vincentian history

Elizabeth Seton: Her World and Her Church

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The first part of this article gives the political, social, economic, and religious context of the world in which Elizabeth Seton lived. The second part describes the establishment and work of the Sisters of Charity. Education for all was important to early Americans, largely because everyone was supposed to read the Bible. Women had more agency than their European counterparts, although their influence was still mostly confined to the home. They were charged with instilling morality in children, and through them, in society in general. This was reflected in the curriculum of Elizabeth Seton’s school, Saint Joseph’s Academy. The outlook and influence of John Carroll, the United States’ first bishop whose diocese comprised the entire country, is discussed. He was a friend of Elizabeth’s and was among those who supported the opening of Saint Joseph’s. Enlightenment ideals, especially openness, tolerance, and optimism about human nature, were embodied in the attitudes and work of the Sisters of Charity.

“Elizabeth Seton: Her World and Her Church” is an article published in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 14, Issue 2, Article 1, (1993) and is available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol14/iss2/1

 

The Vincentian Question

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As a church historian specializing in the history of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), Fr. Edward R. Udovic, C.M. addresses the historical context for the development of the “Vincentian Question: What Must Be Done?”  In this original essay, he speaks to the conditions of early 17th Century France and the responses of those involved in the Catholic Reformation of that time and how Vincent became the most prominent guide for channeling that spiritual movement into effective, practical action.

A modern-day application and recasting of this talk by Fr. Udovic is available at: youtube.com/watch?v=MK7sMN11p6s

 

Vincent’s Values: A Spiritual Perspective

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In an original essay, Fr. Edward R. Udovic, C.M., reflects on those traditional five virtues that Vincent de Paul identified as requisite for living like Jesus, the Evangelizer of the Poor.  Notifying the need for each era to translate those virtues into meaningful terms that inspire personal conversion, he suggests re-framing them as follows:  humility is lived by being realistic; simplicity by being honest; meekness by being approachable; mortification by being self-disciplined; and zeal by being hard-working.

Frédéric Ozanam: Systemic Thinking, and Systemic Change

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The terms “systemic thinking” and “systemic change” were not used in Frederic Ozanam’s day, but aspects of his perspective and some of his methods for combating poverty fall under those categories. Peter Senge’s framework for systemic thinking is applied to Ozanam’s work. This article also describes how Ozanam’s efforts correspond to strategies identified in the Vincentian publication Seeds of Hope: Stories of Systemic Change. In Ozanam’s view, poor persons should be treated with dignity, and he had a practical understanding of how poverty could be alleviated. The organizational model and processes of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul are explained. It was important to Ozanam to create a flexible worldwide network that could use experience to form sustainable solutions to poverty. There was reciprocity to the Society’s charity. Poor persons were empowered, and the Society’s members were transformed in their attitudes and grew in holiness through service and theological reflection. To bring about a fairer and more charitable world, both individuals and society had to be transformed.

“Frederic Ozanam: Systemic Thinking, and Systemic Change” is an article published in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 32, Issue 1, Article 4 (2014) and is available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol32/iss1/4

 

What about the Poor? Nineteenth-Century Paris and the Revival of Vincentian Charity

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During the Industrial Revolution, poor persons constituted up to half the population of Paris. They were considered to be criminal, and their poverty was seen as a punishment for this. The Church believed the traditional social order was divinely ordained. The rich were to be charitable and the poor were to be resigned to their status; these conditions were necessary for the salvation of both groups. In the Church’s eyes, the rich and the poor each contributed to the gap between them, and they could only be reconciled by returning to Christian values and the traditional social hierarchy. It was the Church’s responsibility to guide this reconciliation. The Congregation, the Daughters of Charity, and the Ladies of Charity, which had been dissolved during the Revolution, were refounded under Jean-Baptiste Etienne in the nineteenth century. They tried to combat poverty worldwide. As the first group of sisters to be supported by the French government after the Revolution, the Daughters of Charity served as the basis for the new Vincentian mission. The Ladies of Charity’s work, which was under the Daughters’ direction, is discussed. The article also describes Etienne’s view of the world and of the Vincentian mission in detail.

“What about the Poor? Nineteenth-Century Paris and the Revival of Vincentian Charity” is an article published in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 14, Issue 1, Article 5 (1993) and is available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol14/iss1/5

 

The Gifts of Saint Louise de Marillac: The Future of the Legacy

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Louise de Marillac was a woman of many gifts. She learned to wait patiently to discover God’s will and then she did it. She had tremendous organizational abilities. She related well to a wide variety of people and imparted that ability to others. Louise helped others cultivate their capacities for service by “collaborating humbly” with them. An independent thinker, she had talent for seeing long-term consequences. Examples from Louise’s life illustrate her gifts. Some of the main aspects of her spirituality, drawn from her testament, are also described.

“The Gifts of Saint Louise de Marillac: The Future of the Legacy” is an article published in the Vincentian Heritage Journal, Volume 12, Issue 2, Article 10 (1991) available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol12/iss2/10

 

Louise de Marillac : A Wife, a Mother, A Foundress

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In this reading, Sr. Carol Schumer, D.C., unfolds the life and legacy of Saint Louise de Marillac.  Hear a history of Louise’s life, her education, her spiritual development, her trials and doubts, her spiritual friendship with Vincent de Paul and her ministry with the poor and eventual foundation with Vincent of the Daughters of Charity.

“Louise de Marillac: A Wife, A Mother, A Foundress” was developed by Srs. Frances Vista, D.C., and Carol Schumer, D.C. as part of a Vincentian Integration Experience in 2010.  The text was published in FAMVIN and is available at: https://vinformation.org/en/vincentian-formation-resources/presentations-media-games/mosaic-life-of-st-louise/

 

About Saint Vincent de Paul and DePaul University’s Vincentian, Catholic, and Urban Identity

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In this original unpublished essay by Fr. Edward R. Udovic, C.M., we hear a bit of history of the Vincentian Community’s involvement in higher education in the United States.  There is also a reflection on Vincent de Paul and his character as values-based, honoring diversity, willing to take risks, innovative, pragmatic, and intimately involved with the people in his urban community of Paris, especially the poor.  Vincent and his followers were committed to serving the needs of their poor.  They were interested in making a difference in people’s lives.

In the context of today’s world, the efforts of DePaul University’s faculty and staff are aimed at providing an education to its traditional students from marginalized communities to help in supporting a change in the well-being of those generations to come.  Serving the multi-cultural, religiously diverse student, staff, faculty, and alumni community the University continues to foster social engagement within the urban community of Chicago and, through its alumni, the communities of the world.  From “Little college under the ‘L'” to the largest Catholic University in the country, DePaul University continues its history of values-driven service, innovative programming, pragmatic activity deeply connected to the world.

DRMA Spring Lecture, 2015

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Title: Romantic Catholics: Frédéric and Amélie Ozanam, Marriage, and the Catholic Social Vocation

Speaker: Carol Harrison, Ph.D. professor of History at the University of South Carolina. Author of the book: Romantic Catholics: France’s Post-revolutionary Generation in Search of a Modern Faith.

Marriage to Amélie Soulacroix in 1841 transformed Frédéric Ozanam’s sense of his obligations to the society in which he lived. The sacrament of marriage in general and the particular marital relationship that Amélie and Frédéric developed were central to his understanding of the Catholic social vocation. The younger Ozanam valued fraternal ties among male friends above all, and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, founded in 1836, reflected this attachment to an egalitarian world of bachelor men. As Amélie’s husband, however, Frédéric came to see society as analogous to the family and he perceived his obligations to society as parallel those he owed his family: love, respect, and care for the weak. Ozanam carried this mature view of society into the Revolution of 1848, and it informed his confidence that French Catholics could participate in the work of the new republic by directing it toward a social mission that drew on charitable traditions infused with a modern sense of justice and democracy.

DRMA Winter Quarter Lecture 2015, The Gondi: Family Strategy And Survival In Early Modern France

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This lecture was presented at DePaul University on March 11, 2015 in the Richardson Library.

Notwithstanding widespread French admiration for Italian culture in the sixteenth century, Italian influence at the heart of French government aroused xenophobic antagonism amongst many in French society. The Gondi: Family Strategy and Survival in Early Modern France throws light on this complex relationship by offering the first detailed examination of the Gondi, one of the most powerful of the Italian families active during this period. The Gondi family played a leading part in the finance, government, church and military affairs of the nation, and were indispensable counselors to the French monarchy. Based on my new archival findings, this lecture will detail the family’s use of patronage, financial acumen, and other strengths and tactical strategies which allowed them to maintain control and influence in France during the turbulent Wars of Religion. In 1612, St. Vincent de Paul entered the services of the Gondi family as tutor to the children of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi and his wife, Françoise Marguerite de Silly. He also served as Françoise Marguerite’s spiritual guide and confessor and was active as a missionary on the Gondi estates. One of the children tutored by St. Vincent, Jean-François Paul de Gondi, grew up to be the historically notable Cardinal de Retz, author of Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz, published posthumously in 1717.