ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

New Zealand Tablet, 29 May 1913, Page 43

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

CENTENARY OF THE FOUNDER . The following paper was read by Mr. T. Fouhy at the meeting of tne So. Vincent de Paul Society, which was held on Sunday, April 27, at St. Patrick's Hall, Wellington, in connection with the centenary of the founder of the society, Frederic Ozanam;—Few w’ll question the wisdom of recalling the memory of great men by the celebration of certain anniversaries of their birth or death. • We are thus invited from time to time to renew or make acquaintance with a great variety of personages, poets, warriors, statesmen and others. Admirers of some mediocre poet or statesman are careful to call the world’s attention to the fact that it is a certain number of years since a' Wordsworth or a Disraeli was born. A large number of these centenaries excite in us but a languid interest. To-day, however, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of quite a different sort of man is being celebrated, one who worthily embodied the ideals that appeal forcefully to us', and to every Catholic; a man who was abundantly .endowed with the gifts of head and heart that otherwise employed would have brought him wealth and power, but which he devoted passionately to the defence and advancement of the cause of God’s Church on earth, and with little thought of self. The doctrine of the strenuous life has in our day countless preachers, and it is believed, some who practise it, but like many other admirable doctrines it is not. new; at least Frederic Ozanam was a firm believer in it, and like his other beliefs transformed it into practice with astonishing energy. Neither was it entirely due to his unselfishness that he applied for no patent rights in it; for he was fond of quoting the long hours worked, uncomplainingly by certain misguided men called monks who lived before the age of light. This Ozanam did bife r things in his day, and the story of the way in which he set about them must always be a renewal of faith, hope, and charity to every Catholic reader. It is difficult to realise, but important to remember, that this untiring man performed all his works in so few years. He died at the age of 40. Strange how little he is known in English-speaking countries! One of our popular cyclopaedias is so occupied with the doings of great men, many of whom attained only to the rank of colonel in the army, that place can not be found for Frederic Ozanam. In face of this it requires perhaps some vigorous exercise of faith to believe that he had any virtue at all in him. In fact, since the truth .must be told, he was no better than a Frenchman. His Jewish surname, Ozanam, is a word it is said kindred to tne better known word Hosanna. His father, Antome Ozanam, was successively soldier, teacher, and physician, a good Christian, and a man of no common energy of character. Antoine Ozanam was one of Napoleon’s soldiers in the 1796-7 campaign in Italy, and retiring from the army when Napoleon became Emperor, he settled with his wife at Milan, where he appears to have maintained himself as a teacher of the French language. At Milan, Frederic Ozanam was born on the 23rd April, 1813. But Antoine Ozanam was something more than an intrepid soldier. He had be j°*i ra £ e to acl< l to the labor of supporting his family the difficult task at his advanced age of preparing himself, for entry into the medical profession. He succeeded in passing the necessary examination, and returned to and practised medicine at Lyons. Here his son Frederic got his, primary education, and spent his early years; but it is easy to understand that mere knowledge was of less importance to the fresh and generous mind of yeung oza ? a “ than the intimacy of some genuine catholics of that famous city. Up to the date of his First Communion, at the age ot 11 or 12 years, he was little different from the average boy of his age. He confesses that he was wilful and .headstrong, and, as perhaps became a soldier s son, willing to accept a challenge to exchange blows with other boys. His First Communion, however, made a big difference, and thenceforth he grew much more gentle and-religious. At the age of 17 he became.

-a lawyer's. clerk, and shortly after was sent to Paris to continue the study of law. ...'. Here he was not-at all comfortable at .first; his tender religious feelings were continually hurt-by his teachers, and His boarding-house associates. He soon, however, became acquainted with a man whose name deserves to be mentioned with "all" respect, the elder Ampere, a great scientist, .a good Christian, and a very unpretentious minded man withal. It is this good man's name that is perpetuated by the modern electrical engineer when he talks of so' 'many amperes.of electric current. .To avoid as far as possible the irreligion around him, Frederic Ozanam joyously accepted .Ampere's invitation to come and live, with him m the room of the younger Ampere who was then travelling abroad. At Ampere's house he made the acquaintance .of many of the ' greatest and most- worthy men in France—Montalembert, Chateaubriand, Lamartme, and others. It is pleasant to read that one day Ozanam, still pained by his professors attitude towards religion, paid a visit to a little church m a quiet corner of the city, and was rejoiced to see the gentle old Ampere, whose white head contained learning sufficient to overshadow that of the self-satis-fied professors of his college, kneeling in humble recollection in the company of some poor old women and children Remarkable, too, is it that the anti-Chirstian acid of that time, was able to eat into and destroy the faith of that good man's son, also a great scholar in his generation.

The First Conference. One of the most beautiful of the many beautiful letters written by Ozanam in later years was to the younger Ampere in the endeavour to re-kindle his laith. His faith was ultimately re-kindled but not until many years afterwards. The attacks on the Catholic religion made by the professors of his college were a source of continued paui to Ozanam. Young and inexperienced as he then was, however, he "quickly set himself to answer these attacks, and with considerable success. One of the worst he silenced, and better still, earned the applause of a small band of his fellowstudents, who shortly after joined him in preparing forma replies to these attacks. The companionship 1 1ms formed quickly became intimate, and in May, 1, "J c : c ;. to dle formation of the first conference of the St. Vincent do Paul Society. Strange enough, those pioneers, however, were quite unaware that they were starting a new society or doing anything noteworthy: indeed, they rather objected at first to any increase in their number beyond the original eight. Their object was rather to do something of a charitable nature in a quiet way, but which would require personal effort and ' some little sacrifice, relieve misery by their greater knowledge of ways and means as doctors, lawyers craftsmen, etc. Ozanam’s idea was to form friendships amongst the poor, to endeavor to bridge the gulf between the well-to-do and the hopeless. Their spirit may bo understood from, a remark of Ozauam’s : ‘Can we believe that God calls some to sacrifice their lives in the interior of Africa or China while others of us walk about with our hands in our pockets. We, too, have our battlefield It is all very well talking and arguing with the professors, but why cannot we do ' something ? ■ This little band used to meet at first in the back room of a newspaper office belonging to a gentleman whose name we see in the ‘ Manual 5 as first president of the society, Mr. Bailly. Soon, however, the numbers desiring to become members grew, and a second and a third conference became advisable. The rules as we know them were formulated as experience increased and meantime the prudence of Mr. Bailly was of areat importance. Though studying with a will Ozanam talked, worked, and by every possible means , pushed on the work of the conferences. He did not think it at all sufficient to put immense labor into the administration and extension of the society; he also engaged regularly m the visits made to the most wretched haunts of poverty and degradation in the city. His first case was the relief of a family, the father of which refused to work, and lived'on the poorly paid earnings of his wife. Of five children, Mr. Bailly took two of the eldest boys to assist in his printing shop. This was

the origin of the important patronage works that have since grown up, especially in France. Within Ozanam's life the society grew to 2l)00 brothers in Paris alone, and 500 conferences in other parts of France. Almost from the start the society began to spread into other countries, such as Belgium, Spain, etc. In spite of the official suppression within recent years of nearly all forms of religious association, there are at this day, according to latest reports, about 1200 conferences in France, with an ;'average membership of about 17. England has 133 conferences, Ireland 150, Scotland India 38, Canada 101, etc. All over the world there is believed to be a total of some 4800 conferences. Many of these, it is true, do but little, still a little is better than nothing, and the aggregate of useful work must be considerable. -

His Life Work.

In due time, Ozanam passed the examination for Doctor of Laws, and did actually practise as a barrister for a short time. But his heart was not in the work. He had studied for the law chiefly because it was his father's desire, but partly also because he felt that the law course would be useful in fitting him for a great literary undertaking which he had always before his mind's eye. No man could have less desire to acquire wealth or fame from his learning. He obtained, indeed, the degree of Doctor of Laws, and soon afterwards that of Doctor of Literature with a professorship in the Sorbonne, and the prospect' of a very brilliant career; but when it was a question of accepting a position at Lyons carrying a salary of from £4OO to £6OO, or one at Paris with a salary of £l5O, he chose the latter because of the greater opportunities which it afforded to, do something in the defence of religion. Even though he was already overloaded with works of all kinds, he wrote continually for the Catholic papers. As a teacher at the Sorbonne, he put immense labor into the preparation of his lectures, and never hesitated to put forth trie Catholic view. In his position it required no small courage to take the side of religion at all; the other professors, and a great part of the students were nearly all rationalists. His words, and especially his example, operated powerfully in increasing the Catholic influence.. One of the professors, Lenormant, gave up his anti-Christian propaganda and openly avowed himself a Catholic. His class thereupon refused to hear him. Disturbances ensued, and the Government filled his cup of bitterness by stopping his lectures. Ozanam, though he well knew the risk he ran, backed up Lenormant with all his might. In fact, he increased the courage of all around him, and succeeded in evoking much latent enthusiasm for the Catholic cause. Although he ende'avored to minimise or altogether exclude political discussions from all the Catholic societies, he was himself known to be a frank Republican, entirely at one with the revolution in the matter of political liberty. Many of his workers were deeply attached to the Monarchy, and it was a continual anxiety to him lest politics should weaken the bond of union between his co-religionists. He earnestly strove to prevent what we call the labor party from having any excuse for mistaking the position of the Church or identifying it with any political party. _ Yet in the '4B disturbances, he was for the repression of disorder, and took his place as a National Guard in the street fights with the revolutionaries.

Religion Always First. Nothing about him is more remarkable than the prominence he gives to religion. On- all occasions, religion is easily first with him. In every doubt or trouble, he prays, and asks his friends for their prayers, and in all other ways shows intense religious conviction. So • now he goes on the street for duty each day prepared to meet death. But whatever he did, or with whomsoever he differed, bitterness had no place in his mind. It was never necessary for him to forgive, he never took offence. He had opponents but no enemies. His friendships were almost sacred. The most secret thought in his mind he shared with his friend as a matter of course. There are probably no more beautiful letters in existence than his : they reveal his whole character as deeply religious, energetic, enthusiastic, and joyous.

He never lost a freshness of mind that made him keenly interested in. everything and everybody around him. But first, last, and always was the interest of his Church; for this no' sacrifice was too great, no endeavor too exhausting. In fact, his great learning: was ancillary to his work in this direction, and ho intended to devote it, and he had this intuition from boyhood to death, to writing a really sufficient history of the action of the Christian Church in civilising the barbarous tribes that overran and took possession of the Roman Empire, and from which the modern nations of Europe have sprung. He was keenly sensible of the erudition, and research required for such a task; but he set about it, and made considerable progress during his short life.

His Literary Activities.

The Church of the Middle Ages he desired to place truthfully before the world, and had every confidence in the result, notwithstanding the vogue of Gibbon and the other historians of his class. The periods which time allowed him to deal with, the fifth and thirteenth centuries, are admitted to ‘have been treated in a manner worthy of his great plan. Naturally-he studied with,great pleasure Dante Alighieri and his times; and though it was believed that little that was new could be written of the great poet, Ozanam’s book was accepted as a masterpiece. He also wrote a very sympathetic and most readable book on the Franciscan poets. His writings altogether extend to eleven volumes. For a man of such intense activity otherwise, this is no mean achievement, always bearing in mind that he died at the age of forty. But with him especially the question, what is life if not to do some work therewith? required an answer. Of course the strain told, and after the age of thirty-three, when he had an attack of illness, his health began to wane, although his work went on almost undiminished for some years longer. He was more than once sent away from Paris and ordered to take complete rest. A command to rest received from a superior under a vow of obedience he would doubtless be able to obey, but the penalty to rest on' pain of shortening his life was too trivial to' be effective, and' work still went on. He never failed to the end to' found new conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul Society wherever he went. He took a trip across the. Channel to see the English Exhibition, in 1851, and was accompanied by the younger Ampere. Some remarks by the latter concerning the trip are preserved. The wonderful exhibition had few attractions for him; the presiding spirit there, he thought, was that one who said to our Lord ‘ All this will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me.’ The exhibition was held during the years in which the population was fleeing out of famine-stricken Ireland at an appalling late. Many had gone from bad to worse by removing to the city of London. Ampere says: ‘ Ozanam would leave me to find my way alone to the Crystal Palace, in order that he might have more time to visit the cellars and garrets inhabited by the poor of Catholic Ireland. He would come away from them, with his heart full, and always, I suspect, a little poorer than he went.’ In Westminster Abbey he knelt before the monument of St. Edward the Confessor, and was expelled for unbecoming conduct in a church. As usual with him, he failed not to see the virtues of any people he visited, and particularly admired the strict observance of the Sunday by this work-loving nation. He was delighted with a visit to Oxford University, where despite time and Protestantism he was able to find many traces of the Catholicity of its founders. Ozanam’s health was now too far gone to gain any lasting benefit from travel. Shortly after his return to France he had an attack of pleurisy which eventually ended in consumption. He was persuaded to try a change to a warm climate, and so he made a journey to the Pyrenees region, of which he took advantage to visit the birthplace of St. Vincent de Paul. Failing strength lessened not his interest in historical places, and his letters from Bayonne and Burgos, the latter the limit of his travels in Spain, are very fresh and entertaining. Next year (1853) he visited Italy in the full knowledge that his end was approaching. There his charitable activity continued as great as ever, and he started

numerous conferences of St. Vincent d© Paul Society. It was not always easy to obtain the consent of the ruling authorities, many of whom had a deadly suspicion that a conference was a cunning form of revolutionary society. At Pisa he had great difficulty in overcoming fear of this kind,. and even at St. Catherine's town —Siena,success came only after repeated attempts. His book on Dante had naturally been very gratefully received throughout Italy, and many persons of eminence desired to pay him their respects. These calls he cut as short as. courtesy would permit. He had, however, unlimited time for anybody who called to get information about the formation of a St. Vincent de Paul conference.or to discuss its work. But the end was near. Although his whole Ffe was spent in the consciousness that death walked by his side, the last months were particularly devoted to a holy preparation to meet it. He had always had a great love for the Bible, and now the reading of it was his great consolation. He wished to die in France, but before, leaving Italy he went to receive the Sacraments for the last time in a church. The local parish priest was also far gone in his last illness, but he got out of bed to do Ozanam honor, and have the pleasure of giving him the Holy Communion. Ozanam's strength lasted until he reached Marseilles, and there he died on September 8, 1853. Mr. Augustine Birrell, a member of the present English Cabinet, who recently claimed that he was as staunch a Protestant as any man in the city of Bristol, affirms in one of his essays that 'it is useless to deny to the Catholic Church the power of producing saints.'

The career of Frederic Ozanam is one of the latterday proofs of that statement, and he was eminently the product of the Church. Than Ozanam, no man ever submitted his intellect and his heart more willingly or completely to the training and influence of the Church, or more firmly believed in her Divine mission. Though a layman he was enthusiastic and untiring in her service. She rewarded him with a share in her sufferings and holiness; and he lived in joyful gratitude to God, and died a happy and holy death.