Readings

March 15: Vincent de Paul, Priest, 1660

The Collect of the Day

Vincent de Paul

Most Gracious God, who has bidden us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before you; Teach us, like your servants Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, to see and to serve Christ by feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick; that we may know him to be the giver of all good things, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Vincent de Paul

Most Gracious God, who hast bidden us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before thee; Teach us, like thy servants Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, to see and to serve Christ by feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick; that we may know him to be the giver of all good things, through the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

AND LOUISE DE MARILLAC, Vowed Religious, 1660]

Born into a family of peasant farmers in the village of Pouy in Gascony in 1581, Vincent de Paul showed an early aptitude for reading and writing. His father sold his oxen in order to send the boy to seminary, hoping that a clerical career would allow him to support the family. Later kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave, he studied alchemy under his master. While traveling to Istanbul, the alchemist died; Vincent was sold again, this time to a former Franciscan who had likewise been enslaved, but became a Muslim in exchanged for his freedom. Vincent shared the Gospel with his new master’s wife; she was baptized and convinced her husband to return to the faith of Christ and escape to France. Later, while serving as a parish priest near Paris, Vincent began to devote his attention to serving the poor and destitute. With the support of the noble women of the parish, a ministry developed for visiting, feeding, and nursing the poor in and around Paris. As this ministry grew, he came to rely on a widow, Louise de Marillac, to oversee their efforts.

Louise de Marillac was born to a wealthy family near Le Jeux in Picardy; by the time she was fifteen years old both of her parents had died. She longed to become a nun, but was discouraged; instead, she wed Antonie Le Gras. Her husband died twelve years later; the union produced one child, a son with special needs. Francis de Sales, later Bishop of Geneva, who wrote the highly influential Introduction to the Devout Life became her spiritual director. At age thirty-two it was revealed to her in a vision that God would bring her a new spiritual director, whose face she was shown. When she met Vincent de Paul, she recognized his face from her vision. He invited Louise to assist in his expanding charitable ministry. She accepted his offer, poured herself into this ministry, and soon became the leader of the sisterhood. She led the order until her death in 1660.

In 1633, Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac formally founded The Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph (later the Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul), or more commonly, the “Grey Sisters,” the first non-cloistered religious order for women devoted to acts of charity. The ministry of the Grey Sisters grew to include founding hospitals, orphanages, and schools. The nineteenth century revival of religious orders within Anglicanism was greatly influenced by the spirituality and the work of the Daughters of Charity.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

19The Lord cares for the lives of the godly, *and their inheritance shall last for ever.

20They shall not be ashamed in bad times, *and in days of famine they shall have enough.

21As for the wicked, they shall perish, *and the enemies of the Lord, like the glory of the meadows, shall vanish; they shall vanish like smoke.

22The wicked borrow and do not repay, *but the righteous are generous in giving.

23Those who are blessed by God shall possess the land, *but those who are cursed by him shall be destroyed.

24Our steps are directed by the Lord; *he strengthens those in whose way he delights.

25If they stumble, they shall not fall headlong, *for the Lord holds them by the hand.

26I have been young and now I am old, *but never have I seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread.

27The righteous are always generous in their lending, *and their children shall be a blessing.

28Turn from evil, and do good, *and dwell in the land for ever.

29For the Lord loves justice; *he does not forsake his faithful ones.

30They shall be kept safe for ever, *but the offspring of the wicked shall be destroyed.

31The righteous shall possess the land *and dwell in it for ever.

32The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, *and their tongue speaks what is right.

33The law of their God is in their heart, *and their footsteps shall not falter.

34The wicked spy on the righteous *and seek occasion to kill them.

35The Lord will not abandon them to their hand, *nor let them be found guilty when brought to trial.

36Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; *he will raise you up to possess the land, and when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

37I have seen the wicked in their arrogance, *flourishing like a tree in full leaf.

38I went by, and behold, they were not there; *I searched for them, but they could not be found.

39Mark those who are honest; observe the upright; *for there is a future for the peaceable.

40Transgressors shall be destroyed, one and all; *the future of the wicked is cut off.

41But the deliverance of the righteous comes from the Lord; *he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

42The Lord will help them and rescue them; *he will rescue them from the wicked and deliver them, because they seek refuge in him.

Gospel

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Philippians 2:12–15

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.

Luke 12:12–27

12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” 22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.