Saint Vincent's Charity to the Galley Slaves

Certainly the needs of the poor country people were, above all, the object of Saint Vincent's charitable zeal; but they did not exhaust it. On the contrary, we may say that everything which bore the impress of misery became his special business. He needed neither solicitation nor importunate requests; he went himself in search of the most unfortunate, and hastened to help even those who had never dreamt of imploring his charity. Scarcely had he returned from the Missions to rest after a very fatiguing ministry but he would go and visit the hospitals and the prisons, lavishing on the prisoners and the sick all the services he could render them. A special attraction always brought him where he found most wounds to be cured; that was why he wanted to know how the slaves were treated in Paris before they were brought to Marseilles. He was taken into the darkest prisons; he certainly thought he would find much misery there, but he found a great deal more than he had foreseen. He gave us some idea in a few short words of the miserable state of these unfortunate men, shut up in dark deep dungeons: "They are devoured by disgusting vermin; they are worn out by sufferings and misery, utterly disfigured in body and soul."

Treatment so utterly opposed to Christianity and to humanity itself touched the holy priest very acutely. He did not disguise the fact that the remedy for such a great evil would cost much. It was a question of helping a very great number of sufferers; and, on the other hand, one had to sweeten their lot without screening them from justice. It was necessary to put the salutary fear of the judgments of God into men who had never thought of it; to teach a crowd of souls hardened in evil how to sanctify, by love and patience, those very sufferings which were embittering them and were to them an immediate and continual occasion of blasphemy and despair. Happily for them, Saint Vincent did not understand the meaning of difficulty when there was question of the Glory of God or the comfort of the afflicted.

With his heart still full of the emotion caused by these sad sights, he spoke on the subject to Mr. De Gondi, General of the Galleys. He represented to him that these guilty men were under his authority, and that besides providing them with means to take them to their destination it should be part of his charity not to leave them without some consolation. Then he proposed a way of assisting them corporally and spiritually. Mr. De Gondi approved of everything and gave Saint Vincent full power to put his plan into execution.

The Saint therefore hired a house, in which he gathered together all the slaves who were dispersed through the various prisons in the city. Having no other resources for this good work but those of Divine Providence, he made use of all his friends who were in a position to help him to cover expenses. The Bishop of Paris wished to associate himself with this work, and by a mandate of June 1st, 1618, he enjoined the rectors, curates and preachers of the whole city to recommend this holy enterprise to the faithful. At the same time the activity displayed by Saint Vincent was not without result, for he had many imitators; so much so that, after having remedied the material needs, he found himself able to help those of the soul also.

And so he often visited the slaves and talked to them of God, with a vigour full of sweetness; he instructed them on the truths of Faith, and on their duties; he made them understand that their pain, all undesired as it was, might be supported in such a way as to be meritorious. He added that patience would considerably diminish its bitterness, and that in truth there were no real pains except those that would punish final impenitence during all eternity.

These discourses made a great impression on men who were not accustomed to hear such things, and the charitable care of which they were the continual object contributed not a little to win their attention. Very soon many signs of sincere repentance were perceptible. After a time the general confessions completed what the exhortations had begun. Saint Vincent had the consolation of seeing men who had forgotten God for many long years approaching the Sacraments with dispositions which might edify persons already advanced on the road to piety and virtue.

Such a change, whilst exalting the powerful Hand of God in a most visible manner, also did great honour to our Saint, both in Paris and at the Court. It was inconceivable how one man alone could succeed in mastering so many others, how he could be clever enough to subjugate hearts that were naturally so wild, and how he was able to dispatch, without truce or rest, so many duties, and such various and dangerous ones. Indeed the Saint spent a considerable time every day with the slaves, rendering them all sorts of services. He never drew back on account of the contagious illnesses with which they were attacked; on the contrary, it was then he shut himself up with them that he might be better able to console and help them. If some other business which was overwhelming called him elsewhere, he left the care of these unfortunate men to two virtuous ecclesiastics who were animated with the same spirit as himself. They went to live in this new hospital for slaves, celebrated Mass there, and cultivated the good seed which our Saint had so happily sown in that desert ground. As for himself, he left them for as short a time as possible. His treasure was in that soil so newly cultivated, and he continually kept it in mind. Mr. De Gondi, who was also surprised and edified at the good order established by Saint Vincent amongst men who had never had the slightest notion of it hitherto, resolved to let all the galley slaves in the kingdom profit by the same advantage. He made known to the King the wonderful tact and zeal of our Saint, and gave him to understand that with the support of the Court he would not fail in realizing everywhere similar results. Louis XIII willingly agreed to such a just proposal and nominated Saint Vincent "Royal and General Chaplain to all the Galleys."

In 1622 Saint Vincent started for Marseilles to help the poor galley slaves there.

On the very threshold was presented a spectacle that would make one think of hell. One saw these unfortunate creatures huddled up, suffering from despair. The Saint experienced deep emotion at the sight, but he did not stop at a sterile compassion.

This kind father went to visit these unhappy men, listening with great patience to their lamentations, weeping with those who wept, kissing their chains, and washing them with his tears; adding, as far as possible, alms and deeds to his words, and thus reaching their hearts.

He talked also to the officers and the employers and induced them to treat with more respect those men who had already so much to suffer. His charitable care did not remain unrewarded; from that time there was seen on the one hand more humanity, and on the other more submission. The spirit of peace was established little by little; then complaints were calmed, and at last the ordinary chaplains could speak freely about God and spiritual matters and convince them that even slaves are capable of virtue.

The Saint gave a Mission at Bordeaux. Mr. De Gondi having brought ten galleys there, Saint Vincent chose ten of the best evangelical workers and sent them out again, two by two, amongst all the galley slaves. As for himself, he was present everywhere; he converted a Mussulman, who, in gratitude for such a great benefit, honoured him always as a father. He had besides the consolation of seeing a great number of slaves converted in all the sincerity of their heart.

Saint Vincent went to Paris, where he achieved the same good by starting a hospital for slaves. Divine Providence came to his aid in a marvellous way by inspiring a virtuous person to bequeath a sum of ten thousand francs as rent for the new establishment. There was an understanding that the Administrator-General of Saint Lazare should be in perpetual charge of the temporalities of this hospital; that the Daughters of Charity should have the care of the unhappy slaves, and especially the sick ones; that every year there would be a sum of three hundred pounds allotted to several of the priests attached to the service, with the obligation of rendering all those services to the slaves which had been done heretofore gratis by the priests of the Mission. The zeal of these holy ecclesiastics did not slacken Saint Vincent's own zeal for the salvation of the slaves.

He busied himself with the Missions given occasionally, but especially at the time they were on the point of being conducted to the galleys, that is to say, the moment in which they had greatest need of resignation, and when it was most opportune to dispose them to make a good use of their trials.

His tenderness towards them was not limited to these preliminary attentions, but he comforted them in those very places where they had most to suffer. The sad situation of the slaves who fell ill at Marseilles had touched him keenly. Entirely abandoned, riveted to their chains, overwhelmed with the weight of suffering, a prey to consumption through dirt and infection, these living corpses experienced all the horrors of the tomb. Saint Vincent could not without deep emotion see men who were formed in the Image of God, Christians, purchased by the Blood of Jesus Christ, reduced to dying worse than animals.

He had recourse to Cardinal Richelieu; he gave him a picture of the frightful state of the slaves in Marseilles during their sickness, and he pressed the necessity of founding a hospital for them. The Cardinal got the King to approve this project. Louis XIII assigned for the maintenance of this hospital an income of twelve thousand francs, to be taken from the revenues of the province, and the Hospital of Marseilles soon became one of the most comfortable in the kingdom; it contained about three hundred beds. The sick were nursed by other slaves, who were superintended by guardians. The Priests of the Mission had charge of them spiritually. This establishment was a source of benediction for all the slaves, so that even the Mohammedans were touched by the Saint's charity in their regard, and rendered homage to a religion which, in Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ, formed a spiritual link between all nations.

The Duchess of Aiguillon had given the priests of the Mission fourteen thousand francs on condition that one of their number should take charge of instructing the slaves, and should give them Missions every five years, whether the galleys were at Marseilles or at any other port in the kingdom. Thus Saint Vincent, a humble and a poor priest, set in motion all the influential people in the kingdom to procure the most active help for these unfortunate men, whom he regarded as his dearest brethren.

"The fruits of the Mission," wrote the Bishop of Marseilles to the Duchess of Aiguillon, "have surpassed all expectations. In the beginning we met with ignorant minds, so obstinate in their sinfulness and so irritated by their miserable state that they would not in any way hear God spoken of . . . but little by little the Grace of God, united to the efforts of the Missioners, has softened their hearts so completely that now they show as much contrition as formerly they showed obstinacy. You would be astonished, Madame, if you knew how many of them have been for years and years without confession. There were some who had not been to confession for twenty-five years, and protested that they would do nothing so long as they were in chains; but in the end Our Lord became their Master, and has driven Satan from these souls, over whom he had usurped so much power. I praise God for having inspired you to do such a great thing for Him in financing this Mission. It was the arrival of these Missioners which made me decide to hold this Mission immediately; otherwise I might have deferred it until some other time, and then perhaps several of these unhappy slaves would have died in their miserable state. I cannot express to you all the blessings which these poor slaves shower on all those who co-operate in procuring them such salutary help. I am seeking now for means to keep them in the good dispositions in which they are at present. Now I must go and give Absolution to four heretics who were converted in the galleys (through the care of Mr. Vincent); there are others in the same disposition, for all these extraordinary facts have made a great impression on them all."

On another Mission about thirty heretics made their abjuration. One Turk was baptized on the galleys; and nine others were conducted, with more solemnity, to the Cathedral Church, where they were cheered by the populace, blessing God. The aim of the Missioners in using so much solemnity on this occasion was to move another Turk, who seemed to be hesitating. The conversion of these ten Mussulmen had been preceded by seven others, who had been baptized by the Bishop of Marseilles.

How precious must have been these successes to Him Who leaves the ninety-nine sheep in the desert to go in search of the one that is lost! The Missioners gave Missions from time to time on the galleys, either at Marseilles or at Toulon; all of them checked much evil and increased the number of the elect.

Practice - Let him who is not able to expend his zeal in comforting prisoners expend it in saving the slaves of the devil by inducing them, through exhortations and good advice, to give up sin and reinstate themselves in the Grace of God.

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