All Saints’ Day is not a parade of the “best”, but the map of the good life traced by Jesus on the mountain: poor in spirit, meek, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
For St Vincent de Paul, this is the golden rule of discipleship: words become actions—a hand that lifts, an ear that listens, feet that go where poverty burns.
Vincentian holiness smells of home, hospital ward, street: it is a simple style that calls the other by name, meekness that disarms, humility that does not take centre stage, mortification as free sobriety, zeal that organises charity. The five virtues of tradition (simplicity, humility, meekness, mortification, zeal) do not decorate: they form.
The Apocalypse shows white robes; the Gospel reminds us how they are whitened: in service. The communion of saints, from a Vincentian perspective, resembles a table where everyone brings something of themselves: time, skills, a wound that has become consolation.
Vincent’s charity is not philanthropy: it is an encounter with Christ present in the poor. For this reason, the Eucharist and the Word do not distract from service: they ignite it. Praying and serving are not two parallel tracks: they are the same road. Contemplation at the altar opens our eyes to Christ in the peripheries; contact with wounded flesh makes the altar less ritualistic and more real.
The Vincentian charism is yeast: you cannot see it, but it makes the bread rise. You recognise it when a parish becomes more welcoming, a religious community listens to the questions of young people, a lay group invents new ways to visit the sick, protect the vulnerable, and accompany migrants.
Today, poverty has complex faces—digital loneliness, educational waste, housing insecurity, psychological wounds, forced migration, new addictions. The holiness we celebrate is not afraid: it learns, it forms, it creates networks. It is creative like Vincent: capable of institutions and aprons, of listening and courage.
1) Simplicity that opens doors
Short words, clear gestures, honest timing. No masks, no double standards. Simplicity is the grammar of trust.
2) Meekness that mends
Transform conflict into dialogue: call those you have been avoiding for some time, apologise without “buts”, seek a possible agreement. Meekness is not weakness: it is strength that has chosen peace.
3) Zeal that organises charity
It is not enough to “do good”: put on your calendar a visit, a collaboration with local services, a micro-project together (parish, school, associations). Vincentian zeal always has a plan and travelling companions.
This feast day tells every baptised person: you can do it, not because you are sufficient unto yourself, but because the Holy Spirit shapes your heart with patience and imagination. Saints are not immobile statues: they are paths that can be travelled. Every Beatitude needs hands and a voice: school, hospital, apartment building, office, 7 o’clock bus can become places of daily holiness.
In Vincentian terms, saying ‘All Saints’ also means saying ‘all the poor’: not because poverty is valuable in itself, but because the Kingdom starts there. It is there that Christian love becomes credible. And when a community learns to serve the least, everyone becomes greater. Ultimately, what ‘matters’ is encountering the Risen One and entering his paradise.
Lord Jesus,
who in the Beatitudes show us the face of holiness,
give us simple eyes and a gentle heart, hands ready to serve.
Grant that in the Eucharist we may learn your way
and in the poor recognise your presence.
Through the intercession of St Vincent de Paul and St Louise de Marillac,
make us aprons and good news. Amen.
Today, the feast of All Saints entrusts us with a simple and immense task: to become, with others and for others, a living Beatitude. This is how holiness takes to the streets, changes the pace of our communities and allows the world to breathe more freely. And, in the Vincentian style, this also involves preserving and nurturing the memory of our witnesses: Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac, Saint Catherine Labouré, Saint Justin de Jacobis, Saint Francis Regis Clet, Saint John-Gabriel Perboyre, the blessed and martyrs of the Vincentian Family. Let us study their lives and writings, celebrate their liturgical memorials, and allow ourselves to be converted by their style of creative charity, so that their experience may become a school of the Gospel for us today.
