Theology I Chapter III: Topic 3.

5 St Vincent de Paul [1]

Code Number:

TH111E

Course Title:

"SEARCHING FOR GOD IN THE WORLD TODAY"

CHAPTER III: RETELLING THE STORY OF GOD-IN-JESUS FOR TODAY
3.1 St. Vincent de Paul: Follower of Christ for and with the Poor
(3 hours)

Introduction
In the second chapter of course, we spent a lot of time with Jesus of Nazareth.
His life, work, death and resurrection are the central story of this course. In fact, Jesus is
the source and ground of the life of Christians since the time his disciples witnessed his
life-giving resurrection. From Jesus the human figure in history, he became the Christ
or the Messiah Gods definitive and unique offer salvation to the world.
The story of God-in-Jesus who offers kaginhawaan or salvation did not end with
death. His story of life and love was embodied and expressed by his disciples, and
thereafter by many communities of seekers of the faith. Till this day, Jesus the Christ is
very much alive in the lives and works of Christians who follow him in the
proclamation of the kingdom or reign of God.
We have arrived at the third and final chapter of our course in Searching for God
in the World Today. The challenge for us today is to continue the mission of Jesus of
spreading the message of kaginhawaan or salvation in words and deeds to all people.
To do this, we need also to be clear to ourselves on our answer to the question, Who do
we say Jesus is? Our semester has led us to this question, starting with our everyday
life where we discover the extra in the ordinary, to the life of the world, especially the
poor and those who suffer in whom we can discover also the Jesus who speaks to us. In
this second to the last topic, we shall present one of the followers of Christ who tried his
best to mold his own life in Jesus: St. Vincent de Paul.

Theology I Chapter III: Topic 3.5 St Vincent de Paul [2]

Topic 3.1
St. Vincent de Paul: Follower of Christ for and with the Poor
Objective: At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to identify
the important aspects in the life of St. Vincent de Paul that are relevant
today in ones personal and student life.

SEE
Many of us might be familiar with the reality show American Idol or AI. In this lesson,
we will meet our very own AI, the ADAMSONIAN IDOL. In this topic we are going to meet
our Idol. We will discover him in his world and time, and what made him a saint or a holy
person in and through whom God-in-Jesus was present and active, and accordingly touched the
lives of many people, especially the poor. But first, let us have some activity.
1. Do you have someone who you consider an idol?
2. What is about this person that makes you consider him or her as your
idol?
3. What characteristics does he or she has that you would like to follow or
imitate, and why?

DISCERN
Here in Adamson, we have our very own idol. He is known for his legacy of working
for the upliftment of the poor. His ways were ordinary like us, but what made him different
was he did it well. For this, he was declared the patron saint of all charitable institution and our
own patron saint as Adamsonians. His name is Vincent de Paul. He was born on April 21, 1581
and died on September 27, 1660. To better understand the Vincents life and legacy, it is good to
know first the world he was found himself in his lifetime.

The Social World of St. Vincent de Paul

In the 17th century, France was a highly - populated kingdom in Europe. It had a land
measure of about more or less half-million square kilometres with 20 million inhabitants. This
population guaranteed substantial human resources for the King of France. In truth however,

Theology I Chapter III: Topic 3.5 St Vincent de Paul [3]

only about 12 million inhabitants had substantial material resources; they provided the labor
force to the economic system of France. Moreover, exploitative tax collections made life mirable
for the majority who are poor. Lack of proper nutrition resulted to young life-span at thirty-five
years old and to high ratio of infant mortality. There was also insufficient harvest, epidemics,
and wars which killed numerous people.

Economic aspect. Economically, 17th century France was an agriculturally rich land
that used old agribusiness technology. Eighty to eighty-five percent of the French people lived
and worked as farmers in the countryside. There were also a large percentage of the populace
who were engaged in manufacturing industry, primarily textile-making. This industry
provided the peasants with economic assistance by making use of wool from the sheep. The
wool weavers were more numerous than those who were salaried workers in the cities. This
industry played greater role in Frances economic system.
The means for transporting the goods or products were uncomfortable and slow. The
major transportation during that time was through rivers and the sea. However, all the ports
were controlled by the agents who demanded multiple duties and taxes. Transportation by land
was either characterized by dust or mud depending on the seasons of the year, as well as due to
the negligence of the leaders. Expensive toll fees or taxes also extracted from people.
Exploitation of the peasants was carried out by businesses that monopolized the transportation
system.
Generally, the majority of French rural people was made up of the poorer and average
peasants, who had to work and harvest just to survive and meet their daily needs, including
trading products, supplemental works, and by other services to landlords and rich people to
pay their debts.

Social Aspect. Class distinction was based on those who prayed, those who fought,
and those who worked. These distinctions created a social ladder consisting of the clergy, the
nobility or rich people, and the laborers and peasants (also called the third state). This
religious and military concept in a society measured individual sense of dignity and the quality
of services in accord with the mental perspective. These distinctions corresponded to neither
economic categories nor personal competences. This shows there existed true barrier separating
those who participated in power from those who were excluded in the society. Let us look at
these categories or sectors in a society one at a time.

Clergy. The priests were considered as the first order of the kingdom; they
held great economic, juridical and social power. They played significant role in
French society like the nobility and the bourgeoisie (a wealthy stratum of the

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middle class). This power was rooted in its possessed wealth and financial
resources. A sector of their ecclesiastic, religious properties, including the rental
profits and the taxes collected, constituted one-third of the total wealth of the
nation. Yet, the priests and religious were only 2% of the total population. There
was superiority of hierarchy within the clergy category, wherein the bishops
were considered the powerful persons who had great influence on the policies of
the king and on society as a whole. They played multiple roles in a society such
as in spiritual, economic, social and political aspects. The pastor or parish priests
of the parish had the title of Monsieur. He collected tithes from his
parishioners. The priests and religious in the urban and rural settings had a
comfortable standard of living in comparison with the majority of the peasants
and labourers in the cities. Because of the lure of wealth, prestige, and power,
there were grave moral disorders for most of the clergypriesthood turned into
commerce or business profession instead of looking at it as a vocation. Laziness,
drunkenness, sexual impropriety, and above all ignorance characterized tje lives
of many priests.

Nobility. They were considered as the second order of the nation. They
represented 4-5% the total population. Their affluent lives was due to inheritance
and through private incomes that were received through various channels, such
as pensions given to them via benefices. The nobles were treated with great
respect because of their social and economic position. They were exempted from
paying royal taxes, which clearly distinguished them from the rest of the people.
They lived with lavish lifestyle and engaged themselves in leisure, culture,
fashion, and so forth. They were looked up by the many middle class people
because they did not hesitate to pay huge amount of money to the king to
achieve the status.

The Third State or the Ordinary People. This social category was diverse and
can be found in different sectors of society. The Third State included the active
and inactive bourgeoisie. The inactive were those who had their own means of
livelihood that was independent of the state. They owned the 15-20% of the land
across the country. They were supported by tenant farmers and they also lived
by allowances or pensions. The active middle class participated in the smooth
functioning of the monarchy. What is interesting here is that, like the nobles,
most of active bourgeoisie were landowners and sometimes lords of the land.
Moreover, they were often appointed the administrators of property of the
nobility and of the clergy through which they gained great profits and benefits.
The administrative positions were given to them for life. This means that the

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positions could be obtained through inheritance or purchase, and public office

became the reverse of business. Another role of the active middles class was to
manage the taxes and royal duties of the tenant farmers.
Another sector in this social category of Third State was comprised by
the artisans. This group was composed of managers, officials and workers of
various professions, such as weavers, stone masons, carpenters, butchers,
sawyers, and etc. The group of managers were clustered in three forms of
enterprises: the production salesmen who were economically independent; the
simple producers who preserved autonomy but in reality were dependent on big
merchants; and the managers who were in weaving trade but received the lowest
wages.
At the base of economic pyramid were the paid labourers who lived
miserable life due to overwhelming socio-economic dominations of the elite and
the rich, the middle class, and even by the clergy. Their salary was their sole
source of survival. They were in constant debt due to money advances and loans
from their bosses. The unequal relationships led to unfortunate consequences to
people who were already poor. Many had to beg on the streets, were dependent
on charity
The society where Vincent came from was supported by most productive
and dependent people - the peasant masses. They were the ones who procured
the goods of the country through cultivating the land. The state subjected the
peasants to pay their taxes to the state, the lords and to the church. Loans and
debts were the main features for the peasants who found themselves imprisoned
by multiple creditors. Thus, most of them were obliged to sell parts of their
inheritance in order to pay their debts and their taxes.
The poor people. The 17th century poor person was not solely about its
his or her economic depravity but person who suffered or someone who found
herself or himself in miserable condition of living. There were many beggars
during the 17th century. They were the ones who cannot earn their own
livelihood and were obliged to seek for the assistance of others in order to
survive. Due to their social situation and with the instinct of self-preservation or
survival, the beggars were led to commit crimes. There were also the vagrants or
vagabonds; they were abandoned by their families and had to resort to stealing
and other crimes in order to survive. Their sole means of survival was to
organize themselves on the major roadways to steal, sometimes with violence.

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Unlike the beggars who were considered part of the society, vagrants were
defined by their absence of social connectionthey had no residence. A great
number of them came from the agricultural day laborers and small peasants who
resisted or revolted against the oppressive fiscal taxes.
These are the different picture of the people belonging to the French society during the
time of Vincent de Paul.

Attitudes towards the Poor

It was unfortunate that in the 17th century France poverty was interpreted as a spiritual
virtue and psychological reality of individuals, when in fact the poverty of people was a
product of unjust social system. Another attitude was the moral and religious criteria of a
repressive and moralistic nature that regulated the life poor person to the margins in all social
and religious events. These explain why some charitable activities were transformed into
repressive operations and led to the confinement of the poor persons at the Hospital. This was
enforced by a Royal edict which mandated the setting up and regulation of temporal and
spiritual organization of the hospital to house the poor people. However, in reality the Hospital
was an inhuman place since it was closed to the public and separated from society. The
Hospital also housed prostitutes and people with mental illness. They were locked away in
order to be punished. This legislation affected much the vagabonds, the beggars, and the poor
people as well.
In all these, the call to end the misery of the poor persons and to bring them back into
the circle of the society was the sensitive and concrete way of bringing the Gods good news.
Having listened to the cry of the poor, Vincent de Paul risked his whole life to be in service for
them.

The Social Location of Vincent

There are two versions about the life of Vincent. One version present Vincent as having
lived a saintly life since childhood. According to this version, Vincent was raised by his parents
to become a devout Catholic in faith, and he grew up as a good, prayerful, generous and pious
man with deep faith in God. Another version presents Vincent as a person who underwent a
process of significant events in life within the socio-economic context of his time. He was a
usual guy with personal ambitions as he struggled with the poverty of his family, but along the
way he found his real mission and vocation in life. We shall present Vincent according to the
second versiona human being like us who struggled to follow Christ footsteps and later
found himself in Gods mission and became one of the great Saints.

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Vincents Family Background

Vincent was born on April 24,15 81, at Ranquine, a rural community near the village of
Pouy, a few kilometres from Dax at the southwest of France. This place, which was called
Landes , is where Vincent spent his youth and helping his family in the farm work. Today this
village is now known as St. Vincent de Paul.
His parents were Jean de
Paul and Bertrande de Moras. He
was the third child of six in the
family. The family of Vincent
belong to the peasant class of the
societythis means that their
means of living was agricultural
work.
At Ranquine, his family
owned a single-storied house and
a granary that occupied about
some 100 meters. It had a kitchen, living room, and four bedrooms (one for their parents, the
other rooms were for the children). Near the house was a vegetable garden, barnyards for
poultry, pigs and sheep.
The family of Vincent had no time for leisure because they have to work in the fields in
order to survive. As a young boy, Vincent had to help his family by taking care of the cattle and
to pasture them. He also pastured sheep, cows and a pig. Every day in his early childhood
Vincent had to lead the animals to the plains and the forest for them to find pastures. Thus, we
could say that his family was a solid peasant family who was capable of making ends meet only
through hard work.

As a Child and School Boy

Some authors would like to portray Vincent as a man of practical action, while others
saw him as a man with exceptional intelligence. According to Abelly, one of Vincents
biographers, Vincent had a great mind and he was a well-balanced person. These attributes
were noticed by de Comet, a practicing judge, who urged Vincents father to send him to
school. Aware of their economic situation was, his parents felt that priesthood was an education
and economic escape for their son from poverty. His father helped and encouraged him to

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study to priesthood. At his early age, he entered the college of Dax, where he spent three years
with the Franciscan fathers for his humanities (studying grammar and Latin language). While
he was a student at Dax, Vincent tutored the son of de Comet for his own financial support.
Ambition began to creep into Vincent. He was happy with his studies and desired to
leave his farm life. He began to felt ashamed of his origin and even to the point of being
ashamed of his father. Aware of the intellectual limitations of his teachers, he urged his father to
send him to one of the prestigious universities the University of Toulouse. Alerted by his
sons ambitious plan, his father sacrificed a pair of oxen to provide the money that enabled
Vincent to launch his ambition. This was the last legacy of his father who died shortly
thereafter.
De Comet became Vincents guardian and protector. He took Vincent away from his
peasant origin and encouraged him to offer his life to the Church as an ecclesiastical career.
While he was in Toulouse, at the age of 15, Vincent received the Tonsure and Minor order, and
a year after he began his Theology studies in Zaragoza, Spain. In 1598, two years after receiving
the Tonsure and Minor order, Vincent was ordained as a sub-deacon and eventually a deacon.
As a young boy who had a natural human concern to provide for his future, to which only the
church can provide such advancement for a poor man, becoming a priest for Vincent was a
simple matter of having necessary papers and influencing bishops to perform ordination. At the
early age of 19, Vincent visited the blind bishop of Perigueux and asked to lay his hand upon
him. Vincent was ordained priest on September 23, 1600 at Chateau-LEveque by Bishop
Francios de Bourdeilles. He continued his studies in Toulouse where he finished it on 1604.

Vincent as a Priest
Among his chief reasons for becoming a priest was his desire to get an office in the
Church so that he could obtain enough money, retire early, return home, and provide his family
needs. However, his search for a better life as a priest turned into misfortunes. Let us revisit the
significant events in Vincents priestly life.
After his ordination to priesthood, Vincent was appointed parish priest of Thil, a small,
poor parish church. During this time, he went to Rome, though it was not clear why he went
there. In 1605 there was an unexpected story in his priestly life. He was going to Bordeaux
where he was held hostage and made a slave. It is a story that is difficult to verify in terms of
historical truth. According to the story, his captivity lasted about 3-5 years of captivity. It is said
that he escaped his abductors. After of his liberty, he went to Rome for the second time secure a
higher position in the clergy. He had hoped the support of a rich, powerful person, but he
ended up with nothing. Vincent decided to leave Rome without any tangible outcome from

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Msgr. Montorios promises. According to some authors, Vincent, right after leaving Rome,
decided to stay in Paris, because the ambassador to the Holy See entrusted him with a
confidential mission to Henry IV. Still ambitious, Vincents true intention to go to Paris was to
find or win the benefits he so desperately wanted.
Unfortunately, his stay in Paris made his life more complicated. He was too poor to own
a house. He decided to rent a room that he shared with another man, a judge from Sore. One
day he felt unwell and was left alone. A man who brought him a medicine stole the money left
by the judge. Vincent was falsely accused of theft by the judge, who threw him out of the house
and denounced him to his friends and acquaintances. The poor Vincents reaction to this
accusation was simple and meek, God knows the Truth. This event in his life was a turning point
of discovering his real priestly vocation.

His Path to Conversion

The unsuccessful human concerns of Vincent marked significant turning points in his
spiritual journey and priestly vocation. The misfortunes in his life became ways to his total
conversion and future success in life as a pastor of Gods people. It is generally accepted that
Vincent had gone through a long process of conversionprocess of discovery of a religious
dimension to life. The conversion or metanoia of Vincent did not happen once, but through a
process of turning away from a life that was not really God-oriented. The human concerns were
disappearing, and his life turned attention to God which advanced his real vocation.
Let us now consider the events leading to his conversion. There are three significant
events in Vincents life. We have discussed above: the accusation of theft. A second event is the
meeting with Pierre de Berulle. De Berulle was one of the most significant figures in the church
during Vincents time. He brought Vincent into direct contact to the reality of what a priestly
lifa is. He became Vincents spiritual director and who influenced him to join the circle of
reformers. A third event was the severe spiritual crisis that Vincent experienced. Some writers
call this event the dark night of the soul. Vincent went through a spiritual crisis when he met
a famous doctor and who formerly held an office of a canon theologian in his diocese. This
person was known for his eloquence and zeal during the controversy with the Protestants.
Vincent came to help him and asked God to transfer the doctors trial into his own soul.

Following the Footsteps of Jesus

Supplemented by his pastoral experience in the parish of Clichy, Vincent totally
discovered the true direction of his life. He started to devote himself with great zeal to attend
the spiritual and material needs of people, especially the poor. Vincents experiences of

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misfortunes in life led him to realize that Jesus must be the center of his life. He followed the
mission of Christ by serving the poor became his priorityto bring message of ginhawa
(salvation) to many of his country men and women.
Let us take some consideration of parallelisms of Vincents experience of serving the
poor with the four broad strokes portrait of Jesus of Nazareth.

1. Vincent as spirit-filled person

In our discussion on Jesus of Nazareth, we said that a spirit person is one who has frequent
and intimate experience with the sacred. Vincent is a person who in his own ordinary way spoke
with authority with Gods spirit. We recall that before he was falsely accused of theft, Vincent
had a constant acquaintance with de Berulle who later became his spiritual director. He made
Vincent discover his own path and his own spiritually beyond the teachings and spiritual
guidelines. Vincents spiritual journey and experience with his spiritual director and the
misfortunes of life opened up for himself a new identity and mission in life. His spiritual
experience with de Berulle led him to change his outlook in life, values and practicesfrom
being so concern with his personal fame, prestige and wealth to being Gods missionary who
was in solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, and the needy.
Looking at Vincents works, life and actions closely, we will be impressed by his efforts
to empty himself and be filled by the spirit of God through Chris. Vincent believed that Christ
sent him to evangelize the poor. Impelled by the Spirit of Christ, who used to pray in solitude,
and who taught and cured the sick and who spent time with the poor, Vincent moved to do the
same way as Christ did. His close link and dependence on the spirit of Christ led to an image of
Vincent as the evangelizer of the poor. The Spirit of God empowered Vincent to resemble Christ,
whose love and compassion to poor transformed his followers to dedicate their whole life to
continue the work of established charitable institution. Vincent as spirit filled person was
realistic yet visionary, and he was driven to seek and respond to Christ in the poor.

2. Vincent as alter Christ; healer and of Bringer of ginhawa.

Vincent may be a healer and exorcist like Christ, but he healed and exorcised the social
ills of his time the indifference of people to the poor by organizing groups and institutions
that would respond effectively to their well-being. There was one event in Vincents life when
he met a suffering theologian. He came to help the theologian and prayed to God to transfer the
trial to his ownand so it happened the man was liberated from his crisis on faith. Another was
his role in Madam de Gondis life particularly with regard to her spiritual aspect. Vincent had
directed the soul of de Gondi from spiritualization of everything to be manifested in charitable

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works. He encouraged and trained her to visit the poor and to serve them with her own hands.
These are only some of the power of God in Vincent that we could say he was truly a great
servant of Christ.
Remember also the attitude of the people towards the poor. During Vincents time, the
poor, sick, disabled, criminals, were considered outcasts in society. They were made galleys
slave or confined institutions because the rich people and the powerful started cursed them as
eyesores and unclean. Like what Jesus did, Vincent reached out to them, helped them to regain
their dignity, fed them, and cared for them. His experience with the very poor family, who was
also seriously ill, moved Vincent in his innermost being. In front of a dying person who told his
confession, Vincent did not condemned him but was moved with pity and compassion. From
then on, he called on his friends to go to the margins to preach the Gospel and hear confessions.
He believed that the priestly life, or Christian living in general, should be at the service of
people at the margin. Vincent also organized charitable groups and institutions that would cater
the needs of the poor. The group of women was the Confraternity of Charity; it was the first
institution to be involved in lay leadership for social action. Later, Vincent organized men,
which came to be known as the Congregation of the Mission to help the clergy and laity in
their formation and to lead then to fuller participation in the evangelization of the poor. Then,
Vincent formed the Daughters of Charity, a group of women who lived an apostolic life by
striving to serve Jesus though the poor and the marginalized.
We could say that Vincent is truly an alter Christa man who became an instrument to
the people to experience ginhawa of Christ. The main purpose of the organizations he
instituted was to carefullyattendto the spiritual and material needs of the poor people.

3. Vincent as a Teacher of Alternative Wisdom

Gifted with remarkable intelligence since his young age, Vincent studied and tutored
others at the same time. He conducted school for young children and even gave lessons to his
fellow students at Toulouse. There was also a claim that when he was running out of money, he
ran a small boarding school at Buzet to meet his expenses.
This God-given talent to Vincent manifested in his work for the social transformation of
his society, especially changing the attitudes of the clergy, the nobles, and even the poor people.
Aware of Christ spirit in him, Vincent did challenge the heart of the rich to be involved in the
service of the poor. The members of the Confraternity of Charity mostly belonged to noble
families. For Vincent, the problem was not that there were no people to help the poor, for there
were also many kindhearted individuals. The challenge he took upon himself was the lack of
organized actions of organized groups that can effectively respond to the needs of the poor. He

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was a good organizer because for him to deal with the problem of poverty, it needed concerted
efforts that deal with the situation in a large scale because the problem was structural inequality
and injustice. Today, we call this approach of radical social action as systemic change.
Among Vincents actions were the Tuesday Conference and the Retreat for the
Ordinands. The priests and bishops from almost all the dioceses in France joined him to
listen to his teachings and encouragement, particularly on the virtues of Christ. Vincent sought
to form and reform the clergy so that they would be true disciples of Christ with and for the
poor. He was a great, tireless and passionate preacher. He celebrated the liturgy with dignity
and full attention. If Jesus used metaphors, images, symbols to be understood by his listeners,
Vincent gave sermons and lectures in a very simple, direct language that people can easily
understand. But his words were full of love and conviction and with great impact to the
listeners. His teachings were seen in his action. He reminded his followers that charity is not
charity if not accompanied by justice.

4. Vincent as a Prophet of Social Justice based on Five Missionary Virtues

Again, Vincent urged his followers that charity is not charity without justice. We could
say he was a prophet, leader, innovative, and pragmatic in fighting for social change. In our
discussion on Jesus of Nazareth, we have learnt that being a prophet is not about foretelling the
future; instead a prophet is someone called by God to speak on His behalf for the sake of the
reign of God.
Vincent is in line with all the prophets written in the Bible. Putting Christ at the center of
his life and looking for Christ in the face of the poor, Vincent saw the world differently. Poverty
is not a hindrance to love another person who is poor. Just like the prophets and Jesus, Vincent
felt compassion for those who were suffering and afflicted. He was a man who was strove to
uplift the dignity of the suffering and afflicted by providing suitable remedies to those who
were marginalized by the dominating and oppressive society. He challenged the leaders and
the rich people to stop their oppressive attitudes towards powerless people and demanded
them to use and share their resources for the benefit of the poor. Vincent bravely faced the
challenge to reform the church by giving witness to a priestly life that is different from what
most of the priest did during their time.
Impelled by the Spirit of God, Vincent performed great job in following Christ as
evangelizer of the poor, armed with fivvirtues of simplicity, humility, meekness, mortification
and zeal for the glory of God and salvation of the people. He believed that these five virtues is
the best weapon to fight against the oppressive society and to become effective servant of the
poor. Such missionary virtues constitute Vincents life work and legacy as a prophet of his time.

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His commitment to serve the poor led him to realize the importance of organizing institutions
that would mobilize effectively the people, rich and poor, in the mission of evangelization and
service. To accomplish this vision, Vincent created numerous lay women and men
organizations and seminary conferences, retreats for the priests and ordinands so that theiy can
be best disciples of Christ for and with the poor. priests and servant of the poor. This is his way
of announcing the good news of life and denouncing the evilness in the social system.
For Vincent, it is not enough to do good, but one must do it well... for the sake of the
poor (hindi pwede ang pwede na; dapat magaling, marangal, at mapagmalasakit tayo alang-alang sa
mga naghihirap).