St. Vincent's Heart Was Changed

We had the privilege of visiting Chatillon. Chatillon is a village that is about an 8 hour drive from Paris. So, you can imagine that in St. Vincent’s time, it was a few days travel from Paris. St. Vincent went Chatillon to work in the parish. Unlike the movie, Monsieur Vincent, portrays, Chatillon was actually a parish with many active parishioners. The church at Chatillon was actually built by the people of the village – not by a bishop or diocese. The people of Chatillon desired to have a place of worship in their own village, so they built this beautiful church that had to even be enlarged before Vincent ever arrived there.
However, it was at Chatillon that Vincent’s heart was changed.

You see before this assignment, Vincent was focused on obtaining benefices – a type of secured salary that clergy used to be able to access so that they could retire, support their families back home, or just live comfortably. Vincent was desiring benefices so that he could help his family out with their farm and the education of his siblings.

Anyway, he was well underway to gaining this special status. He was working for a wealthy family when he was sent to Chatillon to check on the parishioners there.

Something happened to Vincent there. He encountered a poor family with many needs. He asked who in the parish would be able to help this family out. There were people who were willing to jump right in. He realized though that this family would be bad off again soon once the aid was gone. His heart changed. He knew that something had to be done to ensure the continued support for this family and others families in need.

He understood in a new way how Christ’s presence in the poor was to be honored and served. He was at Chatillon that St. Vincent started the first Confraternity of Charity – Ladies of Charity. He began this group to ensure the continued outreach to those in need. This was the beginning of the Vincentian Family. It was at Chatillon that Vincent became a founder.

While there, we were able to visit the church, Vincent’s rented room – which is now part of the sisters’ home. We saw the first charters that were hand written by St. Vincent for the Confraternity of Charity. We walked along the very streets that Vincent walked. We celebrated Eucharist in the church where Vincent celebrated Eucharist for the people of Chatillon. St. Vincent was only in Chatillon for a few months. However, in those few months, his heart was changed, his focus became the service of those who are poor – not his own advancement – and he became a founder.

Fain-Les-Moutiers

We had the opportunity to travel to Fain-Les-Moutiers. It was there that we were able to see where St. Catherine was born and grew up. She lost her mother at a young age and asked Mary to be her mother. She was not able to be educated because of her mother’s absence. At the age of 18, she went away to learn to read and write.
When she was young she had a dream about a man who was beckoning her. Later she learned that the man in her dream was St. Vincent de Paul. She became a Daughter of Charity after years of requesting her father’s permission.
The pictures that accompany this blog is from St. Catherine’s home in Fain and the sisters on our journey there.

So, it's awesome to walk into a saint's house. It's awesome to sit in a church where that person prayed and began their journey of sanctity. It's also awesome to experience the ongoing effects of that life today. While in Fain, I enjoyed the Daughters of Charity that are living and serving there today. Their wonderful hospitality could only be compared to St. Catherine herself. When you belong to this great international group - you are home in so many places. I felt that "homeness" in Fain. Catherine's home is our home too. I love to see how the sisters love carrying on her ministry of compassion. It was a special grace for me to be with the D.C.'s in that place.

St. Catherine Laboure

Hello Friends,

So tomorrow the sisters in the Vincentian Session will go on a short 3 day pilgrimage. We will travel to Fain-les-Moutiers and Ars. These are places that were special to St. Catherine Laboure. She was born and grew up in Fain-les-Moutiers. That is where her family's farm was and where she helped her father run the household. Her mother died when she was a girl. It was then that she prayed that Mary would be her mother from then on. The church in her town did not have a priest, so she would walk to St. Jean to attend Mass. Tomorrow, we will take the same walk.

I will share more about that after we have gone.

I do want to share a little bit about St. Catherine Laboure though. She was a young Daughter of Charity when in 1830 Mary appeared to her. She was asked to have a medal struck - the Miraculous Medal. What is amazing about Catherine is that she is the Saint of Silence. It was not until her death that the other sisters knew that she had been the visionary of the Miraculous Medal. They only knew it was a Daughter of Charity. She was humble and spent most of her community life caring for elderly men.

We were able to visit Reuilly, where she spent her life after being missioned from the Motherhouse Seminary (Where she had the apparition).

We were able to spend time in the very chapel where she pronounced her vows for the first time and every year after that. We saw the bed she breathed her last breath in. We also saw the very first statue that was made of Our Lady with the Globe.

Mary asked for that statue to be made - showing that she was praying for the whole world. It wasn't until the end of Catherine's life that the first statue was finally made. (The problem was that until then, the only thing Mary was every pictured holding was Jesus. This seemed a little scandulous to have a statue of Mary holding something other than Jesus. But her sister servant had the statue made to bring peace to Catherine before her death.)

We were also able to see the relic of her heart which sits where her first burial site was - in the coal bin under the chapel.

Her body was exhumed during her beatification process and it was found that her body had not decayed at all. So you can go to the Motherhouse Chapel today and see her laying there in a glass case - her actual body still undecayed after about 150 years. Amazing!

Anyway, we were also able to see some of the first Miraculous Medals that were made. It's awesome how many of those medals have been made. During her life, there had been over 2 million medals made and spread. None of those two million people even knew who she was.

The Tourist

Okay, so Paris is a pretty amazing place. I mean, it is soooo old. I guess there are older places on the planet, but this place is pretty old. We go by buildings and some good Daughter of Charity says something like, “St. Louise would’ve prayed in this church,” or “St. Vincent would visit the sick there.” I mean they lived like 400 years ago.
You see these arches all over the place – built by Napoleon and Louis XVI and stuff. I just don’t have an experience of that. We do have old things in California – it’s not that. It’s that this whole city is old. Every block is full of historical meaning and landmarks.
Yes, there is more to come on the blog about the pilgrimage I am on, but I wanted to take a bit of time to share some of the historical, touristy stuff.
We did see the Eifel Tower. It’s impressive and pretty metal-like. In fact, the artists living in the city at the time it was being erected opposed it, saying it was too ugly for such a beautiful city. I am not saying it’s ugly. I am saying it’s a lot of metal.
We did go to the Louvre and the D’Orsay - home to some of the greatest masterpieces of all time. I mean, I stood a foot or so away from original Monet, Millet, Degas, Rodin, ….. And I don’t mean just one – like they have at the Getty in Los Angeles. I mean painting after painting…sculpture after sculpture.
I saw churches that famous authors refer to in books and poetry. I saw people sitting on a bridge over the river Seine painting! Sure they do that at Golden Gate Park also, but THIS IS PARIS!
I rode the Metro. I imagined Ezra Pound’s “In a Station at the Metro.” Mrs. J, (Junior English Teacher) thank you for the gift of that poem. I saw what you shared, what you talked about. Thank you. I am here and I get to see it.
Look at the pictures. They are so simple compared to the experience. And guess what, all of this is nothing compared to hanging out in the Chapel here at the Motherhouse – Mary’s hang out. None of this compares to visiting the homes of St. Vincent and St. Catherine. Nothing compares to walking where Catherine walked that first night when the angel led her to the chapel. There is more to come about that awesome part of this trip.

The Motherhouse

So, what’s this European Adventure really about? You’re looking at it. That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about touching something that is so dear to me and to all Daughters of Charity throughout the world. It’s about a journey to the heart of our community – a journey that began here in Paris. I guess it really began at the births of St. Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul. It began with their responses to God’s call to follow Him – to follow him in serving those who are poor, most in need, the outcasts, the unwanted, the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, thristy….and the list goes on.
I have the awesome privilege of spending some time at the heart of this amazing group of women who continue to follow that first call – who live in the Spirits of St. Louise and St. Vincent.
The picture I have included with this post is of our Chapel here at the Motherhouse. It is called the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. It is THE Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. This is where Mary appeared to St. Catherine Laboure and asked her to have the medal struck. This is where Catherine had more than one visit with Mary. This is where Catherine’s incorrupt body is resting for us to see and witness to. Nearly two million pilgrims journey to this chapel each year. It is a place of great faith and devotion. All day long there are pilgrims who stop in to pay a visit, say a prayer, ask for a blessing, say a prayer of thanksgiving.
I am still in a little shock that I get to be here in this place. I get to kneel at the altar and thank God for my life, my family, my loved ones, my dear vocation, and so much more.

Thank you Poland!

Pope Cake!
Pope John Paul II's Home

Stairs down Wawel tower

The view from the top of Wawel Tower

Bell at Wawel Tower

Alright Friends! I have one last Poland update. I can’t believe that a little over a week ago I left the United States for the very first time. Since then, I traveled to different areas of Poland, and now I am here in Paris at our Motherhouse.
Before sharing about the amazing happenings in Paris, I want to share a few things more about Poland.
I had the opportunity to visit Krakow. Krakow is an old city with lots of history. It was once the capitol of Poland. It is in Krakow that Wawel Castle and Cathedral is located. In that place is buried kings and queens from centuries ago. There is a tower that you can climb to look over that beautiful city. I climbed the steps to the top with Sr. Olga my translator. It was challenging and a bit rugged, but we made it. It was worth the view of the city and the big bell.
I also had the opportunity to visit Wadawice. That is the town that Pope John Paul II was from. It’s a great town, and we were able to walk through his house which is now a museum. Pope John Paul II had a favorite cake that came from Wadawice. Whenever he returned home to Wadawice, he always had some of this cake. Well, now it’s a tradition for visitors to eat “Pope Cake.” I enjoyed that also.
On another occasion, we were able to journey to Czestechowa - that special city where the image of Our Lady of Czestechowa is at the Monastery of Jasna Gora. That was a very special stop on my pilgrimage through Poland. It’s a holy place with many pilgrims visiting daily. She is so dear to the people of Poland – she is the Queen of Poland.
At the end of my journey in Poland, we were able to visit the Divine Mercy Sanctuary and the convent where St. Faustina was given the gift of a visit from Our Lord and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to share with the whole world.
I am so grateful that I was given the privilege of visiting such a wonderful place. The faith of the people of Poland is tangible and visible. How could a country go wrong when their Queen is the Immaculata? God Bless Poland!

Why Poland?

So, Poland was awesome! I cannot tell you how wonderful my experience was. I want to share with you the reason I went to Poland to begin with. I am sure that you have guessed that it has something to do with Maximilian Kolbe. Many of you know that I am a convert. I was baptized when I was 19 years old. Some of the first people I met on my journey of faith were the Father Kolbe Missionaries. They are a secular institute founded in Italy by a Conventual Franciscan by the name of Fr. Luigi Faccenda. Those women, the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries in West Covina, California, prepared me for my sacraments. Before doing that, they gave me the gift of love for Our Lady. They live in the spirit of St. Maximilian Kolbe and total consecration to Mary, the Immaculata. I learned to love Mary and the Miraculous Medal because of these great women and St. Maximilan Kolbe. St. Max believed that the Miraculous Medal was like a silver bullet that could win souls for heaven. That was my introduction to the Church – to my faith – to my life as a Christian.
I am a Daughter of Charity today because of the Miraculous Medal and St. Maximilian Kolbe. That’s how God brought me to this amazing life I get to live. The Daughters of Charity Motherhouse is the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal! St. Catherine Laboure, visionary of the Medal, was a Daughter of Charity. At this very moment, I am writing this blog from that very place. I am here in Paris, where St. Catherine once lived as a young sister, where Mary appeared to her and asked her to have the medal made. That’s how God can work!
I stopped by Poland to thank a very special person in my life. I went to Auschwitz to thank St. Maximilian Kolbe for my faith and for my vocation. I went to Auschwitz to honor all of the people who perished there and in all of the camps of World War II. I went to Poland because I have a great life and I am so grateful!
St. Maximilian Kolbe – Pray for us!
O, Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you!

Thank you Antonella, Fr. Kolbe Missionary, for making my trip so special!