St. Vincent de Paul: Humility to Accept God’s Call
Br. Jonathan Maury
Blessed Vincent de Paul lives as an icon of the resurrection life, present in Christ’s Body, both in his earthly sojourn and in heavenly glory.
His clerestory window was a gift from priest associates of the SSJE. It depicts him balding and bearded, in cassock, surplice and stole, holding a model of the Hotel Dieu hospital, a missionary priest ministering and teaching among the poor in the slums of Paris.
In his early life, Vincent struggled to escape his own peasant roots and sought ordination to better his worldly status. He employed native charm and social skills to obtain a position as tutor and chaplain to one of France’s wealthiest families.
However, in mid-life, Vincent experienced a transformative conversion when summoned to hear the confession of a dying tenant farmer on his patron’s estate. The episode brought him to a heightened awareness of his Christian vocation; from then on Vincent dedicated his pastoral ministry to the service of the poor.
In the years which followed, Vincent’s energies were turned to deepening concern for the souls of the rural peasants and for the improved formation of his clerical colleagues. He was moved to found a society of secular priests – later known as the Vincentians – who lived religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, offering themselves for the training of parish clergy and to mission work in cities and the countryside.
Vincent made use of his extensive contacts with the well-to-do to finance and organize wide-ranging hands-on charitable ministries and work by the brethren of his community. Their example attracted aristocratic women to join in the work of personal ministry with the needy and destitute. In companionship with blessed Louise de Marillac, Vincent founded the Daughters of Charity, a non-enclosed congregation devoted to serving the poor and the sick. Describing this innovative religious order, he wrote, “Their convent is the sickroom, their chapel the parish church, their cloister the streets of the city.”
“Their convent is the sickroom, their chapel the parish church, their cloister the streets of the city.”
The example of blessed Vincent became, in mysterious and hidden ways, the inspiration for my own vocation as a member of our Society. The first stirrings of a call to religious life became evident, as it had for Vincent, through encountering Christ in his poor, when I was invited to volunteer service with disadvantaged children of color as a college freshman. At that same time, membership in an intentional student community became the means for my deepening conversion and formation in the baptismal dying and rising of Christ. When in time, I came to life profession in the SSJE, the Spirit of the risen Christ, as it had for Vincent, gradually opened me to humility and acceptance of the grace of God’s calling, allowing me to set aside pretensions of a desire for ‘importance’ in the eyes of the Church.
Lastly, as Vincent found, the blessing of women as companions and partners in ministry was given to me in their presence as pastors, spiritual directors, and guiders in retreat.
Thanks be to God for Saint Vincent de Paul, a soul through which the light of Christ shines as in the chapel window which honors him!
Questions for Reflection
Vincent’s life was transformed when he encountered a dying tenant farmer and realized his true vocation to serve the poor.
Have you had an experience where an encounter with someone in need changed your perspective or sense of purpose?
How does serving others help you grow in your faith?
Vincent described the Daughters of Charity’s “convent” as the sickroom, their “chapel” as the parish church, and their “cloister” as the streets of the city.
What ordinary places in your life have you experienced as sacred spaces for ministry?
How can you bring the extraordinary presence of God into your everyday interactions and responsibilities?
