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WORDS OF ST. VINCENT
DE PAUL
TO THE SISTERS OF CHARITY ON THE DUTIES AND VIRTUES OF THEIR STATE.
RULES —As those who wish to cross the sea need a vessel and a
pilot to conduct them to the desired port, so do the Sisters of
Charity require the same in order to pass the stormy sea of this
life, and they find them in their Rules which lead to perfection in
the exercise of those virtues which are proper to their state. To
desire to withdraw yourselves from the observance of the Rules,
then, my dear Sisters, would be to desire to cross the sea without a
vessel; you would be infallibly shipwrecked. The only means for you
to pass the sea of life without perishing, is, then, to keep your
Rules, for they teach you how to serve God, to live in His love, and
to become agreeable to His Divine Majesty. They also enforce the
love of your neighbor, that consoling compassionate love towards all
for the love of God. Your Rule teaches you all this, and, if you
carefully observe it, you will acquire all the virtues necessary to
you as Sisters of Charity because your Rule comprehends all the
lessons of virtue contained in the Commandments of God, and in the
evangelical counsels. I have seen Our that when you enter the Chapel
or Oratory, Our Lord views you with pleasure, because He beholds in
you, if you are faithful Sisters of Charity, His own most amiable
virtues, and hence He looks upon you with complacency. When you are
faithful to your Rule, you exactly conform to the will of God. Be
assured there is no point so small as to be unworthy of His notice,
and in keeping even the smallest Rule, you are doing His will. It
should be a consolation to you to know that the lowest employments
are as acceptable to God as prayer or meditation, when they are
performed in the spirit of your Rule; for instance washing the feet
of the poor, visiting the sick and rendering them the lowest and
most humiliating offices. Such services are so pleasing to God, that
He often prefers them to greater ones. Will you not then, my dear
Sisters, form holy resolutions, and each one say at once: Yes,
Father, I give myself to God, with my whole heart, to discharge all
my duties, and I resolve not to omit any one of them unless charity
obliges me to leave one for another. Courage, my Daughters, if you
are only faithful to this resolution, God by His grace, will enable
you to do great things in His service. I have often heard a
comparison made between the difficulty at first experienced in
observing the Rules, and that of wearing a ring on the finger. Soon,
one becomes so accustomed to the ring as not to be sensible of
having it on. Ask Holy Father, Pope Clement VIII, and he says:
"Bring before me the cause of a Religious, man or woman, who has
persevered in the exact observance of the Rules during life, and
adduce sufficient proof of this, and I would desire no further mark
of sanctity for canonization." Is not this enough, Sisters, to
animate you to love them, and to esteem them too highly to ever fail
in their observance ? Ah! never think any point of the Rules of
little consequence, since all that regards the glory of God and His
service, is holy, sacred and august; if possible, never fail in any
of them. The Rules will carry you to God, serving you as wings do
birds.
When One Duty Interferes With Another.— If the Rule for
the employment of the day, calls you to morning prayers, while you
are sent to serve the poor sick, you may ask what is to be done,
since one Rule clashes with another in such a manner that you cannot
keep both. Holy obedience will provide for all, by directing you to
leave prayer for the service of the poor, which is called, leaving
God, for God.
Constancy in the Observance of Rules.—However, unless one
duty interferes with another, you are not permitted to omit any; for
instance, when the Rule calls you to prayer, you must respond
without hesitation, and think it is God Himself who calls you,
saying: Come Sisters. Hence you must obey the sound of the bell, as
you would the voice of God Himself. Believe then a good Sister of
Charity how she is able to keep her Rule, and she will tell you that
she does it without difficulty. If you were to meet a Daughter who
finds it hard to keep her Rule, it is because she is not yet
habituated to it. If you saw a beautiful robe made of gold cloth,
you would naturally exclaim, How brilliant it is! Yet, if you were
to add precious stones, such as diamonds, emeralds, rubies, etc.,
you would add much to the value of the garment; so, my dear Sisters,
all your actions, good in themselves, are enhanced in value by being
performed through obedience, much more than the cloth of gold would
be by the addition of the diamonds and other precious stones. These
give it such a heightened lustre as to render it dazzlingly
beautiful to the eyes of men. The same is true, too, of actions
performed through obedience; they are as rays of light, which
penetrate the heavens and ascend before the throne of God, who
points them out to the Blessed and calls attention to her who
performs them, saying: Behold how that Sister of Charity serves Me,
and seeks only to please Me in everything she does!
Motives for Being Faithful to the Rules.—God promises you
paradise if you are faithful to your Rules, since by their
observance, you accomplish His most holy will. St. Clement was so
convinced of this truth, that he said: Whoever lives in Community in
the strict observance of Rule, has nothing to fear. Beg of God then,
the grace to be faithful to yours, saying: I resolve, O my God, with
the assistance of Thy grace, to begin to practice what Thou hast
taught me. I know that I am weak, yet I can do all things if Thou
dost strengthen me; and I conjure Thee by the same love which caused
Thee to manifest Thy holy will to me, to give me the strength and
courage to execute it!
On your fidelity to Rule, the lives of thousands perhaps depend!
How many husbands will be restored to their wives, and fathers and
mothers to their children, and how many souls will be saved, too,
through your means, that would otherwise have been lost. My
Daughters, we may entertain great hopes that you will persevere, if
you enter on the practice of your Rule in order to accomplish the
most holy will of God, and also that your little Company will
increase; but, if you neglect your Rule, we may expect the Company
will come to nothing. Oh! guard against such a misfortune, for, if
you were the cause of it, you would destroy a good which God from
all eternity has destined should be done by you. If you keep the
rule according to the good pleasure of God, your Company will
continue not only during your life, but after your death; the good
it will continue to do, will constantly add to your accidental glory
in heaven.
But why is it, that God has selected you for so great a work?
Because He delights in choosing the weak; He chose poor apostles to
overthrow idolatry, and to convert the whole world. Knowing then,
Sisters, that He commenced His Church thus, say to yourselves:
Because we are nothing, God has received us into His service; He
wills that we serve Him. We will never forget our lowliness, and
will never cease admiring the wonderful effects of His mercy towards
us.
My very dear Sisters, you must conceive a great respect for the
name you bear. It was not given to you by men; indeed, you have a
certainty that it was bestowed on you by God Himself. My Sisters,
this should be a great consolation to you, for no one ever thought
of giving you a name, but by degrees your devoted services to the
poor and your other good works, have won you the common title of
"Sisters of Charity". You should esteem it much, and take great care
not to render yourselves unworthy of it, because, this beautiful
name implies that you are children of God, since "He who dwells in
charity, dwells in God, and God in him."
It is essential, then, that you should all be so many models of
meekness, cordiality, and every virtue.
Service of the Poor.—My dear Sisters, know that when you
leave Meditation or Holy Mass for the service of the poor you lose
nothing, since in serving the poor, you serve God, and you should
always regard God in their persons. Be very careful, then, to do all
that is necessary to aid them, particularly in what concerns the
affair of their salvation, and be on your guard, lest they should
die without the Sacraments. Oh! Sisters, you should not only relieve
them under their bodily sufferings, but should also try to help them
to attain salvation. Exhort them, above all, to make a general
Confession, and to endure their pains for the love of God.
Bear with their little humors, never be vexed with them, nor
speak to them harshly, for they have enough to suffer. Remember that
you are their visible Guardian Angels, and their mothers. Contradict
them only in what would be injurious, for, in such a case, it would
be cruel to gratify them; and weep with them, for God has sent you
to be their consolation. Treat the convalescent soldiers, my
Sisters, with much charity, but with no less modesty than charity,
and be as much on your guard as when waiting on other male patients.
If any of them act with too much freedom, reprove them severely;
should they repeat the offence, threaten them, and fail not to
execute your threats, if their misconduct continues; perform the
necessary services for them promptly, and listen only to what is
necessary for their good.
The Employment of Time.—Never remain idle. After you have
finished serving your sick, employ yourselves either in sewing, or
spinning. Oh! my Daughters, you must labor for your livelihood, and
be very careful to manage your time well, for God will demand a
strict account of every moment of it, for He tells us Himself, I
will demand of you the time that is past. It is so advantageous to
employ it well while upon earth, that we cannot guard too carefully
against losing it. Oh! miserable creature that I am! what answer
shall I make to God when He calls on me to give an account of all
the time that I have lost!
Silence.—Guard against talking too much, and carefully
observe your Rule of Silence; have a great esteem for it, since it
is in silence that God speaks to the heart. If you are obliged to
speak, let it be in a low tone, and in few words. The faithful
observance of this Rule, will enable you to preserve a spirit of
devotion. You will observe silence from the evening examen of
conscience, until after the meditation of the following morning;
this exterior recollection will assist you in conversing with God in
your interior. Oh! my dear Sisters, the period of silence,
particularly that after you have implored the blessing of God,
adored Him, and composed yourself to rest, should be entirely
consecrated to Him, for He has said: I will lead her (My spouse)
into solitude, and I will speak to her heart. Do not then, speak to
any one of your Sisters without necessity, for fear that she being
interiorly communing with her Creator, you should interrupt the holy
converse.
Visits.—You must neither pay visits, nor allow them to be
paid to you, nor should you suffer any one to enter your chamber
that might prevent you from attending to your exercises. If you were
to fall into this habit, you would, little by little, lose all your
time, and would serve your sick hastily, without care, or attention.
Oh! my dear Sisters, this is a very important point, so, be on your
guard, and hesitate not to say: Excuse us, we entreat you, but as
this is the hour for our repast, or of our devotions, we cannot
defer them. Although the person to whom you speak thus may
seem to fie pained, or to take your words badly, be assured Sisters,
that upon reflection they will praise rather than blame you, and,
besides, you will have the consolation of knowing you have done on
the occasion, what God required of you. And what a happiness this
will be for you!
Mutual Support.—You should live in very great union, and
never complain of one another. To do this, it is necessary to suffer
much, for there is no one without faults, and if we are unwilling to
bear with our Sisters, how can we expect them to bear with us? We
must not suppose, my Daughters, that mutual contradictions will not
sometimes happen. One will desire this thing, another that. Although
the desires of both be reasonable, nevertheless there should be
condescension on both sides, and one must yield, or there will be
disunion. Therefore, my dear Sisters, I will entreat you to be ever
ready, each one of you, to yield first saying: Well, Sister, since
you desire it, I wish it also. In this way, you will always preserve
a holy union of heart. Is it not often necessary to have patience
with ourselves, since we remain not long in the same mind, for today
we will one thing, tomorrow, another? If we cannot reconcile
ourselves to these variations in our feelings, we shall never enjoy
true interior peace and tranquility.
We are, indeed, so changeable as to be insupportable to ourselves
at times, hence holy Job said: "My God, why hast Thou made me so
discordant with myself?" You must attach yourselves strongly,
Sisters, to the practice of mutual support. To render it easier, the
young must have great respect for the aged, honoring in them the
perfect age of our Lord. The aged should support the weaknesses of
the young, esteeming them on account of their vocation to the
service of God, encouraging them by example and advice, to honor the
support the Son of God showed to His imperfect creatures. He taught
this by example than by words, and this, my Sisters, is what you
must do.
Mutual Forgiveness.—Another means to maintain union and
cordiality is to beg pardon, if you perceive you have given anyone
pain. Do this immediately, if you can, or, at least before going to
bed, because, my dear Sisters, if you were to retire in anger, it
would be a great fault, and one which not only Sisters of Charity,
but all Christians, are forbidden to commit, since God has told us,
that the sun ought not to set upon our anger.
Mutual Respect.— You must have a great respect for one
another, my dear Sisters, remembering that you are all in the
service of the same Master; and in laboring for God, you should
believe yourselves more honored than if you were in the employ of
the greatest monarch on earth.
Hear Our Lord's counsel to you. Oh! my dear Sisters, if this is
done, your Company will prove a great blessing, and a great
edification.
Modesty.— Show great modesty at all times. This virtue
should be particularly recommended to you, for how unbecoming it
would be, if a Sister of Charity should be seen going through the
streets looking here and there, regardless of this virtue. If one
were to do so, they would soon say: That Sister will leave. Oh, my
dear Sisters it is very important that you should always manifest
great modesty. So far we have reason to thank God. I may say that I
am edified with your modesty, whenever I meet any of you in the
street; God be praised! I have never forgotten the modesty and
discretion a Sister showed whom I met returning from a certain
place. I asked her who the person was, to whom she had just been
speaking. She replied: "Father, I did not notice." You should
imitate her; think only on what you have to do.
Oh! my dear Sisters, continue to practice this virtue, which is
so necessary for the preservation of purity. Exterior modesty is a
kind of portrait of the interior. The order or disorder of our souls
is judged or surmised, by the degree of exterior modesty that is
seen in us; even our thoughts are discerned.
Purity of Intention in Performing Works of Mercy.—In order
to accomplish your daily duties properly, you should perform them in
a spirit of humility, charity and meekness, in order to honor the
holy life our Lord Jesus Christ led upon earth. You must, then,
direct your intention to this end, at the commencement of each of
your actions, particularly when you are going to serve the poor
sick. What a happiness it is for you to be able to serve our Lord in
His poor members. For, has not our Lord given you an assurance, that
He accepts such services as if they were rendered to Himself?
Edification.—Endeavor to gain the love of all by your good example.
The great esteem in which you are held causes you to be asked for in
many places. Now, why are you thus esteemed? Because the flowers of
your charity are visible to all. O my God! let us humble ourselves
profoundly; if you are wanted so much now, while you are yet so
imperfect, how much more will you be desired and sought for, when
God by grace shall have raised you to a higher perfection.
If the good actions of the Sisters of Charity edify, their bad
actions will scandalize all who see them. Ah! how unfortunate you
will be, if you give bad example to your companions! It is not I
alone who tell you so. Our Lord says: Woe to you, if you scandalize
one of these little ones, or an innocent soul. Another passage says:
He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in
me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about
his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.
It is giving scandal when you cause your neighbor by word,
action, or omission, that is, by any bad example, to commit some
sin, or to perform his duties imperfectly. You would be doing
exactly what the demon is always doing, since his sole delight is to
make the unwary offend God. A Sister of Charity, then, that
quarrels, murmurs, finds fault with everything, prefers her own
judgment to her Superiors, never yields to her Sisters, but wishes
all to submit to her, performs the office of the Evil One, and may
even be called a demon, since she causes God to be offended by her
scandalous conduct. The old Sisters would be very guilty, if they
were wanting in regularity, for the younger would conclude that
there can be no harm in disobeying the Rules, or else they would be
tempted to judge the Company is not as holy as people imagine, since
some of the Sisters are so very imperfect; and they would begin to
feel discouraged. Externs will be so scandalized, that they will
dissuade good souls that are desirous of entering your Company, from
doing so. What, they will exclaim, will you do among those Sisters?
They will then relate all the evil they know of you, by report, or
from their own observation. The first one that gives bad example,
will cause all these evil consequences, then, and if other Sisters
act thus, they will draw down the maledictions of God not only on
themselves, but on the whole Company.
Sisters Sent to New Establishments.—Such Sisters should
possess nearly all the following qualifications, namely: They should
not be inclined to seek the conversation of many persons; nor must
they desire to discover their interior to one Religious today and to
another tomorrow. Yes, the Sisters chosen for new establishments
should be exempt from these defects, and never known to amuse
themselves by discoursing on matters of piety, for, progress in
virtue depends not on multiplicity of words. They must not be fond
of going around to see their acquaintances. Oh! how much should you
be opposed to such a spirit, my Sisters, for if one among you
delights in any society beside that of her Sisters, it is evident,
she does not love her Sisters as she ought. You have not two loves,
any more than two hearts. If any of the Daughters of Charity leave
their duties to visit some lady, or lose their time entertaining
her, it clearly proves that they relish not the company and
conversation of their Sisters. Further more, Sisters selected for
new establishments, should be such as are not fond of writing to
their relatives, friends, or to any one else; nor must they desire
to receive letters; it is a bad sign to see this desire of holding
correspondence in a Sister of Charity; and she may, if she indulges
it, fall into great faults in this way. Some persons have effected
their own destruction by writing letters, and receiving them unknown
to their Superiors, and this, to my own knowledge. Yes, my Sisters,
and they were persons that began well, but after awhile they came to
commit actions unworthy of their vocation. Sisters sent to new
establishments, must, I repeat, be free from this defect. Sisters of
Charity should not desire to receive letters from their Confessors
or from other Priests, simply to keep up a friendly correspondence.
Alas! my Sisters, those that venture to receive or write letters
unknown to their Superiors, are capable of committing many other
wicked actions. |
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