Saint Vincent's Love of God

In order to appreciate fully Saint Vincent's love of God we should be perfectly acquainted with the working of the Holy Spirit in his soul, and his fidelity in co-operating with the lights which he received. This manifestation, which is begun on earth by the Will of God, Who offers the virtues of a Saint for the veneration and imitation of Christians, will not be perfected until the last day, when He will reveal the secrets of all hearts. Nevertheless, even in this world there is, according to the expression of the Apostle Saint John, an infallible mark of a creature who loves God: "It is the constant observance of His holy law."

Saint Vincent fulfilled always, with exemplary exactitude, all the duties imposed by this law. Perfectly united to God, as was visible in his whole exterior, he regulated all his actions according to the commandments of that Eternal Law whence all justice proceeds. His life was one continual sacrifice which he made to God of honours, of the pleasures of the world, and of all his affections. His heart never felt such sensible joy as when he directed his attention towards the Ineffable Glory which God possesses in Himself. His most ardent desire was that God should be better known and adored in every place and by every creature. All that he said or did had no other aim than to inspire all with Divine Love.

Hence those tender aspirations which from time to time escaped his lips: "Oh, my Saviour! Oh, my Lord! Oh, Divine Goodness! Oh, my God! when wilt Thou grant us the Grace to belong entirely to Thee, to love but Thee alone?" Hence also the care he took to purify his intention and to remind himself that the least of our actions, as well as the greatest, belongs to the Creator.

So that he might please God in most important matters he studied to please Him in the smallest. On this point he was so watchful that, according to those who observed him most closely, to think less of self he would have needed to be no longer a mortal man.

Hence also proceeded that vigour of speech which penetrated the very hearts of those who listened to him. This is so true that one day a lady, having heard him speak, was astounded and said to the Queen of Poland: "Well, Madame, can we not say, like the disciples of Emmaus, that we felt the Love of God kindling in our hearts whilst Mr. Vincent was speaking to us? I declare to you that my heart is aglow with all that the holy man has just told us."

"You need not be surprised," answered the Queen; "he is the angel of the Lord, who carries on his lips the fiery coals of Divine Love which burn in his heart."

Amongst the crowd of ecclesiastics who hastened week by week to the Conferences organized by Saint Vincent, many have declared that they went there principally to have the happiness of listening to him; that they came back disappointed if, through modesty, the Saint had not consented to speak. His words contained such (shall I call it) "unction" of the Holy Ghost that they touched the hearts of all who were present. Several spoke about him to his Missioners, saying, "Oh, how happy you are to see and hear every day a man so full of the Love of God!" And, indeed, this holy man infused the flame of his charity into the very soul of those who conversed with him. "There could not be found," says the Archbishop of Vienna (in his letter to Clement IX, January 1st, 1676), "any discourse or pious lecture capable of producing an impression equal to that which he made on those who had the happiness of talking with him. Even children, who are so easily wearied with serious discourses, took pleasure in listening to him." Also Monsignor de Brienne wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff (November 13th, 1705): "I was very young when I first made acquaintance with the venerable old man, who showed great friendliness towards my family, but I had already, like many others, formed such a high idea of his sanctity that the course of many years has never obliterated the remembrance of those conversations."

An obstinate sinner was sent to one of the Missioners, that the latter might turn him to better sentiments, but without success, for the habits of evil had become second nature to this sinner. The priest presented him to Saint Vincent, not unlike the man who was possessed by a devil, and whom the disciples presented to Our Saviour when they could not cure him. The Servant of God talked to this unhappy man, whose mind was afflicted with an inveterate disease; he pressed him with arguments, shook his self-confidence, brought shame to his conceit and had the consolation of seeing part of the mist clear away which was blinding him. Very soon the first glimmerings of a new man began to appear; the son of iniquity was groaning under his chains; he begged for the benefit of a Retreat in order to disengage himself; he made the Retreat fervently, and henceforth lived up to the hopes which he had raised. Finally he thanked his benefactors and published everywhere that it was Mr. Vincent who had changed his heart.

With regard to God, the Saint did not content himself with a sentimental, affectionate love, nor with producing in his soul elevated thoughts on the Goodness of God and ardent desires for His Glory; but he rendered this love fruitful and, as Saint Gregory desires, he gave proof of it by his works: "The proof of Love is in the doing". It was for this reason that the holy Priest exhorted his confreres to love God with the strength of their arm and the sweat of their brow, because, he often added, many acts of the Love of God and many other loving transports, although very good and desirable, may easily be suspected of insincerity if they are not accompanied by a practical love. "My Father is glorified, says Our Saviour, when much fruit is produced, and on this point we must be well on our guard, for there are many who, whilst having a very calm exterior, and their heart full of good sentiments, go no further and remain idle when the occasion presents itself. They let themselves be deceived by the ardour of their imagination; they content themselves with the sweet communication they have with God in prayer, and speak of Him as if they were angels; but as soon as there is question of labouring for the Love of God, of mortifying themselves, of instructing the poor, of going in search of the wandering sheep, of bearing patiently with sickness or any other disgrace, then their courage fails and they draw back. No! No! let us not be under any illusion: 'The value of our work consists in doing it well'. I have learnt this truth from a great servant of God. On his death-bed he declared to me that he perceived clearly at this supreme moment that, very often, what some persons look upon as contemplation, ravishment, ecstasies, elevations, or spiritual unions, were really nothing but smoke, and that all proceeded from a deceitful curiosity, or the natural impulse of a mind with some disposition towards what is good; whilst on the contrary a good action is the true mark of the Love of God - 'Totum opus nostrum in operatione consistit.' The Apostle teaches us that good actions alone will accompany us to the other life. Let us reflect on it all the more because in our time there are many who appear virtuous, and are so in fact, and nevertheless they are inclined to a sweet, soft life rather than to a solid and practical devotion."

"The Church is compared to a great harvest which has need of labourers. There is nothing so conformed to the Gospel as to gather light and strength through prayer, reading and solitude, and then to distribute to men this spiritual food. This is doing what Our Lord did, and His Apostles after Him; this is uniting the roles of Martha and Mary; it is imitating the dove that takes for herself half of the food which she has picked up and passes on the rest out of her beak to that of her little ones, to nourish them. That is how we must show God by our works that we love Him - 'Totum opus nostrum in operatione consistit.'"

Consequently the Saint always represented to himself Our Lord Jesus Christ in his neighbour, in order to excite himself more efficaciously to render him all duties of charity. It was Our Divine Saviour, Head of the Church, Whom he beheld in the Sovereign Pontiff; Our Lord, Supreme Pontiff, in the Bishops; Our Lord, Prince of Shepherds, in the Priests; Our Lord King, in the Sovereign; Our Lord Nobleman, in the nobility; Our Lord Judge, in the magistrates and the other public officers. The Kingdom of Heaven being in the Gospel compared to a Merchant, the Saint considered God as such in business people; as a Workman in the artisan; as a Poor Man in the beggar; as Infirm in the sick; as Agonizing in the dying. Thus, seeing Jesus Christ in all the different states in which the neighbour appeared, he urged himself to love and serve the creatures of Our Lord, and Our Lord in them all. He also exhorted all those to whom he spoke to put this maxim in practice, and so render more perfect their charity towards God and towards man.

In fine, he made it his principle to do everything for the Love of God, and never to do anything through human considerations.

The Love of God being incompatible with human respect, Saint Vincent could not bear anyone to act with the view of pleasing men. One of his Missioners, who was staying temporarily in Rome, had been entrusted by the Sovereign Pontiff to give some Missions. In order to curry favour with the Cardinals he conceived the idea of beginning to give these Missions on their lands. He wrote to Saint Vincent to that effect; but he answered that such a way of acting was human and opposed to Christian simplicity. "Oh, God! may the Lord preserve us from doing anything through such low motives! His Divine Goodness requires that we should never do good in any place to render ourselves illustrious, but that we should look directly to Him, and without any medium in all our actions. Be quite sure that the maxims of Jesus Christ and the example of His Life never lead us astray; and that they yield their fruit in due season . . . and that nothing succeeds with him who acts according to the contrary maxims."

The horror which the Saint felt at the conduct of those acting through worldly motives was the cause one day of one of those outbursts of sadness which reveal the habitual dispositions of the heart. One of his own priests had accused himself, in the presence of the others, of having performed some action through human motives. Saint Vincent was grieved to hear that a Missioner could have another motive but God. "It would be better," he said, "to be thrown into a burning cauldron with one's hands and feet tied than to perform an action with the intention of pleasing men."

He pitied the folly of those who, being full of worldly intentions, only lose their time and their labour, which if lifted up to God would become so fruitful and so salutary. "The intention," he said, "is the soul of our works; it increases their value in a sovereign degree."

And again: "Clothing is not generally valued so much for the material of which it is made as for the gold trimmings and rich embroidery, pearls and precious stones with which it is ornamented; in the same way we must not be content with merely performing good works, but we must enrich and set them off through the merit of a very high and holy intention, doing them solely to please God and glorify Him."

The intentions of Saint Vincent being thus purified, kindled in him a very ardent desire to work for the Glory of God, and to lead others to share his sentiments on this point. He wished that every true disciple of Jesus Christ should render an account to himself of the motives which prompted his actions; that he should interrogate himself before beginning each one, saying to himself: "Through what motive are you undertaking such or such a thing? Would it be, by chance, to give pleasure to yourself, or to some weak creature? Is it with the sole intention of accomplishing the Will of God and of following the impulse of His Holy Spirit?" "How glorious would our life be," he said to his priests, "if only we had the splendid habit of willing everything in God, and all for God! Our life would resemble that of angels more than men. It would be quite divine in a sense, because all our actions would be done under the impulse of the Holy Ghost, and by His Grace."

The whole life of this Saint clearly shows that he acted constantly according to this rule; and it will be still more evident in the recital of the great things we shall reveal later.

Practice - An alms for the Love of God; or a Pater, an Ave and a Gloria to the Most Holy Sacrament.

- text taken from Virtue and Christian Refinement According to the Spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, by Saint John Bosco