Saint Vincent de Paul
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St. Vincent returns to Paris and knows persecution. He could have stayed and basked in the glory that was Rome, but knew he had to go on to Paris. News of Vincent de Paul's involvement in the conversion of the apostate came to the attention of Pope Paul V[1] and in 1608, Vincent was commissioned to go to Henry IV on a confidential mission. Vincent departed for Paris, poste-haste. Because Vincent was not otherwise employed, the King asked him to be the Queen's chaplain. The Queen told the King she sincerely repented her past conduct and wanted to change her life, and that she gladly accepted Father Vincent as her Spiritual Director and confessor. The Queen became very devoted; soon everyone looked upon her with admiration. Her selfishness replaced by selflessness, her life became filled with great acts of mercy and charity. Queen Margot entrusted Father Vincent with the task of distributing great sums of silver to the poor and visiting the sick in the Hospital of Charity. Now, although Father preferred visiting the poor, he obeyed the Queen and ministered to the nobility. It was on such an occasion, he met King Henry IV's son, the Dauphin and future King Louis XIII. While in the service of Queen Margot, Father Vincent returned to his interrupted studies and followed the lessons being given at the Sorbonne, with the idea of receiving a degree in Canon Law. He studied industriously, but never at the expense of his duty to the Queen and the poor. He distributed large sums to the poor, never keeping a coin for himself. He refused to live in the Palace. Vincent chose to board, out of humility, in a modest lodging in the area of St. Germain. It was owned by a Judge of the Tribunal, Monsieur de Sore. Vincent was so happy, but his peace was to be short-lived. One day, when Vincent was sick in bed, with a fever (from an illness contracted in Africa), the Judge entered the room and, as was his custom, placed a large sum of money in the safe. But in a hurry and somewhat distracted, instead of leaving the key in a safe place, he left it on the server. Later the delivery boy from the pharmacy brought medicine to Father Vincent. Upon seeing him sound asleep, and noticing the key, he opened the safe and stole all the contents. On his return, the judge seeing the safe ajar and his money gone, accused Vincent. Although Vincent calmly protested he was innocent, he was not able to prove it; he was not believed and was to bear the stigma of being a thief for six years. During the six long years, without friends, and anyone who believed in him, he never endeavored to defend himself. He just bore the scandal, resignedly repeating over and over again, "God knows the truth." Finally six years after the fact, the truth always surfacing, the criminal was arrested for another crime and, wanting to clear his conscience, confessed to the crime Vincent had been accused of. St. Vincent never told anyone of his ordeal. Instead he used this as a teaching on retreats. Without using any names, he stressed the positive rather than remember and dwell on the negative, teaching that we can sustain the pain of false accusations, which pierce our hearts, by remembering always that God in His timetable will reveal the truth, if it is His Will. Thank God, even if it was after six years, that in Vincent's case, it was God's Will! Vincent meets a holy priest and his life takes a new course Not all was sad in Paris, for St. Vincent. There he met up with a holy priest, Father de Bérulle, who would later become a Cardinal. Again we see God the Omnipotent Chessman putting His chess pieces in position, lining them up to serve Him and His Church. Father De Bérulle asked St. Vincent to serve as Curé of a small parish outside Paris. Then he commissioned him to be Spiritual Director to Countess JoiguyXE "Countess Joiguy" and serve as teacher to her children. St. Vincent was a champion of the Sacraments, preaching often on most especially the Sacrament of Penance. One day, when the countess was away on a trip, someone came to St. Vincent and asked him to hear the confession of a man who was dying. Before administering Extreme Unction (or the Sacrament of the Sick as it is now called), St. Vincent asked the man to make a general confession. When he helped the man examine his conscience, St. Vincent discovered the man had previously made imperfect confessions. Because he had not properly examined his conscience, this rendered his former confessions sacrilegious. When Countess Joiguy returned and her subject told her that he might have died with sins on his soul, had St. Vincent not prepared him, she begged St. Vincent to preach that Sunday in their country church on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. After his homily, the people flocked in such great numbers to have their confessions heard, St. Vincent had to ask the local Jesuits for help.[2] The time came when Father de Bérulle told Vincent it was time to leave the countess' home and serve the common people who were in such dire need of spiritual nourishment. Gathering five other priests, Vincent formed a little community and they began converting many back to the true Faith, calling them (including royalty) to cease living scandalous lives painful to God. Countess Joiguy was in full accord with the great work that Vincent was doing; but she made him promise he would always be available, he would never abandon the care of her soul, and he would be there to help her at the moment of her death. Always devoted to those whom God entrusted to her, the countess convinced her husband to support Vincent's Company of missionaries who would help their peasants and teach them how to live a better life. |
