This document summarizes key aspects of fidelity to St. Vincent's charism according to an article by Fr. Hugh O'Donnell. It discusses that fidelity involves discovering Vincent's mission in today's context, having an undivided heart through love of God, community and those in need. It also involves receiving the gifts of the poor, developing interiority through prayer and contemplation, and integrating one's humanity through relationships marked by affection, trust and joy. Maintaining an hour of daily prayer is seen as the foundation for remaining faithful to Vincent's vision.

1. Fidelity
to the
Charism
of Vincent
From an article by
Fr. Hugh O’Donnell, C.M.

2. Note
The source article for this
presentation was “Fidelity to
the Constitutions,” by Fr.
Hugh O’Donnell, C.M.,
addressed to the priests of
the Congregation of the
Mission. Here we present
some excerpts that are
slightly modi
fi
ed to apply not
only to priests but to anyone
who seeks to follow in the
footsteps of St. Vincent de
Paul.

3. 1
We are called to discover
and realize what it means
to be faithful [to the
Charism of St. Vincent] in
our time, in our place, in a
new world…

4. 2
Fidelity is
fi
rst of all a matter
of the heart, [and] the primary
means of
fi
delity to [Vincent’s
charism] is love. Love of God
and of our vocation; love of
Vincent and the [Vincentian
Family]; love of our co-
workers; love of the poor and
the clergy; love of the
vocation of lay people and
those called to lay ministries
and leadership; love of
strangers and those on the
margins.
If we can abide in this love,
whatever our mistakes, we
will be faithful to our vocation.

5. 3
One of the greatest
su
ff
erings is to live with a
divided heart. Jesus tells us
we cannot serve two
masters. He calls us to be
single-minded and to have
an undivided heart. “Let us
keep our eyes
fi
xed on
Jesus,” the author of
Hebrews tells his struggling
friends. If we have an
undivided heart toward
Jesus, our vocation/ministry,
each other, and the poor, we
will be on the road of
fi
delity.
This could also be called the
virtue of simplicity in action.

6. …however, an undivided
heart may not come to us
easily, at least today.
Integrating our humanity into
our vocation so that our
whole humanity is in the
service of the gospel and
love of neighbor is our
central challenge.
Editor’s note
Examples of humanity:
communicate the Truth simply,
informally, honestly; lead with
vulnerability; declare and even
celebrate your mistakes; in short,
be more human
From Église Saint-Barthélemy de Poyartin,
Ghislain118, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

7. St. Francis de Sales’
humanity was a lifelong
inspiration to St. Vincent.
Vincent experienced his own
humanity as problematic and
found in Francis a
spontaneous love, a
gentleness and a humanity
which amazed him and
inspired him to pray for his
own conversion. Vincent’s
melancholy and irascibility
gave way to a humanity
which was characterized by
meekness and passionate
love.

8. At the heart of our humanity are
relationships. St. Vincent was
very wise when he called us to
live “after the manner” of very
dear friends. Since friendship is
a gift, we cannot make it
happen just because we want
it. We cannot be friends with
[our fellow Vincentians] and
with all the people and with the
poor. But our relationships with
all these people should have
the same human qualities seen
in friendship.
Our relationships… are to be
profoundly human, marked by
genuine a
ff
ection, trust,
mutuality, joy and humor.
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9. 4
Fidelity is further
strengthened when we are
willing to receive the gift of
the poor. This is the paradox
of our salvation. We
obviously go to the poor or
live among them because we
have something we wish to
share with them or because
of something they need: the
gospel or the necessities of
life…

10. But the real gift may be the
gift we receive from them.
Frequently their faith,
courage, dependence on
God, a
ff
ection and gratitude
transcend ours and
challenge our security and
invulnerability. It can happen
that their poverty invites us
to face and accept our own
poverty.
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11. For St. Vincent the poor
fi
rst
of all were understood
theologically – from God’s
point of view. He knew the
world was saved through the
passion and death of Jesus
and believed the ongoing
salvation of the world was
being accomplished in the
passion of the poor. Where
and how is Jesus redeeming
the world today? Through
the poor and those who
su
ff
er.

12. So, in drawing close to the
su
ff
erings of humanity,
especially of the poor, we
draw close to the mystery of
salvation in our day. Poor
people are the Lord’s gift to
us in our vocation. If we
receive this gift with open
hearts, we will know a great
joy that will ground our
fi
delity. Jesus himself
recognizes the apostles and
disciples as the Father’s gift
to him (Jn 17:6).
Facebook/vims1617

13. 5
Interiority is a
fi
nal key to
fi
delity. It has been said by Karl
Rahner that in the future
Christians will either be mystics
or will not be Christians. William
Johnston (Inner Eye of Love)
has identi
fi
ed interiority as one
of the pillars of living faith in the
21st century. This interiority
goes by many names:
contemplative prayer, solitude,
centering, mysticism, silence,
emptiness, and mystery.
Whatever angle we approach it
from, I believe interiority is
necessary for happiness in our
lives, fruitfulness in our
apostolates and perseverance
in our vocation.

14. My generation and some
previous ones were shaped by
Dom Chautard’s Soul of the
Apostolate, which put prayer
at the heart of apostolate.
Today we have many other
guides. Nevertheless, it is
Vincent himself who shows us
the way to interiority. Today
we understand more clearly
how his spiritual path was
shaped by Benedict of
Can
fi
eld’s Rule of Perfection.
Knowing God’s will through
intimate friendship became
the key to Vincent’s spiritual
way of not treading on the
heels of providence.

15. St. Vincent tells us that,
being apostles with work to
do, we cannot spend the
whole day in prayer, so we
settle for an hour each
morning. A commitment to
interiority and a daily hour of
prayer is the foundation of
our
fi
delity [to Vincent’s
charism].
The author of Hebrews
exhorts his brothers and
sisters, “Let us keep our
eyes
fi
xed on Jesus” (Heb
12:2).

16. Source
O'Donnell, Hugh (2000) "Fidelity to the Constitutions,"
Vincentiana: Vol. 44 : No. 4, Article 18.
Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentiana/vol44/iss4/18
Images: Depaul Image Archive, facebook.com/vims1617, pixabay.com