CONTINUING
VINCENTIAN FORMATION
By
John E. Rybolt, C.M.
The purpose of this week is to do justice to two paragraphs of the
Constitutions and the Statutes:
C. 81: The formation of our members should be continued and renewed
all through life.
S. 42: Individual provinces, through the help of their formation
commission, should organize and promote both common and personal continuing
formation.
One of the purposes of CIF has been to help in the Congregation's
continuing Vincentian formation. I should say that we, the members
of the team (Fathers Sterling, Renouard and myself), decided early
on in the planning for the program that we would concentrate on Vincentian
formation as best we could. This would mean that we would not
engage in continuing theological, liturgical, biblical, social, etc.,
formation. That is best left to your own provinces. We
felt that our approach here in Paris would become too Euro-centered,
or First World centered, and we wanted to avoid that. However,
we did believe that with the Constitutions, which are common to all
our provinces, and with our founder, and our common experiences, we
would fulfill the mandate which the superior general had given us.
Once we submitted our report and suggestions to him and his council,
they approved our approach.
Despite that, we also believe that we should say something about various
aspects of our continuing formation. For this reason, I am going
to talk about continuing Vincentian formation; Father Sterling will
speak about continuing spiritual formation; and Father Renouard will
talk about continuing personal and professional formation.
I am dividing my remarks into several parts: periodical publications,
both official and non-official, study groups, a Vincentian library,
and a Vincentian archive. Lastly, I will give you a few notions
about how to read Saint Vincent today.
The fundamental question, therefore, for this section is: How can
I keep up with Vincentian topics in my continuing community formation?
Periodical Publications
There is no question that we are inundated with many publications.
All you have to do is to look at the many kiosks here in Paris to
realize that there are hundreds and probably thousands of magazines
and newspapers available. A trip to FNAC near here will overwhelm
you with the richness of the publications available, principally in
French. Nevertheless, there are a few things that we should
have in mind as we make our own Vincentian choices.
First is Vincentiana. This is a publication that began
as a newsletter from the General Curia in 1957. It soon changed
into a magazine format, with articles in various languages, but with
official announcements in Latin (originally) and later in various
modern languages. In the last year, it has been revised so that
there will be three different editions, each with the same material,
but in the three principal languages of the Congregation: French,
Spanish and English. Vincentiana will still contain official
information, such as letters from the superior general, letters from
the Holy See concerning various matters, etc., and brief studies.
Vincentiana has had a difficult history. In the beginning,
since it was in Latin, nearly everyone could read it. Later,
as the knowledge of Latin declined, fewer confreres thought of Vincentiana,
and it has languished in various provincial or house libraries.
In fact, there are some very important issues of Vincentiana.
Among the most important are those which are the records of the general
assemblies. Others are the thick volumes which contain the papers
for the Vincentian Months, sponsored by SIEV (which will be discussed
below.) These papers are in several languages, and are usually
of a very good quality. (I should also mention the first of
these meetings, held in Rome in 1981. It was published in Rome,
and not as a part of Vincentiana.)
The predecessor of Vincentiana is the Annales de la Congregation
de la Mission et de la Compagnie des Filles de la Charite.
This series, with minor changes of title, appeared regularly between
1834 and 1963. It was originally intended as a series of edifying
letters from the missions, such as other congregations had.
Later it grew into a general journal of Vincentian life and history.
Father Antoine Fiat, the superior general, asked in 1894 that editions
in various languages should appear, since many in the Congregation
could not read the exclusively French-language text. Besides,
the Spanish confreres had already begun an edition in their language
(1893). This series, Anales de la Congregacion de la Mision„n
y de las Hijas de la Caridad continues today, and is an excellent
publication. Other translations also appeared in Italian, Polish,
German, Dutch and English. The English version ran from 1894
to 1925. The cost of maintaining it during the Great Depression
let to its disappearance. The Italian edition also continues.
A second Spanish edition, published for the province of Barcelona,
ran from 1913 to 1974. I must say that I consider the death
of the Annales as a great loss for the Congregation.
I hope that someday this lack can be made up.
Both Vincentiana and the French Annales are available
for those who want them. The first can be gotten from the General
Curia directly, or you can probably find other copies in community
houses which may have duplicates. The second is somewhat more
difficult, but many provinces have back issues. The Maison Mˆ®re
has original back issues of many years. In addition, a microfilm
edition of all the Annales is also available from the United
States.
These two publications, the Annales and Vincentiana
had a general official character. There are, however, other
publications in various languages that are worth knowing about and
reading, depending on your language skills.
Since we have already spoken about the Spanish Anales, let
me continue with them. This series is published in Madrid, and
is widely received by both Vincentians and Daughters of Charity.
Like all publications in a series, its excellence varies with its
editors. In recent years, it has been quite good, particularly
after the demise of its French parent. For Latin America, of
course, there is the bulletin of CLAPVI, the Conference of
Latin American Vincentian Visitors. As it is now published,
the CLAPVI features a different country for each issue.
Articles are in Spanish and Portuguese.
For France, the confreres gradually undertook the publication of a
specifically French review to replace Vincentiana. This
is now called the BLF, the abbreviation for Bulletin des
Lazaristes de France. This is published in Paris, and is
widely available in French-speaking areas. It began in 1965.
Along with it, although a much different publication, are the Fiches
Vincentiennes published, with the help of Father Renouard, in
the Toulouse province. It began about 1965 as well, and bears
the helpful subtitle:"Au temps de St-Vincent-De-Paul. . . et
aujourdui"{ [In the time of Saint Vincent de Paul . . . and today].
This is helpful because it sets out to help the reader study texts
from Saint Vincent and then to reflect on some problem or issue specific
for today (theological, social, spiritual, pastoral, etc.)
Another important publication was Mission et Charite, put out
by Andre Dodin and Maurice Vansteenkiste from 1961 to 1970.
It is still available here in the house, and makes a valuable contribution
to any Vincentian library. The language is French.
The Italian Annali also continues, as mentioned above.
Often one of the issues reprints the papers given at the annual meeting
of Vincentians, Daughters of Charity and others, on some important
Vincentian topic.
The German-speaking confreres of central Europe publish the bulletin
of MEGViS, a study group, whose German name means: Central
European Vincentian Studies Group. Its language is German.
An interesting feature is that it is published in association with
various congregations of Vincentian-inspired sisters.
Lastly, the English language confreres have the advantage of two excellent
publications. The older of the two is Colloque, published
by the Irish province. It began in 1979 and appears twice a
year. The other is Vincentian Heritage. It began
in 1980, as an official publication of the Vincentian Studies Institute,
a joint effort of the five provinces of the Vincentians and the five
provinces of the Daughters of Charity in the United States.
As with publications in other languages, the two English-language
periodicals offer a mixture of Vincentian materials, that is, about
Saint Vincent, and materials about one’Äôs own nation.
Many other publications have existed and many, in turn, are still
being published today, particularly on the missions. Most of
these are very popular in scope, but they have a great historical
value. Some provincial bulletins, too, offer important materials,
even if they are short.
Why mention these publications? The answer here is to try to
inform you about their existence, and then to invite you to read the
materials and to study them for your own use. I cannot tell
you how many times I refer to past issues of some or most of these
journals--I do so often, and I am constantly finding new things that
I have overlooked up to now.
Study Groups
In 1977, Father James Richardson, the superior general, remarked on
the successes of the Vincentian Weeks being held in Spain and elsewhere
(such as Italy). This led him to call for renewed attention
to the sources of Vincentian life. The 1980 general assembly
repeated the call for the entire community, and sponsored a group
called GIEV: Groupe International d’ÄôEtudes Vincentiennes.
This group began to work and called for the formation of national
and/or interprovincial Vincentian studies groups. In the United
States, this led to the Vincentian Studies Institute, which, as mentioned
above, sponsors the Vincentian Heritage. In other countries,
there are similar groups, which have advanced the cause of Vincentian
studies. There is a group in Colombia, one in India, besides
those in Spain, Italy and central Europe already alluded to. You will
find SIEV (the new designation for GIEV: The Secrˆ©tariat International
d’ÄôEtudes Vincentiennes) and its members listed in the international
personnel catalogue as an arm of the General Curia.
What have these groups done? SIEV has sponsored several Vincentian
Months. During these, Vincentian topics were discussed, the
participants had the time to travel--as we have done--to see important
Vincentian sites, and got to understand one another better.
Other study groups have sponsored various meetings or congresses (such
as the several held to make the anniversary of Louise de Marillac's
birth). Others have undertaken translations of important texts
(Abelly, Coste, articles.) Some have sponsored provincial histories;
others, art works, and out of these meetings have grown much to enrich
Vincentian life, such as music, poetry, and prayer.
Why mention these groups and their works? The answer is simply
to let you know that they exist, and to invite your interest in their
work. This is also the point to say that there are very
few trained Vincentian scholars, "Vincentianists/Vicentianists".
I do not know the whole reason why, but I do know that there are no
study programs for Vincentian studies strictly so called. For
someone to become a trained scholar, he would have to pick an area
of interest and pursue it from a Vincentian standpoint. This
is being done, increasingly, by young confreres who do their studies
on the graduate level. Many excellent theses have been written,
for example, on Vincentian themes. One of the hopes for
CIF, by the way, is that young confreres with an interest in doing
higher Vincentian studies, could take part in CIF and get on-the-job
training as a budding Vincentianist.
I would also like to make a distinction between what some have called
Lazarism and Vincentianism. I find it a useful distinction.
The emphasis of so-called Lazarism is archaeology: i.e., the study
of the past for its own sake, the reconstruction of ancient societies.
The emphasis of so-called Vincentianism is study of our heritage while
making connections for the mission today. Lazarism merely tells
our past story; Vincentianism tells our story, too, but sets out to
draw lessons for the present. Both have a place in our work.
May I suggest that you could yourselves make some start in getting
study groups going in your own country (if there is more than one
province) or your province or even your house, if these do not already
exist. I have discussed this topic of founding study groups with confreres,
but they often express their frustration at not knowing enough or
not having the scholarly resources to continue. I can tell you
that, in my own case, for example, I began Vincentian studies on my
own, and was moved to develop in that area through contact with others
who, like myself, had little formal training but who had some interest.
We prepared materials for each other, criticized each others works
(in the good sense of offering comments and support), and moved on
from there. I probably would have done no research into certain topics
if other confreres had not urged me to do so. I knew little,
but after some research, I was able to contribute something.
The same thing could be done all over the Congregation. In any
case, I urge you to "think Vincentian". Just as a deacon
or priest should think with the Church, so Vincentians should think
with the Congregation, and have an interest in its life. Some
will be more interested in their own province and its works; others
in the history of the Congregation, others in Saint Vincent himself
(his theology, his pastoral practice, his spirituality), others in
our larger Vincentian family past and/or present.
Books
Returning to a topic mentioned above, many confreres complain
that they lack the resources for any serious Vincentian reading.
This brings me to the subject of a Vincentian library. One of
the shocking facts about this house, the Maison Mere of the Congregation
of the Mission, is that it has no Vincentian library. There
are, of course, hundreds of Vincentian books, but they are scattered
around the house in various places: some in confreres' rooms, others
in the big library, others in the library annex, and others in the
archives. It is hoped that someday a good Vincentian library,
open to all interested Vincentian scholars, will be made available.
Fortunately, and less dramatically, there are excellent Vincentian
libraries elsewhere. One of the best and most complete is that
set up in the Central House in Madrid, Spain. Father Jose Maria
Roman, who oversaw its development, has published a catalogue of its
contents. This book, alone, can serve as a gold mine of information
on matters Vincentian, especially in the Spanish language. Other
provinces have--or in many cases used to have--good provincial libraries.
Most often, however, you will find a small collection of items which
no one ever looks at. Many of these volumes will be in French,
and they regularly come from houses which have been closed or transferred.
This is also the case in many houses: the Vincentian books there are
often an embarrassment, although some houses are well provided with
Community books.
How can I get the books that our province or house library, or my
personal collection, needs? There are two main ways: either
get the books themselves, or get photocopies of what you need.
Many provinces have extra books lying around, duplicates of all sorts,
which will never been looked at in a thousand years. In general,
provinces are quite willing to share these volumes with those who
need them and can make good use of them. How are you to know,
however, what books are even available? There are several ways.
One is the excellent listing published of the contents of the Vincentian
library in Madrid. The French confreres and Daughters have done
a similar service in 1988. Besides, you can always check in
Vincentiana for either notices about new books or you can examine
the footnotes of various articles to find out the important books
useful for basic research. Vincentiana is preparing
bibliographies in various languages, and, for English, there is a
comprehensive bibliography being published in Vincentian Heritage.
Besides the books themselves, there is always the photocopier.
Our own CIF library, for example, has a nearly complete collection
of all the articles on Saint Vincent written in English (with the
exception of articles from Colloque and Vincentian Heritage).
Even if you cannot get the book or the photocopy yourself, you will
find, I am certain, that librarians and archivists will be happy to
help you to procure what you need. Despite their reputation,
these people are interested in having others read the materials they
have so carefully catalogued and preserved.
Archives
This is the time, too, to speak of Vincentian archives.
What goes into archives? To be clear about the matter, it is
useful to say what an archive is not. First, an archive
is not a library. That is, most archives do not repeat the holdings
of books and periodicals that a good library has. Archives do
need certain books for reference, and they keep special collections
(such as books by a certain person or class of persons). However,
the tendency to keep books should be avoided. Books belong principally
in a library, even in a specialized library.
Second, an archive is not a deposit of things that no one can find
a room for anywhere else. What do you do with the later Father Murphy's
family photos? Put them in the archives? No. What
do you do with the lovely picture of the Blessed Virgin which the
late Father Jones received at his golden jubilee, but which no one
in the house wants? Put it in the archives? No. What do
you do with old books that nobody wants? Put them in the archives?
No. Rather, an archive is a place for papers, documentation,
photographs, etc., which are helpful in keeping track of the history
of the organization that keeps the archives.
Third, an archive is not a treasure chamber full of secrets or just
of rare and unusual items, that is: it is not a museum where one may
look but never touch. One does have to be careful of who does
research, careful that researchers do not choose to "borrow"
materials briefly, or to "correct" original documents, or
to "purify" or "protet" someon's reputation.
Nevertheless, the archives are for use and for research.
If archives are not for books, not for unwanted junk, nor for keeping
secrets, what are archives for? As mentioned above, the archive
of a province, in particular, is the place to put (1) the basic documents
pertaining to the province (its foundation, early history, etc.),
(2) materials about the Congregation at large (superiors general,
works, etc.); (3) basic documents from provincials and their officials;
(4) documents about houses and works; (5) documents about confreres.
What constitutes documents? Letters, certainly, but also minutes
of general and provincial assemblies, as well as anything that helps
to define the character of the province. Don't forget visual
documents (photographs, slides, videos, movies), as well as audio
materials (tapes.) Don't forget to have the machines to play
these visual documents. Many old-fashioned materials are unreachable
today since the machines are no longer made. I have found it
helpful, in addition, to have copies on microfilm (or photocopies)
of materials from other archives, particularly the archives of the
General Curia. In many cases, materials from Rome supplement
gaps in our knowledge, since the General Curia kept nearly everything,
and this material is arranged by provinces and houses and persons,
and is in excellent condition. I also recommend taping interviews
with confreres, especially older confreres. A great wealth of
experience dies with them when they leave us, and many men are more
than willing to hand on what they know. I began doing this,
with much hesitation, but after a while I realized how easy it is.
Speaking of modern means, such as microfilm, even more modern possibilities
are opening up and undoubtedly will do so in ways we can only imagine.
It is certainly possibly these days to put many documents in archives
on video and have the images transferred to a CD-ROM. Father
Claude Lautissier has put all the writings of Saint Vincent (principally
Coste's 14 volumes) on computer, and you can take home with you in
a small box of diskettes the entire corpus of the founder's letters,
conferences and writings. The same is true of the Spanish edition,
although it is not as developed as the French version. Another
possibility being discussed is to have a Vincentian home page on the
Internet.
Reading Saint Vincent
I conclude with a few remarks about reading Saint Vincent today.
Where to start? My suggestion is that you start at the beginning:
Coste, Correspondence, Volume One, page one. Chew all the way
through, a few pages at a time, in chronological order. This takes
great commitment, but it is not an overwhelming task if you stick
to it. At the same time as you read, take notes. On an
attached page I have drawn up a little guide to making notes on these
Vincentian texts. Do so, of course, taking into account all
the principles of hermeneutics which Father Romˆ°n mentioned at the
beginning (such as who wrote the texts, when they were written, why
they were written, the person or group to whom they were written,
and so on.) I keep notes in my computer and I refer to them
occasionally.
Besides his own writings, plan to read biographies of him. In
this case too, my suggestion is that you start at the beginning, with
Louis Abelly. Modern translations into Spanish and English are
now available and the reading goes fairly quickly. After Abelly,
fill out your knowledge with smaller biographies, since in them you
will often find distinctive points of view and new enlightenment.
In any case, this reading keeps your interest going.
Lastly, try reading a book, or an article, with others, and then discuss
it. Some of the most fruitful work can be begun by planning
to read something, and then by coming together and reviewing your
reading. I put great store in both reading silently on our own,
and then in speaking about what we have read. You can make interesting
connections and discover things in your own experience and in that
of others that you never imagined were there.
Conclusion
I urge you to commit yourselves to your own Vincentian continuing
formation. Certainly during these weeks at CIF you have read,
perhaps for the first time, the Constitutions and Statutes, the Common
Rules, your provincial norms and plans, and you have, I hope, become
much more familiar with Saint Vincent and the life of the Congregation
than you have been in the past. I hope, too, that you will have
a hunger to know more and to share the knowledge with others.
This is sometimes a lonely quest, but I think that it is eminently
worthwhile to prepare the ground for others (such as by forming a
Vincentian study group, developing a house library, or even caring
in some way for the heritage of the past in a house or provincial
archives.) Get your group, or your province, or your house,
to commission art and music, particularly to help our own self-understanding
and to embellish our worship. For example, I have looked long
and hard for a good small statue of Vincent de Paul, but these are
nearly impossible to find. Couldn’Äôt we have someone with great
skill do so for us?
To conclude, let me come back to the distinction between Lazarism
(a Vincentian archaeology) and Vincentianism. Our vocation as
members of the Congregation of the Mission is to follow Christ, the
evangelizer of the poor. For this reason, our work and study
is to be for the mission, more practical than theoretical. My
own conviction is that if we are not formed continually in our Vincentian
identity that we will lose it and, with that, will no longer be for
the service of the poor.
