Vincent de Paul took the speaker on a walking tour of three sites in Paris significant to Vincentian heritage: 1. Châtillon-les-Dombes, where Vincent organized the first Charity after a sermon inspired aid for a sick family, establishing the need for organized charity over mere generosity. 2. The Old St. Lazare, where "I feel your pain" was inscribed, capturing Vincent's ability to empathize with the suffering of others. 3. The New St. Lazare chapel's inscription "Wherever he went, good things happened," describing how Vincent and his followers preached, taught, fed the hungry, and aided the sick, embody

1. 1
WALKING
From a keynote address by
Fr. Patrick J. Griffin, CM

2. I lived in Paris for more than
three years— 2011-2014—
that is to say, that I lived in
the Vincentian heartland,
surrounded by the symbols
and places which exude
the Vincentian character.

3. Everywhere one looks, one sees
something: the street where Vincent
found the abandoned child, the
Church where Louise was married,
the hospital where Marguerite
Naseau died, a chapel in which
Catherine Labouré encountered
the Blessed Mother, an office
formerly occupied by Rosalie
Rendu, a University at which
Frederic Ozanam studied
and taught.

4. If you visited Paris with me, I would take
you to those places. In lieu of that
experience, let us visit three sites
together and listen to a word
associated with St. Vincent and our
Vincentian heritage at each.
Needless to say, I am indebted to
many of our Vincentian scholars
for my presentation.

5. 5
CHÂTILLON-LES-DOMBES:
THE NEED FOR
ORGANIZATION
1

6. 6
Our first stop will be a
parish which was one
of Vincent’s earliest
assignments—
Châtillon-les-Dombes.
The story associated
with this site is very
familiar and I am sure
that you have heard it.
But, like a good
parable, it continues to
nourish and nudge.
Vincent writes:
On Sunday in Chatillon
as I was vesting for Holy
Mass word was brought
to me that in an isolated
house a quarter of a
league away everyone
was ill, not one being on
his feet to help the
others, and that all were
in indescribable need. I
had only to mention this
in the sermon when God
touched the hearts of
those who heard me and
they found themselves
deeply moved with
compassion for these
poor afflicted ones.
Châtillon, interior

7. God so blessed Vincent’s words
that after the service a large
number of people visited the sick
family, carrying bread, wine, meat,
and other provisions. After
vespers, he himself went with
some of the people of the parish,
unaware that others had already
gone. As we walk with him, we
would meet these parishioners
returning.
He said: “This undoubtedly shows
that these people have great
charity, but is it well organized?
The poor sick family will be
overwhelmed with so much in
such a short time, most of which
will spoil. Afterward they will be no
better off than before.”
Châtillon, exterior

8. As the story goes, Vincent met
with several zealous and
generous women of the parish
to seek ways of establishing
greater organization in the way
the sick poor could be helped
in a more orderly fashion. With
these women he was able to
work out a plan for action.
Thus began the Confraternity
of Charity for the corporal and
spiritual help of the sick poor,
or as we might call them today,
the Ladies of Charity (AIC).
Châtillon, house chapel, mural

9. This movement flowed from a
fundamental insight of St. Vincent, and
perhaps one of his most familiar
characteristics:
“The poor suffer less from a lack of
generosity than from a lack of
organization.” (#126. Charity of Women,
VdP, CCD, 13b:8.)
One of the great graces of St. Vincent
was his ability to organize and he did
so in a manner which united
compassion and justice. Through
organization, generosity was brought
closer to an expression of mercy
and a response in loving care.

10. The value of sharing
responsibility
The importance of
working locally
A system for responding
to the situation with
organization
The necessity for a means
of communication which
helps to identify where
the need is
10
The goodness of
people and their
willingness to serve
Not the lessons for a genius, perhaps, but practical
ones which serve the needs of the poor most
effectively. This walk with Vincent to Châtillon in
1617 teaches us something worth knowing.

11. 11
OLD ST. LAZARE:
“I FEEL YOUR PAIN.”
2

12. 12
As we walk with St. Vincent around Paris, we would
soon be led to a place which was very familiar to
him, Louise de Marillac, and his earliest followers.
It is the place where Vincent lived with many of his
confreres during most of his life—the site of the Old
Saint Lazare. Currently, you would find a
neighborhood in Paris.

13. CHURCH OF ST. SULPICE (PRE-1640)
St. Louise and her Sisters
lived nearby. Their parish
Church was only minutes
away and still stands.
CHURCH OF ST. SULPICE TODAY
Actually the present church is the second building on the site.
The first was constructed during the 13th century. The new
building was erected over the original. It was founded during St.
Vincent’s and Louise’s lifetime in 1646 by parish priest Jean-
Jacques Olier (1608–1657). Anne of Austria laid the first stone.

14. In the little park which rests within the
confines of old St. Lazare, there is a stone column
into which is carved an image of St. Vincent and
a single phrase: « J’ai peine de votre peine »
We might translate this phrase colloquially as
“I feel your pain.” (The phrase comes from a
letter of Vincent to Louise.) What gives this
statement a certain poignancy in the
current era is that this small park is now
mostly inhabited by the street people of
Paris. They sit around on the benches,
or lie on the grass, or wander about. I
think that Vincent or Louise would be
very comfortable here— even
though we visitors might not be.

15. An undeniable element in the character of St.
Vincent was his ability to enter into the feelings of
the poor. He knew what it was to feel the pain of
others— and this is at the heart of the virtue of
compassion.
St. Vincent reflects:
“We must likewise be moved by our
neighbor’s suffering and share his sorrow.
O Saint Paul, how sensitive you were on
this point! O Savior, You who filled that
Apostle with Your Spirit and
compassion, help us say with him,
Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor?
Is anyone sick and I am not sick
along with him?”

16. 16
Vincent felt and
understood compassion;
he felt the pain of
others. If we go to the
Church of Saint Severin,
we find the window of
him bringing an
abandoned child to the
Church for Baptism, and
then to the Sisters for
further care.

17. 17
If we go to the Church of
St. Nicholas des
Champs, two of the
famous pictures of him
are found: him helping
an afflicted man into his
carriage and his
willingness to exchange
chains with a galley
slave.

18. Throughout the city of Paris,
there are numerous images of
Vincent caring for the
abandoned, the infirm, the
hungry, and frequently the
children.
Vincent’s compassionate
heart embraced those who
were poor in every place he
looked, and he enabled others
to take on that attitude. He
“felt the pain of the poor” and
he encouraged those who
walked with him to take on
that same sensitivity.

19. One of Vincent’s most stirring
talks is given to the Ladies of
Charity as he invites them to a
bold response in the care of
the foundlings. Their charity
became tepid over time due to
busyness and expenditure.
You know the challenge which
they felt.

20. Vincent confronts them with an infant:
“Well then, Ladies, compassion and charity have led
you to adopt these little creatures as your own
children; you have been their mothers according to
grace since the time their mothers according to
nature abandoned them. See now whether you, too,
want to abandon them. Stop being their mother to
be their judges at present; their life and death are in
your hands. I’m going to take the vote; it’s time to
pass sentence on them and to find out whether you
are no longer willing to take pity on them. If you
continue to take charitable care of them, they will
live; if, on the contrary, you abandon them, they will
most certainly perish and die; experience does not
allow you to doubt that.” (SVdP, 196. – “The Work
of the Foundlings” [1647]. CCD 13b. pp. 423-24)

21. We do not become
numbed but
continue to feel the
pain of others.
Their care calls forth a
bold and ongoing
response.
Decide.
It can oftentimes be that
way with charity.
Will they act boldly in the
care of these infants or
not? He offers no middle
ground.
21
Charity cannot be
on-and-off.
It cannot be for a limited time and according to our
schedule, but according to the needs of those who
are poor and who (sometimes) cannot plead for
themselves.

22. As we walk around St. Lazare with Vincent,
we can feel the needs of its current
inhabitants—people who are hungry, dirty
and troubled.
Like St. Vincent, we are invited to feel
their pain and to discover a way of
responding within our limited
abilities. And we do not need to go
to Paris to take this walk.

23. 23
NEW ST. LAZARE:
“EVERYWHERE HE WENT, GOOD THINGS HAPPENED”
3

24. On this brief Vincentian tour, we can now go
to the New St. Lazare. We will conclude in
the Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul. St.
Vincent never knew this location. It was
given to the Congregation some years
after the settling down following the
Revolution (about 1817).
This church is located on the same
campus where the St. John’s
University students live (and where I
used to live). The body of St.
Vincent is found here in the
Church.

25. In an arch over the main altar there is a
phrase describing St. Vincent in two Latin
words (the phrase is taken from the New
Testament book of the Acts of the
Apostles 10:38). The phrase is
“Pertransiit benefaciendo.” If your Latin
is as rusty as mine, you would have to
look that phrase up as I did. It means
“He went about doing good,” or (as I
like to translate it) “Wherever he
went, good things happened.”

26. “Wherever he went, good things
happened.” It is a great and simple
description of St. Vincent de Paul as it was
for the Lord Jesus. It captures the spirit of
the mission and the Vincentian charism.

27. Above and surrounding this phrase are
images of the men and women who express
Vincent’s spirit in their work. They are
preaching the gospel and carrying out
works of mercy—teaching the children,
feeding the hungry, giving clothing to
those without, ministering to the sick,
and leading the homeless to shelter.
In 17th Century France, Vincent de
Paul and his followers were
powerful forces in these works of
gentleness and compassion.

28. All individuals and institutions which take
him as a model must be the same: take
advantage of the opportunity to do some
good. Wherever we go, good things should
happen.

29. Source:
“Walking with Vincent….400 years later!”
Keynote address by Fr. Patrick J. Griffin, CM, to
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Trenton Council,
June 4, 2016. Available online at cmeast.org
presentation by