From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Of a Pure Mind and Simple Intention (1)   
      
   MAN is raised up from the earth by two wings-simplicity and purity.   
   There must  be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires.   
   Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him. If your heart   
   is free from ill-ordered affection, no good deed will be difficult for   
   you. If you aim at and seek after nothing but the pleasure of God and   
   the welfare of your neighbor, you will enjoy freedom within.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 4   
      
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   September 27: Saint Vincent de Paul   
   (1581-1660)   
      
   Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Vincent de Paul, founder of   
   the Congregation of the Mission, and servant to his fellow man. Saint   
   Vincent is a model of Christian charity, caring for all, and   
   revolutionizing the mission work of the Church. Truly modeling his   
   life on that of Christ, Saint Vincent placed himself at the feet of   
   the poor, assisting in their need, but more importantly, recognizing   
   the sanctity and dignity of every human life.   
      
   Saint Vincent was born into a peasant farming family in Pouy, France.   
   A highly intelligent youth, he excelled at academics, and sought the   
   priesthood primarily for social advancement and monetary gain. At that   
   time, escaping the peasant life was difficult, and entering a   
   religious order was one of the only manners in which to change one’s   
   station in life.   
      
   Vincent spent four years with the Franciscan friars in Acq, France,   
   and excelled at his education. He supported himself through tutoring   
   the children of the wealthy, and was ordained a priest at the young   
   age of 19. Shortly thereafter, he was captured by Turkish pirates, and   
   sold into slavery, where he remained for several years. He eventually   
   converted one of his owners to Christianity, and later escaped.   
      
   Returning to France, Vincent was assigned to a small parish. Having   
   begun his ministry with less than pure intentions and motives, the   
   Lord sought to change Vincent’s heart. Spending time with those who   
   lived in poverty, with little education, Vincent was shocked to   
   discover how his fellow man was being forced to live. He was able to   
   empathize with them, given his own imprisonment. Moreover, he learned   
   how little that his congregation knew of their faith, and began   
   preaching the importance of confession and repentance.   
      
   He could have never predicted the response of his parishioners. Lines   
   for confession stretched out the doors of the parish chapel, and the   
   faithful waited for hours to pour out their hearts to Saint Vincent.   
   More than anything, they hungered for the Gospel, and for priests to   
   minister to their basic needs (as well as their spiritual needs). In   
   1626, Vincent and three priests pledged to, in his own words,   
   "Aggregate and associate to ourselves and to the aforesaid work to   
   live together as a Congregation…and to devote ourselves to the   
   salvation of the poor country folk.” With that, The Congregation of   
   Priests of the Mission (the Lazarists) was established. With Saint   
   Louise de Marillac, he similarly founded the Congregation of the   
   Daughters of Charity.   
      
   The congregations Saint Vincent established spread quickly throughout   
   France, largely due to he and his fellow founders’ travel and   
   preaching efforts. Membership grew, and the congregations started   
   social and community justice organizations committed to helping the   
   poor, sick, unemployed, imprisoned, and uneducated. Saint Vincent   
   worked tirelessly to bring dignity and justice to the destitute,   
   enslaved, abandoned, forgotten, and ignored. The more society looked   
   down upon an individual, the more Saint Vincent became his servant.   
   His basic vision was simply that the Good News of Jesus Christ should   
   be announced to the poor through word and service.   
      
   Within his lifetime, the Congregation of the Mission had spread   
   throughout the world, and chapters remain active today in all corners   
   of the globe. At his funeral, it was declared that Saint Vincent had   
   “transformed the face of the Church.”   
      
   Saint Vincent de Paul knew how to make his work responsive to all   
   kinds of misery, whether physical or moral, determined to remedy it   
   and finding an appropriate solution for every situation. He was the   
   initiator of assistance to abandoned children, to prisoners, victims   
   of catastrophe, refugees, and housebound invalid. Bending himself to   
   the pattern of his model, Jesus Christ, he place himself at the   
   service of the poor, “who are our lords and our masters.” He taught   
   that true charity does not consist only of distributing alms, but of   
   helping the abject to regain their dignity and independence.   
      
   He believed in the virtue of action and he loved to use this succinct   
   motto: “Action is our entire task.” He would then add that “Perfection   
   does not come from ecstasy but rather from doing the will of God.”   
   However, he recommended long prayer and meditation before action so   
   that one could come to recognize the divine will. Above all, this man   
   of action was a man of prayer and deep spirituality: “You must have an   
   inner life, everything must tend in that direction. If you lack this,   
   you lack everything.”   
   by Jacob   
      
      
   Selected Quotations of Saint Vincent de Paul:   
      
   However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must   
   not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more   
   humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.   
   --Saint Vincent de Paul   
      
   We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an   
   object of His love.   
      
   The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to   
   bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled   
   with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are   
   in need of mercy.   
      
   Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need   
   whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God   
   should withdraw His Mercy from us?   
   --Saint Vincent de Paul   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who have   
   pleasure in them.   
   7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts   
   are trustworthy,   
   8 they are established for ever and ever, to be performed with   
   faithfulness and uprightness.   
   9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded h   
   is covenant for ever. Holy and awesome is his name!   
   10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;   
   a good understanding have all those who practice it.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)