Reflections on Vincentian Spirituality

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY
 is a type of Christian Spirituality
 is not exactly the same in every
branch of the Vincentian Family
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

1. God first and above all.

2. Following of Christ as evangelizer of
the poor.
3. Our mission being found at the very
heart of the Church’s mission.
4. Inner dispositions (traditionally
referred to as virtues) of a Vincentian.
GOD FIRST AND ABOVE ALL
Exercise of the Presence of God

 A prayer addressed to the Triune God.

 Cultivated by visiting the Blessed
Sacrament, by the practice of examen
of conscience, etc.
 Discerning the will of God, and not
going ahead of the divine will or divine
providence.
GOD FIRST AND ABOVE ALL
Many people today want to live in God’s
presence.

 A certain trust in a God who wishes

nothing but our good.
 Discerning God’s will.
 Complete surrender to this will.

St. Vincent de Paul: What God wants

is what should be done.
FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST,
EVANGELIZER OF THE POOR
Centrality of Jesus Christ in Vincent’s spirituality.
 Jesus Christ who totally trusted God’s goodness and
providence, who obeyed the will of the Father, even
until death.

 Jesus Christ who prayed to his Father continually.

 Jesus Christ who preached the good news of the
Father’s love.

 In words and deeds, Jesus Christ consistently showed

what a person is like when he commits himself totally
to God.
FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST,
EVANGELIZER OF THE POOR
St. Vincent de Paul:
“Remember… we live in Jesus Christ
through the death of Jesus Christ,
and we must die in Jesus
Christ through the life of
Jesus Christ, and
our life must be hidden in Jesus Christ
and filled with Jesus Christ,
and in order to die as
Jesus Christ, we must
live as Jesus Christ.”
JESUS AND THE GOSPEL OF THE POOR
Jesus Christ – Evangelizer of the Poor
“He has sent me to bring the
good news to the poor.”
“Blessed are the poor
for theirs is the
kingdom of God.”
GOD CARES FOR THE POOR
St. Vincent de Paul:
 He saw how God cares for the poor.
God will always be there for the poor,
that God will abide with them, and that
because of this they will be blessed .

 He found God in the poor.

THE POOR BRING US TO GOD

It was also the poor who brought Vincent

to God.
OUR MISSION IN THE TOTAL
MISSION OF THE CHURCH
The mission of evangelizing the poor forms
part of the total mission of the Church to be
“light of all nations”, “sacrament of God’s
presence”, “Church of the poor.”
 Heart of Vincent’s idea of what the
Church is.
OUR MISSION IN THE TOTAL
MISSION OF THE CHURCH
In years past, we were taught that the
apostolate of the laity is always a sharing in
the apostolate of the clergy.
 The laity were the help-mates of the
clergy who were the principal ministers.
Vatican II now proclaims that the laity, by
reason of their baptism, are entrusted with
the mission of all the baptized.
OUR MISSION IN THE TOTAL
MISSION OF THE CHURCH
Vincent de Paul already respected the
rightful place of the laity in the Church.
 lay empowerment
 this notion is the foundation and bedrock
of what we call today collaborative
ministry
OUR MISSION IN THE TOTAL
MISSION OF THE CHURCH
 God is the beginning, the center, the end of our
lives. We trust him completely to direct our
lives, to shape our future.
 This love has been historically shown in the life
of Jesus of Nazareth who incarnated in his
person God’s love for the poor.

 In the power of the Spirit, the Church which is

the people of God today continues this Christian
mission of evangelizing the poor.
Mary in Vincentian Spirituality

Mary’s role from the

perspective of the
Church: she brought
Jesus Christ into the
world, a role the
Church does now in
and through the Spirit.
Mary in Vincentian Spirituality
 In the writings of St. Vincent,
there are three events in Mary’s
life that drew his attention: the
Immaculate Conception, the
Annunciation, and the Visitation.

 Mary acted with humility,

simplicity, and utter dedication
to the will of God.
Mary in Vincentian Spirituality
 Louise de Marillac: “Mary is the
only Mother of the Company”

 The Vincentian Family has

become more connected
with Mary, particularly since the
apparition to St. Catherine Laboure, and
the entrustment of the Miraculous Medal to
us for propagation.
 Mary in Vincentian Spirituality
 Mary was the first to be
evangelized and the first
evangelizer.

 Mary was evangelized by the presence of

her Son, Jesus, from the first moment of
her conception, and later on becoming
the first to proclaim Christ to the world
Mary in Vincentian Spirituality
 We who undertake the mission of evangelizing the
poor, of conveying to them the good news of God’s
love for them, are now also being evangelized by
those for whom we were sent.

Mary, the bringer of Christ as good news, is the


finest example of what it means to be working for
the evangelization of the poor.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
1. Acting simply.
 St. Vincent de Paul: The Spirit of
Jesus Christ is a spirit of simplicity,
which consists in telling the truth, in
saying things as they are without
simulation and hiding nothing and in
referring everything to God alone.
 St. Vincent de Paul calls simplicity
“my gospel”, “the virtue I love most”.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
1. Acting simply.
 Transparency.
 St. Vincent de Paul: “Do you know
where the Lord lives? Among the
simple people.”
 Jesus Christ: “Let your speech be
yes if you mean yes, and no, if you
mean no.”
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
1. Acting simply.
 St. Vincent could deal with the rich
and the poor alike, the powerful and
the powerless, because to both he
was simple, direct, open, authentic,
genuine. They could read through his
words, his actions, and see something
plain and full of love for the poor.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
2. Living in humility.
 St. Vincent de Paul: “Humility,
humility, humility is the foundation of
all evangelical perfection and the
hinge of all spiritual life.”
 Humility is recognizing our condition
as creature, especially as sinful, and
our need for redemption.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
2. Living in humility.
 Humility reveals itself in the gratitude
for the gifts received, considering
everything as grace. It is made
concrete in the attitude of servant, a
will to employ oneself in the service of
others. And of course, it is shown in
the desire to be evangelized by the
poor, “our lords and masters”.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
2. Living in humility.
 Real humility disarms the powerful.
 Humility is closely connected to
meekness.
 One who comes humbly before them is
not considered a threat by the poor. One
who comes seeking to understand their
plight and even expecting to learn
something from the experience will
certainly be welcome among the poor.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
3. Being inflamed by the love of God.
 Charity in the Vincentian sense
includes the deep love for God, love
for neighbor, expressed in concrete,
real ways, and especially in relation to
the poor. This is shown in deep
concern for others’ situation, profound
sense of justice, and a resolute
determination to do something
effective and realistic.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
3. Being inflamed by the love of God.
 Love or charity is affective, effective,
inventive and communicative.
 Charity does not make distinctions
between corporal and spiritual, between
local and universal, even between rich
and poor. One who truly loves, loves all,
and makes no exception. This is the
way of Jesus. This is also the way of
Vincent de Paul.
VINCENTIAN VIRTUES
3. Being inflamed by the love of God.
 The most important task in formation
is the proper formation of the heart.
 The heart that beats for God and
everything that God treasures will be
happy wherever it can find God. This is
the real challenge in formation – to
teach our heart to beat the way God’s
own heart does, the way Jesus’ heart
does, and the way Vincent’s heart did.
The elements of God, Jesus Christ, and
the Church are intimately related in our
mission to serve the poor.
A deep sense of God’s centrality in one’s
life, especially as reflected in the most
concrete way in the life and actions of
Jesus, influences our commitment to the
mission of loving and serving the poor,
which is at the heart of the mission the
Church received from Jesus, and which
through the dynamic workings of the Spirit
today and everyday is being continued in
groups and associations like our own
Vincentian Family.
Acting and living simply, being humble at
all times, and loving profoundly and
unreservedly can help us become better
servants of our masters, the poor
Reflections on Vincentian Spirituality

Manuel Ginete CM
Delegate of the Superior General for the Vincentian
Family Indonesia
April 2005