1. VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO
THE POOR
1. Vincent de Paul always
looked at the human person
as a whole – a spiritual,
moral, political, social,
cultural being, including
also their economic hopes
and concerns.

2. VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO
THE POOR
 St. Vincent de Paul – Poverty
is not the will of God.
 It defaces the dignity of
every poor person and the
image of God in them.

3. VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO
THE POOR
2. St. Vincent de Paul -
Poverty is also a possible
event of our salvation.
 Vincent saw in the poor the
very person of Christ.
 “In the person of the poor,
you serve Jesus Christ. . .
You serve Christ in the
person of the poor.”

4. VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO
THE POOR
3. Vincent experienced how the poor brought him to
God. The poor, to put it in contemporary terms,
evangelized him.
 “the net result of my experience on the
matter is the judgment I have ever
formed, that true religion – true religion,
Gentlemen, is to be found among the
poor. God enriches them with a lively
faith; they believe, they touch, they taste
the words of life. . .”

5. VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY:
THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO
THE POOR
 “We thought we went to help. We ended up receiving
more than we have given.”
 the poor are an integral part of our Family and not
merely recipients of our benevolence and charity.