frédéric Ozanam: A Life in Letters (St. Louis: Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 1986).

Frédéric Ozanam: https://famvin.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Ozanam

Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA: https://www.svdpusa.org/

Rosalie Rendu: https://www.vinnies.org.au/page/About/History/Bl_Rosalie_Rendu/

That Countercultural Virtue

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In this meditation, Fr. Jack Melito, C.M., focuses on the virtue of Simplicity as understood and lived by Vincent de Paul.  Experiencing the God of the Universe while living a life of Simplicity reveals to the practitioner the efficacious nature of that virtue.  In whatever age, a life ordered by the virtue of Simplicity is a life readily identified as countercultural.

“Simplicity: A Countercultural Value” is a chapter from the book Windows on His Vision (pp. 146-147) available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/windows/2/

It is also available as an ebook here: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/8/

Give Me the Simple Life

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“Give Me the Simple Life” is a chapter in the book Saint Vincent de Paul: His Mind and His Manner (pp. 84-86) by Jack Melito, C.M., published in 2010 by the Vincentian Studies Institute at DePaul University in Chicago, IL.  Here Fr. Melito illustrates how Vincent de Paul urges us to live simply.  What does this mean?  How is it done? For Vincent the answers did not involve quantitative measures but qualitative ones which point to living as Jesus lived.  Even the great poet, Henry David Thoreau, though not ‘religious,’ stressed the importance of living simply.  Both the religious guide and the humanistic guru, then, counsel living simply and realizing, ultimately, its liberating openness to the inherent beauty of life itself.  Simple, deliberate living is a personal style.  There is no one-size-fits-all.  For Vincent, it was “the livery of Christ conceived in the Spirit of the poor.”

Happy Birthday, Vincent!

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On April 24th, the DePaul community will celebrate the birthday of St. Vincent de Paul, for whom DePaul is named.  Vincent founded the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) and, with St. Louise de Marillac, the Daughters of Charity. 

Above all,
Vincent,
I appreciate
what I have come to know of
as your “simplicity,”
that virtue which
you said you desired most.
I translate this quality
for myself
as integrity,
transparency,
or consistency in character.
And, what makes me love
this quality
about you
is when I can imagine you
in your day
talking,
relating with,
loving,
advising,
and appreciating
all people just the same,
whether they were
the richest of the nobles,
the poor galley slaves,
or the most needy people
on the streets of Paris.

I respect the fact that
you did not seem
to try too hard
for the well-to-do
or for those who would bring you benefit,
nor too little
for the poor and the outcast.
To all
you spoke your truth
and brought your best intentions and care.
You were yourself, and
they were to you
all God’s children,
gifts unto themselves,
potential bearers of Providence.
And so, it became your mission,
to see the other side of the scarred coin,
and to become
a humble servant to all
who needed your care.
You did what you could do
and invited others
by name
to do the same.
You did not waste time
nor energy
on that which was illusory.
You took steady, forward steps
with what was given or revealed to you
and towards what was possible.

Simplicity,
that virtue you admired most,
is the one I love most in you,
and the one I most desire in myself,
for I believe
(as I imagine you did as well)
that as we become more fully
who we truly are –
authentically, humbly –
the more often and more clearly
we reflect
Jesus,
Emmanuel,
God-with-us,
and the more
we allow
the care that
our God
desires to bestow
on all people
to be born
in us.

Mark Laboe serves as DePaul’s Associate Vice President for University Ministry.  He wrote this poem in 2014 in honor of Vincent’s birthday and shares it again this week to commemorate Vincent’s upcoming birthday.
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Interested in celebrating Vincent’s birthday with the DePaul community?  Join the Office of Mission and Values on Friday, April 24th at 2:30pm as they hold a celebration for St. Vincent’s birthday in Catholic Campus Ministry (Suite 104 of the Lincoln Park Student Center).