Guided Reflections

Encourage one another

brass Guided Reflections, Vincentian Tradition

Reflection questions with Louise quotes:  

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“Encourage one another and may your mutual good example speak louder than any words can.”  – St. Louise de Marillac 

In her letters, Louise often tells her sisters to “encourage one another.” The word encourage comes from the Old French encoragier—“make strong, hearten.” It means “to inspire with courage, spirit, hope.” Louise knew what she was asking her community to do was not easy and that they would need each other and courage in their hearts. Time and time again you see in her letters to the Daughters of Charity Louise helping them navigate the joys and struggles of living in community with others and serving the needs of the world. 

Reflection Questions:  

  • As you build your VIA community, what are ways you can encourage one another?  
  • How might you offer encouragement to those you encounter in service today?  

Daughters of Charity Daily Routine: Sustaining the Journey

brass Guided Reflections, Vincentian Tradition ,

If you go back and look at the schedule of the Daughters of Charity—the community founded by Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul—you will see they were very intentional about their time. Their day started at 4:00 AM and was scheduled to the minute until 8:15 PM, when they prepared for bed.

Something striking—aside from their ability to function at a seemingly superhuman capacity—was that their schedule included designated times for recreation and learning how to read. Even in the midst of curing the ills and woes of the day and tending to a broken society, they prioritized time every day for leisure, respite, and personal development.

Louise understood that these daily routines, which created space to care for the whole person, were essential for sustaining the community’s long-term effectiveness as agents of change.

Reflection Questions:

  • What holistic care practices do you integrate into your daily routines?
  • How are you creating spaces in your life for recreation and restoration?
  • How do you hold yourself accountable to practicing daily habits?

Founding of the Daughters of Charity: The Streets are my Chapel

brass Guided Reflections, Vincentian Tradition ,

When Vincent founded the Vincentian priests, he called them the Congregation of the Mission: a community gathered for the sake of mission. Louise de Marillac took this vision even further when she co-founded the Daughters of Charity. 

She formed a community out of the poorest of the poor, creating home for them. She actually invited young peasant women into her personal space. She saw their potential, taught them to read and write and equipped them to make change in their communities. This kind of hospitality for a noble woman was unprecedented during her time, breaking social class barriers and opening new opportunities for women. 

This new vision included Daughters of Charity going out beyond the cloister to serve the community and meet people where they were at — in their homes or in the streets.  

“The Daughters of Charity have… for a convent, the houses of the sick; for cell, a rented room; for chapel, the parish church; for cloister, the streets of the city; for enclosure, obedience; for grille, the fear of God; and for veil, holy modesty.” CCD:X:530 

Reflection Questions:  

  • How might you create spaces of radical hospitality just as Louise did?  
  • What new vision of Vincentian service do we need to respond to the needs in our world today?  
  • How does your VIA engagement go out beyond or break social barriers?  

Louise de Marillac’s Last Will & Testament

brass Guided Reflections, Vincentian Tradition

Art by Clara Kuhlman, DePaul Class of 2024 

These are the last words that Louise de Marillac spoke to her community before she died:

“My dear Sisters, I continue to ask God for His blessing for you and pray that He will grant you the grace to persevere in your vocation in order to serve Him in the manner He asks of you.

Take good care of the service of the poor. Above all, live together in great union and cordiality, loving one another in imitation of the union and life of Our Lord.”

Louise had the deep intuition from the start that living together in community was the way forward to sustaining a life of service to others. Even in her last will and spiritual testament, she reminds the Daughters of Charity to “live together in great union and cordiality.”

Reflection Questions:

  • What does it look like today in our context to “take good care of the service of the poor?”
  • If you were to offer your last words of wisdom to the VIA community, what would you share?
  • Share a moment from your VIA experience where you felt like you were working together in great union towards a common mission.

The Story of the White Tablecloth: Vincentian Hospitality

brass Guided Reflections, Vincentian Tradition ,

A common Vincentian story told at DePaul is often referred to as the story of the white tablecloth. This story serves as an example of Vincentian hospitality and holistic care. Vincent de Paul believed in creating spaces of connection and serving both the physical and spiritual needs. 

In the foundational documents and rules established for the Confraternity in Châtillon-les-Dombes in 1617, Vincent de Paul explained the careful attention necessary when seeking to serve those in need. He recommended that missioners lay out a white cloth before serving food to a person in need, and that they engage in kind and cheerful conversation to better understand the context of that person’s story. (1)   

The attentive care communicated through laying down a tablecloth and engaging in conversation reflect a recognition of the sacred dignity of those being served, as well as the essential relational dimension of human interaction, breaking down the distinction between “us” and “them.” 

The VIA Way of Dialogue cannot be accomplished unless we create space in our hearts to listen to the stories of those we encounter. In our interactions, we are invited to practice hospitality and holistic care knowing that sometimes the smallest things can make a very big difference. 

Questions for reflection: 

  • Share a story of how someone has spread a white tablecloth of hospitality for you. How did it feel?  
  • How might you create a space of welcome and hospitality? How do you envision practicing Vincentian hospitality in your service?  
  • When did you experience a moment when you felt the barriers of “us” and “them” were broken down?  

1) See Document 126, Charity of Women, (Châtillon-Les-Dombes), 1617, CCD, 13b:13; and Document 130, Charity of Women, (Montmirail – II), CCD, 13b:40. At: https://‌via.‌library.‌depaul.‌edu/‌vincentian‌_ebooks/‌38/. 

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: 

The Story of the White Tablecloth (youtube.com) 

Civic Engagement

eamaya1 Guided Reflections

Read or excerpt the following quotes:

“Civic engagement underscores the most basic principle of democratic governance. If sovereignty resides ultimately in the citizenry, their engagement is about the right to define the public good, to determine the policies by which they will seek that good, and to reform or replace those institutions that no longer serve.”- Swarnmin Wagle, Claims and Resources: Civic Engagement at the Macro Level

“In many respects, today’s youth are primed for participation. The 2002 Survey of Student Attitudes (SSA) conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that 61% of college students claimed to have taken part in some form of community service in the past 12 months…

However, the desire to effect positive social change has not yet been successfully translated into sustained political engagement. The SSA found that only 14% of college students had participated in a government or political organization over the same period of time. The National Association of Secretaries of State reported that in 2000, only 33% of citizens aged 18-24 cast their votes in the presidential election.”-Harvard Institute of Politics, Political Empowerment at the Local Level: A Review of Youth Civic Engagement Efforts in 11 U.S. Cities

Discussion Questions

  • What is civic engagement?
  • If you feel you are civically engaged, what do you do?
  • If you feel you are not civically engaged, why not? What would make civic engagement appealing to you?
  • Is community service a form of civic engagement?

Engaging Your Host Community

eamaya1 Guided Reflections ,

Questions to Ask Your Host Site Partners During a Dinner/Reflection

Could Also Be Used for Group Discussion or Journaling

From Joe Holland and Peter Henriot, SJ

  1. What do you notice about our situation here today? What are people experiencing?
  2. What changes have occurred in the past twenty years? What have been the most important events?
  3. What influence does money have in our situation today? Why?
  4. Who makes the most important decisions around here? Why?
  5. What are the most important relationships people have here? Why?
  6. What are the most important traditions of the people? Why?
  7. What do people want most in life? Why?
  8. What will things be like in 10 years if they keep going in the same way? Why?
  9. What are the most important causes of the way things are today? Why?

What to Look For: Keeping Our Eyes and Hearts Open

From Santa Clara University Reflection Resources

  • Signs of hope, courage, humanity, humility
  • Commonality between you and the people you meet/see
  • Depth of political awareness among all we meet
  • How history affects the present
  • Signs of the presence of life
  • How you are challenged by what you see
  • How women experience each reality differently from men
  • Violence and how it affects people’s lives
  • The role of work and what it offers/provides
  • The role of education in people’s lives
  • The availability of schools and difficulty of learning