Maxims of Saint Vincent

The thought of death is most efficacious in making us avoid evil and encourage ourselves in all that is good. The holy priest Saint Vincent used it as a spur to virtue. However, he did not wish it to take possession of a soul to such a degree as to endanger Christian confidence. "The thought of death is good," he said to a person who was afraid of it, "and Our Lord advised and recommended it, but it must be moderated; it is not expedient that you should have it constantly present to your mind; it is sufficient that you should think of it two or three times a day, without, however, stopping long upon it; and even if you should find yourself anxious about it, do not think of it at all." "The human mind," he said, when speaking of errors, "is quick and restless; the most ardent and most brilliant characters are not always the best, unless they are at the same time the most circumspect. He walks safely who does not stray from the path trodden by the majority of wise men." The Saint was an enemy of precipitation, and he often repeated that hastiness in decisions leads to the most false steps; but when he had come to a decision he was as prompt in executing it as he had been slow in examining it. Thus, whether the result of the matter was favourable or not, he was calm, depending on the teaching of the Fathers: "That the wise man must not judge things according to the success which attends them, but according to the intention which conceived them, and the proportion observed between the means and the end; that a well-planned affair may not have a happy result, whilst another, ventured on lightly, may turn out well."

The doctrine of the Gospel was the sole rule of his life. "To speak of the doctrine of Jesus Christ," he repeated, "is like speaking of an immovable rock. The Eternal Truths are infallibly accomplished. Heaven will pass away rather than the Doctrine of Jesus Christ could fail."

In speaking of discretion with regard to good works he said that the devils find their amusement in those who let themselves be seen, or come to the fore without necessity, "like a mine, not plugged, which makes a noise but produces no result."

In recommending the holy Exercise of the Presence of God to his penitents, he told them we should do nothing in secret that we would not dare to do in public, because the Presence of God should make more impression on our mind than could be produced by the sight of all creatures collected together.

With regard to fraternal correction Saint Vincent said that the opportune moment should be chosen.

I do not know if the children of this century would forgive him for the maxim that it is better to be exposed to the outrages and the jury of hell than to live without a cross and without humiliations.

He considered a man was in proximate danger of losing his soul if everything succeeded with him, and he had no contradiction to bear from anyone.

"Prayer," he said, "is necessary for those who consecrate themselves to the service of the Altar, just as a sword is for the soldier."

"The building of which God is not the architect cannot last long. A Community which observes silence exactly is very faithful to the other rules; on the contrary, in the Community where each one talks at his own pleasure no rule is any longer observed, nor any order."

With regard to vocation the great maxim of the Saint was that the choice of the Priests belongs to God alone, and that vocations which are due to human enticement and maintained by bad faith certainly increase the number of a Community, but spoil and dishonour it. To avoid the former of these two evils he made an inviolable rule for himself never to invite any subject to enter his Congregation, and he forbade his Priests to take any move of that kind. The least trespass on that ground was criminal in his opinion, and he regarded it as an infringement of the designs of God.

He could not even bear anyone to urge on by the slightest impulse those who expressed a desire to enter. In such cases he pointed out to them that such an important engagement requires much reflection, and that consequently one should ponder over it deeply, and in the Presence of God; that an individual does not risk much by becoming a Missioner, but that it is a capital point with the whole Congregation to possess no subjects except those legitimately called.

The Chartreux and a certain number of other Orders required their Postulants to make a few days' Retreat at Saint Lazare, and in this they were quite right in counting upon the absolute loyalty of Saint Vincent. To turn anyone aside from the Order to which he felt himself called appeared to him to be a theft, a sacrilege. He said to his own priests: "By seeking to appropriate to ourselves those whom God does not wish to give us we shall only go against His Holy Will and draw down upon ourselves His Indignation. It belongs to the Father of the family to choose His workers. A Missioner who is offered us by His Fatherly Hand will do more good alone than a great number of others would effect whose vocation is less pure. We must therefore, on the one hand, pray to the Lord to send into His field men who are capable of reaping the harvest, and on the other hand we must study to live so holily that our example may attract them to come and work with us, if God so calls them."

To avoid the second of the two evils pointed out above, and which is near akin to what the law qualifies by the name of "fraud" or "bad faith," the Saint never imitated those who only show the flowers of the Novitiate to the eyes of youth, and do not let them see the thorns of the last stage of the journey. In the regular routine of the Novitiate there is nothing to disconcert nature, but rather everything necessary to make one foresee how heavily the obligations will begin to weigh on the day the Novitiate ends. Hair shirts are not required, nor chains, nor iron cinctures, nor the discipline, nor any other fasts but those imposed on all the faithful; but instead something else is required, which costs much more: a complete separation from the world, an absolutely retired life, much humility, a very great vigilance over self, a steady Fidelity to all one's duties and, if possible, an inexhaustible fund of that holy sweetness which must one day console and sustain men who are by their very vocation vowed to all that is most painful in the holy ministry and most repugnant to nature.

He wished that the Missioners should be prepared to give their lives for the Love of Jesus Christ, Who gave His own for the salvation of all. "We see every day," he said, "merchants who, for a small gain, cross the seas, exposing themselves to all sorts of dangers; shall we have less courage than they? Are the precious stones that they thus seek, of greater value than the souls for whom we sweat and toil and travel far?" As to those Religious who make efforts to attain to ecclesiastical dignities the Saint gave a splendid lesson one day, in the person of one amongst them who recommended himself for promotion. This Religious, who had a good reputation, who had preached successfully in the first pulpits in the kingdom, represented to him one day the length of his labours, the austerity of his Rule, the failing of his strength, and the fear he had of not being able to continue much longer rendering these services to Holy Church which he had hitherto done. He added that he had thought of an expedient by means of which he could still labour with advantage; namely, the Episcopal dignity, which would dispense him from the fasts and the austerities practised in his Order and enable him to preach with more vigour and fruit; he therefore counted on the friendship of the Saint to obtain his nomination from the Yang. The Servant of God brought this Religious round to think like himself, that this was a temptation from the devil; then, after having expressed all the esteem he felt for his Order, and for himself in particular, he told him that the success attending his functions up to that time indicated clearly that it was the Will of God for him to remain in the state he had embraced, without the slightest sign that He wanted him elsewhere. If God had destined him for the Episcopate he would have found means of bringing this about without leaving the initiative to himself.

"But," continued Saint Vincent, "I would have something more to say about this way of putting yourself forward; you have no right to expect the blessing of God in a change which a humble soul like yours can neither reasonably desire nor carry out. Besides, by depriving your Order of a man who sustains it by his example, who gives it renown by his learning, and who is one of its principal columns, you will do it considerable harm. By opening this door you will give others also an occasion to strive to leave their retreat, or at least to feel a disgust for the exercises of penance. Like you, they would find some pretext for mitigating the salutary severity, because nature, which is so quickly tired of austerity and greatly inclined to pamper self, will say, 'It is too excessive, one must moderate the use of it in order to live longer and serve God more'; whilst Our Lord says, 'He who loves his life shall lose it, and he who hates his life shall preserve it.' You know better than I do. Rev. Father, all that can be said on this subject, and I would not venture to make my opinion known to you if you had not asked me to do so. Are you not thinking about the crown which is prepared for you? Oh, God! how beautiful it will be! You have already laboured so much to merit it, and maybe there is very little left for you still to do. You need perseverance in the road on which you have started, a road which leads to Heaven. You have already surmounted the greatest difficulties; therefore you must take courage and hope that God will give you the Grace to overcome the lesser ones." Thus Saint Vincent cut off every germ of ambition, even of that ambition which, under the appearance of good, sometimes seduces men who are full of virtue and lights.

Saint Vincent fought with all his might against scandal-mongers and jealousy, those cruel passions which hate the sight of virtue either in strangers or in their companions. He said that the darts of envy and of backbiting do not strike the hearts of those against whom they ate directed without first transpiercing the Heart of Jesus Christ through and through.

"Those who approach Holy Communion with the ardour of Zaccheus must not blame those who keep away with the humility of the publican." Nevertheless his long experience with regard to the marvellous effects of the Eucharist made him urge everyone to prepare himself to communicate worthily and frequently. "You have done rather wrong," he wrote to one of his penitents (Blessed Louise), "to keep away from Holy Communion on account of the interior pain you experience. Do you not see that this is a temptation, and that by this you are helping on the enemy of this Adorable Sacrament? Could you by any chance imagine that by acting in this way you might become more perfect and better disposed to unite yourself to Our Lord by keeping away from Him? Oh, be sure that, if you had such a thought, you were grossly deceived. We must not therefore be astonished if we become less virtuous when we stay away from Holy Communion." A worthy lady had for a long time, and by the advice of her Director, adopted the practice of going to Communion twice a week. Either curiosity or I know not what whimsical desire of perfection made her give up Saint Vincent and go to another confessor. Frequent Communion was the "first sin" of which the new confessor wished her to correct herself. Thus the lady began to communicate only once a week; then he made her communicate only once a fortnight, and finally once a month. All the fruit she drew from this privation was that, little by little, the spirit of vanity, of impatience, of anger and the other passions, took possession of her. Her imperfections multiplied, and she found herself in the end in a most deplorable situation. She tried to trace the cause, and found it in the counsels of the new Director; they were hurtful counsels, since they produced such a bad effect. This lady, getting better advice, resumed her former practice, being convinced from that time that to communicate often one must live well, and that to live well one must communicate often. By frequent participation in the Divine Mysteries she found repose of conscience and the remedy for all her imperfections.

Practice - Either to speak well of our neighbour or to keep absolute silence about him.

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