I just watched “Vincent de Paul: Charity’s Saint,” a documentary about the life and works of the saint to whom, (according to SJU’s website), our university “looks to for its vision and inspiration.” Not only does our university make this claim, but they make it often. Trust me: it’s impossible to go to Saint John’s University without hearing that we are “Catholic, Vincentian, Metropolitan, and Global” almost every day. But what does “Vincentian” really mean? And how does our school follow a Vincentian tradition?
In short, a person that is Vincentian is one who follows the example of Saint Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French saint who focused his life on organizing charity and reforming the Church. With that said, any Vincentian person has big shoes to fill. According to the documentary, Vincent founded three organizations: The Congregation of the Mission, the Ladies of Charity, and the Daughters of Charity. (Granted, his friend Saint Louise de Marillac had a lot to do with the latter two organizations!) The goal of these organizations was to preach to and serve those in need throughout the world. Vincent aimed to establish a unified face of charity throughout the Catholic Church, and he succeeded on a lasting scale. (For example: if you’re Catholic, look in your church’s bulletin. It’s likely your Church has a Saint Vincent de Paul Society or a Ladies of Charity chapter). The documentary notes that Vincent was an excellent fundraiser and campaign manager – one that religious foundations still use as an example today.
One of Vincent’s defining traits, (and one that any Vincentian person must strive for) is a never-ending love and respect for all people – especially those that are poor and outcasted. This love and respect is what motivated him to keep doing his service. At SJU, the school tries to instill this compassion by requiring students to complete six Academic Service Learning (ASL) hours in NYC each semester. When I first heard of this requirement, I wasn’t thrilled. I felt that with school and activities, I was too busy to volunteer, and that no one should be pushed to do community service. However, my outlook fully changed after doing my service at a food pantry/soup kitchen in Staten Island. I realized that while I am well-off, many people are born into situations where they rely on volunteer help to survive. Others fall hard on their luck and just need a little support to get through a period of unemployment. I concluded that something like that could easily happen to me, and that wealth means nothing. Everyone is a human and deserves basic comfort and happiness. According to the documentary, this view is similar to how Saint Vincent felt. When he looked upon those who “barely looked human,” he said that he could see the figure of Christ in them.
Another notable aspect of Saint Vincent is that he was not always a saintly person. According to the documentary, he was originally a “talented, ambition, and decidedly average priest.” He worked among the rich and lived a wealthy lifestyle until eventually he felt the call to serve the poor. Reverend Robert Maloney C.M. says that his conversion wasn’t instant. “Rather, he reacted to the people and the events that he saw and said God is calling me and speaking to me through this event, through this person,” said the reverend. Sr. Mary Poole, D.C. also notes how Vincent had a temper and a dark side, yet “he often apologized for his own faults. He did become a very humble man but it was at great costs to himself.” Overall, we get the idea that Vincent was an imperfect person; just like us. His imperfection is one of the reasons he is such a great role model because he always strove to be better and act as Jesus did. We also, as imperfect Christians, should continually try to act like Jesus. Vincent, in his life, did this by aiming for five virtues: simplicity, humility, gentleness, mortification, and zeal.
So if you’d ask me what it means to be Vincentian, I would say that it takes the desire to serve all people, a goal to act as Jesus did, and the determination to never stop improving yourself and your relationship with God. In my own life at SJU, I feel that I need to be more Vincentian. I have a natural desire to help people, yet often my actions fall short and I don’t sign up for events and fundraisers. I also don’t put enough emphasis on God in my life. To be truly Vincentian, I need to do more service and focus more on God.
To close this blog, I’ll leave you with what is called the Vincentian Question. It’s the question that Madame de Gondi asked Saint Vincent, her spiritual advisor, when they came across a dying peasant in her jurisdiction. She knew the peasant was a good man. So de Gondi asked Vincent a question that would eventually guide the rest of his ministry. We can use the question to help guide us too. Here it is:
“What must be done?“
Source:
THE 1000 Perspectives on Christianity - Passport to Rome 