August 29, 2024 • 28 mins
🕊️✨Explore the fascinating life of St. Vincent de Paul and the clandestine activities of the Company of the Blessed Sacrament, in this riveting episode of "Salve Maria," the podcast of the Heralds of the Gospel. Discover how this influential saint, initially driven by personal ambition, transformed into a beacon of charity and humility, founding numerous charitable organizations and significantly impacting the Catholic Church and society.
👀 Watch full VIDEO episode: 🕊️ https://youtu.be/HQasU7RG1Wc
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet now: https://rb.gy/0eh0r
🔔 Subscribe to our Youtube channel: https://rb.gy/xvpg2
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
St. Vincent de Paul wanted to be a priest forthe wrong reasons? Well, it looks like yes.
Another thing also that he did was that he wouldfind some of the noble families, the better
noble families who had fallen on hard timesand find ways of getting them funds to keep
their families going. This society worked tremendouslyfor the advancement of the church and also
(00:22):
was responsible for founding the Canadian cityof Montreal. Don't forget, Montreal's original
name was not Montreal, but it was Bill Marie.St. Vincent de Paul did found a secret society,
Father Arthur? Yes. Okay, before we have allthe committees of St. Vincent de Paul Society
(00:45):
calling the heralds of the gospel and askingthem, what are you saying in this program?
We have to explain ourselves. Welcome to SalveMaria, the podcast of the heralds of the gospel.
So Salve Maria, welcome back to Salve Maria,the podcast of the heroes of the gospel. Salve
(01:07):
Maria, Fr. Arthur. Salve Maria. Salve Maria,brother Justin. Salve Maria. What a beautiful
topic today. We have the life of St. Vincentde Paul, who is a very mysterious saint, extremely
smart and at the same time full of open charityand also some aspects that are completely unknown.
(01:27):
So today we unveil everything about his life.And I'm sure the audience will be delighted
because the character is just fantastic. ButI don't know, Father, maybe we can start by
saying that St. Vincent de Paul wanted to bea priest for the wrong reasons. Well, it looks
(01:48):
like yes. Looks like he wanted some personalpromotion because at the time to be a priest,
et cetera, will give you a lot of... of benefitsto society was much more respectful to the
clergy and you could have a lot of benefits.So he thought maybe, well, okay, I'm going
(02:10):
to be a priest. The early historians are mercilesswith him. They say that, okay, he wanted social
advancement and financial stability, especiallycoming from a poor family. Yes, exactly. He's
also from Southern France. So later on in hislife, when he'll go to Paris, they will, he
will be looked down upon because of that Southernorigin. Of course. So he was ordained when
(02:33):
he was 19. And the eagerness to be ordainedapparently was that he wanted to provide to
his family. So he got a dispensation and wasordained at 19. Very young, very young. He
was in Toulouse. And then at that moment, somethingcompletely unexpected happens. Almost from
a novel of, I don't know, the Count of MonteCristo or something like that. He's traveling
(03:01):
and they're fathered. He's going to Rome becausea lady had promised that she was going to give
him a part of his inheritance. So she, he'svery much looking forward and he takes a ship
and you see how God was acting now. Becausehe's going to Rome to take an inheritance of
another person. But on the way, the Muslims,they attacked the ship and they are all taken.
(03:28):
you know, captives and he becomes a slave. He'ssold for the first time. Then he's going to
be sold two more times. He's sold for the firsttime. He becomes a slave of the Turkish, what
do you call that? Pirates, Turkish pirates.And then yes, so he sold three times. And the
third owner was unbelievable. Yeah. I mean,I don't know. He was a former Franciscan that
(03:55):
had become a Muslim.
He lived with three wives and had completelyabandoned the faith. And all of a sudden he
buys this slave who is very capable. And oneof his wives actually takes interest to see
how this, you know, this young man was, wasactually kind and everything else. And after
(04:16):
talking a lot with him, she realizes that hisfaith is a true faith. So she goes and reproaches
her husband and says, how come? you abandonthe good faith and you just became like, no,
this is wrong. So she also, in the end of thestory, they all convince the Franciscan, the
(04:36):
former Franciscan, and both, the slave, SaintVincent de Paul, and himself flee at night
to France, and they go back to France. But thatwas shocking for Saint Vincent de Paul, right?
Because that all of a sudden was the, what,the very first part of his conversion? Because
(04:56):
he, certainly he had to think about a lot abouthis vocation because he was fast track, you
know. He was suffering. Yeah, now he had a difficultlife. He was thinking a lot about who he was,
(05:18):
what was his mission, et cetera. And there wasa conversion in his soul. realized that he
was going in the wrong direction. So he managedto convert these people and he goes back to
France and he starts again. With a new vision.A new vision, God gives him another chance.
(05:39):
And now he's not looking for the inheritanceof an old rich lady. And he wants to convert
the world actually. He had a tremendous visionand he really wanted to convert the souls.
And his charity, and this famous phrase of him,charity is infinitely inventive. So charity
(06:06):
is inventive. It means that it's not just, youknow, to give food or clothes to the poor and
that's it. But charity is not that. That isthe ground level of charity. Charity is...
Tremendous inventive. Creative resource. Creativeand he wants to create a society in which they
(06:32):
are going to give this charity to everyone,rich and poor. He's called to the bedside of
a dying peasant and that was also another eye-openerfor him. because of course he confesses this
person and through the confession, he realizedtwo shocking things. One that is the lack of
(06:55):
resources and the lack of material help andalso the complete absence of spiritual help
as well. So there was a poverty that was bothmaterial and spiritual. So we're going to see
the extension of his, the extent of his, hisaction. As you say, Father Noah was creative.
(07:15):
He was resourceful, moved out of charity. Andnow he actually, what, completely renewed the
concept of charity. If he becomes a championof Christian charity, when we think about Christian
charity today, his name is synonymous with theidea of charity. Absolutely. Well, let's number
them. He... Number one, he formed the Ladiesof Charity because of course, when he moves
(07:39):
to Paris in 1609, what happens now, he has accessto clergy that is very influential and also
to very rich families who also are very resourceful.And then he discovers that now he can tap into
this, okay, the openness that the high societyin Paris had for charity and also the openness
(08:01):
in the clergy that he found. And all that wasneeded was now to line up all this and organize
these resources towards a good cause. And sohe goes and what he founded the ladies of charity.
He founded a society of priests, right? Thatis the congregation of the missions. Now they
(08:22):
are called Vincentians. They are all the, healso formed the sisters of charity, no, co-founded
it. with St. Louis Maria, whose body is in corrupt.She's there and then St. Catherine Labouret
is right beside her. The chapel of the Rue duBac. Chapel in the Rue du Bac. And up the street
is the body of St. Vincent of the Port. Yeah,just a block away. He also founded the Confraternities
(08:45):
of Charity and also he participated in two,and this is what gives a name to the program
today, you must be wondering at this point,and also he participated in the Company of
the Blessed Sacrament. which is one of thosemovements that is completely fascinating. We're
going to go there in a moment. But Father, Iwould like to point out what's your point of
(09:08):
view, because it doesn't happen with Catholicsthat we are all disorganized. No, of course,
he therefore, he wanted to reform the wholeof society because he realized that the clergy
was not good enough, the clergy was decadent.So he found a company to reform the clergy.
(09:28):
Well, one of the members of that society thathe starts is the founder of the supplicants,
whose vocation was the formation of clergy.So he's finding a way to resolve this problem,
grave problem, and find a solution. Absolutely,so he wants to transform the spiritual world
(09:54):
that was going down, and then... He also wantsto transform the civil society. And this is
why through works of charity, he was reformingor giving a better formation to the ladies
in their faith, teaching them the reality offaith, catechism and understanding of scripture,
(10:18):
etc. At the time, everything was in Latin, inmasses, and people had much less access. to
scriptures than today because the scriptureswere in Latin and people were speaking other
languages. So
(10:39):
he had the conferences of Vincent de Paul. Hewould do lectures and lectures and lectures
explaining the faith in a beautiful way. Hisreligious order that he founds, one of its
purposes besides evangelization, direct
that element of opening schools was for thateducational background of his children. So
(11:03):
you're talking about formation of the whole.Another thing also that he did was that he
would find some of the noble families, the betternoble families who had fallen on hard times
and find ways of getting them funds to keeptheir families going. Because he found that
the, um, the merchant class that was comingup was a family where people who didn't have
(11:23):
tradition, didn't have a strong Catholic fiber.And he needed to find a way of keeping them
in the society to be a good example, to be thatgood ferment in the society. So he found ways
of maneuvering that too. This is a very brightindividual. Absolutely. Therefore, he's trying
to fix the whole of society, spiritual and temporalsociety, the older and the young, the rich
(11:50):
and the poor. I mean, he's not just a personwho wanted to distribute close to everybody
else, no. It's a providential man, no? For hisperiod, absolutely. Because 300 years ago,
the science of management were not that developedin these past decades, right? Has been studied
so much. And there are four characteristicsthat he brought that are impressive. He says,
(12:14):
okay, what did he bring with his techniques,right? Was resource mobilization. And not based
just on, okay, now we're going to be managers.No, based on a good... fostering of a spiritual
life that in turn moved people to mobilize everythingthey could do in resources to help the poor.
But it was organized, it was systematized, butnot the system that, you know, we worship the
(12:38):
system. No, it was a system that came from thegood charity of the people. So he not only
wanted to sanctify the people in order to takethem out of society and send them, you know,
to the top of a mountain or... whatever, todo penance, which is very nice. Or the Trappists,
(13:00):
the Cartusians, they don't speak with anybody.He was not a Cartusian. He was speaking with
everyone. Everyone. Rich, poor, king, peasant,everything in between. But he was so spiritual
that he could speak with kings and queens. Hewas the confessor of a queen of France. He
(13:22):
has a plan to reform the whole of society andto bring the faith in the heart of the society
for the society to work according to our LordJesus Christ. He decided to tap into the social
influence and using the social influence towardsthe good. And that was something that once
(13:43):
he discovered he was a trailblazer. Nobody couldstop him at all. And well, let's go to a brief.
Break, Father. It was very charismatic, huh?There we go. Yeah, great attraction. Let's
go to a quick break, and then we go into hischarism of attraction, and what is the relationship
(14:04):
between St. Vincent de Paul and the companyof the Blessed Sacrament. Salve Maria. I'm
Father Ryan Murphy of the Heralds of the Gospel,and I'm delighted to extend an invitation to
each and every one of you. in the midst of ourbusy lives. It's crucial to take a moment of
reflection, of soulless end of prayer. That'swhy I would like to personally invite you to
(14:30):
join us every day at 3 p.m. for a special andpowerful devotion, the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a beautiful prayerthat embodies the boundless compassion of our
Lord. It's a time to come together as a community.regardless of where we are, and lift up our
(14:53):
intentions, our hopes, and even our burdensto the heart of Jesus. Imagine all around the
world countless voices uniting in prayer atthis very hour. It's a moment of connection,
of spiritual unity, and of seeking God's mercyin a troubled world. So, mark your calendars,
(15:15):
set your alarms, and Make a commitment to joinus each day at 3pm. Tune in and experience
the transformative power of the Divine MercyChaplet. Let this be a sanctuary of peace amidst
the noise of life. Thank you for being a partof our Heralds Canada YouTube channel. Together
(15:39):
let's embark on this journey of faith, hopeand mercy. I'm looking forward to praying with
you every day. at 3 p.m. May God's love andmercy shine upon you always. And until we meet
again, may Almighty God bless you, the Fatherand the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. So welcome
(16:00):
back to the second part. And so, St. Vincentde Paul did found a secret society, Father
Arthur? Yes. Okay. Before we have all the committeesof St. Vincent de Paul Society calling the
heroes of the gospel and asking them, what areyou saying in this program? We have to explain
(16:21):
ourselves. There was, as Father was saying,the charismatic St. Vincent de Paul that got
also involved and contacted everybody who wasinfluential. And in 1629...
there is the foundation of the Company of theBlessed Sacrament. He was founded by Henri
(16:44):
de Lévy. And then this organization was partof the Catholic renewal that was specifically
defending the church against the Protestantreforms. And so also known as the Huguenots,
the Huguenots in France were the Protestantsand then what happens? Okay. They were performing
(17:04):
charitable works. According to some historians,they say it was a secret society because acted
not by not being seen. Because at the time,let's face it, there were political consequences
and there were also social consequences andthere was a matter of humility, but I think
it was more on the first line I just mentioned.And so what happens, because they had a tremendous
(17:29):
influence in the court, they had a tremendousinfluence in the high society and also blocking
the access of bad elements. that would go andinfiltrate the social order of the time, then
what happens, the company of the Blessed Sacramentwas then acting in clandestine manners. And
(17:50):
it's fascinating, why? Because since it wasformed in 1629, was only known outside of the
members by 1666. And it was only identifiedby historians in the 19th and 20th century.
(18:10):
That's how effective their work was. And thereare only 19 members that are actually known
as being part of it. Let's go to the list. Thefirst one, of course, I missed on the pole,
the founder, Henri de Lévy. And then you haveJean-Jacques Olier, who was the founder of
the Sulpicians. You have also Jacques Bossuet,who was that famous... Bishop for his known
(18:35):
for his preaching and his eloquence. Notre Dameof Paris, he was the director. He was the King
Louis XIII that was member of it. It was lateron Louis XIV who has to do with something else
we're going to see in a moment. St. Francisof Sales was also part and we have to remember
(18:58):
the St. Francis of Sales had tremendous a clasheswith the Protestants in Geneva. They kicked
him out. Right. And so he was noted for, forhis holiness as well. And you also have two
founders of Montreal. Well, Messier de Messonet.Three. Jean Mans, who was a nurse and settler.
(19:22):
And also here we have Le Royer, who was alsoone of the founders of Montreal. So this society
worked. tremendously for the advancement ofthe church, dispelling the action of many enemies
of the church, and also was responsible forfounding the Canadian city of Montreal. Don't
(19:45):
forget, Montreal's original name was not Montreal,but it was Ville Marie, and it was founded
by the support of the Seplichian Order, becausethey're the ones who had the original land
area, and it was their parish. So, The ideawas that it was gonna be a city of Mary, city
of joy, the city of virtue, where there wouldbe no Protestants. So it's interesting when
(20:08):
you look at it in that perspective, they werelooking at France to try to repair the damage
done to France by the reformation and its subsequentdecadence, but they were looking at the new
world as a place where maybe it might be betterto restart. Exactly. Yes, yes, yes. And also
(20:31):
was very interesting because they chose Messiade Mesonov to be the spearhead on the foundation
of Montreal. And so he brought several saintsas well, right. But at the same time, he was
able to give the impulse for the foundationof the city. Right. We have characters like
(20:52):
Marguerite Bourgeois, we have, and so many othersof the religious that came. Montreal to Quebec
and we're working towards this purpose. So it'sfascinating. Very interesting. So you see how
his vision was much bigger than an area of Franceor even France itself. It wasn't even a question
(21:12):
of just giving out little donations. Oh, notat all. Right. It was very big. Oh, it was
founding something. Founding, yeah. And reformingand maneuvering around all the obstacles that
were in front of him.
a clandestine nature and secrecy. And becausethe political situation of the time demanded
(21:34):
so. So the fact that he was so resourceful andat the same time so charismatic. But you know
that secrecy wouldn't include the Pope. ThePope had to know. You can have a secret society
with a good purpose because normally we identifysecret society. for bad purposes. And something
(21:54):
evil. Exactly. Sinister. Exactly. So they don'twant to tell their purpose because it's evil
and it's going to harm them in their bad intention,bad deeds. But a good society that wants to
do something that is good can be secret, butthe goal has to be good and the Pope has to
(22:14):
know. And there was a very interesting episodethat happened with the famous Edict of Nuns.
because that edict was actually approved byHenry IV, giving the Huguenots complete freedom
and legality in the Kingdom of France. And sothey were given that. And Louis XIV is the
(22:37):
one that also being part of this Company ofthe Blessed Sacrament is famous episode, he
calls the Huguenots to the court and says, listen,my grandfather, liked you and feared you. My
father did not like you, but he feared you.I neither like you, fear you. Out. And so he,
(23:05):
with that, he stopped the edict of Nan and thenthe Protestants were officially expelled from
France. And that, well, it's a historical factthat happened, right? And also happened that,
well. Louis XIV also closed the company of theBlessed Sacrament because apparently historians
(23:27):
say that he wanted to have more control in thekingdom. Not for the right reasons. This happened
also after the death of our saint Saint Vincentde Paul. He died in 1660, so six years before
the closing of the company. What a resourcefulsaint. because sometimes we Catholics lack
(23:50):
that organization and that like going out andactually doing something systematically. And
what a beautiful lesson on his behalf. Theirname is the company of the mission, but the
mission not in the sense that let's go to apagan countries and start the church there,
et cetera. The mission is to reestablish truefidelity, true Christianity in. in Europe,
(24:18):
in our Catholic countries. Well, that's actually,yes, you're talking about the company of priests
that he organized as well, right? Yes, he alsois the father of the nuns, no? The- Ah. Sisters
of Charity. Yes. No? There are two societiesof apostolic life. To which belongs Catherine
(24:39):
Labouret, the one who received the apparitionsof Mary, and she indicated- how the miraculous
medal should be made. Father, when she was joining,she had a dream that before she joined the
convent, she had a dream. And she sees thismass happening in the early in the morning.
He sees this priest, you know, that is celebratingmass. And all of a sudden he turns and starts
(25:05):
calling her. Calling her, yes. And she doesn'tknow what to do. She flees running and wakes
up. And when she goes and visits the convent,for the first time, she goes and says, who
is this man that is in a picture? At the entrance,at the entrance hall. And the sister goes,
oh, he's our father and founder, Saint Vincentde Paul. He, in a dream, called her to be part,
(25:30):
Saint Catherine Labourette, to be part of hisorder. What's interesting in the mother house
of the Congregation of Mission in Paris, theyhave the paintings of all the martyrs in the
way in which they were martyred. And it's gruesome,but it's an interesting point because you're
walking up the main staircase going towardsthe main elements of the building and going
(25:54):
in and that's the first thing you encounteris paintings of mutilated bodies, a lot of
their martyrs came out of China. They had avery strong presence in China before, during
and after the Boxer Rebellion period. And theywould crucify their priests. So, and they have
(26:17):
a couple from Vietnam too. But it's an account,it's at a point that's very pungent because
it's the idea of like, this is how, that's thebest way of bringing in a young person. Come
on in. This is what our congregation does. Andthis is what you might be called to do too.
Of course, of course. That's very nice. Thatshows the dedication that he was calling his
(26:42):
members to have. I mean, You're not here tohave a good life. It's not a movie, a Hollywood
movie in Technicolor with a happy ending. There'sa Bells of St. Mary going on here. It may happen,
right? No, no, no. You're here to do somethinggreat, and because it's something great, maybe
we'll go through difficult moments, it doesn'tmatter, you know, we want to go ahead. Father
St. Vincent de Paul, according to the historians,is a reflection of humility, generosity, and
(27:07):
service. And how much creativity is in there,right? Absolutely. So I don't know, can we
recommend something to our audience regardingthis? I think that we should praise St Vincent
to, or that his vision that he wanted to changethe world actually, will be accomplished now.
(27:28):
He didn't manage to do it. He did tremendousamount of good and his congregation also in
the Suisse of Charity also, et cetera. But still.That was not what St. Vincent wanted. He wanted
much more. So let's ask him to help us to dowhat he wanted to do. Beautiful, beautiful.
(27:49):
And for Canadians who are listening, the cityof Montreal is always a reminder of this. Absolutely.
Because in the end of the story comes from hisimpulse. Just think when you go into the plaster
arms in Montreal, there's a great statue ofMeseneuve looking at the cathedral. And that's
something to remind us, what he was here todo was a religious purpose. Exactly. humility,
generosity and sense of service. So, invokingSaint Vincent de Paul, the blessing of Almighty
(28:14):
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit come upon you,remain with you forever. Amen.
St. Vincent de Paul wanted to be a priest forthe wrong reasons? Well, it looks like yes.
Another thing also that he did was that he wouldfind some of the noble families, the better
noble families who had fallen on hard timesand find ways of getting them funds to keep
their families going. This society worked tremendouslyfor the advancement of the church and also
(00:22):
was responsible for founding the Canadian cityof Montreal. Don't forget, Montreal's original
name was not Montreal, but it was Bill Marie.St. Vincent de Paul did found a secret society,
Father Arthur? Yes. Okay, before we have allthe committees of St. Vincent de Paul Society
(00:45):
calling the heralds of the gospel and askingthem, what are you saying in this program?
We have to explain ourselves. Welcome to SalveMaria, the podcast of the heralds of the gospel.
So Salve Maria, welcome back to Salve Maria,the podcast of the heroes of the gospel. Salve
(01:07):
Maria, Fr. Arthur. Salve Maria. Salve Maria,brother Justin. Salve Maria. What a beautiful
topic today. We have the life of St. Vincentde Paul, who is a very mysterious saint, extremely
smart and at the same time full of open charityand also some aspects that are completely unknown.
(01:27):
So today we unveil everything about his life.And I'm sure the audience will be delighted
because the character is just fantastic. ButI don't know, Father, maybe we can start by
saying that St. Vincent de Paul wanted to bea priest for the wrong reasons. Well, it looks
(01:48):
like yes. Looks like he wanted some personalpromotion because at the time to be a priest,
et cetera, will give you a lot of... of benefitsto society was much more respectful to the
clergy and you could have a lot of benefits.So he thought maybe, well, okay, I'm going
(02:10):
to be a priest. The early historians are mercilesswith him. They say that, okay, he wanted social
advancement and financial stability, especiallycoming from a poor family. Yes, exactly. He's
also from Southern France. So later on in hislife, when he'll go to Paris, they will, he
will be looked down upon because of that Southernorigin. Of course. So he was ordained when
(02:33):
he was 19. And the eagerness to be ordainedapparently was that he wanted to provide to
his family. So he got a dispensation and wasordained at 19. Very young, very young. He
was in Toulouse. And then at that moment, somethingcompletely unexpected happens. Almost from
a novel of, I don't know, the Count of MonteCristo or something like that. He's traveling
(03:01):
and they're fathered. He's going to Rome becausea lady had promised that she was going to give
him a part of his inheritance. So she, he'svery much looking forward and he takes a ship
and you see how God was acting now. Becausehe's going to Rome to take an inheritance of
another person. But on the way, the Muslims,they attacked the ship and they are all taken.
(03:28):
you know, captives and he becomes a slave. He'ssold for the first time. Then he's going to
be sold two more times. He's sold for the firsttime. He becomes a slave of the Turkish, what
do you call that? Pirates, Turkish pirates.And then yes, so he sold three times. And the
third owner was unbelievable. Yeah. I mean,I don't know. He was a former Franciscan that
(03:55):
had become a Muslim.
He lived with three wives and had completelyabandoned the faith. And all of a sudden he
buys this slave who is very capable. And oneof his wives actually takes interest to see
how this, you know, this young man was, wasactually kind and everything else. And after
(04:16):
talking a lot with him, she realizes that hisfaith is a true faith. So she goes and reproaches
her husband and says, how come? you abandonthe good faith and you just became like, no,
this is wrong. So she also, in the end of thestory, they all convince the Franciscan, the
(04:36):
former Franciscan, and both, the slave, SaintVincent de Paul, and himself flee at night
to France, and they go back to France. But thatwas shocking for Saint Vincent de Paul, right?
Because that all of a sudden was the, what,the very first part of his conversion? Because
(04:56):
he, certainly he had to think about a lot abouthis vocation because he was fast track, you
know. He was suffering. Yeah, now he had a difficultlife. He was thinking a lot about who he was,
(05:18):
what was his mission, et cetera. And there wasa conversion in his soul. realized that he
was going in the wrong direction. So he managedto convert these people and he goes back to
France and he starts again. With a new vision.A new vision, God gives him another chance.
(05:39):
And now he's not looking for the inheritanceof an old rich lady. And he wants to convert
the world actually. He had a tremendous visionand he really wanted to convert the souls.
And his charity, and this famous phrase of him,charity is infinitely inventive. So charity
(06:06):
is inventive. It means that it's not just, youknow, to give food or clothes to the poor and
that's it. But charity is not that. That isthe ground level of charity. Charity is...
Tremendous inventive. Creative resource. Creativeand he wants to create a society in which they
(06:32):
are going to give this charity to everyone,rich and poor. He's called to the bedside of
a dying peasant and that was also another eye-openerfor him. because of course he confesses this
person and through the confession, he realizedtwo shocking things. One that is the lack of
(06:55):
resources and the lack of material help andalso the complete absence of spiritual help
as well. So there was a poverty that was bothmaterial and spiritual. So we're going to see
the extension of his, the extent of his, hisaction. As you say, Father Noah was creative.
(07:15):
He was resourceful, moved out of charity. Andnow he actually, what, completely renewed the
concept of charity. If he becomes a championof Christian charity, when we think about Christian
charity today, his name is synonymous with theidea of charity. Absolutely. Well, let's number
them. He... Number one, he formed the Ladiesof Charity because of course, when he moves
(07:39):
to Paris in 1609, what happens now, he has accessto clergy that is very influential and also
to very rich families who also are very resourceful.And then he discovers that now he can tap into
this, okay, the openness that the high societyin Paris had for charity and also the openness
(08:01):
in the clergy that he found. And all that wasneeded was now to line up all this and organize
these resources towards a good cause. And sohe goes and what he founded the ladies of charity.
He founded a society of priests, right? Thatis the congregation of the missions. Now they
(08:22):
are called Vincentians. They are all the, healso formed the sisters of charity, no, co-founded
it. with St. Louis Maria, whose body is in corrupt.She's there and then St. Catherine Labouret
is right beside her. The chapel of the Rue duBac. Chapel in the Rue du Bac. And up the street
is the body of St. Vincent of the Port. Yeah,just a block away. He also founded the Confraternities
(08:45):
of Charity and also he participated in two,and this is what gives a name to the program
today, you must be wondering at this point,and also he participated in the Company of
the Blessed Sacrament. which is one of thosemovements that is completely fascinating. We're
going to go there in a moment. But Father, Iwould like to point out what's your point of
(09:08):
view, because it doesn't happen with Catholicsthat we are all disorganized. No, of course,
he therefore, he wanted to reform the wholeof society because he realized that the clergy
was not good enough, the clergy was decadent.So he found a company to reform the clergy.
(09:28):
Well, one of the members of that society thathe starts is the founder of the supplicants,
whose vocation was the formation of clergy.So he's finding a way to resolve this problem,
grave problem, and find a solution. Absolutely,so he wants to transform the spiritual world
(09:54):
that was going down, and then... He also wantsto transform the civil society. And this is
why through works of charity, he was reformingor giving a better formation to the ladies
in their faith, teaching them the reality offaith, catechism and understanding of scripture,
(10:18):
etc. At the time, everything was in Latin, inmasses, and people had much less access. to
scriptures than today because the scriptureswere in Latin and people were speaking other
languages. So
(10:39):
he had the conferences of Vincent de Paul. Hewould do lectures and lectures and lectures
explaining the faith in a beautiful way. Hisreligious order that he founds, one of its
purposes besides evangelization, direct
that element of opening schools was for thateducational background of his children. So
(11:03):
you're talking about formation of the whole.Another thing also that he did was that he
would find some of the noble families, the betternoble families who had fallen on hard times
and find ways of getting them funds to keeptheir families going. Because he found that
the, um, the merchant class that was comingup was a family where people who didn't have
(11:23):
tradition, didn't have a strong Catholic fiber.And he needed to find a way of keeping them
in the society to be a good example, to be thatgood ferment in the society. So he found ways
of maneuvering that too. This is a very brightindividual. Absolutely. Therefore, he's trying
to fix the whole of society, spiritual and temporalsociety, the older and the young, the rich
(11:50):
and the poor. I mean, he's not just a personwho wanted to distribute close to everybody
else, no. It's a providential man, no? For hisperiod, absolutely. Because 300 years ago,
the science of management were not that developedin these past decades, right? Has been studied
so much. And there are four characteristicsthat he brought that are impressive. He says,
(12:14):
okay, what did he bring with his techniques,right? Was resource mobilization. And not based
just on, okay, now we're going to be managers.No, based on a good... fostering of a spiritual
life that in turn moved people to mobilize everythingthey could do in resources to help the poor.
But it was organized, it was systematized, butnot the system that, you know, we worship the
(12:38):
system. No, it was a system that came from thegood charity of the people. So he not only
wanted to sanctify the people in order to takethem out of society and send them, you know,
to the top of a mountain or... whatever, todo penance, which is very nice. Or the Trappists,
(13:00):
the Cartusians, they don't speak with anybody.He was not a Cartusian. He was speaking with
everyone. Everyone. Rich, poor, king, peasant,everything in between. But he was so spiritual
that he could speak with kings and queens. Hewas the confessor of a queen of France. He
(13:22):
has a plan to reform the whole of society andto bring the faith in the heart of the society
for the society to work according to our LordJesus Christ. He decided to tap into the social
influence and using the social influence towardsthe good. And that was something that once
(13:43):
he discovered he was a trailblazer. Nobody couldstop him at all. And well, let's go to a brief.
Break, Father. It was very charismatic, huh?There we go. Yeah, great attraction. Let's
go to a quick break, and then we go into hischarism of attraction, and what is the relationship
(14:04):
between St. Vincent de Paul and the companyof the Blessed Sacrament. Salve Maria. I'm
Father Ryan Murphy of the Heralds of the Gospel,and I'm delighted to extend an invitation to
each and every one of you. in the midst of ourbusy lives. It's crucial to take a moment of
reflection, of soulless end of prayer. That'swhy I would like to personally invite you to
(14:30):
join us every day at 3 p.m. for a special andpowerful devotion, the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a beautiful prayerthat embodies the boundless compassion of our
Lord. It's a time to come together as a community.regardless of where we are, and lift up our
(14:53):
intentions, our hopes, and even our burdensto the heart of Jesus. Imagine all around the
world countless voices uniting in prayer atthis very hour. It's a moment of connection,
of spiritual unity, and of seeking God's mercyin a troubled world. So, mark your calendars,
(15:15):
set your alarms, and Make a commitment to joinus each day at 3pm. Tune in and experience
the transformative power of the Divine MercyChaplet. Let this be a sanctuary of peace amidst
the noise of life. Thank you for being a partof our Heralds Canada YouTube channel. Together
(15:39):
let's embark on this journey of faith, hopeand mercy. I'm looking forward to praying with
you every day. at 3 p.m. May God's love andmercy shine upon you always. And until we meet
again, may Almighty God bless you, the Fatherand the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. So welcome
(16:00):
back to the second part. And so, St. Vincentde Paul did found a secret society, Father
Arthur? Yes. Okay. Before we have all the committeesof St. Vincent de Paul Society calling the
heroes of the gospel and asking them, what areyou saying in this program? We have to explain
(16:21):
ourselves. There was, as Father was saying,the charismatic St. Vincent de Paul that got
also involved and contacted everybody who wasinfluential. And in 1629...
there is the foundation of the Company of theBlessed Sacrament. He was founded by Henri
(16:44):
de Lévy. And then this organization was partof the Catholic renewal that was specifically
defending the church against the Protestantreforms. And so also known as the Huguenots,
the Huguenots in France were the Protestantsand then what happens? Okay. They were performing
(17:04):
charitable works. According to some historians,they say it was a secret society because acted
not by not being seen. Because at the time,let's face it, there were political consequences
and there were also social consequences andthere was a matter of humility, but I think
it was more on the first line I just mentioned.And so what happens, because they had a tremendous
(17:29):
influence in the court, they had a tremendousinfluence in the high society and also blocking
the access of bad elements. that would go andinfiltrate the social order of the time, then
what happens, the company of the Blessed Sacramentwas then acting in clandestine manners. And
(17:50):
it's fascinating, why? Because since it wasformed in 1629, was only known outside of the
members by 1666. And it was only identifiedby historians in the 19th and 20th century.
(18:10):
That's how effective their work was. And thereare only 19 members that are actually known
as being part of it. Let's go to the list. Thefirst one, of course, I missed on the pole,
the founder, Henri de Lévy. And then you haveJean-Jacques Olier, who was the founder of
the Sulpicians. You have also Jacques Bossuet,who was that famous... Bishop for his known
(18:35):
for his preaching and his eloquence. Notre Dameof Paris, he was the director. He was the King
Louis XIII that was member of it. It was lateron Louis XIV who has to do with something else
we're going to see in a moment. St. Francisof Sales was also part and we have to remember
(18:58):
the St. Francis of Sales had tremendous a clasheswith the Protestants in Geneva. They kicked
him out. Right. And so he was noted for, forhis holiness as well. And you also have two
founders of Montreal. Well, Messier de Messonet.Three. Jean Mans, who was a nurse and settler.
(19:22):
And also here we have Le Royer, who was alsoone of the founders of Montreal. So this society
worked. tremendously for the advancement ofthe church, dispelling the action of many enemies
of the church, and also was responsible forfounding the Canadian city of Montreal. Don't
(19:45):
forget, Montreal's original name was not Montreal,but it was Ville Marie, and it was founded
by the support of the Seplichian Order, becausethey're the ones who had the original land
area, and it was their parish. So, The ideawas that it was gonna be a city of Mary, city
of joy, the city of virtue, where there wouldbe no Protestants. So it's interesting when
(20:08):
you look at it in that perspective, they werelooking at France to try to repair the damage
done to France by the reformation and its subsequentdecadence, but they were looking at the new
world as a place where maybe it might be betterto restart. Exactly. Yes, yes, yes. And also
(20:31):
was very interesting because they chose Messiade Mesonov to be the spearhead on the foundation
of Montreal. And so he brought several saintsas well, right. But at the same time, he was
able to give the impulse for the foundationof the city. Right. We have characters like
(20:52):
Marguerite Bourgeois, we have, and so many othersof the religious that came. Montreal to Quebec
and we're working towards this purpose. So it'sfascinating. Very interesting. So you see how
his vision was much bigger than an area of Franceor even France itself. It wasn't even a question
(21:12):
of just giving out little donations. Oh, notat all. Right. It was very big. Oh, it was
founding something. Founding, yeah. And reformingand maneuvering around all the obstacles that
were in front of him.
a clandestine nature and secrecy. And becausethe political situation of the time demanded
(21:34):
so. So the fact that he was so resourceful andat the same time so charismatic. But you know
that secrecy wouldn't include the Pope. ThePope had to know. You can have a secret society
with a good purpose because normally we identifysecret society. for bad purposes. And something
(21:54):
evil. Exactly. Sinister. Exactly. So they don'twant to tell their purpose because it's evil
and it's going to harm them in their bad intention,bad deeds. But a good society that wants to
do something that is good can be secret, butthe goal has to be good and the Pope has to
(22:14):
know. And there was a very interesting episodethat happened with the famous Edict of Nuns.
because that edict was actually approved byHenry IV, giving the Huguenots complete freedom
and legality in the Kingdom of France. And sothey were given that. And Louis XIV is the
(22:37):
one that also being part of this Company ofthe Blessed Sacrament is famous episode, he
calls the Huguenots to the court and says, listen,my grandfather, liked you and feared you. My
father did not like you, but he feared you.I neither like you, fear you. Out. And so he,
(23:05):
with that, he stopped the edict of Nan and thenthe Protestants were officially expelled from
France. And that, well, it's a historical factthat happened, right? And also happened that,
well. Louis XIV also closed the company of theBlessed Sacrament because apparently historians
(23:27):
say that he wanted to have more control in thekingdom. Not for the right reasons. This happened
also after the death of our saint Saint Vincentde Paul. He died in 1660, so six years before
the closing of the company. What a resourcefulsaint. because sometimes we Catholics lack
(23:50):
that organization and that like going out andactually doing something systematically. And
what a beautiful lesson on his behalf. Theirname is the company of the mission, but the
mission not in the sense that let's go to apagan countries and start the church there,
et cetera. The mission is to reestablish truefidelity, true Christianity in. in Europe,
(24:18):
in our Catholic countries. Well, that's actually,yes, you're talking about the company of priests
that he organized as well, right? Yes, he alsois the father of the nuns, no? The- Ah. Sisters
of Charity. Yes. No? There are two societiesof apostolic life. To which belongs Catherine
(24:39):
Labouret, the one who received the apparitionsof Mary, and she indicated- how the miraculous
medal should be made. Father, when she was joining,she had a dream that before she joined the
convent, she had a dream. And she sees thismass happening in the early in the morning.
He sees this priest, you know, that is celebratingmass. And all of a sudden he turns and starts
(25:05):
calling her. Calling her, yes. And she doesn'tknow what to do. She flees running and wakes
up. And when she goes and visits the convent,for the first time, she goes and says, who
is this man that is in a picture? At the entrance,at the entrance hall. And the sister goes,
oh, he's our father and founder, Saint Vincentde Paul. He, in a dream, called her to be part,
(25:30):
Saint Catherine Labourette, to be part of hisorder. What's interesting in the mother house
of the Congregation of Mission in Paris, theyhave the paintings of all the martyrs in the
way in which they were martyred. And it's gruesome,but it's an interesting point because you're
walking up the main staircase going towardsthe main elements of the building and going
(25:54):
in and that's the first thing you encounteris paintings of mutilated bodies, a lot of
their martyrs came out of China. They had avery strong presence in China before, during
and after the Boxer Rebellion period. And theywould crucify their priests. So, and they have
(26:17):
a couple from Vietnam too. But it's an account,it's at a point that's very pungent because
it's the idea of like, this is how, that's thebest way of bringing in a young person. Come
on in. This is what our congregation does. Andthis is what you might be called to do too.
Of course, of course. That's very nice. Thatshows the dedication that he was calling his
(26:42):
members to have. I mean, You're not here tohave a good life. It's not a movie, a Hollywood
movie in Technicolor with a happy ending. There'sa Bells of St. Mary going on here. It may happen,
right? No, no, no. You're here to do somethinggreat, and because it's something great, maybe
we'll go through difficult moments, it doesn'tmatter, you know, we want to go ahead. Father
St. Vincent de Paul, according to the historians,is a reflection of humility, generosity, and
(27:07):
service. And how much creativity is in there,right? Absolutely. So I don't know, can we
recommend something to our audience regardingthis? I think that we should praise St Vincent
to, or that his vision that he wanted to changethe world actually, will be accomplished now.
(27:28):
He didn't manage to do it. He did tremendousamount of good and his congregation also in
the Suisse of Charity also, et cetera. But still.That was not what St. Vincent wanted. He wanted
much more. So let's ask him to help us to dowhat he wanted to do. Beautiful, beautiful.
(27:49):
And for Canadians who are listening, the cityof Montreal is always a reminder of this. Absolutely.
Because in the end of the story comes from hisimpulse. Just think when you go into the plaster
arms in Montreal, there's a great statue ofMeseneuve looking at the cathedral. And that's
something to remind us, what he was here todo was a religious purpose. Exactly. humility,
generosity and sense of service. So, invokingSaint Vincent de Paul, the blessing of Almighty
(28:14):
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit come upon you,remain with you forever. Amen.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.