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5.1
Origins
It
is important for all Vincentians to educate themselves about
the origins of the Society so they may better understand and
appreciate the circumstances which led to its creation and
expansion into a worldwide Catholic charitable organization.
Formation sessions and personal reading will enable each
member to become familiar with the main founders of the
Society and with other people who contributed to its
establishment.
The Canadian Rule
would not be complete without the presentation of:
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a short biography of the Society’s patron;
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short biographies of its main founders, and of Blessed
Sister Rosalie who had a great influence on the Society’s
founders;
-
a brief account of the origins of the Society in
Canada.
5.2
Saint Vincent de Paul (1581 – 1660)
Saint Vincent de Paul, patron of
the Society, was named patron of works of charity by Pope Leo
XIII.
Vincent de Paul was
born to peasant farmers on April 24, 1581, in a village near
the city of Dax in Gascony, France. In 1595, his father
recognizing his intellectual talents and pleasing personality,
and aware of the limited possibilities in the region, enrolled
Vincent in a boarding school run by the Franciscans. Vincent
received Tonsure and Minor Order in 1596 and went on to
complete his education at the University of Toulouse, France.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1600. His ambition was
to obtain an ecclesiastical post, which would provide
prosperity for him and family.
Father Vincent settled in Paris where in
1623, he received a degree in Canon Law from the University of
Paris. He soon secured a position as Chaplain to Queen
Marguerite de Valois but his life was soon to change.
During this period, Father Vincent
suffered an intense spiritual crisis. After some time, he
promised that if God were to take away the darkness he was
experiencing, he would dedicate his life to the service of the
poor. The anguish went away and Father Vincent would remain
faithful to his vow for the rest of his life.
Father Vincent became acquainted with
Father Pierre de Berulle, a holy priest who later became
cardinal and who also became Father Vincent’ spiritual
director. Father de Berulle got him his first parish at Clichy,
near Paris, in May 1612. There Father Vincent rebuilt the
local church and transformed it into a model parish. He was
transferred to another parish in 1617, Châtillon-les-Dombes,
where he again experienced the misery of the peasants and
organized the practice of Christian Charity to respond to
their material needs.
During
this same period Father Vincent was also entrusted with the
education of the son of Count Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi and
his wife Françoise Marguerite, one of the most prestigious
families in Europe. Count de Gondi appointed Father Vincent
Chaplain of prisons and of the slaves rowing the galleys.
King Louis XIII appointed him General Chaplain of the Galleys
in February 1619 and he worked at this ministry for a few
years. Father Vincent was becoming more devoted in the service
of the poor whom he felt were his lords and masters. He felt
the need to establish institutions to carry out his ministry
and mission which he now saw as the continuation of the
mission of Jesus Himself.
Father Vincent received a generous
endowment from the de Gondi family in April 1625 so he could
pursue his work of charity. He set up missions and colleges
spreading out to Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Poland and North
Africa. He established The Confraternities of Charity
in 1617 to attend to the poor and the sick. Today, this
organization is known as the International Association of
Charities (IAC).
The Archbishop of Paris granted his
approval to Father Vincent’s community of priests and
brothers, The Congregation of the Mission, also known
as Vincentians, on April 24, 1626. Their mission was to
evangelize the poor in rural areas and to help in the
formation and education of priests. On November 29, 1633, in a
small house in a suburb of Paris, the Daughters of Charity,
an order of non-cloistered women, was established, co-founded
by Father Vincent and Louise de Marillac to carry out a
hands-on ministry to the poor.
Saint Vincent de Paul pursued his mission
with great energy and conviction, answering the material and
spiritual needs of the poor and the abandoned all his life.
He is a most admirable example of charity in action. Saint
Vincent de Paul passed away on September 27, 1660. Pope
Clement XII canonized him on June 16, 1737.
5.3
Frédéric Ozanam and his Companions
Blessed
Frédéric Ozanam is recognized as the main founder of the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He was that rare individual of
intellectual genius and extraordinary holiness. He was a
husband and father, professor and researcher, journalist and
author, apologist and defender of the faith. Above all, he
personified the Good Samaritan.
Antoine
Frédéric Ozanam was born in Milan, Italy, on April 23, 1813
where his parents, residents of Lyon, France, had moved
temporarily. His parents were devout Catholics who passed on
to young Frédéric a deep love of God and the poor. After
graduating from high school at the Royal College of Lyon, he
moved to Paris to study law as his father wished. There, he
was confronted with a society in deep turmoil and detached
from their faith, as a result of the Revolution of 1830.
Guided by André-Marie Ampère, an imminent scientist and
Catholic, he came to the unshakable certitude that
Christianity was the only remedy to cure the evils of his
time.
He gathered around him
students of like mind and faith and confronted faculty members
of the Sorbonne University who attacked their faith. He
persuaded the Archbishop of Paris to have Father Henri
Lacordaire, a renowned preacher, deliver a series of lectures
at Notre-Dame Cathedral. The success of these lectures or
conferences was overwhelming and the Conférences de
Notre-Dame were launched.
Ideas about social justice were promoted
in the Tribune Catholique, a newspaper founded in 1832
by Emmanuel Bailly. A literary circle, La Société des
bonnes études, was linked to this newspaper. The
aim of this circle was to develop among Catholics a taste for
historical, philosophical and religious research. Ozanam had
a similar idea and he and friends became active in what became
known as the Conférences d’histoire. It developed into
a dynamic forum of discussion and research at
the university.
One
March night in 1833, a fellow student, a non-Catholic,
challenged Frédéric and friends. His question was “What are
you doing for them (the poor), you and your fellow Catholics…?
Show us your works!” Ozanam knew that faith must be
translated into action and that, like the apostles, they
needed to evangelize by the practice of charity. He rallied
the group when he cried out: “The blessing of the poor is that
of God,…let us go to the poor,”
One evening
in May,1833, Frédéric and five other students met in the
office of Mr. Bailly. The “Conference of Charity” was born.
They asked Sister Rosalie Rendu, a Daughter of Charity of St.
Vincent de Paul to teach them how to minister to the poor with
love and respect, and she did so with much kindness. By 1834,
there were more than 100 members and the Conference was
renamed the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, taking the saint
as an example to follow, and placed under the protection of
the Blessed Virgin.
Ozanam was becoming a respected figure in
professional areas. As a Doctor of Law in 1836, he began a
career as a lawyer and then became professor of Law in Lyon.
In 1839, he graduated as Doctor of Literature. He finished
first in the 1840 competitive examination of the Faculty of
Arts and Literature at the Sorbonne. He was named professor
of Foreign Literature at the same university in 1844.
Ozanam married Amélie Soulacroix in
Lyon on June 23, 1841 in a wedding celebrated by his brother
Alphonse. A daughter, Marie was born in July 1845. His life,
with his family, teaching, research, writing and various civic
social and religious commitments was a full one.
Other than his service to the poor, he
researched the conditions of the working classes and defended
their rights as human beings and workers. He co-founded the
newspaper “l’Ère Nouvelle” (New era) to
propagate his social and political ideas. Ozanam was one of
the first to formulate the idea of a “natural salary” to claim
compensation against unemployment and accidents, and to ask
that a pension be guaranteed to workers.
In 1852, exhausted from excessive work
over the years, he was forced to rest and went to Italy.
However his health continued to deteriorate. Although weak, he
left Italy with his wife by steamship on August 31, 1853 and
landed in Marseilles, France a few days later. He passed away
in that city on September 8, 1853, the feast of the birthday
of the Blessed Mother, to whom he had such a great devotion.
He is buried in the crypt of the Church of St-Joseph-des-Carmes
in Paris. His feast is celebrated on September 9.
Pope John-Paul II beatified him in
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on August 22, 1997.
Emmanuel Bailly
(1794-1861)
Bailly
was a journalist, editor and publisher. As publisher of the
Tribune Catholique, he was involved with the Société
des bonnes études and established a family boarding house
where Ozanam stayed for a period. He was very close to young
people and helped them combine their studies with their
religious formation. Ozanam and his friends came naturally to
him for advice regarding their plan to serve the poor. He
provided a meeting place for the new Conference and generally
guided their action. Having a great devotion to St. Vincent de
Paul, he linked the new Charity Conference to the great
Vincentian spiritual family. He agreed to become the first
President of the nascent Society, a position he occupied until
he had to step down in 1844 due to illness. He remained a
member of the Council almost until the end of his life.
Jules Devaux
(1811-1880)
Devaux
was born in the Normandy region of France and moved to Paris
in 1830 to complete his medical studies. He met Ozanam and his
friends when he took part in the Conférences d’histoire.
He was present at the early meetings of the Society’s
foundation and one of those in the group who approached Bailly
for advice. He was the first Conference treasurer. He settled
in Normandy after completing his medical studies in 1839.
Later in life, he abandoned the medical practice and travelled
to Germany where he attempted to establish the first
Conference but this attempt had to be postponed. Devaux, a
discreet and self-effacing member of the Society, passed away
in Paris in 1880.
Paul Lamarche
(1810-1892)
Lamarche
was born in the Normandy region of France. He settled in Paris
to study law where he met Ozanam in 1832 and joined him in the
Conférences d’histoire. He wrote many articles for
different publications, participated in the great debates of
his time and became involved in the beginnings of the Society.
He was the first Catholic writer to declare himself against
slavery. He was an eminent law professor at several
universities in France and was a passionate defender of
justice.
Auguste Le
Taillandier (1811-1886)
Le Taillandier
was born in Rouen, France in a family of tradespersons. His
family moved to Paris where he pursued legal studies. He
joined Ozanam in the Conférences d’histoire as a
virtual silent witness because he did not participate in the
discussions. In 1833 he told Ozanam that it would be better
for them to join some charitable work rather than to involve
themselves in futile debates. He was active in the founding of
the Society, in addition to other charitable work such as
giving religious instruction to apprentices and visiting
inmates. He returned to Rouen, married, and founded a
Conference there. He was honoured with several honorary titles
and awards for his contribution to his community.
François
Lallier (1814-1886)
Lallier made Ozanam’s
acquaintance at the Law Faculty of the Sorbonne and became one
of his closest friends for the rest of his life. He was the
godfather to Ozanam’s daughter Marie. He participated in the
debates of the Conférences d’histoire and was actively
involved in all the steps leading to the founding of the
Society. In 1835, he was entrusted by Bailly to write the
first Rule of the Society. In 1837 he was appointed Secretary
General of the Society and signed circulars, which form an
important part of the Vincentian tradition. In 1879, the then
President General commissioned him to write an account of the
Society’s origins and he produced a brochure in 1882. In his
professional life, he was first a lawyer, then later was named
a magistrate in Burgundy where he was born.
Félix
Clavé (1811-1853)
Clavé
is the least known of the Society’s founders. A native of
Toulouse, France, he moved to Paris in 1831 where he pursued
his studies and associated with Ozanam and friends. He
participated actively in the founding of the Society. He
founded a Conference in the district of Paris where he lived.
He then moved to Algeria where he attempted to establish a
Conference but without success. In 1839, he went to Mexico to
live with relatives. During his absence, his name was linked
to a sensational criminal case, the Lafarge affair. The
criminal trial reached no conclusion; however, it deeply
affected him. For a long time, the Society refused to speak of
him and his role as a founder. Eventually, Clavé married. In
his professional life he published several works, including
some books of poetry. He died tragically two months after
Ozanam’s death.
5.4
Blessed Rosalie Rendu (1786-1856)
Jeanne-Marie
Rendu was born in Grex, France of devout Catholic parents.
During her childhood, she experienced the upheavals of the
Revolution and wars which left many impoverished and others
fighting against the Church.
On May 25, 1802, she
began her life as a Daughter of Charity in Paris and was given
the name of “Rosalie”. Several months later, she was
transferred to the Mouffetard District of Paris where she
would work for more than fifty years amongst her beloved poor.
At the age of twenty-eight, Sister Rosalie was appointed the
Superior of the House.
Emmanuel Bailly, who
eventually became the first President of the Society, sent
Frédéric Ozanam and Auguste Le Taillandier to Sister Rosalie
for guidance and direction in their work of charity before the
Society was formed. For two years, Sister Rosalie directed
the young Vincentians to the homes of the needy and abandoned,
showering them all the time with advice and wise suggestions.
When it came to
forming a second Conference, it was very difficult for the
Vincentians to think about breaking the bonds that their
friendship had created among them. The unassuming Daughter of
Charity convinced them that a second Conference was needed and
this became the starting point for the expansion of the
Society.
In 1852, the
Government of France presented her with the Cross of the
Legion of Honour as the Mère des pauvres. She passed
away on February 7, 1856 and was buried in Montparnasse
Cemetery in Paris, at the request of the poor. On November 9,
2003, in recognition of a life devoted to the poor, Sister
Rosalie was beatified.
5.5
Origins of the Society in Canada
The conviction and
enthusiasm of the founders of the Society of St. Vincent de
Paul convinced many Catholic students to join the nascent
Society. One of them was a young Canadian, Joseph Painchaud,
Jr. (1819-1855). He joined the St. Severin Conference while
studying medicine in Paris. On returning home, Dr. Painchaud
introduced the Society into Canada by establishing the
Conférence Notre-Dame at Quebec’s Cathedral (now a Basilica)
Parish on November 12, 1846. During its first year of
existence, the Conference members distributed $5,000.00 to the
poor, mostly to aid victims of two major fires that destroyed
two thirds of the city in that year. The new Vincentians also
opened a hospice for seniors, a Savings Bank (Caisse
d’économie) for workmen and labourers and assisted German and
Irish immigrants arriving in Quebec City. The Society
expanded quickly and the first Particular Council was
Instituted on October 11, 1847 in the Quebec City area
bringing together nine Conferences. The Superior Council,
which is now called the National Council was created in 1850.
Blessed Bishop Ignace
Bourget, then Archbishop of Montreal, first established a
Conference in Montreal in 1848 in St. Jacques Parish. Dr.
George Muir, who was an active member of the Quebec City
Conference, moved to Toronto where he became the instigator of
the first Conference at St Michael’s Cathedral Parish in 1850.
The Society continued
to expand in Ontario with the establishment of the Conference
Notre-Dame de la Merci (bilingual) by Mr. Jimmy Joyce and his
companions in December 1860. Three years later, the first
francophone Conference was founded at the Notre-Dame du Bon
Secours Parish (now Cathedral-Basilica) of Ottawa. The
Society expanded to Hamilton, London, Windsor and other
Ontario communities.
Mr. Michael Hannan
founded the first Conference of the Atlantic Provinces in
Halifax, in 1853. Other Conferences soon sought aggregation in
St. John, New Brunswick, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
and St John’s, Newfoundland. The Society also expanded into
the Western provinces and British Columbia. In the Prairies,
the first Conference was founded in St Boniface, Manitoba in
1913 and in Calgary, Alberta in 1931. A first Conference was
aggregated in Vancouver in St. James Parish in 1938.
While Conferences and
Councils were founded in many parts of Canada, they did not
immediately join the National Council, instituted in Quebec
City in 1850, due to the prevalent colonial status of the
different provinces.
The first Feminine
Conference was founded in Italy in 1856. However, it was only
in 1933, in Quebec City, that the first Feminine Conference
was established and aggregated in this country. Three more
such Conferences were reported to exist in 1936. In 1915,
there were ten Aggregated Conferences out of the 228 in
existence, composed almost exclusively of young adults mostly
located in the Quebec City region, active in a seminary, a
university and within Catholic groups.
The establishment of the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul in different parts of the country was
facilitated through the good offices of the local Bishops. For
a long time, it was customary for a Bishop to preside over the
General Assemblies of the Society and address the
participants.
The unity of the
Society was cemented and strengthened in 1969, under the
presidency of Gérard Le May who reformed the National Council
of Canada.
5.6
Feast Days and Ceremonies
Vincentians
are called to journey together towards holiness. They are
aware of their own failings and the need for God’s grace. They
seek His glory, not their own. They draw nearer to Christ,
serving Him in those in need and in one another, and by
praying together.
Conference and council members should celebrate liturgical
ceremonies together throughout the year, particularly
Vincentian ceremonies such as the Annual Commissioning
Ceremonies which help to maintain a spirit of profound moral
and material friendship among members. Feast Days are
important dates for the Society and Vincentians should make a
special effort to meet and demonstrate the spiritual nature of
the Society by attending Mass together. The Feast Days are:
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April 23: Blessed Frédéric Ozanam’s birthday;
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September 9: Feast Day of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam;
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September 27: Feast Day of St. Vincent de Paul;
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December 8: Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of
Our Blessed Virgin Mother, patroness of the Society.
Certain other dates
on which liturgical ceremonies are regarded as particularly
meaningful to Vincentians are:
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November 9, Feast Day of Blessed Rosalie Rendu;
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First Sunday of Lent, because during Lent, the need to
undertake more charitable works is emphasized along with the
need for more prayer and penance.
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