La Maniere de donner l'habit aux Sœurs de la Visitation de Saincte Marie. Lyon: Vincent de Cœursillys, 1643.

Call Number: SpC. 255.975 M278c1643

Vincent de Paul's relationship with the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary began with its founders François de Sales and Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot Baronne de Chantal. This new order spread rapidly during the 17th century. When the first monastery was established in Paris in 1622, Vincent became its ecclesiastical superior at the request of François de Sales. He would also serve as the superior of the order's other monasteries founded in Paris. Each Visitation monastery was a self-governing entity joined with the other monasteries of the order only by a shared rule, spirituality and customs.

In this era, enclosed monasteries of women were required by canon law to have a male ecclesiastical superior. For the almost four decades he served in this role, Vincent always faithfully fulfilled his many duties. For example, he presided over the monthly Chapter meetings and consulted with the elected Mother Superior and her councilors. He conducted annual canonical visitations, meeting with each nun personally. He gave spiritual conferences, chose the monastery's confessors, and presided over elections. Any extern (an individual not living in the monastery) needed his permission to enter the cloister. He also presided over special anniversary celebrations, and other community celebrations such as the reception of novices and the profession of solemn vows.

Vincent de Paul was deeply imbued with the spirit, traditions, and rule of this venerable order and despite his many efforts to resign this responsibility as he grew older, and as his other activities and responsibilities increased, the sisters and successive archbishops of Paris would never consent. Vincent thus remained in this position of leadership until his death in 1660.

The present volume is a contemporary custom book for the Visitation monasteries, laying out the ceremonies to be followed when a new nun would first take the habit, and when she would profess her solemn vows. This was a ceremony that Vincent would have conducted numerous times over the course of the years.

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St. Vincent's Reading List is a recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by Saint Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and works published during his lifetime (1581-1660) illustrating his world. All materials discussed are held by DePaul University's Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Reglemens de la Compagnie des Dames de la Charité de la Paroisse de S. Paul, pour le soin des Pauvres. Paris: Chez Pierre Colin, 1669.

Call Number: SpC. 267.4420944 L155r1669

Vincent de Paul’s vision of service to the poor revolved around organized parish-based efforts (the Confraternities of Charity), institutional efforts (i.e., Hôtel Dieu in Paris), and emergency relief efforts (i.e., relief of the war-torn provinces). The organizational boundaries between these efforts were rather experimental and porous. What characterized them all, however, was the leadership role played by lay women, especially the Ladies of Charity and the Daughters of Charity.

In each case, Vincent required a written "rule" to be initially tested and proved by concrete experiences. Vincent was careful to ensure that his methodology was not simply adopted by these organizations, but also the faith, values, and attitudes required of those who would serve Jesus Christ in the poor.

Volume 13b of the English translation of St. Vincent's Correspondance, Conferences, Documents (originally edited by Pierre Coste, C.M.) contains numerous examples of these early rules for the Confraternities of Charity and the Ladies of Charity finishing with the rule for the Ladies of Charity of Hôtel Dieu completed by Vincent shortly before his death in 1660.

The Reglemens de la Compagnie des Dames de la Charité de la Paroisse de S. Paul, or Rules of the Company of the Ladies of Charity of the Parish of St. Paul, was written in 1669 and is one of the earliest known printed rules for the Ladies of Charity. The document is a fascinating testament to the maturity and sophistication of the identity, organization and ministry of the Ladies of Charity, who served the spiritual and material needs of poor people in an urban,  parish-based setting. The Church of St. Paul, located on the rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais district of Paris, was a Jesuit church. The Daughters of Charity had been sent by Louise de Marillac to minister in this parish, and the Reglemens delineates the working relationship between the Ladies and Sisters. The leadership roles of the pastor and the officers of the Ladies are also carefully delineated.

Since the Reglemens is reflective of concrete experiences, it gives a fascinating insight into the lives of the Parisian poor, whom the text describes as "lovable and precious representations of the holy humanity of Christ himself." Thus, the Ladies of Charity are reminded to always "regarder Jesus Christ dans les Pauvres, & les Pauvres comme membres de Jesus Christ."¹

¹Reglemens de la Compagnie des Dames de la Charité de la Paroisse de S. Paul, 33.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is a recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by Saint Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and  works published during his lifetime (1581-1660) illustrating his world. All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

L'Imitation de Jesus Christ: divisez en 4. livres, composez par Thomas à Kempis, chanoine regulier et nouvellement mis en François par M.R.G.A. ; avec une Methode pour lire avec fruict les livres de l'Imitation de Jesus Christ. A Paris : chez Jean Roger, 1646.

Call Number: SpC. 242 I32Fm1646

The figure of Louise de Marillac's uncle and guardian Michel de Marillac (1563-1632) looms prominently not only in the political and legal history of early 17th century France, but also in its religious history.  As a leading dévot his intense personal religiosity and that of his famous compatriots, helped lay the spiritual foundations for the spiritual renewal and disciplinary reform of the French Church.

One facet of Marillac's important religious contributions were literary; represented by his famous French translations of the psalms (1625) and Thomas à Kempis' classic Latin spiritual tome De Imitatione Christi (1621). The renewal in France occasioned the publication of a large number of translations and re-publications of classic texts as well as the composition and publication of new spiritual and theological works by the leading lights of the famed Age of Gold.

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) is traditionally regarded as the author of this devotional handbook. He was a member of a renewal movement known as the Devotio Moderna. The Imitation (believed to have been written between 1418-1427) is the most popular devotional work in the history of Roman Catholicism. It is deeply rooted in the foundation of New Testament revelation and spirituality calling on disciples to lead lives in imitation of the example of Christ. This is to be accomplished by a developing a strong spiritual life including a devotion to the Eucharist, fostered by a withdrawal from the world and all its temptations.

The Imitation of Christ was firmly established in the canon of spiritual classics by the time of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise, both of whom recommended its use. The present volume is a 1646 edition of Michel de Marillac's translation. An item of additional interest to this volume is the note which attests to the ecclesiastical approval of the original 1621 translation by Vincent de Paul's great friend and mentor André du Val.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Council of Trent. Extraict de plusieurs articles du Concile de Trente: contraires aux droicts des roys de France, libertez de l’Eglise gallicane, privuileges & exemptions des chapitres, monasteries, & communautez. [Paris: de l’Imprimerie Royale], 1615.

Call Number: SpC. 262.52 C855e1615

France was the last Roman Catholic country in Europe to accept the reforms of the Council of Trent.  This long delay can be attributed to several factors.  In the second half of the sixteenth century the kingdom was wracked by decades of religious and political civil wars which only ended with the edict of Nantes and the accession and conversion of Henry IV.  The new Bourbon monarch wanted to re-establish France as a pre-eminent continental power and realized that rebuilding the French kingdom also meant rebuilding and reforming the French Church.

Even during the sessions of the Council from 1546 to 1564 the French kings and Church had been very reserved in their reaction to the council and its activities. This was founded on their suspicions that the implementation of the reforms could result in a diminishment of the traditional "liberties" and independence of the Gallican Church as enshrined in the Concordat of Bologna of 1516.

The French dévots, long dedicated to the reform and revitalization of the French Church were eager to move forward.  In the first years of the regency of Marie de Medici the monarchy and the French Church finally accepted the Tridentine reforms. However, they did so with the condition that these reforms would in no way be allowed to impinge on any of the traditional Gallican liberties and independence enjoyed by France.

This volume printed, by the royal press, clearly sets out those provisions of the Tridentine decrees which France found unacceptable.  This compromise unleashed the pent-up reform forces within the kingdom, and was acceptable to the papacy.  It was also very successful.

Vincent de Paul's activities as a Tridentine-reformer took place within this system of Gallican reservation.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Council of Trent. Sacrosancti et Oecumenici Concilii Tridentii, Paulo I, Iulio III, et PioIII, Pontif. Maximis Celebrati, Canones et Decreta. Antverpiae: Ex officinal Christophoi Plantini, 1586.

Call Number: CM. 262.52 C855

The Council of Trent met in twenty five sessions, under three popes, in three distinct periods from 1545-1563.  The Council's disciplinary and dogmatic decrees represented the Catholic Church's official reaction to the Protestant Reformation. The adjective "Tridentine" also captures the dynamic spirit of reform and renewal which led the Catholic Church to make a remarkable (though far from complete) recovery during the period commonly known as the "Counter Reformation."

It is not an exaggeration to see Vincent de Paul as one of the great Tridentine Reformers.  France was the last of the major Catholic countries to accept the council's decrees and adopt them (in 1615) as the platform for the renewal of its national church. Long torn by religious and civil war, France under its new Bourbon monarchs knew that the basis for a strong and vibrant kingdom was a strong, vibrant, and thoroughly reformed church.  The Tridentine agenda and spirit, as adapted for France, must be understood as forming the basis for all of Vincent de Paul's efforts.

Vincent himself most commonly makes reference to the authority of the Council of Trent when he describes his efforts in support of the reform of the priesthood.  He says, for example, "And because, nevertheless, the Holy Council of Trent recommends seminaries, we have given ourselves to God to serve Him also in that regard wherever we can."¹  He also always invokes the Council and the papacy in the bitter theological struggle against the so-called "new opinions" of Jansenism.  For example in a letter of 1657 to a Jansenist prelate he notes: "If you expect God to send an angel to enlighten you more fully, He will not do so. He refers you to the Church, and the Church assembled in Trent refers you to the Holy See for the subject in question, as is apparent from the last chapter of this Council."² 

There was certainly a well-worn copy of the Decrees of the Council of Trent in Vincent's own library.

[1]. Coste, CCD, 2:254.

[2]. Ibid., 7:293.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Factum du process du mareschal de Marillac: à Messieurs les Commissaires deputez par le Roy. [Paris?]: [s.n.], 1632. SpC. 944.032092 M336Y 1632 and Fillotte. Relation veritable de ce qui s'est passé au iugement du procez du Mareschal de Marillac: pronunciation, & execution de l'arrest contre luy donné par les Commissaires de la Chambre establie à Rueil, & de ses dernieres paroles & actions, deuant 7 sur le poinct de sa mort. [S.l. : s.m., 1632?] 

Call Number: SpC. 944.032092 M336Yf 1632 [Bound with SpC. 044.032092 M336Y 1632]

The extended Marillac family had aligned themselves with Queen Marie de Medici.  The Queen served as regent for her son Louis XIII from 1610-1617.  It is not by accident that Louise de Marillac's arranged marriage was with Antoine LeGras who served as one of the queen's secretaries.

In the power struggle between Marie de Medici and Cardinal Richelieu, Marie was unexpectedly defeated on the so-called "Day of the Dupes" in November 1630. She eventually fled France never to return.  No noble family paid more dearly for their opposition to Richelieu than the Marillacs, including two of Louise's uncles Michel and Louis.

Louis de Marillac (1572-1632) was the half-brother of Michel de Marillac.  An early supporter of Henry IV, Marillac was richly rewarded.  He undertook a number of diplomatic missions for Marie de Medici, and distinguished himself as a military leader in various campaigns.  In 1629, Louis XIII promoted him to be a maréchal of France.  In 1630 he was sent to Italy as lieutenant general. Because of his role in the conspiracy against Cardinal Richelieu he was arrested and imprisoned on 21 November 1630.

He was tried by a special commission and convicted of péculat in March 1632.  Péculat was the crime of misuse of royal funds and trust for personal gain.  The usual punishment was banishment and confiscation of one's property by the king, but in extreme cases the punishment was death.  Of course, Marillac's true "crime" was his role in the opposition to Richelieu.  Maréchal de Marillac was publicly executed at the place de Grève in Paris on 10 May 1632.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Benoît de Canfield. Reigle de Perfection, contenant un abregé de toute la vie spirituelle, réduite à ce seul poinct de la volonté de Dieu, Paris: Chez Charles Chastelain, 1648.

Call Number: SpC. 248.842 B473r 1648

William Fitch (1562-1611) was an English convert to Catholicism.  He entered the Capuchin order in France and received the name Benoît de Canfield. He returned as a missionary priest to England and was imprisoned by Elizabeth I.  Released near the end of the reign, at the request of Henri IV, Canfield returned to Paris where he died in 1611.

Canfield was among the spiritual luminaries who contributed to the development of the famous "l'age d'or" of French spirituality at the dawn of the seventeenth century.  The central thesis of his work is that the spiritual life reduced to its essence consists of discerning and doing God's will.  The first edition of Canfield's Reigle de Perfection  (1609) received the endorsement André du Val.

It is believed that Vincent de Paul came into contact with Canfield's work soon after its publication.  The period between 1609 (Vincent's arrival in Paris) and 1617 (the year of the Folleville and Chatillon experiences) is a transformative one for Monsieur Vincent.  During this time he came to spiritual maturity (through expanding and deepening the content of his faith) and ministerial maturity (expressing this faith through the evangelization of the poor country folk) all in response to God’s discerned will in his experiences.

The pre-occupation with discerning and doing God's will is central to Vincent's spirituality and is found throughout his letters, and conferences.  It also stands at the heart of the Common Rules of the Congregation of the Mission and the Company of the Daughters of Charity.  Even though in Vincent's extant writings there is no specific reference to Canfield the influence is manifest: "Perfection doesn't consist in ecstasies but in doing the Will of God. What is perfection?...Perfection consists in so uniting our will to God's that his will and ours, properly speaking, form only one will and non-will."¹  The most substantive of Vincent's reflections on doing God's will is found in the conference of 7 March 1659.²  

[1] Coste, CCD, 11:284-285. 

[2] Ibid., 12:126-137.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Philbert Guybert, Les œuvres charitable de Philbert Guybert, escuyer, docteur regent en la faculté de medicine à Paris: sçavoir, Le medecine charitable; Le prix et valeur des medicamens; L’apothicaire charitable; La maniere d’embaumer les corps morts et Les tromperies du bezoard descouvertes. A Paris: Chez Jean Jose, 1629.

Call Number:  SpC. 615.5086942 G987o1629 

As the health care ministries of the Confraternities of Charity, Ladies of Charity, and the Daughters of Charity emerged in 17th century France both in terms of home and hospital nursing care for the poor-sick they can be described as "state-of-the-art."  The role of the physician in diagnosing illnesses and prescribing medicines and courses of treatment for nurses to follow were highlighted by Saint Vincent who said:

You should also, Sisters, show great respect for the orders given you by physicians for the treatment of your patients, and take care not to omit even one of them for the times as well as the dosages of the medicines…Carefully observe the way the physicians treat the sick in the towns…so that when you go into the villages, you can make use of this knowledge….All that is very necessary, and you'd do much good when you've been trained in everything.

According to Saint Vincent, Saint Louise de Marillac personally formed sisters to "serve and nurse the sick poor, and to prepare and administer medicines."  Throughout the corpus of Vincentian primitive texts the discussion of health care practices including discussions of courses of treatment and the preparation of medicines is quite detailed. 

During this period the most popular medical manual was Le Medecin Charitable by Philbert Guybert (1579?-1633). This work went through almost sixty editions in less than fifty years. This was a somewhat polemical work that countered the contemporary attempts by pharmacists to gain control over the production of medicines. Guybert's volume provided detailed information for the home production of all but the most complicated of medicines.  

Certainly, this volume was a key resource in delivering 17th century Vincentian health care.  It was one of the few books mandated to be in the libraries of houses of the Daughters of Charity in this period.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

Jean-Pierre Camus, Homelies quadragesimales de Messire Jean Pierre Camus, evesque & seigneur de Belley, (A Rouen: Chez Jean Osmont…, 1625),

Call Number: SpC. 252.62 C211h1625

Henry IV named Jean-Pierre Camus (1584-1652) as Bishop of Belley in 1609 one year after his ordination to the priesthood at age 25. The appointment required a papal dispensation. This move was a reward to the bishop's family for their early support of Henry's claim to the throne.  

Camus was one of the most prolific French authors of Vincent's time. He not only wrote the spiritual works one might expect but more unexpectedly he also wrote novels, and short-stories.  The bishop was influenced by Francis de Sales whom he knew personally. In 1639, he published a volume on the spirituality of the "Blessed Bishop of Geneva" and was considered to be an expert on the topic.

Camus also immediately preceded Vincent de Paul as Louise de Marillac's spiritual director. There are several extant letters between the two that date from the period of 1623-1626.  These give us insights into Louise’s spiritual state at this time. In March 1623, Camus wrote in support of Louise and her husband Michel’s request to be permitted to read the Bible in French.

It was Camus' imminent departure as her director that contributed to Louise's heightened feelings of spiritual anxiety which were relieved in her Lumière experience on the feast of Pentecost in 1623. Louise wrote: "I was also assured that I should remain at peace concerning my director; that God would give me one whom He seemed to show me. It was repugnant to me to accept him; nevertheless, I acquiesced. It seemed to me that I did not yet have to make this change."  Vincent became Louise's director in late 1624 or early 1625.  

Camus resigned as bishop of Belley in 1628. He lived the last years of his life performing works of charity at the Hospice des Incurables on the rue de Sèvres, where he was buried.

Camus also had a reputation as an ecclesiastical orator, and the present volume is a contemporary compilation of his sermons.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.

Recommended Reading:

François Bourgoing, Les veritez et excellences de Jesus-Christ, nostre seigneur: recueillies de ses mysteres, cachées en ses étas & grandeurs, prêchées par lui sur la terre, & communiquées à ses sts. ; disposées par meditations pour tous les  iours de l'année et divisées en quatre parties / par le  R. P. François Bourgoing. A Paris : Chez Sebastien Huré, 1636.

Call Number:  SpC. 242 B773v1636

The distinguishing characteristic of the spiritualities of Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac are that they are Christo-centric; which is to say they focus on a desire to live a discipleship that closely adheres to the example of Jesus Christ as revealed by Scripture and as interpreted by Church Tradition. This Christo-centrism was not surprisingly one of the distinguishing characteristics of the "French School of Spirituality" which emerged at the dawn of the 17th century to provide the spiritual dynamism behind the long-delayed Tridentine reform of the Gallican Church.

This spirituality was developed by the luminous writing of several of the major figures of the French School including François Bourgoing (1585-1662). Bourgoing was a contemporary of Vincent de Paul, and well-known to him.  In fact, in 1611 when Bourgoing resigned as pastor of the parish at Clichy-en-Garenne outside Paris to enter the newly-founded Oratoire de Jesus it was Vincent de Paul who succeeded him. At this point Vincent was under the influence of Berulle and was a part of his circle as the Oratory was founded.

Bourgoing who served as the third superior general of the Oratory from 1641 to 1661 was also a doctor of the Sorbonne whose major works all examine the role of Jesus Christ in Salvation History, and the Church as the mystical Body of Christ.  

As the Jansenist controversies raged in the 1650s Bourgoing struggled to keep peace among the deeply divided Oratorians. He advocated open, calm, and respectful dialogue between combating opinions. However, he also did not flinch from accepting and enforcing papal condemnations when they were issued.  In 1661 Bourgoing resigned as superior general. He died the following year in 1662, and was eulogized by the great Bishop Bossuet.

This volume by Bourgoing is considered to be one of his best works, and stands as a classic formulation of the Christo-centrism of the French School.

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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul University’s Richardson Library. The entire series may be viewed here.