SAINT VINCENT
390
SAINT VINCENT
ere had an eve to the future needs of human kind, and
dictated that "no work of charity should be regarded
ae foreign to the Society, although its special object is
to visit poor families". It is plainly evident from this
that the society is given the widest latitude in the se-
lection of the works in which the members may en-
gage, and in examining the reports of the various
sujMjrior councils one marvels at the wonderful array
of charitable activities which are therein portrayed.
There are committees in charge of fresh-air work
for poor children, convalescent homes, support of
daj' nurseries, the custody of paroled prisoners,
care of homeless boj's, clubs for boys, the visita-
tion of prisoners and the sick in hospitals, the main-
tenance of chaplains for the purpose of serving
CathoUc inmates in public institutions, employ-
ment bureaus, the care of immigrants, the main-
tenance of sailors' missions, the finding of homes
for orphans, and systematic inspection of their care
until maturity. The society also co-operates uni-
formly' with Catholic institutional charities and
with other organizations of laymen and lay women
engaged in relief work. The spiritual note predom-
inates throughout the work of the society. The
8er\-ice of the poor is undertaken as a spiritual
duty belonging to the integrity of Christian life.
Throughout all the traditions of the society there is
an endeavour to hinder every process by which char-
ity might be made identical with philanthropy or by
which the supernatural character of the service of the
poor might be lost. The conference takes its name
from the parish in which it is formed. The meetings
are opened and closed with prayer and a short selec-
tion from some spiritual treatise is read. The society
has its own feast-days, on which occasions the mem-
bers receive Holy Communion as a body. By Briefs
of Popes Gregory XVI, Pius IX, and Leo XIII numer-
ous indulgences are granted to the society, its bene-
factors, to the poor assisted by it, and to the fathers,
mothers, and wives of the members. An endeavour is
made uniformly to cultivate the spirit of St. Vincent
de Paul and to follow the discriminating principle of
relief given in the spirit of faith taught by him. The
note of personal service stands out prominently in the
work of the society. The duty of serving the poor,
and the need of doing it wisely, is looked upon as one
which the individual himself should fulfil; in fact,
one of the conditions of active membership is that
the conference member shall go personally to visit
the poor in their own homes. He combines, when he
is true to the spirit and teaching of the society, the
function of friendly visitor with that of investigator
and the work of upbuilding the dependent as well as
that of relieving him.
The rules of the society require that minutes of all meetings be kept carefully and that the reasons for all relief accorded be stated; the conference members in charge of a family are required to study the condition of the family and to give the reasons for the decision leading them to ask relief. Their reasons and their judgment may be questioned by the other members present. These minutes of the meetings, when taken m conjunction with the personal knowledge of the poor families aided, serve every purpose of recxjrd- keeping. Every care is taken to respect the privacy of the poor. The records of relief work are not open to inspect ion except by those who have a well-founded right U) thf knowledge, and this spirit is so cliaractcr- istic of the society that it places at the disprjsal of the spiritual director certain funds whi(;h may be used in relieving excx^ptional cases, from which no reoort of whatsoever kmd is mafic to the society itself. An- other charactfTistic is that of deep-seated reluctance on the part of the 8f>ciety to make known the extent of the work or the generosity of its members in giving cither money or jxTsonal service to the cause of char- ity. While all the work of the society is done by its
members voluntarily and without remuneration, a
readiness to employ paid workers in the speciahzed
activities is developing under the exacting and com-
plicated conditions of modern rehef . The funds of the
society are procured in a number of ways. At all con-
ference and particular council meetings secret collec-
tions are taken up, the proceeds going into the treas-
ury. A box is located generally in a conspicuous place
in the parish church to receive contributions from the
charitably-disposed. The amounts thus received are
applied to the work of the conference. Committees
engaged in special works solicit subscriptions. Con-
siderable amounts are received in donations and from
bequests. In addition, there are large numbers of
generous subscribing members.
Two years after the foundation of the society the membership had increased so rai)idly that it was no longer jiossible to continue working alone as one body and in one place; consequently, the founders realized that the time had come when, to regulate matters properly, it was imperative to divide the society into sections or groups arranged geographically. A meet- ing was held, geographical divisions made, and the rules under which the society has since Uved were then adopted. They were of the simplest character, merely embodying in the form of regulations the usages which had been followed and cherished from the in- ception of the society. There are over 100,000 active members and an equal number of honorary members. The society is represented in every European coun- try, and thriving branches arc to be found in China, Intlia, Turkey in Asia, Ceylon, Egypt, Natal, Trans- vaal, Philippine Islands, Canada, United States, Mex- ico, Central America, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argen- tine Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguaj^, and British Guiana. Twelve years after the inaugu- ration of the work, the society was introduced on the American continent. To St. Louis, Missouri, must be given the honour of having established, in 1845, the first conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the United States. In 1846 a conference was or- ganized in New York City. In 1856 the work of the society had grown to such proportions in New York that it became necessary to estabhsh a particular council, through which correspondence was opened with the authorities of every Catholic diocese in the United States. As a result other sections of the coun- try gradually entered into the work, and year by year the society gained headway, making its influence felt and accomplishing wonders in the work of ui)Uftiiig the poor. The following statisti(;s of the work of tlie society in the United States for the year 1910 will serve to give some slight conception of the progress made: superior councils, 4; central councils, 4; par- ticular councils, 34; conferences, 730; members, 12,062; families relieved, 24,742; visits made, 233,-" 044; situations procured, 2949; amount received (exclusive of balances), $384,549; amount expended, $387,849.
An important step in the reorganization of the ad- ministration of the society in the Ignited States was taken at the national conference held in Boston in 1911, when it was unanimously voted to create a coun- cil in each archdiocese of the United States, to be known as the metropolitan central council; dio- cesan councils in each diocese, to be styled diocesan (central eoiiiicils; ;ind one general council for the ad- ministration of all, to be known as the superior council of the United States. This i)lan of reorganization is now being jxrfected by a committee appointed at the lioston National Conference. Since it has received the unqualifi(!d endorsement of the hierarchy of the United States and has been approved by the council general of the society in Paris, the near future prob- ably will see the new plan f>f administration put into efTective operation. While the Society of St. Vincent do Paul quite naturally calls forth a rather extensive
