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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X i^^ 1 y 12X 16X aox 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here hes been reproduced thenks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada L'exemplaire filmi fut reprodult grice h I0 g6n6rosit4 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada The images appeering here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de l'exemplaire filmi, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. 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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis d des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir de I'angle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. i '^ ^ ■ \ t ^: 3 32X 1 ♦ >' ; i ^ 3 « § 6 I ■ h I I • ' DISCOURSES DELIVERED AT NOTREDAME DE QUEBEC DUBINO THB TRIDUUM OP TUB SOCIETY OF ST.-VmCEl^T-DE-PAUL ON THE 21st, 22nd & 23rd DECEMBER 1863 By the HEV. THO>IASAntE CUA.\DOi\I\'eT. Translated from the French, QUEBEC PRINTED BY LEGER BROUSSEAU, ARCHBISHOPRIC'S PRINTER. 1864 i I . 1 I INTRO]:)UCTJOX. Ilis Loi'ilsliip tlic Adminintrafor of tlie Arcli-Jioocjic of Quebec was kind eiioui-'h to arrant t(. tlie Society of " St. Yiiiccnt (le Paul,"' at (Quebec, on the Slst, 22ii(l and L^-}nl December, a solemn Triduum., in milieu all the associates and all the friends of the work, were invited to c'ive thanks to Almi^-hty God for ])ast p^raees and favonrs, and to pray for the re([nireinents of tlie future. The Tridmim M'as preached bv the IJcv. Thonias-Aime Chandonnet. In his first discourse, the reverend ^^^ntleman referred to tlie origin of the Society, the most illustrious of its founders and its establishment in divers countries throughout the world, more especially in Canada ; in the second, he exhi bited the Society, first in its constitution, that is to say, in its object, its means, its members, its organization — then in the spirit that animates it ; the third discourse pointed out the advantages offered by the Association of St. Vincent dc Paul, to its mendjcrs, to the i)oor, to Society itself. The Pi'esidcnt of the Sujteiior Council fervently prays that the abundant blessings of ireaven, v.diich have just been showered upon the Canac 5amUt)incent-l)e-Paul. FIRST DISCOURSE. Fllioli mei, non diligamus verbo, neque linpim, sed opere et veritate. My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. St John, I. Ep. chap. iii. t. 18, I. My Lord, Scarce thirty years ai,'o, Giy chance, two or three words, apparently the expression of their common thought. But what may that thought be ? For Ave can combine for evil as well as for good. What idea brings together those young men, so ardent and so anxious ? Their chief, for they — n — liiivc oiip, slmll nti-»wtT : " wo :\yv imiiulutod by a delu;;o of ])hil(trt')j)lii(t;il imd lu'tcrodnx iloctrincs, Ktu-'dnj,' up every ^vIlL'l•t' .'troimd us ; we t'cel tli(i desire and tli'e necessity (tf stroji'i;llieiiiiii;' uiir Tiii'Ii i»;:;;iiiist tlu' juulti|ilied a.-sii\dts (!irecl('(l ii<:aitist' us \>v tlie various svsteiiis df false seieuee. Anumjj^st our i'cllow - students, some are luateriaiisfs, .soiiK; saiiit-sinioniens, and some fonrieristes ; otlier« atraiii dei.-ts. )\'lieii we Catliolies, attempt to remind tlie,-to erring- luellireii of the wonders eli'eeted by Cliri^tianity, tliey invariahly rei>ly : "■ "^'ou are ri^'lit tiiouiL::li, if yon speak of tiic pastoidy, ('liristiauity did woinlers formerly; but now C'hristianity is dead. And, in point of fact, what ai'e you w!ii> boast of belli;:; Catliolies, doini;- { W'liere an-, the works that testify to your faith, and eomjiel us to respect and aeknow- ledii'e it i " 'J'hey are riirbt, he continues, tlie reproaeli is but too well nicriti'd. I'o the work, then I T.et our acts be in keepinu" with our faith ! Hut what is our woi-k i How shall we prove ours . 'Ives true C-'atholies, but by doin^u; what is Uiost pkasiuf; to (iod 'i Let us derote ourselves to the relief < if our iiei;^bour, as Jesus Christ did, and place our faith under the safeguard of Charity I (1) Catholic Faith anil Charit}' ! Such, beloved l)rethren, 13 the motto adopted by these youn^ crusaders. To preserve, to nourish mid the corrupt atmosithei'e of a great city, despite tlie ]i!'ide of science, and the seduction? of the world, the sacred iiame of faith, the faith of their infancy, the faith of their youth, the sheet anchor of their mothers' ho[)es ; to sustain that faith, not by words, not by ejihemeral systems, but b}'' works : by doing' g'ood to their unha[ipy brethren, to the "poor i)eo]»le, " to suti'ering humanit}' : such is their aim. " Dut what do you liope to accomplish ? " exclaim their young companions. You are l)ut eight poor youths ; and yon underiakc to relieve the swarming wretchedness of a city like Paris ! And even were you many times more numentus, you would accomjdish but little after all ! Xow, "Nve are elaborating ideas and a system destined to reform the World, and ritl it for ever of all suifcring and misery, we shall perfonn in one instant for humanity, Avhat you could nut accomplish in many centuries. " (2) (1) 0/,anaui. Discourse at conforciV3G of Florence. (2), Mmi. , . . , — 7 - Poor voutlis! Tliov liail, no doubt, siiu-orc iiiul co.a- Idi.ssioiiiitc souls, liut iiliis, (It't'oly inilaii'd iti ori'ur. Tlu'V ;nc!\v nut, heloveil Idvtliroii, that ouo sjjnrk »>t' lUitli and C'liurity, does rrioi-c tliau all ilu; tires ot' the Martli, beciuiso ll is {ibU|»t'rnutural lire. Vou are hut t'ijL:;lit, lla-y sai«l. IJut they bad yet to ioarn, that the wicrt'd fin' of Christian charity, coiiiuuiniiiatcs itnelf from one tu another, more raidilly ttill than tiiat ilame wliicli, to<» (tfUMi, alas, deva>tate-s our ^i-( at cities. In vain do tla; founders of this socii'fy, jealousol'liiiir Ireasure, strive to liide it, like the miser : for it isCJod who Mita : J)eu3 est inhn t \\\ «lcath."U) II. Sinoo it is so, lioloved brothrcti, lot nstnrn our eyes, fur a moment, on tiiii^ <^uod man, who.su brow is radiant witli tho twofohl halo of Renins and of virtue'; and who was the soul of our dear society of St. Vineent of l*aul, next to God ami the holy ])atroii who protects it. In iS-iO, the studious youth of France were challenged to compete at an examination, opened in the venerable sanctuary of Letters. Amidst the numerous and brillant eom})etitors, there appeared a youth whose look bespoke inodcsty, not unmingled with a slight degree of timidity and cmbarrasment. Tlie struggle began. ,At once, our young friend calls U]) to his aid the resources at his ♦'ommand, viz : profound science and consummatt! tact. In vain does grudgmg fortune, which often laughs at the beet founded hopes, compel tho youthful victor, to prepare, in twenty four hours, an oral lecture on the most barren subject within the domain of letters. Fortune herself was battled. Frederick Ozanam was crowned by the unanimous voice of the judges, and tho public lavished upon him ita Bvinpathetic i)laudits. Every man has amission, beloved brethren, you know it ; for nothing is made without a purpose. The grain of sand even, has one, lost though it be amidst tlie waste of the desert. That mission must vary M'ith the nature of the individual, and the circumstances in which he is placed; but thero is infallibly a time Avhen man's mission is being developed, within him ; a time when it commences and manifests itself, a time when it completes its work and receives its erown. Ozanam had his developed in his youth, passed so rapidly in the calm of his laborious studies. Even there, we are tola, he astonished liis masters, yet more than his companions, kaviug to all, together with the example of hia noble (1) Lacordalre. Biograpliio d'Ozauam. — — f|niilitic8, I'Tccioufl rcminisci.'nces of liin lirllliiuit literary C'ti'urtH: nt tlie n«;o ul" sixtocn he wrote tor tliu Aheille. I'lit lu; pivi' liimH'lt' iij), with still ;^ronter iirdour tn th<»so PcriouH studies whi<'h coinph'te the vuiith and ojm'H tor hijn the ])ortiils ot' inunlmud. Lftcorduiro could 8Jiy of him at twenty, what it wore (k'nirahlo to Hay of all : — " l*hilosnj>hy ofal.i^h order, while it oiicucd to him the sairie views of inaiikiiid aB faith itself, made him feel in IuhhiuI that harmony lietwei^n revelation and the facidties, that harmony so omnii)otent in expanding arnl invigorating; the one l>y the otluir, wliieh makerf ot the christian ft ])hiloso|>her, amloftliQ philosopher a creature, proof against the j)rido of science as ny:aiii8t the pride of virtue (4). At twenty ( )xanam reached Paris. The period in which a youn^ man makes his firsttrial (»f unrestrained freedom is ever a critical, and fre(|uently a fatal moment: I'or he who always does as he wishes, seldom does as he ou«ijht. (2) And thus it is that then his falls an; nei- ther few nor slight, for virtue and even for talent. i>ut in Ozanam's day, yet more perl inps than in ou» own, tlie youtli, •whose timid eyes opened for the first time on a jtuhlic career, was confronted by numerous and formidalde enemies. The civil power erected into a tyranny ; the political tribune insulting; the sacred pulpit ; the press f^iven up to license in the nameof liberty ; the professors chair become the workinj; slave ol falsehood ; the sanctuary of science transformed into an arsenal of error ; every where a devourinpj im])iety heapin<^ sarcasms and abuse on the past, in order to grasj^ the future for itself. A yawning abyss whoso turbid waters were BurgiLfi^ and seethinf;!: for the ruin of Christ. Ozanam confronted the abyss, contident, but pure, resolute and true. A soldier destined ifor the fight, he went, as thoui^li by instinct, to visit the gjenerals who had preceded him on the battle field. Lacordalre pictur 3 him to us, with deli«;ht, as he entered liis room, and sat by his firesid". for the first time ; then, jj^oing on to knock, with a trembling? hand, at the door of one of the powers of this world ^ as Charles the K, once styled M. de Chateaubriand. The latter had just returned from mass, lie received the student, in an (1) Lacordaire. Biographie d'Ozanam. (2) Beauchcsiie. Life of Louis XVII. t . tl \ m — 10 — amiable and fraternal manner ; and after many questions as to liis projects, his studies, his tastes, he asked him, while examinino^ him with a closer look, whether he proposed going to the play. Ozanam, in surprise, hesitated between the truth tliat he had promised his mother never to set his foot within the doors of a theatre, and the dread of appearing puerile in the eyes of his interlocutor. lie remained silent for a time under the struggle going on within his soul. M. de Chuteaiibriand kept his eyes fixed on him the while, as though he attached great importance to his answer. At last truth triumphed; and the author of the Genius of Christianity^ bending down to embrace Ozanam, atfec- tionately exclaimed : " I conjure you to follow your mother's counsel ; you w^ould gain nothing by going to the theatre, and you might lose much. " This advice remained ^'ividly inpressed on the mind of Ozanam ; and when any of liis comrades, less scrupulous than himself, urged him to accompany them to the play, he met them with the decisive words: " M. de Chateaubriand told me it was not good to go there. " lie went, for the first time in 1340, at the age of twenty-seven, to hear Folyeucte. lie was not very deeply impressed by the performances. He experienced, like all men of sound taste and vivid imagi- nation, that nothing can equal the rej^resentation that the mind forms to itself in a silent and solitary reading of the great masters. (1). Allow me to give you, from the same source, another trait of a different kind, but which betrayed, still more forcibly, the noble mission marked out for the youthful Ozanam, " At Sorbonne and the college of France, there were certain faculties highly esteemed by the young students, but which in treating of Christianity w'ere frequently want- ing in justice and truth. OLanam attended the courses most highly syoken of. Knowing how to appreciate merit, even in a enemy, he listened to all, but at one time with a countenance expressing pleasure, at another re- serve. After taking his notes, he would return home, seek out the facts at their source, and rectify them \. then alone, in most instances, sometimes Avith friends, oi even I (1) Lacordaire. Biographie d'Ozanam. 11 est! on 3 as m, while proposed L between to set his ippeariug led silent soul. M. while, as wer. At renins of 111, affec- ■ mother's e theatre, 5 mind of crupnlous e play, he 3aubriand ir the first Polyeucte. mces. He id inia^i- 1 that the ig of the !, another still more youthful [lere were ; students, itly want- le courses appreciate t one time lother re- home, , then irn am 01 even with young men unknown to him, whose signatures he solicited, he would write a serious and well-reasoned letter to the profurfsor, pointing out his eriors and conjuring him in a tone of holy simplicity, to re]>air the injury he had inllicted on the minds it was his duty to enlighten. jM. Joulfroy received one day, a letter of the hind, signed Ozanam., student. lie had felt tlie breath of God in his childhood ; and in fact, even before dying he was touched by returns of it, that entitled him, at least, to an honoiable memory. Ozanam's letter touched liim. It set forth, that many of the youths who attended his lectures were Christians ; and that it was extremely painful to them to see a man like him, eloquent, generous, and no doul)t sincere, indulge in attacks upon their faith, to which they could not reply, since respect for order and for his person, condemned them to utter silence." In the course of the next lecture, M. Jouffroy informed his audience of the remonstrance he had received, praised the author for tlie sense of propriety, the learning he had exhibited ; then. with a degree of rectitude deserving of commemoration, he disavowed what he had stated to the prejudice of truth, (1). But now, at last, your time is come oh! holy truth, sacred faith of Clirist, to take your revenge ! Ozanam, twice a doctor, victor at the grand examinations, master of almost all the modern languages, sits in the chair of science. lie takes possession thereof at tlic age of twenty seven ; and for twelve 3'ears, in the very face of learned impiety itself, he attracted and captivated an imtnense auditory, poured forth floods of profane science, dissipated the clouds that obscured the light, proclaimed the honour of faith, and forced error to expiate its crime and relinquish the glory it had usurped. Behold how truth becomes popular in his mouth I Tlie Easter of 1 S«52 had passed. Ozanam lay in bed of a fever. lie learns that his auditory are awaiting him at Sorbonne, and that those eager youths, heedless of the causes that deprive them of their professor, are calling for him in agitation and excitement. Instantly, despite the eftbrts of his friends, the tears of his wife, the commands of his physician, he rose up and hastened to his. chair, saying : / (1) Lacordaire. I^iographie d'Ozanam. 12 — V % \ ^ mttst do honour to myprofession. When he appeared in tlie hall of Sorl>oi: le, pale, waste, and more like a corpse tlian a living man, tlie crowd were seized with remorse and admiration, and received him with overwhelming and frantic demonstrations of applause. These transports were repea- tedly renewed, in the course of the lecture, and reanimating the unfortunate professor, already sinking undev the fatal stroke of disease, thus lifted him above himself for one last effort. The audience seemed to possess the secret known to '^rod alone, so passionate did their plaudits become when he clos(3d Ilia address as follows ; " Gentlemen, our age is " reproached with being an age of egotism, and your " professors are said to be tainted with the universal " epidemic of selfishness. Nevertheless, it is here that we " waste our health, it is here that we consume our strength ; " I do not complain of this : our life ii? yonr's, your's to the " very last breath, and you shall have it. For my own part, " Gentlemen, sliould I dio, it shall be in your service. " Such was the last farewell of Ozanam, to an auditory who had loved and applauded him for twelve long years. (1). A few days afterwards, he wrote with a feeble and trembling hand the first line of the canticle Ezechias : 1 said in the midst of my days^ I shall go ^o the gates of death. Man dies, beloved brethren ! but he does not perish utterly. Ozanam's works tower above his grave like a monument. His name alone, remains the symbol of the successful alliance of science and faith, of genius and virtue. It is a note of defiance to impiety, enlightened as it sometimes is, often ignorant, but ever scornful. The name of Ozanara, side by side with the immortal names of Descartes, Do Bonald, Do Maistre, Ampere, Donosc Cortes, B'ot, Cauchy, all learned, pious, and lay-men like hlmBt-lf, will prove once again to weak Catholics, to blind i.r/aiety, that true science and true faith, harmonise, that they ennoble each other ; that genius is not incompatible with virtue, nor even with devotion itself : that while a smattering of philosophy leads men away from God j an enlarged philosophy attaches men to tlim^ or leads them hack to Iiim. I love to recall, O my God, the names of your learned m (1) Laeordaire. Biographic d'Ozanara. — 13 reel in corpse so and frantic repea- nating i fatal ne last own to lien he age is i youv iversal hat we cngth ; \ to the n part, " Sudi lio had lie and lias : I ates of t perish like a of the np and nod as The imes of Cortes, Ui'.m3'o-lf, .npiety, ennoble virtue, ring of nlarqed to itim. learned 'f yi and devoted servants. Nevertheless, I know It, you have no need of examples among men to authorise your Majesty, But in rhese days of doubt and universal distrust, extending even tuyour ministers, we need the alluring example of our fellow men to attract us to your standard. We seem to forgot, beloved brethren, that the honour of an army depends especi- ally on the chief and the flag ; that a brave soldier is none t^e less Ijrave, though he be surrounded by cowards ; none the loss faithful, though he stand alone in the breach. AV^e forget, it would seem, that the service of God is ever honorable, though there remained but ten just men in each of our guilty cities. "We forget, above all, that contempt will inevitably fall, in the first place, uj)on the vicious ; for vice itself will never esteem vice in others ; and next, upon Ihoso ^\ eak souls that flutter between good and evil ; we forgot that in the inviolable sanctuary of conscience, the first place is eve:- awarded to the man who acts from conviction, openly and fearlessly, free alike from human respect and ostentation. But I am not, beloved brethren, and I have no desiiC to ologist. As a friend of ^he society of St. Yinccnt oe, an de P ap( aul. which Ozj\nani '' unded in his vouth, as an advocate of the poor, I deaire to see in him, and I can see in him, no other title than that of a pious christian and a hither in charity ; a pious christian devoting, eiich morning, half an hour to meditation upon some text of Holy Scripture, this was the first half hour of his day ; bending his knees in prayer before entering the lecture hall. A father in charity, who left the professor's cliair, to seek out the poor in their wretched garrets, to enter into secret, noisome vaults, where timid misforame hides its misery, having with him a loaf, a little crucifix, an image of Mary ; whose budget of charities, regularly prepared each year, exceeded one tenth of his 'ncome. Ihit, let us see him at work. " On the morning of New '^ Year's day, 1852, " says his illustrious biographer, "' the " last New Year's day he saw in Paris, and the last but one " he spent in this world, he told his wife that a certain '• family were in great distress : that they had been forced " to pawn tiic clie^it of drawers that licld the marriage " trousseau, tlieii* last remnant of former comfort and })ros- " perity ; that he had a mind to redeem it, and present it to " them as a new year's gift. His wife urged plausible — u — I I •It " arguments against tlic plan, and lio gave it np. In tlic " evening, after returning liome from liia offieial visits, " Ozaiiam seemed sad ; lie cast a sori'owfiil glance upon " the profusion of toys heaped before his little daughter, " and would not taste the sweet-meats she offered him. lie " was evidently grieving for having missed the good work he " had conceived in the morning. His wife having implored " him to carry out his first thought, ho sallied forth instantly " to make the purchase of the chest-of-drawers, and after " accompanying it himself to the dwelling of the desolate " family, he returned to his home perfectly happy. " Like all who occupy themselves in doing good, Ozanam was deceived sometimes. He had for a long period assisted un Italian, by purchasing his translations of which he had no need whatever. This person, for whom he had procured a situation, betrayed his employers, and when he again felt the pressure of want, he had recourse to the benefactor whose heart and whose door had ever been open to him. For the first time, Ozanam received him harshly, and refused him an alms. But the infortunate man had hardly left the house when Ozanam's conscience M'as seized with remorse. He said within his heart, " it is never right to reduce a man to despair ; and we have no right to refuse a piece of broad, even to the vilest of criminals ; perhaps I myself may one day have need that God should be less inexorable to me, than I have just shown myself towards a fellow-creature redeemed by his blood. " Overcome by these thoughts, he followed the unhr.ppy wretch, running the whole ^vay until he overtook him, opposite the Luxembourg, and gave him with an alms, a proof of his repentance and of his charity ". (1) This glance at the life of Ozanam, beloved brethren, brings my lips, to a word Avhich is not out of place in the sacred pulpit, nor foreign to this numerous assembly. It is the lay apostolate, the a])Ostolate of the man of the world. You know what I mean, beloved brethren, by lay apos- tolatCj I understand that Avliich is exercised, not at the altar but at the holy table ; not in the tribunal of penance, but in the confessional ; not in the sanr^tuary, but in the midst of the temple ; not in the sacred pulpit, but in the public forum : the apostolate of word against word, press against (1) Lacordaire. Biograpliic d'Ozanam. m — 15 In the I visits, io upon uighter, m. He work he mploretl nstantly id after desolate Dzanam assisted he had >rocured ^ain felt nefactor to him. 1 refused • left the remorse, e a man f broad, nay one to me, creature ghts, he ■ until he lim with ». (1) I, brings sacred It is the world, ly apos- he altar ice, but le midst 3 public against f j>ress, work ngainst work. This apostolate belongs, not to the priest, it belongs to the world, to each and all of you, beloved brethren, without a single exception. But, allow me to insist upon it, this apostolate belongs to you, above all, who share in the apostolate of evil, ardent youths, and men in the maturity of age and power. I would address myself to both classes, but more particularly to the former, in an discourse devoted to an association of charity, formed by young men, and T will say, for the honour of youth. And at the outset, I maintain, despite the reproaches youth may have earned for itself, and all that Bosaiict may have said of the youth of his time in particular, I maintain that it is a truth as certain as it is consoling, youth can and must have its share in the great mission of good, which is carried on in the world. For if youthful nature be prolific for vice, it is also prolific for virtue. The young have the daring, the tire and the enthusiasm of evil, but they have also the daring, the fire, and the enthusiasm of good. The young connnit faults, no doubt ; but if they be not an utter wreck before reaching manhood, they sometimes have the candour to blush for them, frequently the frankness to confess them, and almost invariably, a heart to weep for them. At the opening of a worldly career, man is surrounded with hopes, assailed by enchanting illusions ; but with a vigorous and ardent nature, he is armed for the sacrifice. And is it not in youth that the painful work of conversion is most frequently accomplished ? Is it not in youth that man renounces the world, like St. Bernard, and prostrate at the foot of the altar takes God for his soul's inheritance? Is it not then that man embraces the austerity of the cloister, with a Louis or a Stanislas? Do "we not behold the youthful missionary bidding farewell to country, mother and sister, and with open arms crying out to tlie children of the forest: Ye are my brothers and my sisters ! Oh ! brethren, this is courage, or it is no where to be found. Kevertheless, I say it to all, to the full grown man, as well as to the youth, courage is no longer sufficient to enable you to walk steadfastly in the footsteps of these noble christians, whose names I have just mentioned No, in this age of frivolity, of doubt, of egotism and of apostacy, ho who would not be false to true honour, must arm himself with the strong convictions resulting from the union of science and virtue ; and with the generous sword — 16 - of sacrifice. Without this, you may earn a reputation for talent, sometimes, in fact, for sincerity ; but never will you render virtue, nor even your own name, truly and solidly, popular. With this firm conviction of the mmd, and tliis generosity of the heart, you may govern the world ; you will have good at your command, and confront evil with an impenetrable and invincible array. With this conviction ot mind, and this generosity of heart, you, man of the world, will sometimes do more for the cause of good, than tlie man of the sanctuary, or the man of the cloister. Why is this ? It matters little why. It is perhaps because the spectacle of virtue in the midst of Israel is more rare, and consequently more striking., No doubt, there is fanatism, in cheerfully bidding a final farewell to the world, in order to devote one's self to the pursuit of virtue and perfection, but a legitimate fanatism, a ^en«row5 fanatism, &8uhlime fanatism, before which the good young man of the Gospel drew back, despite the invitation of Jesus Christ himself. Now this it is, perhaps, that makes virtue in a layman, appear, in some sort, disinterested and more attractive. Moreover, there is a contagion of virtue, as there is a contagion of vice, or of disease ; and in the midst of the world, where the elements are more similar, and therefore more sympathetic, virtue is naturally more expansive and more contagious. III. When we parted from the little association of Paris students, in order to follow Ozanam, it had not yet left its humble cradle ; the thought of a further extension of its organisation had never been entertained. But ere long, necessity itself, or rather the hand of God, while preserving unbroken the link of charity that made them one in heart and spirit, dispersed abroad these first apostles. And this was but the exercise of a just right : it was God's own work. The idea conceived by these eight young students of Paris, was borne on the wings of charity, from one land to another, as the seed of the flower is borne on the wings of the dove, wafted by the wayward breeze, or floats on the bosom wave that seeks a distant shore. It fell on a fertile soil ; and nursed by the fostering dew of heaven it budded forth, struck its roots deep into the earth ; and soon shot high into 17 - tlio air, and the strong and ample brandies from its stem nifordod slieltcr, not to tlio birds of the air, bat to tlio poor of tlie eartli. Thus it was, beloved brethren, that the society of St. Vincent of Paul, of Paris, where Ave have seen tlie estab* lishmcnt of the first conference, spread tliroughout the whole of France ; paf^3ed into Germany, then into Belgium, then into Dei marlc ; crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps ; visited Greece ; crossed the P>ritish channel ; organised its Confcences in the Ketlierlands, in Switzerland and ia European Turkey ; trod the sacred soil of Asia ; l)raved the burning sun of Africa ; explored Oceanica and reached America. Tlius three fourths of the world were enrolled in this crusade of chaiity. To-day it may be said of this charitable association, as was said of the vast dominions of Charlcs-(2uint : " The sun never sets on this empire. " () blessed fecunditv of the works of God ! Man and hi3 woi'k pass away together ; and as man succeeds man, so do the works of man pass away in successioo. But the work of God is immortal ; for God himself does not pass away : his grace, whicli is himself, gives to all that it inspires, to all that it penetrates, to all that it animates, the seeds of immortality. But let me hasten to state, beloved brethren, for this h the characteristic sign of the works of God, that the Church received, with the affection, nay with the weakness, the fondness of a mother, this child 'of charity, this offspring of the purest spirit of cliristianity. In 18-15, prostrate at the feet of Gregory XVI, the society was loaded with the choicest blessings from the Sovereign Pontiff. By a brief, dated the 10th of January, of the same year, he signified his appi'oval of the new society, confirmed it in its special form and constitution ; thus placing it in the ranks of the regular institutions working in the great catholic world. More than one hundred bishops have raised their voices in its favour. From every episcopal throne and from every pulpit, words of encouragement have been showered upon it. In 1852, at the simple request of the societv itself, the Holy Father granted it a protector in the person of II. E. Cardinal Fornari. !N"evertheless, beloved brethren, tlie consecration of the society of St. Vincent de Paul, wliose birth sounded ttho death knell of triuraj^haut impiety, would have been in — 18 — some sense imperfect, had not PIub IX also imparted to ft, ftiiiidst the tribuhitions of the times, his paternal benediction. Surely the society can never forget, how, amid the imposing cereinonies attending the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius IX deigned to remember it, to olfer the holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the intention of its members, gave them Holy Communion ■with his own ha/ud, and presided in the hall of the consistory at a general meeting of the Conferences of liome. You will doubtless recollect with pleasure, beloved brethren, that the society in Canada, was represented on that memorable occasion. His Holiness listened with kindly interest to the report of its humble labors, and crowned all by addressing the brethren, himself. lie reminded them of the noble end prbposed to itself by the society ; urged all the members to labour for that end with energy and perseverance ; then, in the outpouring of his heart, involved a divine blessing upon them all, adding in conclusion : " May this blessing accompany you, all the days of your life ; may it extend to those who cooperate in works of charity in Kome, in Italy, in Europe, and throughout the whole world. " It would weary you, beloved brethren, to enumerate the circumstances attending the emigration of tlie successive colonies of the Society of St. "Vincent de Paul, and their installation in the various countries I have just mentioned. But their birth, on the fertile soil of Canada is certainly entitled to a special commemoration. Happily I am in a position to give you the very words of the prelate chosen by Providence to impart a first blessing, and to be the first to cultivate this precious ofi*shoot of the tree of Charity. His Lordship the administrator of the diocese, during his visit to Europe in 1850, when presiding at a general assembly of the Conferences of Paris, which was attended by an illustrious friend of the society, P. Lacordaire, spoke as follows : " A young man, after completing his studies in Paris, brought with him to Canada a copy of your rules. He called npon a priest of Quebec. That priest was myself, who now address you. He unfolded to him his plan of establishing the society in Quebec. The priest encouraged him, mentioned the matter from the pulpit, called a meeting ; and that was suflicient in a country so catholic as Canada. Several conferences were at unce organized. li 10 — in i y How admirable are tlio dispositions of diviiio Providence! This was in 184(1, when two vast conflagrations had just dcsfrovod two tliirds of the city. You are aware of tlie dreadful severity of our winters. Theahnsoftho conferences, amounting \vitliin one year to 25,0U0 francs (r),(K»0 dollars), sufficed for every necessity ; and every needy sufferer found a brother to console In'm.' Oh ! may it ever be so, beloved brethren. Let us never allow the tire of Catholic Charity to cool in our hearts. Like this young ir n of Paris, let us nnite all our forces, let us associate our hearts in a charitable conspiration for the relief of our brethren, the suffering members of Jesns Christ. To the taunts from the lips of the impious, let us reply with our hearts, with our works. These alone, now as ever, can give a meet answer to those who ask the Catholic: where is your Godf These alone can proclaim in nnmistakable terms : "Their God is in heaven ; and lie doctli all things Avhatever he wisheth. " And should we, like Ozanam, be honored with a call to do battle in the front rank of tlie army of Christ, let us never forget that a Catholic officer, if he be really worthy of that title, must take the lead by a scrupulous fidelity in executing the commands of his general. He will give edification by his devotion to prayer, his attendance at the Holy Sacrifice, and by approaching the Holy table. In fine, beloved brethren, let us have a real love for God, a real love for his Church, a real love for the good principles that come from God ; then, in the spirit of the Gospel, combining this sincere love of God with the sincere love of our neighbour, we shall not only speak of him, of the people, of the poor ; but yet more, and above all, we shall do them good ; we shall not profit of their misery, we shall relieve thuni Filioli mci, non dUigamus verba, neque lingua, sed opere ei veritate. — 20 SECOND DISCOURSE. Filioli mei, non dilignmns verbo, neqno lingua sell oj)f ro et voritate. .Mr little children, let U8 not love in word, nor in tongue, but iu deed and in truth. St. John, I. Ep. Cap. iii. v. 18. t My Lord, Witli the l)le??in;2r of God, ^vo shall, this evening, examine the Society of St. Vincent do Paul, 1st. in iti? constitution ; that is to say, in its end, its means, its memhers, its organisation ; and, 2ndly. in the e]iirit which animates it. The Sacred Scrii>tnre lays doAvn a principle for the exercise of charity, -which has been adopted, in divers forms, in the peculiar language of every Christian people. Amongst us it is emhodied in the axiom : Charity begins at home. That maxim is a sonnd one, no douht ; hut, as it only too often happens -with general principles, it is many a time lost sight of, in the multiplied details of practice, or in the unaccountable manner our poor minds tind the means of abusing things, in themselves the most perfect. Thus, either by a too ^vealv civility, on the one hand, we sacrifice everything, and give up everything to our fellow men, under pretext of pleasing, serving and saving him, but alas, to our mutual destruction ; or, on the other hand, through an op})Osite excess, we grasp everything for ourselves, and refuse everything to others, and this under the name of charity. Look at the miser, for instance, while he is hoarding up and increasing his treasure, lamenting his present straighte- ned circumstances, or casting an uneasy glance into the dark f 21 — fiitni'(\ do you not licir him exclaim i " Tlic tiiix ■< ni'(! liiird, I must save up, niisciy iri at vvcvy dooi-, I must ward it otf ill time; alas! !t iri an niucli as I slrnll I>e alile to a<'(!()tn]>lisii ; let otlicri^ have the ])leasure of ^iviii;; : C/iarity hgins at home ! Tlio e^^otist devours with his eovetous eyes all that rtiirrouiKls him. IIi^ tuncies that men and thiuf^M are ereated for him alone ; everythitif*- is laid out for his intereHtH. Self* ! self ! i.s hin eternal ery : Citaritii hegins at home. Aiiother nayn : " 1 am neither a miser nor an eirolist ; hut I would not he a prodi^d. My nu'ans ai-e fiufileient fur the reqnirementH of my ])Osition ; I. .41, most nndouhtedly, the requirements f>f my position are equal to my means. I cannot strip myself to clothe otlun'S." Such is tin; language of an easy cool and ala« ! hut too common indifl'erenee : Charity hegins at home. Thus it is, my brethren, that charity would become the abyss, into which man rashly and ho})elcssly ]dun<]::es body and soul, to serve Ins fellow man ; or else a matter of keen and interested calculation, beginning invariably with self, without ever ending in others. Kow, I tell you, my brethren, tliat the true christian spirit is equally distant from both these extremes. For it begins at nome : but thence, or rather without going forth from thence, it is generously ]>oured forth upon all others. It is a iirc in its own hearth ; it warms that hearth first, and then darts its cheerinf' rays upon every one around. Christian charity is like Divine charity : it is egotistical if you will ; but, at the same time, essentially diffusive. Uharitas incinit a semetipso — (Jharitas hcnigna est, nan est amhitlom. To this M^ell ordered charity, correspond, as tlie effect to the cause, several kinds of gO(td, which custom designates as : one's own good and the good of others, private good and the public good. It is with these as with charity itself: they are distinct, but not in reality separable : they go hand in hand, they are linked together. God is the good of all, and the world also. To will good aright, is to will it as ic is, and consequently to will it for all, for ourselves and for others, for others and for ourselves. By this single and npright M'illing of a double good, we merit, we acquire the right to a reward, which we shall certainly receive. Behold here, our own good resulting alike, from charity to self and. charity to others. — 22 — (Jicntly iiuleod iinMV(Mlcceive(l, beloved ln-etliren, if wo imagine timt eluirity acta outwftnlly witliout buniinii? inwardly, or ImriiH inwardly williout acting outwardly ; that it onn ett'ectually ]»roinoto |>til»lic g(">d, wlulst it iKiilectrt individual interetits, or advancen private intercstb while negU'ctin*? the ])ul)lie pM)d ot'otherH. This 18 not all. Charity has alwnyrt to deal with two orders of iritual ^ood ; Moral p»od, — the good of the Houl, and material good, idiysieal good, tlie good of the hudy. Charity if it boreal, if it be christian, will make choice of the better |>art, that is of the sjuritual ; it will subi>rdinate the less noble, to the more noble, as God liiniself has rightly done. Hence, my brethren, a well ordered charity embraces firpt selfy but without excluding others ; otliers, without excluding self; the spiritual, the moral, ever taking prece- dence over the material, over the physical. Such is the oracle of eternal wisdom, the chriKtian spirit, the catholic spirit, the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul. Such also, thank God, is the charitable policy proclaimed by the eight young students of Paris. To convince yon of this, let me give you Jzanam's own words : " Our ])rincipal aim " said he, iu addressing the brethren of Florence, " our ])rincipal aim was not to airbrd helj) to the i)Oor, No. Our aim was to maintain ourselves lirmly in the faith, and to propagate it amongst others, through the medium of charity. AVe also wished to have an ever ready answer when at any time we should be asked, in tlie words of the Psalmist : ubi est Deus eoruni ? where is their God. This, then, is their obiect ; in the first place, their own good, tlieir own souls, their virtue, their faith, jointly with the good, the souls, the virtue and the faith of others ; tlien the exaltation of that faith in the eyes of all. The means of attaining that end, are all comprised in the word charity. The means tliat charity furnishes are many. In this world, as in eternity, charity can, and really does, accom- plish all things ; but: the special means that it affords to the brethren of Ozanam, consist primarily in the association itself, their spiritual intercourse, that fraternal union, the intimacy of their social life. For this, once in each week, the society assembles all its members throughout of its vast empire. Th(jre, they pray together, they listen to an edifying — 23 — Icftnro, and convorse wIMi unroservcd ouiifidt'ncc. It h;i« ulsii itH iiutiv P'imimI, hut t've tVasts <»f toniu'r (hi\f«. TluTc also tlic poor art- npnUon of, and naincii an the chcrifihcd fVionds of tho t'aniily, their phurw of ahocU^ arc ctKMiirc'd for, tlic inentlx'rw i'a;^cr\y sharinj^ ainon^ thini- sulvcs trie duty and tlio pleahure ut* visiting theiii at au early day. In fact tlio visiting of tlio poor in their IjovcIh, in tlicir cellars, in their garrets U ])rvoUo\y the second esneiitiid nieanH for attaining the ohjoft of the Society. Tiu'se visitK, ever made, as they are, in the spirit of faith, chtahlinh, in Boine Hort, l)et\v(?en the diHciple of St. Vincent do Paul and tho poor, the intimate relations existing hetweon the mem- Iters thetnt^elvcH : acquaintance;, conversation, prayer in common, reretliren of Ozanam, would you be really worthy of the name ? Fix your eyes upon the triple end laid out by them for themselves and for you ; your own faith in the faith of others, particularly of the poor ; the exaltation of the Catholic Faith. Next, adopt the means of attaining it, but adopt them efi'ectiuiUy. Attend your meetings, take part in the festivals, take advantage of the indulgences, visit the poor at their houses, and let your alms go with you. Then, the sight, the thought, and the zeal of the end, will determme, penetrate and aninuite all your words and ail your proceedings. Let each associate do this, and behold you are a real army, never scattering, never betraying its own f>rces, but combining them in a single phalanx, that will obtain its end with the energy of omni})oteuce. I need hardly say now, that a member of the Society of — 26 — l*v St. Yinccnt de Paul is in the wronff, when at the hour of meeting he says to himself : " What need of attending ? there are no poor to relieve...." But my dear brother, it is your own virtue, your own faith that are to be restored, animated by tliat union which is strength, by combined prayer, by fraternal edification ! The poor have bread, eay you ? So much the better ! But vou yourself are the first of the poor : therefore, you must look first to yourself. Go then, go, my brother, and receive the fire of faith at the hearth of charity. " But it is useless visiting the poor ; I have nothing to give them. " So much the worse ! Have vou not even the widow's mite, which Jesus ChriEt made so much of ? Then you are unfortunate indeed • more unfortunate in not being able to give, than the poor in not receiving. "What if it be the visit itself, the visit alone, that you are called upon to make ? If the alms be on]/ an accessory ? But the poor are always in need of the bread of faith ; and they need consolation all the more, from the fact that you are unable to relieve their poverty. Go then, go my brother ; and let your presence, your kind words, your assiduity, at least, help to moderate their deepest sufferings, the sufferings of the soul. " But, my brethren, who are those whom the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, calls upon to enrol themselves under its banner of Charity ? This banner, with its noble motto, has been unfolded in the cause of good against evil, in the midst of the world, in the heart of a great city, where evil abounds side by side with good ; there, in the midst of the world, it must remain. This banner, with its noble motto, has been unfolded, not by an association of men of mature age, devoted to solitude, prayer and silence, to whom Jesus Christ, recommends when out of the sanctuary, the prudqnce of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove. No, no, it has been unfolded by young men of the world, young students of the world, brea'ihing, speaking, acting in the very midst of the struggle, with no other title, no other mission than that of christians and Catholics, but Catholics enlightened and sincere. It is for you then. Catholic youth, for you, in a special manner, to support this banner, to suround it, to be its guard of honor. It is your right ; why would you not conclude ; " Then it is our duty. " You, above all others, can and should shelter, within its deepest folds, your Catholic faith, your priceless virtue, so % t r a t i 27 — )iing the )ther lolics nith, to |why its so M- freqncntly and so violently assaulted ; and then march I'onvard to tlie rescue and the defense, of the virtue and the faitli of others, with a frankness and a courage worthy of so noble a flag. Nevertheless, beloved brethren, the Society does not exclude laymen of a more advanced age. Oh ! no : it w^eh^oraes them joyfully ; and even "urges them to swell the ranks of their juniors : they form a large proportion of its members. And indeed mature age, too, needs to rene^' the fervour of its faith, by approaching the fireside of fraternal charity ; and though it may contribute less ardor and enthusiasm in action, it compensates for that deiicieucy by a larger share of prudence and discretion. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is no doubt hap})y to count amongst its ranks, members of the clergy. A submis- sive child of the Church, since it is essentially Catholic, it derives its principle, its life, from the very source of Catho- licity, reposing ever under the protection of the pastoral Btatt. It enjoys a protector in the ])er6on of a prince of the Church, a cnaplain in every land where it raises its peaceful standard ; it ofl'ers to all the members of the clergy the exceptional title of" honorary members. " Nevertheless, my brethren, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, essentially, practically catholic, is peculiarly a lay society, lay in its origin, lay in its founders, lay in its* constitution, lay in its members, in its spirit, in its move- ments, in all its proceedings, which does not, I repeat, prevent it from being truly and supremely Catholic. I do not hesitate, as you see, my brethren, to bring together and yet distinguish, these three words : Catholic, priest, layman. At certain periods and in certain parts of the world, one would fancy that the priest and the layman "were no longer both catholics. The priest is a priest ; tlie layman a layman : they are two separate orders ; and the word catholic no longer unites all the tribes of God's people ! Oh ! my beloved brethren, the priest, 1 know, is not a layman ; the layman is not a priest. But both alike are Christians, both alike are catholics, both are children of the Cnurch, and in virtue of that title, they differ in nothing, they cannot differ in any sense, inasmuch as they are sfainped with the same seal ; and if botli be sincere, they will have the same rights, the same duties, the same interests, the same affections, the same sympathy, the same f i 28 n ■ ' 1 . 1 1 spirit, the same heart. Oh ! let ns learn then, my brethren, to unite, to distinguisli c^cn, if yon will, but never to separate, two things so utterly inseparable. Catholics, in the first i)lace, all ; then catholic priests, catholic laymen. In a like senpe I say, ])assing from the religious to the civil order, (bearing in mind the while, that we are citizens of the Church before becoming citizens of the state, and that we are ever and always catholics, no matter what may be our rank in the social scale) I say it frankly, in theory as in practice : we are citizens, in the first place, all ; then clerical citizens, then lay citizens. This is the true view, which all do not adopt, perhaps, but which all ought to adopt. And this is the view ado})ted by the association formed by the young students of Paris. Catholics in spirit and in heart, and catholic laymen, — they undertook a crusade essentially catholic, but specially secular, wherein, the layman acts spontaneous!}', undertakes, follows up, and accomplishes his good Avork in perfect freedom. Be not astonished, therefore, brethren of Ozanam, if in this crusade ot charity, the clergy abandon to you the vast field of good, and the blessed freedom of well doing. The clergy have their own high mission, at home first, then on foreign shores, and even in the wild depths of the forests ; l)ut beneath thf> standard of Ozanam is your's. Under Ozanara's fiag, your's be the glory of the onset, of the strategy, of the fight, the victory and the crown. But, what is needed in order to be a truo disciple of St. Vincent de Paul ? Every disciple of St. Yincenl Je Paul must, above all be a Catholic ; for how can it be possible when one does not possess the faith, to undertake to nourish it in oneself or in others ? For a similar reason, I would willingly divid-^ all Catholics, in relation to this society into two classes : its friends, and its members. Its friends can be, and ought to be as numerous as the Catholics themselves. "VVe every one of us, without exception, owe to this Society, which labours for our faith under the banner of Christian Charity, our esteem, our love, and our jirotection. "We ongiii to esteem it, for it is good ; to love it, for it is ; to protect it, for it labours for good. If these sentiments be real, they will exhibit themselves in their efi'ects. "VVe i^hall then speak well of this work, we shall encourage it. And moreover, though not being members of the association, simply as friends of the Society, generous good 29 — m can lives. itian We it is Ihese !S in we )ing iW* and of the poor, it is in onr power, find in fact we .ire invited to add, each year, a special ahns to those of its mcinibers, that is to say, to become subscribers to tlie fund it maintains for the l)enelit of tlie ])Oor ; in tliis way we sliall sliare larfjely in the _G;ood it effects, and in the spiritual advantaLi'cs which the Church bestows abuiidautly upon the members themselves. The members of the Society, on the other liand, are required, to do far more than its friends or its subscribers. As disciples of St. Yincent de Paul, and intimate friends of Ozanam, they must be imbued with the Christian spirit that aidmated those tM'o heroes of faith and charity ; they must be pratical Catholics. It is not necessary to be perfect, certainly, in order to be of the brotherhood of Ozanam, but it is indispensably necessary to possess a real and ardent love for one's own soul, an esteem for virtue, the care of one's faith, and a zeal for the faith of others. Without this, it is impossible to do honour to the title of member, and to the ilag of the Society. A man who will neither keep nor acquire money has no business enterint!; into a commercial association, or financial speculation, lie has no zeal for attaining the end ; consequently he has no zeal for adaptini^' the means to that end : he is feeble, he is dead. But every man who is really and sincerely Catholic, or who is, at least, really anxious to become so, who is in a position to comply ■\^ ith the other essential require- ments of the Society, namely, attending the meetings and visiting the poor, and able to set aside a part for their benefit, not a large sum, but even the mite ennobled by Jesus Christ in the Gospel, is invited to enrol himself under the noble banner of Ozanam, and to mark upon his breast the sacred sign of charity. He will find in that association, special facilities for labouring more effectually for the good of his own. soul, and for the good of the souls of others. The Soeietv of St. Vincent de Paul has its honorarv members, and its active members ; but, as regards Catholicity and virtue, I nuikc no distinction betvreen these two classes of members. They must have the same love, the same zeal for this common end, and consequently the same love, the same zeal for the means whereby it is to be attained. For they are all in reality members of the same society. The honorary members are not required to assist at the little weekly meetings, culled covfermces, nor to visit — 30 — the poor at their houses ; but they make up for being unable to labour in person, by contributing more liberally towards the funds of the Society. This is an essentiel condition. But, they are in precisely the same position as the active members, as to attending the general meetings held every three months, sharing in the observance of festivals, and gaining the indulgences of the Society. Every association, whatsoever may be its end, its means, or its members, needs a hand of union to combine the scattered actions of its associates, in order to apply them to its means, and to bring them to bear effectually upon the object of the Society. Without this moral bond, you may have meetings, gatherings, crowds ; but a society I never. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, like every other, comes under this moral law. It requires an authority, a hierarchy, not necessarily despotic, not absolute, bat capable of governing the social body. This hierarchical authority it does in fact possess, as we shall this see more clearly by taking a rapid glance at il-o organisation. In the first place, as the basis of all, is the little weekly assembly, styled the Conference ; for this was the title adopted, after the example of other societies its contem- pories whether for good or evil, by the association of Paris students. These meetings, which must be held at least once a fortnight, are really the seat of the active life of the Society. It is in the conference that the members unite in prayer and edifying lectures ; that they incourage one another to labour in the good work ; that the wants, of the poor are discussed ; that the duty of visiting them is apportioned ; that the alms afforded by the little treasury are regulated. Then, in the interval of the cmiferences, each member visits the families entrusted tt him, thus sowing and gathering in his share of good, for the love feast of the following week. The conferences are established wherever the society exists. In Quebec alone, there are eighteen, each of them holding regular w^eekly meetings. In order to unite them, and give them all an uniform direction, each central position has its council, called the Particular Council. The several Particular Councils of each province, with their respective groups of conferences, centre in another council, called the Superior Council. The Superior Council — 31 — . of Canada meets, as you are aware, in Quebec. In fine, all tlie provincial sections, that is to say, the entire society, obey the supreme direction of tlie General Council, which meets in Paris, the birtli-place of the Society. M. Billault in one of his able discourses in the French Senate, said, with reference to the organisation of tlie Society of St. Vincent de Paul : " Its organisation, it " cannot be denied, is extremely powerful, and the more " so from the fact that by means of the very benefits it ren- " ders, the Society exercises its influence in every direction, " over all classes : over the upper classes by its prayers, by " the as'-istance it obtains ; over the lower classes, by its " counsels, by the practice of its charitable workb, which " are multiplied under every form, and which place in its " hands, the apprentice, the work man, the soldier. Else- " where, he says : At the head of an organisation displaying " immense energy, was found a hierarchy possessed of " extraordinary vitality and activity. " There is something of truth, my brethren, in these words : the organisation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul ia powertui ; and how can this be made a subject of reproach m an association exclusively devoted to doing good '< But the able minister, despite his high sagacity, did not seize the real secret ol' that strength. II. torm the iwith )ther iincil The strength of an organised body, of what nature soever that body may be, whether ])hysical or moral, resides in ita soul far rather than in its organs. It is the life that aniui^^.tes a body, that moves it, that makes it act ; and the life of a body is its soul, its spirit. It is therefore in its soul that we must seek for the strength of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Now, my brethren, the triple spirit that animates that Society and renders it so powerful, is the spirit of fraternity, of humility, and above all the spirit ot action. A spirit of fraternity, that animates its very authority itself. In the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, there exi^t3 no doubt an authority, which directs, which governs : without this, there could be no Society ; but which does not command. Head the circulars issued by the General — 32 — -T M ' ', Council to the whole Society", or by the inferior Council ^vit]lin this rcRpective jurisdictions, you will never find a word of command, but simply a counsel, an exhortation, a prayer. As to the members themselves, they are styled brethren, and in truth, the word is well applied. " llow I am overwhelmed with joy, " cried Ozanam, at a meeting of the conferences of Florence, " to meet, at this distance from my country, so many brothers loving one another with a common attection, and forming but one family ! Once on tlie occasion already have I experienced a similar emotion in England, and quite recently again in Castile, where a small number of friends received me in a little room. But I can assure you, tiiat, though small the room, great was the charity that warmed the hearts of its occupants ! It found expression in looks, in words, and in tlie grasp of the hand ! 1 am deeply touched at the fraternal spirit that animates and imparts life to the ccnferenoe of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, every where alike, even in countries the most dissimilar and the most remote. Aucf I am powerless to express to you, how sweet it is to me to find it here as I found it at Genova, at Livourne and in the other parts of Italy." There arc in this world, my brethren, two sorts of hypocrisy i the hypocrisy of good, and the hypocrisy of evil. It is hypocrisy to dress ourselves up in a virtue of which we possess little or noching, as it is hypocrisy to boast of a vice to which we are little, if at all, addicted ; it is as hypocritical to boast fiilsely of evil deeds, as to boast falsely of good actions. These two species of hypocris;;, are from pride, though the wicked, through a secret hatred for real virtue pretend to entertain a special contempt for the hypocrisy of virtue. But whatever may be said of it, these two kinds of boastful lying, are equally hypocritical, hypo- crisy is the off-spring of pride, pride itself, is ever a hypo- crite. The opposite of pride is humility. I do not mean servility, much less, baseness ; I mean humility. Humility is truth. Humility does not raise a man up ; nor does it lower him. It keeps him in his place before God and before man. Now, this is the second spirit that anirftates the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. No room here for pride ; the alms are collected secretly in the conferences, the gr .^^ount 4 33 — are il for tlie lese po- ipo- ean of rims kiut tiloiic l)em<:: known to any one; set ppccclic- are inadmis- sible ; eloi^'it's and encominins are out of i)la('e ; tliero is no ' such tiling as tiicnriiig in puldic on tlio i)art of tlie members ; the indivi(hial and his namu are lost in tlie body. The ijjood is neither hidden nor secret ; but it is stripped of all the trapj>ings of pride and i»laeed under the guardianshi[) of humility. In Hne, a third spirit that animates the society of St. Vincent de Paul, is the spirit of action. It was the reproach of inertness that erected the first conference of Paris. " Christianity is dead, " it was said, " you boast of beinr>; Catholics, and what do yon do i where are the works that exhibit your faiih, and recommend it to our resi)ect and submission 'i "' Then it was that eight young Catholics exclaimed : Well then ! let us go to work ! The society of St. Vincent de Paul is therefore essentially a society of fiction, of works, of prayei's. It advances towards its end ; it acts within its own ])roper means ; these very means are acts ; meetings, visits to the poor, almsgiving. And, in truth, my brethren, the Charity that does not act when it can act, is not charit}' ; it is not the angel that consoles, bnt a cruel genius that mocks. It is therefore by its M'orks that charity is known, as you woidd judge of the heat of a fire by the brightness and the height of its flames ; and works of charity are inspired and nourished by God alone : Dctis c/iaritas cat : God is Charity ! When Ozanani and his companions held their first conference, under the protection of St. Vincent do Paul, that apostle of active charity, they were surrounded by four classes of men, devoted, it Avas said, to the discovery of the highest happiness of humanity : the Materialists, the Deists, the SaintSimonians aiul the Fourierites. The Materialists and the Deists, are simply and solely propounders of false d jctrines ; and thus it is that they have been able to do nothing beyond demolishing, in the souls of others, convic- tions, dear both to reason and to faith. And, in as much as luorals depend on dogma, practice on theory, as the conse- quence depends on the princijde, in practice, also, instead of edifving, they have demolished ; they have not remedied evil, they have destroyed good ; and yet good is the aliment of man's haiipiness. The SaintSimonians and the Fourierites profess to act effectivel""^ for the highest good of liumanity. " "We are „l;^-- H ■ I t Si — 34 — eIal)oriitiiif^, said one of tliuni, a friend of Ozanam's, " wc "lire dalx^ratini:; ideas and a pysteui whieli Mill reform tlie trorld, and rid it for ever of niisery. We shs.U do more ill fih instant, for liunianity tlian you eonld aecompliuli in jnany eeiituiies. " A fen' years later, Ozanani was enabled to say to the brethren of riorenec, in accents of C(ini|ia8si«»nate friend- 6hi}» : '' Vou are aware, gentlemen, of the ret>nlt of the theories that delndcd my poor friend. " Yon know it yonrsolve?, my brethren. The Saint-fc^inr nians and the Fourierites nimed at proj^^ross, not an indefinite, nor aji ideal progress ; for indefinite progress and ideal progress are very i)Ossible, here belov\', and very real. They consist in fact, m a closer and closer apprehension of trnth and of good. And so Ions as the intellect and the lieart of man do' not possess the infinite, they will ever seek to advance, and will really ever advance ; nnless they place ?>nd seek their progress or hap])iness where it is not ; bnt then, it is no longer an indefinite progress, an ideal pi'ogress : it is an imaginary progress. The Saint-Simonians and the Fonricrites, then, in search of an imaginary progress, did indeed elaborate systems and create associations or phalansteries. The associates lived together ' i the most perfect communion. What good haa resulted from all this, for humanity i llie oldest community lived fi few months at most, and the initiated, returned, covered with confusion, to the drama of I'eal life. At this moment thci-e is no longer a single community of Fourierites in existence, not even in the clas&.cal land that saw the first of them spring up ; and there are more than four thousand conferences made to the likeness o-f the little conference of Paris. Kot a single saint-Simonian, a single Fourierites, can be found ; and the brethren of Ozanam number one hundi'ed thousaiid. The ephemeral, existence of the phalanstery is spoken of only in ^me special works, as matter for anecdote rather than history, as an extrara- gance rather than an idea ; and each day throughout the world more than t\vo hundred and fifty thousand families, that is to say, more than a million of individuals, know, love and bless, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Ozanam's associates never spoke like the inventors of stems ; but they acted. Xor did they ever cry out boards of a theatre, amidst the plaudits of eager false from I I sys the — 35 — ilies, InoWr y Irs of out lager ppectfttors : / a?n a man ! and nothing that interests h(tin(in'dij is a matter of indiffereiice to me / " but in tliuir ex])ansive cliurity thoy really and frankly oinhracu all men. Truly those acclamations of an infatuated crowd have never found an echo within the obscure dwellings of the wretched, nor has the poor man ever heard of the poet who sang so feelingly of his woes ; but ho luw seen the disciple of St. Vincent de Paul in his hovel, by his bed-side, and even by the grave in wliich his miseries are hidden for ever. I trust, my brethren, that you now see the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in its true light : its ends, its means, its members, its organisation, the spirit that animates it. Oh ! when we take in, in one coni[)rehensive glance, this vast host of well-doers, pressing forward its irresistible battalions throughout all parts of the world ; its leaders ; its noble banner flattering in the genial bree/e of charity, in the midst of enemies and the tribulations of war, one is animated, ins])ired, (diarnied, like the prophet of old, when from the mountain-top lie viewed, with delight, the tents of Israel encamped in multitudes upon the plain. O army of the faith 1 noble soldiers, banded together in the glorious cause of Charity ! the order and discipline maintained in your ranks, and above all, the perfume of youi" charit} that ascends in incense to Heaven, transport us with admiration. Who could refrain from blessing you with the prophet ! Yes glorious society, we bless thee from this moment ! To-morrow we bhall see you at your work, we shall trace your toot-steps in the blessings you lavish on your members, on the poor, on humanity. so — - / THIRD DISCOURSE. • '/ Filioli mri, non dilifjanuis verbo, nequo lingtiii seel opcro et veritute. My little childrfn, kt us not lore in woril, nor in tongue, but in deed and in trutli. St. John, 1 Ep. Cap. in. v. 18. I. "hly Lord, Tlaviiicj seen tliG origin and the development of the Society of St, \Mneent do Paul, its constitution, its interior 1 life ; in order to complete this rapid snrvey, we have still to consider the good it does : first to its menihers, then to the poor and to society in general. This good, as "sve may judge by the essential charac- teristics of the association, has for its final objects, the )ersecntion, the propagation, and the honour of the Catho- Jc faith. Jjnt in as much as faith, as St. Vincent do Paul tells ns, is the aliment of justice, thatis to^cvj, the plenitiulo of every virtue ; and as it is impossible but that each means, each action of the society, should inimediatelv engender good, under every variety of foim, we will examine, without distinctitjn, the divers fruits that grow, as it were by enchantment, out of tlie soil, watered by the sweat of christian charity. The grace of God, say the Holy Scriptnres, assumes an infinite variety of forms ; vivltiformis gratJa Dei. In truth, this grace or the favor of God presents itself in the gifts of nature ; such as genius, talent, the precious qualities of the mind and the heart ; in the perfection and health of the body ; in the things which the paternal hand of God lias supplic' for our Avants, our tastes, our legitimate aiiections ; in the benevolence, the charity of our fellow- beings : for we must not foi-get it, my brethren, this geuerosity conies in the first place from God. Grace exhibits — 3^ the an In the litics li of iGod mate llow- thia liLits I I itrfcjlf to MS cliiclly in tliose 8n])rrnatiinil */\['tA wliicli .Iwus ('hrist Hw urduntly wishes ii.< to apj»rcci»to. The siin of <^rH(!0 jtoiwri ilH ravH u|i(»ii all human hoings and it ia eifc'ctual \\ itli all who do not harden thoir In-artH ai;'ainst it. iSuvertliL'luss, in the ordor of ^raoo m in the order of nature, in the world as in cttsniify, there are iirl\ il('roj)itioU8, (Jod himself, Ave have his own word for it, is present in the midht (»f those who are assembled, associated in his name; and this Soctiety of 8t. Vin(!ent du Paul, is founded in the name of Faith, in the mime of (charity, which is(iod ; Deuscharltas cd : (lod is Charity. lEencc, (iod is in the very heart of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, sup])lyin^' jvery member of that vast moral body with life and motion. JJlessed is he, and blessed according to (iod's own heart, who taketh thoui;-lit for the i)oor, who makes poverty his study, M'ho i;ives ji wlllijiij; car to the tale of misery, who is ever ready to jL^ive, who does not weary in doiui; f^ood. Happier still those whose task it is to nourish, to propa'j( elements more pnre and sympathetic. On this soil of charity there are none of those distinctions that chill and divide, no hoarse tempests, no fierce struggles of contending interests : all tumult is hushed in the unity of faith, and tliere his nought to rob the ear of the ravishing harmonies of charity. " ()n entering our peaceful conference, " said Ozanam to the brethren of Paris, in 1848, " all political passions are forgotten ; here, for once, we meet not in contention, not for nmtual distinction, but to hear one another and to regard one another in the better traits of our nature, and for divers matters of charity, calculated by their very nature, to sooth for the moment, all feelings of irritation, and to obliterate all heart burnings. Oh ! how grateful must it not be to all to be there, my brethren, were it but as the traveller who rests his weary limbs for a moment in some oasis of the desert, or as the worn-out combatant who sfiatches a precious hour of rest in the intervals of battle. Allow me then to transport you thither in thought for an instant. Let us enter together one of those little c«>nferences, which are held every hour in some part or other of the world, and daily in some part or other of onr good city. At the appointed hour, the brethren assemble ; it may be that they are not numerous, but you will find them of every age and of almost every condition in life. They recognise and salute one another, for in the eyes of charity, tney know they are friends, they are equals, they are brothers. They take their places without distinction of any kind on the benches used by the children of the school or the catechism class : the old man seats himself beside the youth ; the rich trader, the man of wealtli and position, beside the struggling citizen, whose daily toil hardly keeps him above want. The president who is often but one of the youngest members, for the domain of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is the patrimony of youth, — o])ens the conference wuth the usual invocation to the IIolv Ghost. Then a member commences an edifying lecture, having for its subject as far as possible, faith or charity. After the lecture, each member in turn communicates to his assembled brethren, his burden of intelligence, interesting to a disciple of St. Vincent de Paul. He has, it may be, to tell of the extreme destitution of some pof^'r family, of the courage, the resignation, at times also, unhappily, of despair, accompanying misfortune ; of the death, of some poor client, of the return of another to his — 39 — rerimons dntios. Each memhcr then contributes aeeordhii; to liis means, in secrecy, to the common purse the alms that are to o:hid(lon the hearts of the poor. The confVreneo concludes Tiith two invocations for itself and one for tlie benefactors of tl\e poor. Tlien, all unite in the touching prayer we have twice repeated together. Then it is, my brethren, that the soul has had time to breathe at ease, and all separate editied and better disposed for good, and strengthened against evil. Union is stretigth ! The proverb is as true in the moral as it is in the physical order. What is more, nature demands that we should assist one another in onr souls more than iu oiir bodies, for the reciprocal action of the foi-mer is far greater and more varied. Moral union combines the force of example, of sjieech, of counsel, of exhortation, of fiuthority. ITiiion is strength, in all the virtues, in faith as well as in char! t v. Union furnishes strength to destroy evil, to effect good purposes, to overcome the greatest obstacles. Above all, union furnishes strength to overcome that •cowardly enemy of virtue that never attacks a man but when he is alone : human refipect. Referring one day to the period of the iirst establishment of the association, Ozanam said : " Tlicre was tlien but very little relii2;ion in Paris ; and young men, ev-en those who Avere Christiaus, had not the courage to ii;o to Mass, because thev were pointed at as hypocrites, and people said they made a pretence of piety in order to obtain advanceniont or place. To-day this is no longer the case. And, thank God, we can truly say, that the wisest and the most learned, are also the most religious of our youth. lam convinced that this result is, in great part, due to our society ; and in this sense it may be said, that it has glorified God in its Avorks. " Thank God, my brethren, on this soil still moist with the blood of our martyrs, in this atmosphere still fragrant with the Catholic virtues of our fathers, tlie hideois phantom of impiety, with its feet of clay and its brow singularly stamped with ignorance, ]n'ide, and disdain, has never seduced the enlighthened and sincere Christian from a faithful compliance with his duties. True it is that, from time to time, some silly mimics have essayed to strut the boards, before a deserted house, playing like children with the broken fragments of the sce]itre of A'^oltaire, and wreathing their harmless brows with the withered flowers of Lis crown. 40 h ■' I- 'I t ■ I.- < • i r ' y, P)Ut tlio role of tiic great play-king has been ])Iayetl-ont, ami the feeble attempts of his iiripnideiit imitators, have never been fostered by the breath of applause. ^Nevertheless, my brethren, here as elsewhere, virtue is ever a AMirfare. Here as elsewhere, human respect bears a certain sway. Virtue wlien it is isolated, is ever timid, fearful, difHdent ; a look, a word, a harmless jest, suffice to raise its fears ; its very isolation is for it a cause of terror. In the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, virtue is not alone : it combats under the ])rotection of a hero. True that hero is a saint ; but a saint to whom in the fatal days of 1793. it was proposed to erect a 8tf»tue as to the greatest benefactor «if humanity ; a saint to whom, as Ozanam said, " impiety itself, in return for all he had done for humanity, had forgiven the crime of having loved God." It marches in the footsteps of Ozanam and his companions, whose name and whose courage, recall at once the glory and the generosity of faith; it marches mid the serried ranks of soldiers of every age and of every condition, beneath the folds of a banner, adorned with that motto honoured and respected in every age and even when corruption reigned su])reme : For the good ofliamanity. It is good, my brethren, to meet the poor on the high wa}', better to meet them at one's door, better still to receive them within one's own house. Ozanam did this, and gave them the place of honor as his distinguished guests. Nevertheless, if this be all you have seen of the poor, believe me, poverty, that bosom friend of so many unfortu- nate human beings, has never fully opened its heart to you, nor enriched your soul with its choicest favours. Society is like any other friend : its visits and its affection must need be returned ; its attentions must be reciprocated. He who is exempt from poverty has other woes of his own ; and where thir-- enterchauge of kind otSces exists, I maintain, v.'ith Ozanam, " that by visiting the ]ioor, we gain mom than thev t!o, for the si^i^ht of their sutferinirs will serve to make n^' better. We shall then feel for those children of misiortune, a sentiment of gratitude^, that must soon ripen into love. Many and many a time, when over- whelmed with mental suffering and the anxiety caused by my declining health, had 1 entered, with a sad heart, the dwelling of some poor family confided to my care; there, the sio'ht of wretchedness to which mv own siifferinj^s were but a trifle, made me ashamed of mv discourai^emcnt. ■■%A I. 41 41 — high I felt myself inspired Avilli ncv>' strength to bear my grief, and my heart overflowed witli gratitude, to the ai^icted beiii":s the sicjht of whose miseries liad atlbrded me so irmcli -r f'ourage and consolation. And henceforward liow could I help loving them with an increased atfection '( " On entering the poor man's dwelling, Ozanani invariably nncovered his head and gave them that aifectiunato salutation which he so loved to give. " At your service. " I believe that all his companions do the same. But the poor man, as you arc aware, my brethren, has also his own mode of salutation, and who shall tell of the good thoughts, the good desires, the good wishes he ])ours forth from the treasury of his heart in behalf of the rich man who seeks him out to do him good. How often, in the poor man's family, as in that of Jacob, have they thought of sharing "svitli their consoling angel the only riches they pof-ses ; their love and their prayers I !Now, my biethren, whatever may be tlie value of the rich man's prayers, I think those of the poor are better still. Lacorclaire somewhere says : " If you wish to know what is passing in the heart of God, listen to the beatings of your own. " "Well ! there is not perhaps a man in the world, who would not feel better disposed towards another, even were that other man his enemy, were some poor wretch, exhibiting the loaf that nourished him and the cloak that sheltered him from the bhist to exclaim : that man is my benefactor. Why then should not the heart of God experience a like emotion ? Yes, and in a far higher degree, he himself expressly said that the ])()or are his members, and he considers as done to himself, whatever is done for them. Happy then, my brethren, happy he who taketh thought for the poor : God will deliver him in the evil day. Meml)er8 of the Society of St. Yircent de Paul, behold your sliare of the rich harvest it promises. The blessing of God, the blessing of the Church, the blessin*^ of fraternal charity, the blessing of the poor. You have indeed chosen the better part ; and it sliall not be taken from you, because these are the riches that neither thieves, nor rust can reach. 11. Let ns now follow the Society of St. Yiucent de Paul to the dwellings of the poor. When the brethren go to visit the poor, they find .nem- 42 — • )' selves face to face with two species of misery, the material and the moral. To make them known to you, my brethren- I will neither draw on your imagination nor on the memory of yonr heart ; but I will invite you to follow in thought this double misery, not in one of those foreign countries where war or famine reigns, but in the heart of our good citA^^ of Quebec, for instance in some of the streets of our suburbs : St. John, St. Roch, St. Sauveur. Let ns enter one of those wretjhed dwellings. Tlie door will only lialf shut ; on all sides are large chinks through which the storm passes ; the stove is cold ; there is not always even black bread on the table ; the chiVJreii are suffering and sick, but there is no means of relief at hand ; and the mother concentrates within her heart the grief of all. Put at the head of this family, sometimes a father who is a debauched drunkard, and you have all the parts of the real scene. Once more, I do no exaggerate : I do not even attempt a picture of the painful reality ; I only mention it. I speak of what I have seen, what others have seen lately, and what any one may see at ten steps from his own well furnished and well warmed rooms. Oh ! what singular indifference is our ; we say to ourselves, returning fr(>m a visit to this poor dwelling ! Man suffers unrelieved beside his fellow-man ; Lazarus is still writhing in agony at the gate of the rich Israelite, the Christian at the door of his telloM'-Christian. This is not all. Within a house, close in front of which the tide of a heedless population incessantly ebbs and flows, and perhaps in an apartement still bearing faint traces of by-gone splendour, or in a dark corner of some damp cella: with its single pane closely shaded to exclude the faint gleams of light, a woman is seated ; with both hands she hides her wasted cheeks furrowed with long weeping. She is deeply agitated, and there is evidently going on within her a tierce struggle betw^een the pangs of poverty and the degradation of beggary. Such is tlie true picture of what men sometimes heedlessly call shamefaced poverty. That woman could give with a far better grace than she could ask : she knows by experience the truth of Our Lord's words, it is sweeter to give than to receive. So much for material poverty. Why is it, my brethren, that material poverty and moral r poverty. though not sisters, should be nevertheless so — 43 — on rty a Ibv to ral ISO f intimate ? Wliy is it that the poor make an ahuse of poverty itself ; that tlie being wlio is disinlieritod by liis motlier earth docs not always appeal to the justice and to the generosity of Heaven ? Wliy are the poor wicked ? Real poverty is nevertheless a grace, which renders salvation and, therefore, virtue more easy, as we learn from the testimony of Christ himself This is true, no doubt, my brethren, but let us remember that every grace is liable to abuse ; and that the greater the grace, the more culpable the abuse. Wealth is also a grace, though inferior to the grace of povert/ and the rich man abuses it. It remains to be seen, my brethren, whether the poor man in his ignorance exasperation, and guilt, pushes his n-.alice to the same degree of refinement as the rich man reaches in his ; and whether the conversion that eti'aces all, is not more frequent among the poor than among their brethren enslaved by wealth. However this may be, the moral, as well as the material misery of the poor are ever but too great. And this is a further reason to urge us to seek a remedy for both alike. For I take it for granted that no Christian will admit that it is right to give way before evil, or to refuse an alms to a hungry fellow-being, however vicious he may be. We every one of us agree with Ozanam, " that yon must never drive men to despair, and that one has no right to refuse a piece of bread to the vilest criminal on earth. " There is but one exception, namely, when, without inflicting any excessive suffering on the poor themselves, the refusal of an ahns is calculated bring about a moral improvement. And this one exception is itself prompted by charity : it is the charity of the body giving way to the charity of the soul. But even then, wc cannot divest ouryelves of charity, we have not performed our duty to the poor man, by a ]n'ompt refusal of aid, we must still have our eyes on him, to n)ark the result, as a good physician watches the effects of his medecine. But then, my brethren, what, I ask yon, can the isolated charity of individuals, indifferent as we find it in some, and ardent, this it may be, in others, accomplish, in the face of this double wretchedness: that of the soul and that of the body ? In order to relieve this wretchedness you must know it ; but this knowledge cannot be obtained by meeting the poor in the highway, they must be in their own houses. ^ u — t I > 'i V , I ]^v liis vi.>;it, and who, under the charitable eye of a fellow la! 'airer, is guarded against the indifference and inconstancy eo nataral to tlie li'inian heart ? Who will troat this ever I'unniiig sore of poverty with the resources and the constancy of the associate, for Mhoni charity is a career i AVho is to take charge of tlie child who is too poor to go to school, belonging to a fninily, not a member of which is able to read, and in wliicli the most sacred duties are either uidcnown or for.f,'otten ? who is to send tliat poor child to a christian school, who is to clothe hiiii, who is to lead him by the hiuid until he is old enough to begin an apprenticeship or labour for his own maintenance ? who is to take in hands the youthful apprentice, and watch over him with the vigilant and assiduous charity he needs so much ? who is to provide him with good books ? who will entice him to that charitable association calculated to afford a vent to the energy of his buoyant youth, where his virtue shall be placed under the safeguard of charity ? Wlio will penetrate tlie secret of the poor who are still " ashamed to beg ? " To whom but to a disciple of St. Yincent de Paul will the poor victims of want and misfortune, who dread ev^n the eye of indifference, open their hearts with freedom ? who will apply a moral remedy to a moral evil : good advice, exhortation, prayer, unless he whose profession it is to devote himself assiduously to the poor, and who has already gained their hearts and acquired in some sort a beneficent right to correct them ? Do you fancy for a moment, my brethren, that the diseased soul of the poor man will yield to the isolated, fluctuating and heartless mite thrown to him by a mercenary hand ? In fact, without that union which is strength, an appointed and, well calculated means, a strong organisation, a provision of charity, in fine, a charitable crusade, you can never encounter tlie multiplied and powerful enemies of man's happiness, whether physical or moral, with the certainty of victory. But, in this way we can accomplish every thing. Oh ! Avould it were possible to sum ^p all the alms, both material and spiritual, all the good effected by the hundred thousand disL^^jies of St. Vincent de Paul, amongst the million of poor, tlie thousands of children, of apprentices, of artisans, that have succeeded one another since the society commenced — 45 — m to en, the l>y a its liciieficcnt work, as man succeeds man ! Tlio calcu- lation ■svoii Id, in truth, bo vast, the onunicration cndlesg. A glance at any one of the monthly reports of thu society will att'ord a slight idea of the truth. " Among the thousand facts therein related, ard supported hy unquestionahle testimonies, you will read of men, of whole families savt'd from destitution ; of several associates uniting to repair with ^he labour of their own hands the ruined dwelling of the poor, a spectacle which has several times been witnessed in Quebec ; of appeals made to the rich, in periods of distress ; of innocence snatched from the countless jsnares the demon is ever setting for its destruction. 1 shall cite hut a single incident taken at random from the bulletin of the society. A tamily in Dunkerqne had been visited by a conference during three years or there about. Not asini^leencournirinir symptom had resulted. The father would continually, by an adroit diversion, exclude all reference to matters of religion. The mother even, exhibited that indifference of which Jesus Christ seems to despair of in the Gospel. Many a time, when leaving the cellar that held this wretched family, the visitors despaired of ever succeeding in their benevolent efforts. However, the father who was suffering from a cancer in the foot, had for some time been in the habit of invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin in the hope of being restored to health. A physician, who was an honorary member of the association, conceived the hajjpy thought of making him a few visits. On one of tluse occasions he said to the sufferer ; " My good friend, God is merciful, and I feel convinced, that if you were to return to him with a sincere heart, he would cure you. Be it so, then, " exclaimed the patient in a tone of energetic determination, " J. will go to confession. '' He kept his word, and thanks to the special mercy Ahnighty God afiords even to our very weakness, the remedies which had for so many years been adminis!ered fruitlessly, now produced their effect, and the father of this unfortunate household was restored to perfect health. The whole family, as was naturally to Im expected^ soon followed the ediliying example of its head. ied — 4G — It < ■i ii ['i III. * Tlie l)lessiii»ij3 wliicli tlio society of St. Vincent do Paul followers upon the iiidividual and iii)on the family, are diffused abroad upon luunan society in general : for society is not in reality a matter apart from the individuals of whom it is composed. The good done to any portion, interest therefore the whole of tlie society, and re-acts ,with benign influences for the \\ell being of the great social body. But, on the otluT hand, from the disease that attacks ])aitiaLly any individual member, there spring fortli diseases that soon afftict the svlu)le body : social disoases. Then the whole of society languishes and suffers ; it is seized with a general restlessness and fever that spread theinselves everywhere and yet have their seat nowhere. Sometimes it is seized with frightful convulsions that presage its resto- ration to a healtliy life, or its final destruction. Tliese great social maladies spring from three sources : from material misery, from moral misery, and from the antagonism of the social elements which is but the result of the other two combined. Let us examine, consecutively and in detail, each of those three social evils, that by an exact knowledge ofthe danger, we may be able to point out that sura and • etlicaeioua remedy which such a danger demands. Material poverty. In a social aspect, the evil of poverty becomes a vast and hideous sore. We sometimes hear it called pauperism. I detest the expression ; it savours of ambition, it exhibits the frigid accuracy of science rather than the picture of a bleeding wound. Let it pass, however, for the name is of little moment after all. But those who look upon poverty either as a social cancer, that must yield to resour- ces of art, or as a problem which true science has declared itself powerless to solve, are mistaken as to the real essence of the matter. Pauperism is neither a car ier nor a problem, as they fancy. 'In the order '"f nature, since the first sin, poverty is a necessary consequence of the diversity, and variety of the talents, capacity, qualities, defects, and even ofthe chances, that Providence distributea ..t will. Man must serve man, and be served by man ; and without the promptings of want, the painful but iiulispensable task of social service would never be carried out. In the supernatural order, pauperism is neither a cancer nor a problem ; it is a grace, — 47 — it is a gratuitous favour, a gift from God : a grace for tlic le is le )f to *5 ') genuine individual and for Focitty. Poverty of spirit, detacliement from riclie», is a grace, a prcciuus, a necessary virtue. ]iut .eal poverty, the privation of tlie gifts of fortune, is also a grace, which is occasionally superadded to the former, and which facilitates poverty of spirit, gives a free scope to virtue, and a greater assurance of salvation. with It is a grace which brings men into closer proximity wiin Jesus Christ ; and I believe that among the close followers of Jesus Christ, there will ever be men who shall not have M'hereou to lay their heads : for God never leji' "s his grace unemployed ; and Jesus Christ loves to ^liare ,iie particles of his cross. Pauperism is therefore a permanent effect of the sovereign will of God. Hence, to attempt its utter extirpation is not merely a Utopian scheme, it is a crime. But does it follow from this, that we cannot mitigate its liorrors ? Undoubtedly not. It is in our power, nay it is our duty, to pour oil upon this wound, in order to prevent it from festering and proving fatal to the sufterer ; for Almighty God, in all the dispositions of his Providence, in allliis corrections, in all his paternal favours, has counted upon the charity and fraternal aftection of every one of his children. But in human society as in the individual, the worst evila are moral evils. So long as the soul remains good, the principle of strength acts, and acts effectually for good : the power of the soul, corrects and controls the inferior nature ; it is in fact the wealth of the poor. But where the soul is corrupt, the whole man falls into corruption and degradation, and his fortunes above all. It is therefore a very short sighted policy to neglect the moral regeneration of man, in order to labour at the amelioration of his physical condition ; still more iinwise to sacrifice the one to the other : to place the necessity of wealth above the necessity of the knowledge and love of God ; man's fickle self-interest, above every sacred principle ; industry above morality and religion. The moral miseries of the poor classes of society are traceable chiefly to ignorance, the parent of error ; and to the neglect of religion : the sole moral wealth of the poor. Ozanam somewhere says that the spirit of the conference of St. Vincent de Paul is specially requisite in countries where the Church is actually militant. Now, in our days, where is the land in which this is not the case ? In — 48 — !• I r li 1 1 mir own conntrv, havo wo with notliirifj^ to fear, iiotlnii'i;lu !i_j:;;iin.st i Alas ! side; by sich; with our Catholic reli^'ioii, siro living and ^Towiiii; iij) numerous furei^n sects, whorto princi|do.s, views, tastcB and ail'ections, Matter nature atiortions, and which moro especially calls for the elHcaeious intervention of our organised charity. In the suburbs of our city, in the very midst of our poor and sufVering fellow-Catholics, the salaried emissaries of an iuijiious sect have made themselves a den. Like their Diaster, referred to by St. Peter, they come forth often during the night, to [>rowl like wolves around the shecpfidd of the good shepherd ; not unfroquently too, during the day, fur ni)W, Judas has lost his sense of shame, he no longer casts away from him the iilthy bribe of the synagogue, /le feeds on it ! The thought of his apostacy uo longer overwhelms him with liori'or ; Judas of our day docs not hang himself in despair, he openly looks about for other ajw.'itates. The evil is perhaps greater than you thiidc. Individuals, Avhule families have yielded to the seductions of the fallen angel. Yes, Canadian families, catholic families, have already sold their consciences, their lionour and their faith and enrolled themselves in feome of the thousand and one sects, wi''. all the fanaiicism of your new apostate. My brethren, I promised to point out the whole evil before indicating the remedy. i3ut at the first sight of this peril, I cannot refrain from giving the alarm. The souls of our fellow-canadians, our fellow eatholics, are losing the life of faith, thanks to their material indigence. These souls do not go through a process of enlightenment, nor of direction, but one of deception ; they are only being bought and sold. The wolves are active and vigilant. We need a crusade, we need disciples of St. Vincent de Paul ; we need a phalanx of enlightened, fearless, fervent apostles, but they must be lav men, whose name and M'hose habit have never been execrated by the father and by the children ; prepared to l)ear relief to these unfortunates, in their comfortless homos, and thus to remove the temptation that is the cau«e q'C their ruin, to forestal the enemy, and by one blow, save 41) - lo t'rom (It'slriictioii tin; t'atliir, tin; iiii»tlii.T ami the Iiclpli'ss cliiKlrc'ii. Antuijoiiisiu hotwccn the .eocliil I'lcmoiits. Tlic ricli uiid tho poor irM'ct : CJod is tl'(» father ot' hdth alike, kuvs a holv father. Yes th(>y meet ; they meet in our houses, in our streets, in ]>nl)lie phic's, on tliis same earth, ami nmler tlu; same sun. ])nt(Jo(l i.s the father of hoth alike: thev are brothers ; this the rieh man i.s not aware of, or fei_i:;n8 not t*) know ; but the poor man knows it well, and eiiiii^s to iliis us Ji precious ri_i;'ht. And when his eyes fall upon ihe rieh man, he says within his heart : that man is mn hrotlwr. But the look of iiidifrerenec and contempt lie receives from his more fortunate hiother, astounds him. And what, think you, are the thou<:;hts that must then spriui^np within a soul already driven to desparation by want ^ lie nmst take tho lowest place everywhere ; everywhere crowded back and disdained : in the last j)lace in our houses, he compares his dry crust with the succulents joints uj)on his brotlier's tahle ; in the street, his tattered and threadbare rags, with the ma^-nificent clothing, the rich and nseless ornaments of the other ; on the public i)laces he contrasts his own isolation or tlie contemptuous glances he receives, with the honours and triumphs of the rich. Oh ! what, think you, must then be the thoughts of his heart ? lias he not the heart of a num within his shrunken frame i Does not that heart contain the latent seeds of envy, of hatred, of vengeance, of rage ^ Doubtless, my brethren; and hence it is that the rich and the poor meet also npon a neutral ground, face to face, and uf)on a field that places them upon an equality, not in charity but in brute force, and which drinks up impartially the Idood of both alike. Material misery, moral misery, and the antagonism between the wealthy classes and the poor : such are the three great wounds that are e'or exhausting the generous life-blood of our ";reat human s ^cietv. Now, my brethren, for social maladies, isolated remedies are insufficient ; for it is utterly impossible that the effect shoidd be more potent than the cause. When a whole class is suffering, it is by a class that it must be relieved ; and in order that this difficult object may i)e eftectually carried out, there must be a connnon organisation of the whole body. Charity, like self interest, properly under- stood, becomes the pursuit of a life time. 1 speak there of organised charity, not of self-interest : charity that gives, - :>o — ■» . I li tliiit. ('(iiii]»!issic»riafi-!S, tliiit siifl'tTs, tlint licwrs t-olii, tliiit hums limiifiT, tliiit \vo('iM, h'n!(fn diiirity. In priJHonce of the evils \vhi<'h tuitiirullv iitllict oiii' portion ot' society, (lisinlitiritcd ol'iill carlhly wi.'iilth, we iici'd ii chi^s that will «;iv(! without rt.'ci'iviii^j,' tiny ivtiii'ii, who will iiivost, thuir capitiil tor lioiivt'ii iiloiK!. iV charity jHTsistaiit lis loll dis 'uso : stroii toin.', ir'tS licart, uro cold as the coin lie eliaiii^es. This is hut i.utinv. ill tact, it is almost u necessity : Now the heart ulone, inllMiiied w ijli charity, can do n-nod to the soul of anotli(!r ; it is not the hody that eoiiuiiuiies with the sou) of its fellow-man ; that intliieiices it ; lliat chaii<;es it ; it is tiic sctiil : God looks to the heart : it is the heart that moves II im ; and it is with man also, and witli the poor man, (|iiite as much as with the rich. How insutUcieiit are all human means, tor the hoalinf^ of man's evils ! Ye champions of tlio systems invented by human reason tliat loses itself in error when once its ceases to be illumined by the li_ere et veritatc. . (*) Lacordairc. Biographic d'Ozanani. Printed atLsGER Broussbau's Steam Printing Establisliment, Quebec.