Pope sends message to members of St Vincent de Paul
family
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis sent a message on Wednesday
to members of Vincentian family to mark the fourth
centenary of their foundation by French priest Saint Vincent de Paul.
In 1617, Fr Vincent began his work among poor, farming
families, supported by a group of wealthy Parisian women known as the Daughters
of Charity. They collected funds for missionary activities, for the
founding of hospitals, to support victims of war and to ransom galley slaves
who were returning from North Africa.
Thanking the members of the Vincentian family for the work
they do today among the most marginalized people, Pope Francis recalled that
throughout his life, Fr Vincent de Paul was always searching for the presence
of God in the lives of the poor.
Simplicity and generosity
By dedicating his life to bringing the message of God’s love
to those most in need, the pope said, Fr Vincent inspired others to follow in
his footsteps. He paid particular attention to the formation of priests, urging
them to model his method of simplicity, generosity and a natural life style.
Co-foundress Luisa de Marillac
That “mustard seed” of the Daughters of Charity which he
founded four centuries ago, the pope said, has grown into “a great tree” of the
institutes and organisations which make up the Vincentian family today. He
recalled in particular Vincent’s “prophetic intuition” of drawing on the
spiritual gifts and sensibilities of the family’s co-foundress, Luisa de
Marillac.
Find Jesus in the poor
Pope Francis said he hoped that in this year of celebration,
members of the Vincentian family may deepen this charism of their founders,
while returning to the source of grace which is Jesus, encountered in the poor
and voiceless. You are called to reach out to the peripheries of the human
condition, he told them, to be seeds growing on hard ground, to bring
consolation and love to hearts that are hardened by neglect and abuse.
Transform society
Saint Vincent speaks to us all today, the pope said,
inviting us to be on the move and open to the Lord’s surprises. He calls us to
live in communion, freeing ourselves from complex language, self-serving
rhetoric or attachment to material things. Like him, we must learn to transform
our societies, investing in formation and living in close contact with those
who suffer most.
World Day of the Poor
Finally, recalling the first World Day of the Poor, which he
has called for on November 19th, Pope Francis said we must learn to touch the
flesh of Christ in those who suffer. Trusting in God, he said, may we become
concrete signs of the love of Christ for all those most in need.
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