JUAN PATRICIO PRAGER, CM, Province of
Ecuador, offered these five characteristics of
Vincentian Spirituality during the Latin
American Encounter of the Vincentian Family
(FaViLa), Guatemala – March 19th, 2015.
Saint Vincent had to answer:
Who is Jesus? How do I follow Jesus?
What do you think? What would be life-style
implications?
FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF
VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY
⤷ God leads us into the midst of the world
⤷ God waits for us among the poor
⤷ Christ invites us to participate in the
mission
⤷ Christ sits with us in prayer
⤷ Christ enables us to be charitable
The theme that has been given to me is rooted in
the Vincentian experience of Jesus. The
Vincentian charism and Vincentian spirituality
are centered on an encounter with the poor
Christ present among those men and women who
are poor.
There were two key questions that Saint
Vincent had to answer:
Who is Jesus? How do I follow Jesus?
During the process of his conversion Vincent
gradually began to understand the meaning of
those two questions.
His conversion was a process of coming to know
Jesus and thus, walking the path of the disciples,
the path of the Kingdom.
As Vincent walked along the path he gave
meaning to charism and spirituality that, in turn,
allowed him to create a life centered on the
charism.
Here, however, Jesus took the initiative. Jesus
extended an invitation and Vincent struggled to
give a response. The poor Christ was revealed and
Vincent had to open himself to that reality. The
Spirit of Jesus acted and Vincent responded with
the gift of his life.
The charism that Jesus revealed to Vincent was
that of service on behalf of the poor. That charism
was and is a gift of the Holy Spirit … a gift to
build up the Kingdom of God. Charisms are
always related to the Kingdom.
Ellan Flores
The evangelical element that the Vincentian
charism highlights is that the Kingdom of God is
for those who are poor.
Charism is not an idea that was invented by
Vincent de Paul but rather charism is a gift of God
that Vincent discovered during his journey.
Charism is a mystery. The meaning of the
charism is revealed during the course of history
and the Vincentian experience.
No one — not even Saint Vincent — completely
understands all the consequences that are
involved in accepting the gift. Little by little the
Holy Spirit guides us so that we might be able to
live the charism in the midst of new situations.
The Spirit always allows new revelations, new
ideas and new lifestyles that will ultimate enable
people to live the charism.
The charism always includes the dynamic of
“call- response”. The poor Christ calls us from
the peripheries and invites us to respond.
Vincentian spirituality is the response to the call
of the poor Christ dwelling in the midst of those
who are impoverished.
It should be stated that Vincentian spirituality is
not a series of references to the writings of our
Holy Founder nor is it some prayer formulary or
virtues or works or acts of piety.
Rather Vincentian spirituality is the following of
Jesus present among those who are most poor and
excluded from society. Certainly all of those other
realities have their place, but only in as much as
they help us to follow Jesus, evangelizer of the
poor.
GOD LEADS US INTO THE MIDST OF THE
WORLD
In the person of Jesus God becomes
inserted into our world as brother and savior. God
does not save us from above nor from outside but
rather as a part of humankind.
We do not bring Christ to the world! Quite
the contrary … it is God who leads us into the
midst of the world. The world is God’s creation,
the place of God’s grace and the place of our
salvation. To separate ourselves from or to
attempt to escape from the world is not a
Vincentian way of acting. Yes, sin exists in the
world and so there are elements that blur and hide
the presence of God, that disfigure God’s image.
But, as Saint Paul states, where sin abounds,
grace abound in great abundance.
GOD WAITS FOR US AMONG THE POOR
The poor have value in themselves: I do
not reach out to the poor simply because Christ is
present there. I reach out to the poor because they
are my brothers and sisters who are suffering.
They are a priority in the Kingdom of God and
therefore, I care for the poor because they have a
personal human dignity; they are the subjects of
their own life and not the recipients of sympathy
and alms.
CHRIST INVITES US TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE MISSION
To follow Christ among the poor means
that we are missionaries. The missionary spirit is
not a desire to walk and move from place to place.
In fact, going from one place to another to another
is probably more an obstacle rather a positive
element of the mission.
To be a missionary is to leave one’s proper
world and one’s secure place in the world in order
to enter the world of the other; it is to leave one’s
place in order to enter the place of the poor and to
accompany the poor with the gospel.
This is a difficult task. From an economic
and social perspective we are probably
somewhere in the middle while the poor live on
the peripheries … and there on the peripheries
there is a distinct reality, different values, a
different culture, different religious expressions.
Here we are not necessarily referring to some
geographical change but rather to be a missionary
is to adapt oneself to the reality of the poor.
CHRIST SITS WITH US IN PRAYER
Vincent speaks about being
contemplatives in action … he is not telling us
that we have to become monks or cloistered men
and women nor is he promoting a form of
spiritual schizophrenia which separates the
spiritual life from the apostolic (pastoral) life.
Rather Vincent is encouraging us to allow Christ
and his gospel to enlighten the various situations
of our life. We are invited to engage in a personal
dialogue with Christ about our experience among
the poor: the signs and the countersigns of the
Kingdom, our personal and interior reactions,
community possibilities, etc.
Prayer is not something we do for God but rather
is something that God does for us.
Ellan Flores
In the dialogue with God, God make us more
sensitive to his presence and his movement in
history. God questions us, strengthens us and
points out the path of love and justice and
freedom.
CHRIST ENABLES US TO BE
CHARITABLE
The goal of Christian spirituality is love.
When speaking about Vincentian spirituality that
love is more specific since it refers to the
communication of mercy and solidarity to those
persons who are excluded from society.
_______________________________________
CALL TO HOLINESS, CALL TO FULLNESS,
FOR ALL (X MOST REV. BRODERICK S.
PABILLO, D.D. Auxiliary Bishop of Manila)
Pastoral Priorities for the new millennium
according to Novo Millennio Ineunte
HOLINESS
⤷ There is a great desire in people to be holy.
⤷ Holiness is attractive to people even in our
times.
⤷ The Church is holy because its goal is to
make people holy and she has the means
to make people holy.
⤷ All the activities of the Church is to help
promote holiness.
⤷ Bring out in people the desire to be saints,
to be what they really are.
⤷ Present the Saints to the people as role
models
⤷ People should see in us our striving to be
holy ourselves. We witness to this.
WRONG IDEAS ABOUT HOLINESS
1. It is only for some chosen few. It is rare
and very difficult, if not altogether
impossible, for ordinary people.
2. One needs to be a priest or a nun who will
have the time and the training to be holy.
3. It is corny. One has to be goody-goody,
with one’s feet off the ground.
4. Holiness is of the past but not for us in the
modern world.
5. Holiness can wait later on, perhaps when
one is already old and has no more cares
about the world.
6. Holiness is not really that important. It is
good if one has it, but really one can get by
quite well without it.
7. To be holy is to be without sin. Our life is
already tainted by sin. We have no chance
for it.
8. One can be over holy. Baka makalampas
sa langit!
CALL TO HOLINESS FROM THE BIBLE.
Leviticus 19, 2
⤷ Speak to all the congregation of the people
of Israel and say to them: You shall be
holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
Ephesians 1, 4
⤷ He chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world to be holy and
blameless before him in love.
1 Corinthians 1, 8
⤷ He will also strengthen you to the end, so
that you may be blameless (holy) on the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4, 3 (life pleasing to Go)
⤷ For this is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you will abstain from
fornication….
2 Thessalonians 1, 11 (judgement at xt coming)
⤷ To this end we always pray for you, asking
that our God will make you worthy of his
call (which is holiness) and will fulfill by
his power every good resolve and work of
faith.
WHAT IS HOLINESS?
⤷ Holiness is the high standard of ordinary
Christian living. (according to Novo
Millennio Ineunte # 31)
⤷ Holiness is the perfection of charity.
⤷ Holiness is doing the will of God.
⤷ Holiness is oneness with God.
⤷ Holiness is closer following of Jesus
 God is holy. We cannot approach God if
we are not holy.
 To be one with God then is to be holy.
 To be one with God is to love him.
 To love him is to keep his commandment.
 His commandment is that we love one
another.(Jn 14,15.21; 15,9-10)
Jn. 14,15.21
⤷ ‘If you love me, you will keep my
commandments…They who have my
commandments and keep them are those
who love me; and those who love me will
be love by my Father, and I will love them
and reveal myself to them.’
Jn. 15,9-10
⤷ As the Father has loved me, so I have
loved you; abide in my love. If you keep
my commandments, you will abide in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commandments and abide in his love.
Ellan Flores
WE BELIEVE IN ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC
CHURCH
The Catholic Church is holy because:
⤷ Jesus, its root, is holy. He is the way to the
Father.
⤷ It is capable to make people holy by the
action of the Holy Spirit.
⤷ It has the means to make people holy.
The saints are proofs that holiness
abounds in the Church.
MEANS TO HOLINESS
1. Encounter with Jesus in the sacraments.
2. Praying
3. Word of God in the Bible.
4. Faithfulness in the daily duties of our life.
5. Avoiding sin and temptation
6. Doing good to others
Priests’ specific journey to holiness
There are greater reasons that motivate a priest to
be holy:
1. That he may be worthy of the grace
marked on him to stand in persona Christi
capitis.
2. That he may be the living instrument of the
work of salvation.
ex opere operato
ex opere operantis
Our specific path:
Holiness in and through ministry.
⤷ We not only sanctify others in our
ministry. Our ministry sanctifies us. By
acting in persona Christi we become close
to him. We ourselves become spiritually
charged in our pastoral work. Check this
out in each activity that you do as priests.
⤷ Holiness is not something a priest can
attain by himself or apart from the
community of faith. The priest becomes
holy within the community by ministering
to it and leading it
In acting as shepherd, the presbyter
experiences his own transformation in the
image of the One he represents. This is
how he becomes holy.
Important elements in the specific journey of
the priest to holiness.
a) A climate of proximity to Jesus, or
friendship and personal encounter with
him.
b) The Blessed Virgin Mary.
c) Liturgy of the Hours.
Hence according to John Paul II:
⤷ “Spending time in intimate conversation
with the Good Shepherd in the Blessed
Sacrament is a pastoral priority far
superior to any other.”

CORRECT IDEAS ON HOLINESS

1. The objective gift of holiness is
offered to all the baptized.

Baptism is a true entrance into the

holiness of God through
incorporation into Christ and the
indwelling of his Spirit. By holiness
we avoid a life of mediocrity that is,
reducing Christianity to
minimalistic ethics and shallow
religiosity.
2. Holiness is a call and a task for every
Christian, not just for a chosen few.

3. Holiness is achieved in the ordinary

Christian living. “Do your ordinary duties
extraordinarily well.”

4. The ways of holiness are many,

according to the vocation and
temperament of each individual.

5. There is a need for a genuine training in

holiness.

6. To be holy is THE most important thing

in life. There is only one sadness in life,
that is, not to be holy!

ULTIMATELY, WHAT IS HOLINESS?

Holiness is…..
⤷ Drawing close to God
⤷ Perfection of love
⤷ Doing the will of God
⤷ Following Jesus Christ.

Ellan Flores