In this presentation I have been requested to speak about the Vincentian charism. For quite some time I have been convinced that every authentic charism must be viewed from the perspective of the person who received that charism. Later, that individual might “institutionalize” the charism, as occurred with the Congregation of the Mission and many other groups that have been nourished by that spirit (the many branches of the Vincentian Family). In this chain of events, I see a long line of witnesses, the first of whom was Vincent de Paul. No one has been able to penetrate the intimate depths of Vincent’s being. Nevertheless, today we have a better understanding of Vincent’s legacy as a result of his writings, the various biographies that have been written, the collective reflection of various groups and the tradition that has been passed on to us. In order to be missionaries who reflect the spirit of Vincent de Paul, we have to point out that which Vincent viewed as the foundation of his vocation, namely, becoming one with the person of Jesus Christ through imitation of Jesus Christ.

Vincent was born a Christian. According to custom of that era, he was baptized on the day of his birth. In the village of Ranquine that faith was nourished through daily prayer. At the same time Vincent entered into a process of discernment with regard to a vocation to the priesthood. He was ordained in 1600 and it was at that time that a personal encounter with Jesus was begun, was grounded and also began to evolve. It was that encounter that sustained him during the time of a personal spiritual crisis and enabled him to make a firm and unbreakable resolve to honor Jesus Christ and to imitate him more perfectly that ever before by committing his entire life to the service of the poor (Abelly III:115-116). Behind those words we discover a very profound spiritual experience.

In my opinion, this was the beginning of a true encounter … the timing of the encounter is unimportant because what is essential is the fact that Vincent became one with Jesus through a life-long commitment to honor Jesus and serve Jesus through faithful ministry on behalf of the poor. That became Vincent’s perspective as he engaged in a search for personal holiness. Vincent lived, acted, prayed and believed in the following of Jesus Christ which would become a foundational principle for his life. When Vincent envisioned the establishment of the Congregation of the Mission, he spoke about its purpose in the following words: the purpose of the Congregation of the Mission is to follow Christ evangelizing the poor (Constitutions, #1). This singular purpose orients every other aspect of the life of the Congregation: its ministry, its charitable activity, its prayer and community life. The Congregation must hold in tension contemplation/action, prayer/commitment, rest/ministry, Eucharist/other devotional exercises. Vincent never put God aside because he realized that the God who became man was also the God who became poor. Vincent able to encounter Jesus Christ in an on-going manner as he ministered on behalf of those who were poor.

Why did Vincent engage in this search? He did so because he wanted to imitate the Master. Vincent heard the call to identify himself as a missionary/disciple and to unite himself more closely to the person of Jesus Christ. His relationship with Jesus was the fruit of an experience that was imprinted in the Common Rules and in the practices of the Congregation … an indispensable spirit in order to penetrate the heart of Christ.

Fundamental Practices:

• From the time that one arises from sleep in the morning, the members should enter into meditation. One half hour of our meditation is to be done in community, that is, with the other members of the local community. Yes, one can always find excuses to justify ones neglect of this community exercise and yet today this practice is all the more urgent. We will be able to live our vocation in a more effective manner if each day we place ourselves in the presence of God in order to reflect upon the gospel demands, in order to search for connections between the gospel demands and our apostolic ministry. A sign of our determination and carefulness in mediation is revealed in the resolutions and the concrete objectives that we establish at the conclusion of our meditation. Without such resolutions, our lives can become aimless … yet productive prayer enables us to become fruitful. In other words, we need to establish a process so that prayer can be fruitful.

• As baptized Christians, the Word of God orients our lives and that orientation takes on a different dimension as a result of our missionary commitment. Nothing in life can be achieved without the Word and the Word is Jesus Christ. The Word that nourishes our prayer becomes more alive through the process known as lectio divina. Even though this process is well-known, that which is most important, however, is to view the Word as a seed that produces fruit in ourselves and in others. Recently, Pope Francis published the mortu proprio Aperuit Illis which instituted the Sunday of the Word of God.

• The celebration of the Eucharist is the place par excellence in which the Word gives life and vigor to the participants in said celebration. The celebration of the Eucharist should be the center of our life and mission … the center of our daily life. Celebrating the Eucharist with a congregation helps up to build up the church and to focus our life on Christ who becomes our food and our drink. All other spiritual practices are subordinate to the Eucharist … and here the key word is fidelity.

The missionary spirit should animate all of the above cited practices. That missionary spirit should not be reduced to the practice of the five characteristic virtues. Even though the virtues are significant elements in this regard, nonetheless they are surpassed by another group of elements that are rooted in the life of the Trinity: the Father calls us; Christ forms and molds us; the Spirit enlivens us. We do what God expects of us when we respond to God’s call and then go forth to serve and evangelize the little ones of this world. In all of this we bring to perfection our baptismal vocation and now as priests and brothers we also bring to perfection that vocational state in life. It is our passion for the Kingdom that impels us commit ourselves to God and to those men and women who are poor. Imperfect though they may be, yet such is our experience and such is our faith!

Let us briefly reflect on the situation in which we minister, namely our communal spirit. We are field workers on behalf of the gospel, and we minister together. The sine qua non in our ministry is our fidelity to the Vincentian charism … and all of this is the result of team ministry, of a common life, of a communion and union that is lived and developed day after day after day. Living in this manner makes us joyful and then, we desire to share this same joy with others. Those who view any of this as unbearable, need to consult their spiritual directors.

At various times it has been stated that the Congregation is infirm and suffering … all kinds of symptoms seem to become more and more visible and we engage in a search for remedies. Yet the only remedy is a spiritual one … Jesus Christ must be the center of our life as a Congregation and as individuals.

By: Jean-Pierre Renouard, CM
Province of France

Translated into English by:
Fr. Charles T. Plock, CM