Formation

In letters to friends and family, Frédéric Ozanam always assured them of his prayers, and frequently closed by asking for their prayers in return. Sometimes, this was a simple and sincere sign-off of “pray for me,” but often he asked for very specific prayers.

“Pray for me to be wise,” he asked his mother; “pray to God for me so that I may get through so important and unusual an event…” he asked a friend; “pray, pray for us who begin to man the barricades…” he asked his cousin, Ernest Falconnet; and “pray for me who does not yet know where I am bound” he asks his friend Léonce Curnier. [Letters 207, 398, 44, 107]

Always in his prayers and his requests for prayers is Frédéric’s deep sense that prayer is the most essential bond of love and friendship, the bond that unites friends with each other and with God. For Frédéric it was the shared prayers of the Conferences scattered across France, offered in unison on feast days and other celebrations, that kept them “intertwined despite distances.” [Letter 113] Indeed, he defined our cultural belief in One Society when he said that “united in works and prayers and the strength of this union would be very great.” [Letter 135]

Prayer is at the center of Vincentian friendship, and neither ceases upon death. As our 1835 Rule pointed out, ours is even “a friendship stronger than death for we will often remember in our prayers to God the brethren whom we have lost.” [1835 Rule] Our Rule today continues to confirm for us that prayer is “the basis of friendship.” [Rule, Part I, 2.2]

Through prayer we are connected to one another and to the whole Communion of Saints, among whom we count our own dearly departed. “Let us consider,” Frédéric consoled his friend Perrière, “that our beloved dead do not forget us any more than we forget them, that they think of us, love us, pray for us, that perhaps they walk with us as invisible guardians.” [Letter 1353]

Like every aspect of our friendship, our prayers also extend to the neighbor. We pray before Home Visits for the Holy Spirit to guide us in our acts of mercy, we offer up the neighbor’s needs in prayer during the visit, and in “every Conference throughout the world and in their personal lives, Vincentians raise their prayers to God, united with the prayer of Christ, on behalf of one another and their masters the poor, whose suffering they wish to share.” [Rule, Part I, 2.3]

To ask for prayer is a prayer itself, through the intercession of our friends. Let us never cease praying for and asking for prayers of one another and the poor constantly, bearing witness to Vincentian friendship, united in Christ’s love.

Contemplate

What Vincentian friend or neighbor can I pray for today?

Recommended Reading

15 Days of Prayer with Blessed Frédéric Ozanam

In 2018, a set of seven “Cultural Beliefs” was incorporated as Statute 2 in Part III of our Rule. Because the Society has always been governed by both the Rule and tradition, the Cultural Beliefs were not really new, but by articulating and adopting them as part of our Rule, we solidified their place as a fundamental aspect of our practices.

We often hear phrases about cultures: a culture of success, a culture of poverty, a culture of life, and so on. What unites cultures is a shared set of beliefs, whether written or unwritten. In our work, we often encounter people in poverty, especially generational poverty, in which there is an underlying belief that this is simply the way things are. After a certain amount of time without having money for things, you begin to internalize the idea that maybe a nice home, a new car, a better job, or even a cup of coffee at Starbucks are not just expensive, but they are simply not for people like you.

When we hold beliefs closely, unconsciously, deep in our hearts, they affect the way that we behave. Part of the foundational culture in the United States has always been a hopeful boldness; the same belief that enabled our forebears to load up the covered wagon and set out to cross the great plains on foot also led our great explorers to climb into a rocket and hurtle through space to walk on the moon. It’s the epitome of a cultural belief: if we believe it, we can do it.

And so, in serving the neighbor, we bring with us our beliefs: belief in Jesus Christ, belief in His saving power, and belief in the full worth and dignity of every single human person. By serving in hope, we give permission to hope, sometimes to people who have fallen into despair. We believe in our neighbors.

Importantly, “hope” is not simply a trite, feel-good slogan, it is one of the three theological virtues, inseparable from the other two, just like our three Essential Elements, through which we live the Theological Virtues: we serve in hope, we pray in faith, and in friendship we love one another and the neighbor.

In remarks to the General Assembly in 1837, Bl. Frédéric expressed our Cultural Belief in One Society and at the same time explained how the Essential Elements unite us, saying “The distances that stand between the most loyal of friends do not separate the Christian spirits or wills that come together to love one another, to pray, and to act…”

A culture is built and fed by beliefs. We believe in one God, in one Society, and in building a civilization of love. May we build our civilization of love by welcoming all into our culture of love.

Contemplate

How can I better ensure that my actions always follow my beliefs?

Recommended Reading

Building a Civilization of Love in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Seven Duties of a Council President

If you tried to register for the “Seven Duties of a Council President” webinar last week, you may have encountered a broken link in the e-Gazette. Please register here.