July 26, 2025 • 6 mins
Explore the extraordinary life of St. Vincent De Paul, a man of humility, compassion, and generosity whose impact resonates even today. Born around 1581 and living until 1660, Vincents early life was shaped by his own experience of slavery, having been captured by Turkish pirates and sold in Tunis. His escape in 1607 led him to a life of service, becoming a priest and devoting his ministry to the poor. In 1625, he founded the Congregation of the Mission, a society of missionary priests known as Vincentians or Lazarists. Alongside Louise de Marillac, he established the Daughters of Charity, a group dedicated to nursing the sick, whose work in hospitals during several plagues is well-documented. Listen to the tale of this remarkable individual, and discover the lasting legacy of his profound spiritual journey.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Life of Saint Vincent de Paul, chapter nine. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact LibriVox dot org.
Life of Saint Vincent de Paul by Francis Alice Forbes,
(00:22):
chapter nine. The Jansonists. While Vincent de Paul was striving
by charity and patience to renew all things in Christ,
the Jansonists were busy spreading their dangerous doctrines. When the
Abbe de Saint Cirene, the apostle of Jansenism in France,
(00:43):
first came to Paris, Vincent, like many other holy men,
was taken in by the apparent piety and austerity of
his life. It was only when he knew him better,
and when Saint Cern began to impart to him some
of his ideas on grace and the authority of the Church,
that Vincent realized in what dangerous ground he was standing.
(01:04):
Jansonists were so called from their founder, Cornelius Janssen, Bishop
of Utrecht, who died, however, before his heresy had been condemned.
He said to me one day, wrote the Saint. Long afterwards,
to one of his mission priests, that it was God's
intention to destroy the church as it is now, and
that all who labor to uphold it are working against
(01:24):
his will. Am I told him that these were the
statements made by heretics such as Calvin. He replied that
Calvin had not been altogether in the wrong, but that
he had not known how to make a good defense
after such a statement as that, there could be no
longer a question of friendship between Vincent and Saint Cyen.
Although the latter anxious not to break with a man
(01:45):
who was held in such universal esteem as Vincent, de
Paul tried to persuade him that he Saint Cyron was
really in the right, justifying himself in the elusive language
which was more characteristic of the Jansenists than the frank
declaration he had just made. Vincent, however, was too honest
and straightforward, too loyal a son of the Church to
(02:05):
be deceived. Realizing fully the danger of such opinions, he
soon became one of the most vigorous opponents of the Jansonists,
who indeed soon had cause to look upon Vincent as
one of the most powerful of their enemies. But although
he hated the heresy with all the strength of his
upright soul. Vincent's charitable heart went out in pity to
those who were infected with its taint, and it was
(02:27):
with compassion rather than indignation that he would speak of
Saint Siren and his adherents. Not until they had been
definitely condemned by the Church did he cease his efforts
to win them from their errors, efforts which were received,
for the most part in a spirit of vindictive bitterness.
The teachings of the Jansonists, like that of most other heretics,
(02:48):
had begun by being fairly plausible. The necessity of reform
among the clergy had come home to them forcibly, as
it had to Vincent himself. The Jansenists lives were austere
and mortified. The book which contained their heretical doctrines, the
Augustinius of Jancinius, was read by only a few, and
these mostly scholars. That the sacraments should be treated with
(03:11):
the greatest respect and approached only by those who were
fit to approach them seemed at first sight a very
reverent and very proper maxim. Many people of holy lives
took up this teaching enthusiastically, among them some of Vincent's
own mission priests. When Antoine Arnauld, the youngest of the
famous family which did so much to further Jansonism, published
(03:32):
his book Frequent Communion, which might more truly have been
called Infrequent Communion, it was received with delight and eagerly read.
That Vincent clearly saw the danger shown by one of
his letters to a member of the Jansenist company who
had written protesting against the attitude that Saint Lazare was
taking in the matter. Your last letter says that we
(03:53):
have done wrong in going against public opinion concerning the
book Frequent Communion and the teaching of Jansenius. It is
true that there are only too many who misuse this
divine sacrament. I myself am the most guilty, and I
beg you to pray that God may pardon me. You
say also that as Jansenius read all the works of
Saint Augustine ten times and his treatises on Grace thirty times,
(04:17):
the mission priests cannot safely question his opinions, to which
I reply that those who wish to establish new doctrines
are always learned and always studied deeply. The authors of
which they make use, but that does not prevent them
from falling into error, and we shall have no excuse
for sharing in their opinions and defiance of the censure
of their doctrine. The letter was answered by a second
(04:39):
protest in favor of Arnold's book, which was meant by
Vincent with equal energy. It may be as you say.
He writes that certain people in France and Italy have
drawn benefit from the book, but four a hundred, to
whom it has been useful in teaching more reverence in
approaching the sacrament, ten thousand have been driven away. For
my part, I tell you that if I pay the
(05:00):
the same attention to Monsieur Arnold's book as you do,
I should give up both Mass and communion from a
sense of humility, and I should be in terror of
the Sacrament, regarding it in the spirit of the book,
as a snare of Satan and as poison to the
souls of those who receive it under the usual conditions
approved by the Church. Moreover, if we confine ourselves only
(05:20):
to what he says of the perfect disposition without which
one should not go to communion, is there anyone on
earth who has such a high idea of his own
virtue as to think himself worthy. Such an opinion seems
to be held by Monsieur Arnold alone, who, having made
the necessary conditions so difficult that Saint Paul himself might
have feared to approach, does not hesitate to tell us
(05:40):
repeatedly that he says mass daily. It is evident that
so cold and narrow a teaching could not but be
repugnant to a man of Vincent's breath and charity. The
monstrous heresy held by the Jansonists that Christ did not
die for all men, but for the favored few alone
filled him with a burning indignation. No one could have
(06:01):
deplored more than he the unworthy use of the sacraments.
But he held firmly to the truth that they had
been instituted by a loving savior as man's greatest strength
and as a protection against temptation and sin. And he
was not going to believe that he, who had been
called the friend of sinners, and had eaten and drunk
in their company, would exact from men as a condition
(06:21):
of approaching him, of affection that they could never hope
to attain without him. End of Chapter nine
Life of Saint Vincent de Paul, chapter nine. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact LibriVox dot org.
Life of Saint Vincent de Paul by Francis Alice Forbes,
(00:22):
chapter nine. The Jansonists. While Vincent de Paul was striving
by charity and patience to renew all things in Christ,
the Jansonists were busy spreading their dangerous doctrines. When the
Abbe de Saint Cirene, the apostle of Jansenism in France,
(00:43):
first came to Paris, Vincent, like many other holy men,
was taken in by the apparent piety and austerity of
his life. It was only when he knew him better,
and when Saint Cern began to impart to him some
of his ideas on grace and the authority of the Church,
that Vincent realized in what dangerous ground he was standing.
(01:04):
Jansonists were so called from their founder, Cornelius Janssen, Bishop
of Utrecht, who died, however, before his heresy had been condemned.
He said to me one day, wrote the Saint. Long afterwards,
to one of his mission priests, that it was God's
intention to destroy the church as it is now, and
that all who labor to uphold it are working against
(01:24):
his will. Am I told him that these were the
statements made by heretics such as Calvin. He replied that
Calvin had not been altogether in the wrong, but that
he had not known how to make a good defense
after such a statement as that, there could be no
longer a question of friendship between Vincent and Saint Cyen.
Although the latter anxious not to break with a man
(01:45):
who was held in such universal esteem as Vincent, de
Paul tried to persuade him that he Saint Cyron was
really in the right, justifying himself in the elusive language
which was more characteristic of the Jansenists than the frank
declaration he had just made. Vincent, however, was too honest
and straightforward, too loyal a son of the Church to
(02:05):
be deceived. Realizing fully the danger of such opinions, he
soon became one of the most vigorous opponents of the Jansonists,
who indeed soon had cause to look upon Vincent as
one of the most powerful of their enemies. But although
he hated the heresy with all the strength of his
upright soul. Vincent's charitable heart went out in pity to
those who were infected with its taint, and it was
(02:27):
with compassion rather than indignation that he would speak of
Saint Siren and his adherents. Not until they had been
definitely condemned by the Church did he cease his efforts
to win them from their errors, efforts which were received,
for the most part in a spirit of vindictive bitterness.
The teachings of the Jansonists, like that of most other heretics,
(02:48):
had begun by being fairly plausible. The necessity of reform
among the clergy had come home to them forcibly, as
it had to Vincent himself. The Jansenists lives were austere
and mortified. The book which contained their heretical doctrines, the
Augustinius of Jancinius, was read by only a few, and
these mostly scholars. That the sacraments should be treated with
(03:11):
the greatest respect and approached only by those who were
fit to approach them seemed at first sight a very
reverent and very proper maxim. Many people of holy lives
took up this teaching enthusiastically, among them some of Vincent's
own mission priests. When Antoine Arnauld, the youngest of the
famous family which did so much to further Jansonism, published
(03:32):
his book Frequent Communion, which might more truly have been
called Infrequent Communion, it was received with delight and eagerly read.
That Vincent clearly saw the danger shown by one of
his letters to a member of the Jansenist company who
had written protesting against the attitude that Saint Lazare was
taking in the matter. Your last letter says that we
(03:53):
have done wrong in going against public opinion concerning the
book Frequent Communion and the teaching of Jansenius. It is
true that there are only too many who misuse this
divine sacrament. I myself am the most guilty, and I
beg you to pray that God may pardon me. You
say also that as Jansenius read all the works of
Saint Augustine ten times and his treatises on Grace thirty times,
(04:17):
the mission priests cannot safely question his opinions, to which
I reply that those who wish to establish new doctrines
are always learned and always studied deeply. The authors of
which they make use, but that does not prevent them
from falling into error, and we shall have no excuse
for sharing in their opinions and defiance of the censure
of their doctrine. The letter was answered by a second
(04:39):
protest in favor of Arnold's book, which was meant by
Vincent with equal energy. It may be as you say.
He writes that certain people in France and Italy have
drawn benefit from the book, but four a hundred, to
whom it has been useful in teaching more reverence in
approaching the sacrament, ten thousand have been driven away. For
my part, I tell you that if I pay the
(05:00):
the same attention to Monsieur Arnold's book as you do,
I should give up both Mass and communion from a
sense of humility, and I should be in terror of
the Sacrament, regarding it in the spirit of the book,
as a snare of Satan and as poison to the
souls of those who receive it under the usual conditions
approved by the Church. Moreover, if we confine ourselves only
(05:20):
to what he says of the perfect disposition without which
one should not go to communion, is there anyone on
earth who has such a high idea of his own
virtue as to think himself worthy. Such an opinion seems
to be held by Monsieur Arnold alone, who, having made
the necessary conditions so difficult that Saint Paul himself might
have feared to approach, does not hesitate to tell us
(05:40):
repeatedly that he says mass daily. It is evident that
so cold and narrow a teaching could not but be
repugnant to a man of Vincent's breath and charity. The
monstrous heresy held by the Jansonists that Christ did not
die for all men, but for the favored few alone
filled him with a burning indignation. No one could have
(06:01):
deplored more than he the unworthy use of the sacraments.
But he held firmly to the truth that they had
been instituted by a loving savior as man's greatest strength
and as a protection against temptation and sin. And he
was not going to believe that he, who had been
called the friend of sinners, and had eaten and drunk
in their company, would exact from men as a condition
(06:21):
of approaching him, of affection that they could never hope
to attain without him. End of Chapter nine
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