VINCENT de Paul
Founder of the Vincentians/Lazarists
(1581–1660)
 

 

The following is adapted from the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church

VINCENT de Paul (or Depaul), St. (1581–1660), founder of the Lazarist Fathers and of the ‘Sisters of Charity’. Born of a peasant family in Pouy in the Département of Landes in SW France, he was at first a shepherd; he later went to school in Dax and then studied theology in Toulouse. He was ordained priest in 1600. According to his own account, he was captured by pirates and spent two years as a slave in Tunisia before returning to Avignon with his former master, whom he had converted.

After visiting Rome, in 1608 he went to Paris and, coming under the influence of P. de Bérulle, he decided to devote his life to the service of the poor. From 1613 to 1626 he was attached to the household of the Count de Gondi, General of the galleys; at the same time he undertook pastoral work in the parishes of Clinchy (near Paris) and Châtillon-les-Dombes (near Lyons), conducted missions in NE France, founded Confraternities of Charity for men and women, and as chaplain of the galleys from 1619 did much to relieve the lot of the prisoners.

In 1622 St Francis de Sales gave him charge of the convents of the Visitation Order in Paris. In 1625 Vincent founded the Congregation of the Mission, usually called Lazarists (q.v.) or Vincentians, for giving missions among country people and for the training of priests. The first of the seminaries grew out of the Collège des Bons-Enfants, founded as a school for young boys. In 1633, together with St Louise de Marillac, he founded the Sisters of Charity, the first congregation of women who were not enclosed, and who took no final vows; they were entirely devoted to the care of the sick and poor in a way that was impossible for the Ladies of the Confraternity of Charity.

In 1638 he created the first viable home for foundlings. In 1643 the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, appointed him a member of Louis XIV’s Council of Conscience during the King’s minority; during the Wars of the Fronde he organized relief work among the suffering populations. He had for some time been a friend of Saint-Cyran and, in spite of some misgivings, he refused to make any accusation against him when he appeared as a witness after his imprisonment. He was, however, entirely opposed to Jansenism and in particular the views of A. Arnauld. His manner of simple preaching was widely followed. He was canonized in 1737. Feast day, 27 Sept. (formerly 19 July). In 1833 the ‘Society of St Vincent de Paul’, a lay association for personal service of the poor, was founded by A. F. Ozanam and others.

P. Coste, CM (ed.), Saint Vincent de Paul, correspondance, entretiens, documents (14 vols., 1920–5; supplementary vol. 15, ed. A. Dodin, in the periodical Mission et Charité, 19–20; 1970); Eng. tr. (Brooklyn, NY [1985 ff.]). Selections [in Eng. tr.] ed. F. Ryan, DC, and J. E. Rybolt, CM (Classics of Western Spirituality, New York [1995]). L. Abelly, La Vie du vénérable serviteur de Dieu, Vincent de Paul (1664); P. Collet, La Vie de saint Vincent de Paul (2 vols., 1748); U. Maynard, Saint Vincent de Paul: Sa vie, son temps, ses œuvres, son influence (4 vols., 1860); L. E. Bougaud, Histoire de saint Vincent de Paul (2 vols., 1889; Eng. tr., 2 vols., 1899). P. Coste, CM, Le Grand Saint du grand siècle, Monsieur Vincent (3 vols., 1932; Eng. tr., 3 vols., 1934–5). Other studies by J. Calvet (Paris, 1948; Eng. tr., 1952), with bibl., A. Dodin (Maîtres Spirituels, Paris, 1960), L. Cognet and L. von Matt (Bruges, 1959; Eng. tr., 1960), M. Purcell (London, 1963), J. M. Román, CM (Madrid, 1981; Eng. tr., 1999), L. Mezzadri (tr. into Fr., Paris [1985]), and A. Bugelli (Fribourg and Paris, 1997). L. Mezzadri, Fra giansenisti e antigiansenisti: Vincent Depaul e la Congregazione della Missione (1624–1737) (Florence, 1977), pp. 1–118. Vincent de Paul: Actes du Colloque International d’Études Vincentiennes, Paris 25–26 septembre 1981 (Rome [1983]). Bremond, 3 (1921), pp. 222–57, with refs.; Eng. tr., 3 (1936), pp. 193–222; Pourrat, 3 (1925), pp. 575–86; Eng. tr., 3 (1927), pp. 387–94. A. Dodin in Dict. Sp. 16 (1994), cols. 841–63, s.v. ‘Vincent (7) de Paul’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

Common Rule of the Congregation of the Missions

 

 

 

COMMON RULE
 of The Congregation of the Mission  (1658)

Regles Communes de la Congrégation de la Mission
 https://via.library.depaul.edu/cm_textesnorm/15

 

 

 

 

Chapter One.—Of the Purpose and Institute of This Congregation

Chapitre premier.— De la Fin et de L'Institut de Cette Congregation

 

 
1. HOLY Scripture teaches us that Our Lord Jesus Christ, having been sent into the world to save the human race, began La Sainte Ecriture nous apprend que Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, ayant été envoyé au monde pour sauver le genre humain, commença

first to do,

premièrement à faire,

and then to teach

 et puis à enseigner.
He accomplished Il a accompli

the first by perfectly practicing every kind of virtue;

le premier en pratiquant parfaitement toute sorte de vertus :

and the second

et le second

by evangelizing the poor

en évangélisant les pauvres

and giving to his Apostles and Disciples the knowledge necessary for the guidance of peoples.

 et donnant à ses Apôtres et à ses Disciples la Science nécessaire pour la direction des peuples.

And since the little Congregation of the Mission desires to imitate the same Jesus Christ Our Lord, as best it can, by means of His grace, both with regard to His Virtues and His Employments for the Salvation of Neighbors, it is most fitting that it use similar means to worthily fulfill this pious purpose. Therefore, its end is:

 Et d'autant que la petite Congrégation de la Mission désire imiter le même Jésus-Christ Notre-Seigneur, selon son petit possible, moyennant sa grâce. tant à l'égard de ses Vertus que de ses Emplois pour le Salut du Prochain, il est bien convenable qu'elle se serve de semblables moyens pour s'acquitter dignement de ce pieux dessein. C'est pourquoi sa fin est:

1) First, to work toward its own Perfection, by doing its best to practice the Virtues that this sovereign Master has deigned to teach us, by word and example;

2) to preach the Gospel to the poor, especially those in the countryside;

3) to help clergymen acquire the knowledge [skills/sciences]and virtues necessary for their state.

1) Premièrement de travailler à sa propre Perfection, en faisant son possible de pratiquer les Vertus que ce souverain Maître a daigné nous enseigner, de parole et d'exemple;

2) de prêcher l'Evangile aux Pauvres, particulièrement à ceux de la campagne;

3) d'aider les Ecclésiastiques à acquérir les Sciences et les Vertus nécessaires à leur état." (Règles Communes, I,1).
   

 

 
   
2. THIS Congregation is composed of ecclesiastics and lay people. The work of the ecclesiastics is 2. Cette Congrégation est composée d'ecclésiastiques et de laïques. L'emploi des ecclésiastiques est

to go, following the example of Our Lord and his disciples, through the villages and towns, and there break the bread of the word of God to the little ones, preaching and catechizing;

d'aller, à l'exemple de Notre-Seigneur et de ses disciples, par les villages et bourgades, et y rompre le pain de la parole de Dieu aux petits, en prêchant et catéchisant ;

to exhort them to make general confessions of their whole past life, and to hear them at the tribunal of Penance;

les exhorter à faire des confessions générales de toute leur vie passée, et les entendre au tribunal de la Pénitence ;

to settle disputes and lawsuits;

accorder les différends et les procès ;

to establish the Confraternity of Charity;*

*From this lay confraternity arose both the Daughters of Charity (1633) and the Ladies of Charity (1635) in Paris.

établir la Confrérie de la charité ;

to conduct the Seminaries erected in our houses for external students, and to teach there;

conduire les Séminaires érigés en nos maisons pour les externes, et y enseigner ;

to give spiritual exercises;

donner les exercices spirituels ;

to give and direct the conferences introduced among us for ecclesiastics from outside;

faire et diriger les conférences introduites chez nous pour les ecclésiastiques du dehors ;

and other similar functions, which serve and are in conformity with our Institute.

et autres semblables fonctions, qui servent et sont conformes à notre Institut.
And as for the laity, their job is

Et quant aux laïques, leur emploi est

to help the ecclesiastics in all these ministries, by performing the office of Martha, as prescribed by the Superior,

as well as by contributing to it by their prayers, tears, mortifications and good examples.

d'aider les ecclésiastiques en tous ces ministères, en faisant l'office de Marthe, selon qu'il leur sera prescrit par le Supérieur,

comme aussi en y contribuant par leurs prières, larmes, mortifications et bons exemples.
   

 

 
   
3. AND so that this Congregation may, by the grace of God, attain the end it has set for itself, it must do its utmost to clothe itself with the spirit of Jesus Christ, which appears principally in the evangelical maxims, 3. Et pour que cette Congrégation parvienne, moyennant la grâce de Dieu, à la fin qu'elle s'est proposée, elle doit faire son possible pour se revêtir de l'esprit de Jésus-Christ, qui paraît principalement dans les maximes évangéliques,
in his poverty,

in his chastity,

in his obedience,

in his charity towards the sick,

in his modesty,

in the manner of life and action which he prescribed to his disciples,

in his conversation, in his daily exercises of piety,

  dans sa pauvreté, dans sa chasteté, dans son obéissance, dans sa charité envers les malades, dans sa modestie, dans la manière de vivre et d'agir qu'il prescrivit à ses disciples, dans sa conversation, dans ses exercices journaliers de piété,
in his missions dans ses missions
and other employments towards the people: et autres emplois envers les peuples :
 all which things are contained in the following chapters. toutes lesquelles choses sont contenues dans les chapitres suivants.
   

 

 

 

 

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