Our Divine Saviour told all the faithful that he who followed in His Footsteps would not walk in darkness, and would be assured of one day possessing the Light of Eternal Life. And He invited all men to follow Him and to take Him as their model of humility and meekness.
Saint Vincent, being persuaded that the disciple is only perfect in so far as he resembles his Master, wished to have this Divine Model continually before his eyes. He imitated Him in his words and in his actions, following, so far as is given to mortal man, the rough and painful ways taught us by our Saviour. He imitated Him in every advice he had to give, being careful never to give any of which the Son of God might not approve. He imitated Him in his courage, by treading underfoot all self-love, nor did he fear to see his actions deprecated by those who have at heart the glory of mankind rather than the Glory of God. He imitated Him in his perfect submission, receiving good and evil with utter indifference. He imitated Him in his zeal for the salvation of souls, being determined to pursue and cause others to seek out the wandering sheep, even to the gates of hell, if there were any hope of saving them. He imitated Him in his mortifications, and in his poverty, having his eyes always fixed on the Lord, Who in the days of His mortal life had not even a stone whereon to lay His head. Finally, he resembled his Master so well in his whole behaviour that a priest, who had the happiness of living with him for fifty years, declared that he had never heard him utter a single word or perform a single action which was not for God.
A celebrated doctor one day asked a person, who had known the Saint intimately, what had been his special and particular virtue. He answered that it was the Imitation of Jesus Christ; that the Divine Saviour had been his fixed and constant rule, and the book consulted by him in all his actions.
One might have added that he knew how to open this book before the learned as well as the ignorant, before kings as well as their subjects. Louis XIII had proof of this during his last sickness, when he sent for Saint Vincent. In order to announce to him his approaching death (which so many deluded people try to hide, as far as possible, from the great ones of this world), the Saint said to him, just as he entered his room: "Sir, he who fears God will find Him merciful in his last moments". This broaching of the subject was no surprise whatever to a king who was accustomed to nourish his soul with the most beautiful maxims of Holy Scripture; finishing the sentence himself, he answered calmly: "And on the day of his death he shall be blessed".
Perceiving from his room the place where his body would rest after his death, close to his predecessors, Louis XIII said, "I shall not leave this place until I go down there." Saint Vincent never lost sight of him during the last days of his life; he encouraged him to lift up his mind and heart to God, near Whom there awaited him a throne and treasures far more durable than those of earth. The Prince, who looked bravely forward to his approaching death, asked our Saint what was the best way to prepare for it. "Sir," answered Saint Vincent, "it is to imitate the way in which Jesus Christ prepared Himself for His death, and to submit yourself entirely and perfectly, as He did, to the Will of His Heavenly Father." "Oh, my Jesus, Thy Will be done!", answered the monarch, who was a true Christian. It was in these good sentiments he gave up his last sigh, in the hands of our Saint, thirty years to the very day after he had ascended the throne.
Thus Saint Vincent had the Son of God always present to his mind as his model, and that he might more perfectly imitate the annihilation of Jesus he fled from the very shadow of any desire to shine. He recalled on every occasion the lowliness of his descent; he treated himself as an ignoramus and had a horror of vain, pompous language and the display of worldly eloquence.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ," he often repeated, "was able to give great splendour to His actions, and sublime power to His words; yet He did not will to do so; He did something better, for in order to confound our pride still more, by His extraordinary humiliations. He willed that His disciples should accomplish much more than He did Himself. And wherefore? Why did He wish to be surpassed in His public works? In order to befriend the most lowly and humble, of whom men do not know the value; He wanted to make the Gospel bear fruit, not the applause of the world. Oh, why do we not follow the example of this Divine Master? Why not always give the advantage to others? Why not choose for ourselves what is lowest and most humbling, since that is what is certainly most pleasing in the eyes of Our Lord, and the only thing we should aim at. From this day therefore let us take the resolution to follow Him, and to offer Him little sacrifices. Let us say to Him, and say to ourselves at the same time: 'Of two thoughts which may come into my mind, I will only give out the less important one: in order to humble myself, I will keep hidden the most beautiful one, to make of it a sacrifice to god in the secret of my heart.' Yes, it is a truth of the Gospel that Our Lord nowhere finds more pleasure than in humility of heart and simplicity of action. There dwells His Spirit, and in vain shall we seek It elsewhere. If therefore you wish to find It, you must absolutely renounce ostentation and the desire of making a show; also luxury in what concerns the mind as well as the body; and, in fact, all the vanities and all the satisfactions of life."
Man is born to love God and to do good to his neighbour. Thus we shall see that all Saint Vincent's thoughts were directed towards these two objects; towards God, to love Him; towards his neighbour, to do good to him. "He went about doing good".
Practice - We must resolve to imitate Jesus Christ and to follow Him in His Sufferings; otherwise we shall never arrive at a share in His Glory. "He who wishes to rejoice with Christ, must first suffer with Christ."
- text taken from Virtue and Christian Refinement According to the Spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, by Saint John Bosco