Brief Biography from the Constitution of the Congregation
Vincent de Paul was born in the village of Pouy
in 1581. As a boy he lived among the poor and experienced the conditions
under which they lived. In 1600 he became a priest. For a time he
sought to escape from the poverty of his origins, but with the help
of spiritual directors he felt himself called to deeper holiness
and, through the events of his life, was finally led by divine providence
to a firm determination to dedicate himself to the salvation of the
poor
Vincent de Paul was born in the
village of Pouy in 1581. As a boy he lived among the poor and
experienced the conditions under which they lived. In 1600 he became
a priest. For a time he sought to escape from the poverty of his
origins, but with the help of spiritual directors he felt himself
called to deeper holiness and, through the events of his life, was
finally led by divine providence to a firm determination to dedicate
himself to the salvation of the poor.
While he was exercising his ministry in Gannes and,
on the 25th of January 1617, in Folleville, he saw that
the evangelization of the poor was an urgent need. He himself holds
that this was the origin of his vocation, and of the Congregation
of the Mission.
When, in August of the same year in Chatillon-les-Dombes,
he founded "La Charite" [The Confraternities of Charity]
to assist the sick who lacked all help, he discovered for
himself, and showed others, the close link that exists between the
evangelization and the service of the poor.
Gradually his religious development led to contemplating
and serving Christ in the person of the poor. The vision of Christ,
sent by the Father to evangelize the poor, was central to his life
and ministry.
Hearing the call of people in the world of his own day, learning
to listen with an ever more intense love of God and of poor people
who were burdened with hardships of all kinds, Vincent felt himself
called to alleviate sufferings of every sort.
Among all his commitments he always had a special care for
the Mission, and he gathered the first members to join with him in
evangelization of the country people; this was set out in a contract
dated the 17th of April 1625. They bound themselves to form a Congregation
in which, living as a community, they would devote themselves to the
salvation of the country poor; this was by an Act of Association which
they signed on the 4th of September 1626.
While Vincent and his confreres were giving themselves to the
evangelization of the poor, they clearly saw that the effectiveness
of their mission to the people could not be sustained unless they also
provided for the formation of the clergy. They began this work in 1628
in Beauvais when, at the request of the bishop, they held retreats
for those being advanced to orders. In this way they were providing
good pastors for the Church.
In order that he might better respond to a wide variety of
needs, St. Vincent brought together as many people as he could, rich
and poor, humble and powerful, and used every means to inspire in them
a sensitivity to the poor, who are the privileged image of Christ.
He moved them to help the poor, directly and indirectly. They made
this voluntary and generous dedication their own. There followed the
Company of the Daughters of Charity and the Confraternities of Charity
founded by him, and other Associations derived from these as well asindividuals
who, up to our own day, have resolved to take on this same spirit.
His zeal for the poor developed further with the start of foreign
missions when, in 1648, he sent confreres for the first time to
Madagascar.
As it was growing, the Congregation as an Institute gradually
clarified its vocation, its thrust, and its community life. It was
also insistent on its secular character, even though its members grounded
their stability in the Congregation by a special vow, and by the practice
of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Such characteristics constitute
the heritage of the Congregation even to our day.
In complete accord with the intentions of the Founder, all these things
are formally set out in documents describing the origin and thrust
of the Congregation. On the 12th of January 1633, in the Bull Salvatoris
Nostri, Urban VIII decreed: "the principal object and
special aim of this Congregation and its members is, by the grace
of God, to work both for their own salvation and for the salvation
of those living on farms, in villages, on the land, and in the poorer
localities and towns; but in the cities and urban areas . . . they
shall give retreats privately to those about to be advanced to orders,
and instruct those preparing for orders." In the Brief Ex Commissa
Nobis, dated the 22nd of September 1655, Alexander VII approved
taking
"simple vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, as also
of stability in the Congregation, with the object of devoting
oneself all one's life to the salvation of poor country people. While
these vows are being pronounced, no one shall assist with the purpose
of accepting them in the name of the Congregation, or of Ourselves,
or of the Roman Pontiff at the time. " Moreover, he declared
that ''the Congregation of the Mission be exempt from the jurisdiction
of the local Ordinaries in all things except for the persons who
have been assigned to the missions by the Superiors of the Congregation
. . . and those things which concern the missions. We establish also
that the Congregation should not therefore be considered of
the number of Religious Orders, but that it is of the body of the
secular clergy. "
St. Vincent took great care to form the Congregation
in the spirit of the Lord and, after many years of experience, he gave
it the Rules or Common Constitutions [traditionally called "The
Common Rules"]. Here he offered from the gospel examples of holiness
which might more deeply motivate the spirituality, apostolic activity,
and fraternal life of his foundation. This came from his profound awareness
of what the Lord did and taught in fulfilling the will of his
Father who sent him to evangelize the poor.
At the beginning of the Common Rules, he sets out in more detail
the vocation and mission of the Congregation, indicating at the same
time how this is to be achieved:
''We read in sacred scripture that our Lord, Jesus Christ, sent
on earth for the salvation of the human race, did not begin by
teaching; he began by doing. And what he did was to integrate fully
into his life every type of virtue. He then went on to teach, by
preaching the good news of salvation to poor people, and by passing
on to his apostles and disciples what they needed to know to become
guides for others. Now the little Congregation of the Mission wants,
with God 's grace, to imitate Christ, the Lord, in so far as that
is possible in view of its limitations. It seeks to imitate
his virtues as we// as what he did for the salvation of others.
It is only right that if the Congregation is to do the same
sort of work, it should act in the same sort of way. This means
that the whole purpose of the Congregation is: 1. to
have a genuine commitment to grow in holiness, patterning
ourselves, as far as possible, on the virtues which the great Master
himself graciously taught us in what he said and did; 2. to
preach the good news of salvation to poor people, especially in
rural areas; 3. to help seminarians and priests
to grow in knowledge and virtue, so that they can be effective
in their ministry'' (CR, I, l).
In these words, St. Vincent entrusted to the confreres of the
Congregation, his followers in the Lord, a unique vocation, a new
kind of community life, and an exacting purpose that, with wisdom,
should be continually adapted to each new age.
Daily
Quotes from the Writings of Vincent de Paul
