VINCENTIAN STUDIES COURSE

BOQUERON, CHIRIQUI, PANA

JOHN P. PRAGER, C.M. 1995

B. THE LIFE OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

1. THE BIRTH AND YOUTH (1581-1600)

GOALS: To understand the influence of St. Vincent's youth on the rest of his life. To see that he was not born a saint.

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Bulletin de la Société de Borda (l982), several articles.

 Baylach, J.O., "M. Vincent:Canone d'Ecouis et Vicaire General de l'Abbe de St. Ouen," Vincentiana 32 (l988), p.514ss

 Coste, I, p. 13-27.

 Defor du Rau, M., "La Ordenación de San Vicente,"Anales 90 (l982), p.437-446.

Diebold, E., "La Primera Misa de San Vicente," Anales 90 (l982), p. 324-326.

 --, "San Vicente:Párroco de Tilh," Anales 91 (l983), p. 264-268.

 "Las Virtudes Humanas de Vicente de Paúl," Anales 90 (l982), p. 118ss.

 Morin, J., "Les Origines et l'enfance," Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 407-418.

 --, "Les Premieres Années de M. Vincent:1581-1600," Vincentiana 31 (1987), p. 520-530.

 --, "M. Vincent, l'Homme," Vincentiana 31 (l987), p. 531-538.

 --, "M. Vincent:Un Gascon," Vincentiana 25 (l981), p. 275ss.

 Román, J.M., "El Nacimiento de San Vicente dePaúl, Preguntas en torno a unas Fechas," en Vicente de Paúl: LaInspiración Permanente, (Salamanca: CEME, l982), p. 47-73.
 
 
 

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Coste, I, p. 26-42.

Poole, S., "The Formative Years of a Saint:Vincent de Paul:1595-1617," Vincentian Heritage 13 (l992),p.81-112.

OPTIONAL READINGS

:
Collins, P., "St. Vincent de Paul:1600-1614: A Psycho-
Spiritual Study," Colloque No. 9 (l984), p. 16ff.

 Poole, S., "St. Vincent de Paul: 1595-1617," Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 419-442.
 
 

1. Some of the following questions can be discussed:

a. What are some of the traits from the youthful experience of St. V which marked his whole life?

b. What are some the characteristics that come from childhood in your own life?

c. How do they help or hinder you in ministry?

 2. It's important to emphasize:

a. Vincent was a from the countryside. He knew the human warmth of peasant families. He also knew the harsh life of the rural people.

b. He always exhibited the characteristics of a peasant:

a sense of humor and common sense, humility and
simplicity,

a preference for the concrete over the theoretical,

a strong faith in God and the ability to identify himself with the poor.
 

GOAL: To look at a disputed step in the life of the saint.

NOTE: If there isn't much time, this class can be skipped and a few points added to the last class.

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Collins, P., "St. Vincent de Paul, 1600-1614: A Psycho- Spiritual Study, Colloque No. 9 (l984), p. 16ff.

 Román, p. 67-88.

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Coste, I, p.26-42.

 Poole, S., "St. Vincent de Paul: 1595-1617," Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 424-435.
 

The group can be divided in two a few days before so that they can prepare a debate. One side defends the opinion that Vincent was a slave in Tunis. The other side takes the opposite view. It works better if the novices take the side which they really favor.

POINTS OF EMPHASIS:

1. Historians debate the veracity of Vincent's slavery. No one doubts the authenticity of the letters, only their content.

2. It's neccessary to explore the reasons for and against:

a. Reasons against the slavery:

i. The silence of the documents.
ii.Too many errors in the letters about the details of life in North Africa, etc.
iii. The silence which St. Vincent maintained throughout his life is explained by his embarassment at having written a letter full of lies and half-truths.

 b. Reasons in favor of the slavery:

i.Most of the errors can be explained.
ii. Vincent had no reason to lie.
iii. Vincent's silence is explained by his humility.

3. In the final analysis much depends on how one wishes to interpert the saint's silence.

4. It's impossible to say one way or the other in any definitive manner.

Perhaps that's not so important because the same Vincent who disappeared in 1605 is the Vincent who reappears in 1607. Whether or not he was a slave, his direction has not changed. In a sense he's still a slave to his own selfishness.
 
 

GOAL:Understand this fundamental Vincentian experience.

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Ibáñez, J.M., Vicente de Paúl y los Pobres, p.207-228.

Poole, S. y D. Slawson, "A New Look at an Old Temptation," Vincentian Heritage XI (l990), p.125-142.

 Renouard, J.P., "Les Années Obscures(1610-1617), la conversion," Vincentiana 31 (l987), p. 548-561.

 Román, p. 88-134.

 --, "El año 1617 en la Biografía de San Vicente de Paúl, Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 443-456.

 Winsen, G. van, "La Fondation de la Mission:Folleville," Vincentiana 31 (l987), p. 578-604.

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Corera, J., ""The Dark Night of St. Vincent de Paul,"
(translation of the article in Diez Estudios Vicencianos,
(Salamanca:CEME, l980).

 Renouard, J.P. & Others, St. Vincent's Spiritual Experience and Our Own, (Document of the Preparatory Commission for the l980 General Assembly).

OPTIONAL READINGS:

Coste, I, 43-94.

Dodin, A., Vincent de Paul and Charity, (N.Y.: New City,
l993), p. 16-28.
 
 

Before talking about Vincent's conversion, ask the novices to think about their own experience of coming to conversion or vocation. They can reflect in private
and then share in groups.
In the large group, ask if they noticed any common elements in the shared stories. Almost always they mention persons or events which were God's instruments.
Frequently they point out that the process was one of a few steps foward and a few steps backwards.
Later, in the class, the similarities between their experience and Vincent's can be highlighted.

STEPS IN THE CONVERSION PROCESS OF ST. V I N C E N T
 

A r r i v a l a t P a r i s
A c c u sation
Chaplain to queen

 Berulle

Clichy
De Gondy Residence(1)
 

THE POOR

Folleville
Chatillon
De Gondy Residence (2)
Galley Slaves
De Sales

 Macon
The Protestant
Last visit home
 

POINTS TO EMPHASIZE:

1. St. Vincent's conversion was a process.
2. At the heart of the experience was the encounter with Christ in the poor.
3. The internal struggle was between Jesus' call from the margins of society and his own selfishness.
4. Nothing in the process was inevitable. In every instance Vincent had to confront the call of Jesus and come to a decision.
5. Sometimes he took a step foward. Sometimes backwards. He experienced moments of light and temptation
6. His spiritual masters did not give him the experience. They only provided a theological framework for understanding it.

 4. THE SPIRITAL MASTERS OF ST. DE PAUL

GOAL: Understand the spiritual and theological influences on
ST. Vincent.

NOTE: IT'S POSSIBLE TO DO THE NEXT THREE SECTIONS AS ONE
CLASS OR THREE SEPARATE CLASSES.

 A. PIERRE DE BERULLE(1575-1629):

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Coluccia, p. 64-73.

 "El Cristo de Berulle," Anales, (l986), p. 766-775.

 Dagens, J., Bérulle et les Origines de la Restauracion Catholique, (Paris, l952).

 Delville, R., L'Ecole Française de Spiritualité, (Paris: Desclee, l987).

 Dupuy, M.," Le Christ de Bérulle," Vincentiana 30 (l986), p. 240-252.

 Ibáñez, J.M., Vicente de Paúl: Realismo y Encarnación, (Salamanca: Sigueme, l983), p. 163-200.

Leonard, J., "St. Vincent de Paul and Cardinal de Berulle," The Irish Ecclesiastical Record (l936), p, 256-271 y 354-367.

 Orcajo, A., "Las Grandes Corrientes Espirituales del Siglo XVII'" Vincentiana 31 (l987), p. 507-519.

Rodríguez, A., "Berulle, Pierre de," Diccionario de Espiritualidad, (Barcelona:Herder, l983), E. Ancilli, ed., tomo I, p. 246-251.

 Thompson, W., Jesus, Lord and Saviour, (N.Y.:Paulist, l980), cap.8.

 Valenga, S., "La Espiritualidad Francesa," CLAPVI 32 (l981), p. 299-303.
 
 
 

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Buckley, M., "Seventeenth Century Spirituality:Three Figures,"en Christian Spirituality: Post-Reform & Modern, ed.
L. Dupre y D.E. Saler, (N.Y.:Crossroads, l991), p. 28-53.

 Minton, A., "The Spirituality of Berulle: A New Look," Spirituality Today 36 (l984), p. 210-219

OPTIONAL READINGS:

Chesley-Jones, E., The Study of Spirituality, (N.Y.: Oxford, l986), p. 380-395.

 Delville, R., "The Seventeenth Century French School of
Spirituality," Vincentian Heritage 11 (l990), p. 17-28.

 Thompson, W., Berulle and the French School, (N.Y.:Paulist, l989).

POINTS FOR EMPHASIS:

1. Almost all of the spiritual leaders of the Catholic Reform were responding to the Renaissance and its exalted view of humanity and human possibilities.
2. Berulle will take the negative view of the Augustinian revival. The fear is that an overly optimistic way of approaching humanity relegates God to a lesser place. For that reason, sin is underlined and grace exalted.
3. For the Augustinians salvation comes through grace; contact with God. Berulle places this contact in the person of the Incarnate Word.
4. Meditation on the "states" of Christ and putting on his "sentiments" is the means par ecellence of being of being in contact with the Incarnate Word.
5. There is a tendancy here to be abstract and somewhat elitist.
6. Berulle himself was always balanced in his theology. Some of his followers took the negative elements to extremes. Interestingly enough, most of the first Jansenists were followers of Berulle.
7. Besides being a spiritual director, Berulle was the founder of the Oratorians, a reformer and a member of the king's council. He was one of the leaders of the devout party which opposed Richelieu's foreign policy.
8. Berulle had a profound impact on the young Vincent de Paul. Vincent uses Berullian terminology, but often with a different meaning. In later years, the two had a falling out. No one knows why, but many have speculated. Berulle opposed the founding of the C.M.

B. FRANCIS DE SALES(1567-1622)

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Bizart, P., "Le Recontre de Deux Grandes Ames et l'histoire de leur Relations," Annales de la CM 125 (l960), p. 205-214.

 Bordes, H., "Le Christ de François de Sales," Vincentiana, 30 (l986), p. 253-280

 Coste, I, 132-142 & III, 182-256.

 Dodin, A., François de Sales, Vincent de Paul: Les Deux Amis, (Paris: OEIL, l984).

 Ibáñez, Vicente dePaúl:Realismo, p. 114-141.

 Orcajo, A. y M. Pérez-Flores, San Vicente de Paúl, tomo II: Espiritualidad y Escritos, (Madrid:BAC, l982), p.63-65 y 99-101.

 Seruet, P., "Francisco de Sales," Diccionario de la Espiritualidad, vol. 2., p. 144ss.

 Tamayo, A., "Originalidad del Espíritu de San Vicente de Paúl," CLAPVI 33 (l981), p. 367-374.

 Valenga, S., "La Espiritualidad Francesa," CLAPVI 32 (l981), 303-308.

 Wright, W., "Hearts have a Secret Language," Vincentian Heritage 11 (l990), p. 45-58.

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

 Buckley, p. 28-53.

 Chesley-Jones, p. 380-395.

POINTS OF EMPHASIS:

1. Francis de Sales, a native of Savoy, studied law and later theology. After his ordination, he preached missions in the protestant areas of his diocese.
2. He became bishop of Geneva with his residence in Annecy. He founded the Visitation Sisters with St. Jane de Chantal. He was an author and famous preacher.
3. Francis was a truly pastoral man and this is reflected in his theology. The saint's spirituality has been called Devout Humanism.
4. Francis' reaction to the Renaissance was positive. He rejected the negative Agustinian approach of many to affirm the possibilities of humanity. For him humanity is good because it's God's creation. The human person comes to salvation through union with God. It is love that causes this union.
5. Francis never denies sin, but he chooses to emphasize the positive. Love makes a person capable of salvation. Everyone can live a life of love according to his or her state in life. For this reason lay people can be saints.
6. If Vincent had a heroe, it was Francis de Sales. They only met a few times, but formed a deep friendship quickly.
7. Although Vincent uses Berullian terminology, the content of his words is closer to that of Francis de Sales. The emphasis on love, the openess to the world and the pastoral concerns are all Vincentian themes. Vincent will give them his own twist from the perspective of the poor.

C. BENEDICT OF CANFELD(1562-1610)

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Delville, R., "St. Vincent and St. Louise in Relation to the French School of Spirituality, Vincentian Heritage 11 (l990), p. 29-44.

 Dodin, A., "Les sources de l' Enseignement de M. Vincent de Paul," Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 544-555.

 Flanagan, E., "The Carmelite Dimension in St. Vincent and Its Implications Today," Colloque 17 (l988),p.348-355.

 Ibáñez, J.M., Vicente de Paúl: Realismo, p. 143-161.

 Orcajo, p. 102-107.

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Davitt, T., "An Introduction to Benet of Canfield," Colloque 16 (l987), p. 268-283.

 Huxley, A., Grey Eminence, (London, l982), cap.3.

POINTS FOR EMPHASIS:

1. Vincent knew Canfeld's book, The Rule of Perfection, through his friend Andre Duval.
2. Canfeld was an English exile who entered the Capuchins in France. He was part of the circle that congregated in the salon of Mdme Acarie to discuss spiritual topics.
3. The focus of Canfeld's theology is the will of God. He teaches that this is the road to perfection. His book offers a more or less complicated system for discovering and uniting oneself to God's will.
4. Vincent simplifies the teaching of the Capuchin and makes it more concrete in the service of the poor.
 
 

1. The following questions can be discussed:

 -In your opinion which of his spiritual masters had the most impact on Vincent?
-Where do you see examples of the influences of these spiritualmasters in the life and the teaching of St. Vincent?
-What makes Vincent different from any of his teachers?
-St. Vincent used his spiritual masters to help him understand and articulate his experience in the 17th Century. Who can help us do that today?
 

2. The following points can be emphasized:

-The experience of God in the poor is the key element in Vincent's spirituality

-Vincent does not slavishly follow the teaching of any one spiritual master. He has an eclectic approach. He uses their teachings to understand and articulate his own experience. They do not give him the experience! They provide a theological filter to deal with it.

-Vincent creates his own synthesis.