St. Vincent de Paul: The Apostle of Charity
Saturday, September 27th Readings Reflection: Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
Today is the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, who is known as the Apostle of Charity. Born to a poor French family in the late 16th century, St. Vincent became a priest in the year 1600. St. Vincent was not initially devoted to serving the poor, but he experienced a spiritual awakening when ministering as a young priest at the deathbed of a dying servant. The experience opened his eyes to the spiritual needs of the poor peasants.
After this, St. Vincent dedicated his life to serving the poor, establishing an order of priests (known today as the Vincentians) to assist in this charitable work. He also co-founded the Daughters of Charity, a religious order for women, with St. Louise de Marillac. Additionally, he founded a lay institute for women, known as the Ladies of Charity, to help support the missionary and charitable work of the priests and religious.
In addition to his charitable work, St. Vincent de Paul also helped men preparing for the priesthood. Before his time, priests did not always receive adequate formation and/or instruction prior to ordination. As a result, many of the priests in France lacked proper formation, and many also were not faithful to their vocations. St. Vincent sought to remedy this situation by providing more adequate instruction and formation for men preparing for the priesthood. His system of retreats and academic studies laid the foundation for the modern seminary system.
The verse in today’s Responsorial Psalm is especially fitting for this Feast of St. Vincent de Paul: “The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.” St. Vincent de Paul was truly a shepherd to the people of God, ministering to them in their spiritual and physical needs, teaching them the faith, and administering the sacraments while also tending to their physical hunger and illnesses. His example has inspired countless acts of charity throughout the centuries, most notably through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which was founded in 1833 by a devotee of St. Vincent.
May St. Vincent de Paul pray for us, that we respond with charity to the needs of others, not only satisfying their physical needs but also leading them closer to Christ by our example and instruction.
A stark contrast to this quote by Martin Luther:
“To kill a peasant is not murder; it is helping to extinguish the conflagration. Let there be no half measures! Crush them! Cut their throats! Transfix them. Leave no stone unturned! To kill a peasant is to destroy a mad dog!” – “If they say that I am very hard and merciless, mercy be damned. Let whoever can stab, strangle, and kill them like mad dogs”