vincent de paul

The Workaday Ministry of Vincent de Paul

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“The Workaday Ministry of Vincent de Paul” focuses on the many activities of Vincent de Paul that are not among the many for which he is well known: e.g., Founder of Communities, Manager of Saint-Lazare, Educator of the Clergy, and Developer of a myriad of works of Charity for the Poor.  Rather, here we see Vincent in his lesser-known daily activities as the personnel director reviewing new applicants to his communities, as director of those various communities, as spiritual director for priests, brothers and Bishops, as mentor and leader, as teacher, as listener, as model, and as the ultimate servant of the poor.

“The Workaday Ministry of Vincent de Paul” is a chapter in the book, Saint Vincent de Paul: His Mind and His Manner, by Rev. Jack Melito, C.M., published in 2010 by the Vincentian Studies Institute at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.  Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print.

17th Century “Photographs”

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It isn’t possible to look at photographs of 17th century France, but the closest we can come are the engravings of Abraham Bosse (1604-76). He was a master engraver of all sorts of subjects, including portraiture. For us, the most interesting will probably be his scenes of ordinary life, with particular emphasis on the depictions of the poor. He showed artisans at work, too, [see the engraving on the bakery below] and his scenes of schoolrooms—one for boys, another for girls—are nearly photographic.
His scenes of the Corporal Works of Mercy include the often-reproduced view of wealthy pious persons visiting a prison. The prisoner with a wide metal collar around his neck attached by a chain to the wall is astonishing. So is the scene of a wife beating her husband with a ring of heavy keys. At one side of the same engraving a young girl also is striking a boy, certainly in imitation of the family scene being enacted, and at the other side, a hen is pecking fiercely on a rooster. Bosse must have had a sense of humor.
He engraved another series of single individuals, showing off the details of their clothing. This is certainly as good as this gets.


If you ever wondered what kind of world Monsieur Vincent lived in, one access point is offered by these marvelous engravings. Bosse left more than 1,600 of them.

The Vincentian collection at DePaul recently purchased the book, whose cover is shown here. It is the catalogue of an exhibition dating from 2004.

It would be interesting to know more about his works.

There were, of course, other engravers and painters in his period, but many of them date from the time of Louis XIV. In this case, they represent the styles in vogue at least at the beginning of his reign. With Bosse, we are mainly shown the styles of Louis XIII and his wife, Anne of Austria, who became regent for Louis XIV until his formal accession to the throne in 1661.

Vincent’s knife

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In Vincent’s time, people normally had their own eating utensils. To pick up and eat their food, many used their fingers, which they would clean with a cloth and/or bread. As to the utensils, normally a knife and spoon—forks were a new import from Italy, often used only in upper-class settings—these were also cleaned at the table by the eater and wrapped up in a cloth to await their next use. This was a custom preserved in some religious communities, notably the Daughters of Charity in certain parts of the world.
The knife pictured above is in the Vincentian Museum in the mother house in Paris. It consists of a wooden sheath, on the left, with the metal knife, on the right. The sheath has metal pieces fitted into it at each end to hold the wood in place.
The mystery about this item is the carving on the sheath, which covers at least two sides. I have not been able to locate anyone who knows anything about this. What do the individual symbols mean, if anything? Who carved them and why? Where did the sheath come from? Why did Vincent de Paul have this item? What is its age? How different was it from those that others used? Was it a gift to him from someone, let’s say a sailor, coming back from a lengthy ocean voyage, maybe from Madagascar? Are the figures alphabetic or just symbolic? Some symbols are repeated, and there may be divisions between groups of symbols (if I am interpreting the vertical dots correctly); does this have any relevance?
Let’s put out this item for examination. There has to be someone who could start researchers in the right direction. Is it you?

I sometimes wonder whether the author Dan Brown could concoct a mystery story featuring this knife, leading scientists and detectives on a wild chase across continents.

Vincent de Paul Manuscript Letter Acquired

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The Vincentian Studies Institute of DePaul University recently acquired a manuscript letter of Vincent de Paul.  The letter is #603 in Coste, dated 24 July 1642 at Saint Lazare in Paris.  The recipient was Pierre du Chesnay in Crecy.  This letter is in Volume 2 of the English Edition, pages 311-313.  Click here to access: http://via.library.depaul.edu/coste_en/ The letter will join the other Vincent de Paul manuscripts in the Archives and Special Collections Department of the Richardson Library.  The letter was purchased from a French collector who is the friend of a confrere at the Maison-Mere in Paris.

 

Folleville: January 25, 1617

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Anyone who has ever visited Folleville has had the exhilarating experience of walking back in time.  This tiny country church belonging to the Gondi’s was the site of the first sermon of the mission preached by Vincent de Paul on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  It is one of those heritage places in France where one can still feel the palpable presence of Vincent.

 

The church itself is divided into two parts.  The front and older part is a simple barrel vaulted country church dedicated to St. Jacques (the chapel operated as pilgrim’s way-stop on the famous northern pilgrimage route to Compostella).  The rear portion of the church added at the beginning of the 16th century is a magnificent, flamboyant gothic structure built as a funerary chapel for the De Lannoy family (Madame de Gondi’s family). It contains the fabulous mausoleum of Raoul de Lannoy and his wife Jeanne de Poix, and once also contained the famous sepulture of Christ sculpture grouping now located at the church of St. Jean in Joigny. (The DeGondi’s moved the sculpture there when they sold their lands in Folleville.)

 

Over and above the chapel’s Vincentian Heritage, its importance in the history of French ecclesiastical sculpture and architecture is well known.  The church as it now stands has suffered from ill-considered additions, subtractions, thefts, and all the ravages that history can throw at a building. For example, in the nineteenth century the rood screen which had separated the two parts of the church was dismantled.  Yet, the remaining original fabric is still much greater than the losses it has suffered.

 

The Vincentian Studies Institute at DePaul University has commissioned the distinguished diorama artist Jeff Wrona to construct a large scale model of the church at Folleville. The model will  recreate what the church would have looked like on January 25, 1617 as Vincent stepped forward to preach.  In 1992, Jeff created the diorama of old Saint-Lazare in Paris as it would have appeared before the French Revolution.  That model continues to be on public display at DePaul’s Richardson Library.  Jeff has done two extensive site visits to Folleville, and has been working on preliminary drawings, material tests, and other projections.  He will soon begin work on constructing the model.  Serving as consultants to this project are Fr. John Rybolt, C.M., Dr. Simone Zurawski of DePaul, and myself.

 

When the model is complete, sometime in 2012, it will go on permanent display in the Richardson Library at DePaul.  It will also be photographed and digitized so that it can be visited online as part of the Vincentian Virtual Exhibition program of the V.S.I. (More on this program later).  Please see the attached images:

St. Vincent’s Reading List

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Beginning in 2010 to mark the 350th anniversaries of the deaths of St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) and St. Louise de Marillac (1591-1660) the Special Collections department of the John T. Richardson Library of DePaul University will produce a monthly “Ex Libris” blog feature highlighting a select volume from its collection entitled “St. Vincent’s Reading list.”

“St. Vincent’s Reading List,” represents a variety of rare seventeenth century works that are known to have been read or recommended by St. Vincent (as evidenced by his own written testimony); can safely be presumed to have been read by him; or are political, legal, theological, or spiritual works published during his life that illustrate the major developments that were unfolding in France and thus impacted the saint personally, as well as impacting the development of his many works of evangelization and charity, and the groups he founded for these purposes.

Saint Vincent de Paul, (like many of the great saints of the Catholic Church,) retains his trans-historical significance through the centuries because succeeding generations can find in his life story great insights into how Christian discipleship can be lived today with authenticity and efficacy. This significance is only magnified when distorting mythic elements and remnants of pious hagiography give way to critical biography’s establishment of fact and context.

If Saint Vincent is to be more than the romantic subject of a pious holy card, or a statue with babe in arms, and if he is to take his place as a contemporary inspiration to service and advocacy, especially for those in our world who live at the margins, then understanding Monsieur Vincent on his own terms, and through his own “reading list” is of great importance.

To access these blogs please see the Vincentian research links on the main page of this site, or access here.