September 27th is St. Vincent de Paul’s feast day. Vincent was a great priest in a difficult time. France was torn apart by incessant war in the 17th century and he spent much of his time helping those affected by those wars. Today he’s known throughout the world for his help to those in material need mainly thanks to the society that was named after him, the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The Society was established by Blessed Frederic Ozanam (feast day: September 9th) who, like Vincent, sought to help the destitute of Paris in the 19th century. In this day and age where Social Justice is so fashionable, these facts make these men heroes. But would they be so popular if they were alive today?
Facts that are less known about these men, but are as true as their commitment to helping those in material need, is that they were men of great faith and zeal for Catholicism. Blessed Frederic Ozanam did much apologetic work for the faith as a professor throughout his whole life, and starting the St. Vincent de Paul Society was part of that apologetic work. He wanted to show the secular atheists that it really did matter whether or not one believed in the Church. Our faith will have an affect on society.
St. Vincent de Paul was the same way. The Church in France during his times was in need of much reform, so he began a new order, the Congregation of the Mission (CM). He formed this order for the proper formation of priests, so they could evangelize especially to the poor. It was never in his mind to help the poor only to meet their temporal needs. Meeting their temporal needs was a necessary step to meet their spiritual needs. These men were able to do their good works because of their adherence to orthodoxy in the faith. They didn’t see a separation between orthopraxis and orthodoxy like many do today in the field of Social Justice.
I’m not so sure these men in heaven are too happy with the direction the St. Vincent de Paul Society is heading in the U.S. It is looking more and more like a collection of Goodwill Thrift Stores with a vague notion of “spirituality” rather than a Catholic organization founded by devoutly Catholic men who had evangelization as their main focus in life. While meeting the material needs of the poor is a good thing, it is cruel to see that as an end in itself. True mercy is doing what these men worked endlessly for: allowing Grace to work in us so we can meet the material and spiritual needs of our neighbor, with the spiritual need (as understood by the Church) as the greatest and final end.
St. Vincent de Paul and Blessed Frederic Ozanam, pray for us.
Peace,
Daniel
Have no fear, Daniel. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has a rich formation program and is continually reminding its members that service to the poor is a means to salvation, not an end in itself. Please check out the Spiritual Resources on our website and recommend them to your friends.
Dear Mr. Duplantier,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Yes, I am very familiar with the spiritual resources on the National website. There is a lot of good there, but not enough guidance to inspire and bring one to the fullness of the truth. Let me give you 3 important examples that come to mind:
1) With my experiences of SVdP, I tried in vain to have the abortion issue to be included in the work of the Society. (Who is poorer than one without the right to life?) I even brought this up in the National Meeting to a prominant Committee member, and I was met by deliberate silence, to my great disappointment. I also often tried to point out the very important connection that the President General in Paris has made between material poverty and moral poverty. Again, this fell on deaf ears.
2) The Council Spiritual Advisor for my Archdiocese is generally antagonistic to the authority of the Church and admittedly does not support some important and fundamental doctrines of the Faith. When I brought this up to the leadership of the Council, they sided with the Council Spiritual Advisor.
3) A spirit of relativism has infected the Society in the US with confusion on "do not judge". The US SVdP Manual correctly states that we should not judge people - we are all sinners and have made bad choices. Unfortunately, the US Manual does not correct the erroneous interpretation that almost every Vincentian I've met has, which is "Do not judge a person's actions". It is merciful to tell someone that a pattern of behavior that is perpetuating their poverty is wrong and it is hurting them. It is harmful to the poor to say "I cannot judge his actions" and deprive him of the opportunity to choose the path of righteousness (if this is the case), increase his intimacy with God, and decrease his need for a hand-out.
Do not misunderstand me; I appreciate the ton of good all the Vincentians do. But through my experiences, there is a disconnect between the Society and the fullness of the Faith, which, after reading the autobiographies of Vincent and Frederic, I know this would bother them. These men knew that to continue to do good and to keep pride out of our hearts, we must stay connected to God as closely as possible, and orthodoxy in the Catholic faith is necessary to do that.
I look forward to your response.
In Christ,
Daniel
You were right after all, Daniel.
I served the national office of the Society well for nearly three years under extraordinarily unpleasant conditions and, with the help of a few other dedicated members of the national office staff, accomplished great things. In return, I was fired without cause, after blowing the whistle on someone else at the office who appeared to be exploiting his connection to the Society for personal profit. All I asked for, repeatedly, from both the national executive director and the national president, was an explanation for this man's apparent indiscretions.
I still love the Society and admire its members, but the three years I spent at the national office were a living hell. The national executive director is an incompetent tyrant who flatters his superiors and degrades his subordinates, blaming them for his mistakes and taking credit for their accomplishments. It was with great trepidation that I finally went over his head and took my concerns to the national president. Soon thereafter, I was fired.
What was done to me was both uncharitable and unjust, and all sincere Vincentians should be appalled by it. Unfortunately, they will never know, because their leaders are incorrigible liars.