Blessing of the Statue of Saint Vincent De Paul
at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy

Address given by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy,
on Tuesday, 27th September, 2005, at 11.00am

...

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am delighted that you have chosen that the work of this great hospital should be under the inspiration of Saint Vincent de Paul.

From his birth in April 1581 to his death in Paris in 1660, Vincent de Paul, the third of six children, born of a peasant family, was gifted and driven by a Christ-like concern for the poor and for the formation and training of priests. From the age of twenty-seven when he met Pierre de Berulle in Paris there came a remarkable transformation in his life. From self-seeking he now sought God and saw his image in the people he served.

He was almoner to Queen Marguerite of Valois, a pastor, a chaplain to the de Gondi family, suffered temptations against faith, and the trial left him after he resolved to devote his life to the service of the poor.

His chaplaincy involved not only the care of the spiritual needs of the Gondi family, but an outreach to the peasants on the huge Gondi estates. Immediately he began to see the possibility for evangelisation through service of the poor, so renowned in this hospital. Vincent saw that in the care of people, health of body and spirit are united.

It is for this reason under the Vincentian influence that holistic care is the watchword of this hospital, in which dedicated medical, nursing, administrative and ancillary staff and volunteers are linked with Father Len Size and those who assist him in meeting the needs of the spirit in their lives.

It is significant too that Saint Vincent had met Louise de Marillac in 1625, from which the Daughters of Charity were formed and in whose inspiration the Irish Sisters of Charity, who have long served this hospital, were likewise formed. The history of our city recalls the readiness of the Sisters without thought of themselves to minister in the great epidemic in the early twentieth century.

Both Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul died in 1660 and it is generally recognised that few have accomplished as much as Vincent de Paul did. His use of natural talents, his tremendous amount of work, supported by a profound spiritual life, provided the inspiration and the vision of seeing the Lord present in all those for whom we care.

This vision of the dignity of each person, the care to which they are owed and the union of body and spirit are significant in the ongoing contribution which Saint Vincent’s continues to make to the city of Melbourne and beyond.

Indeed, the presence of this statue of Saint Vincent is a reminder to all of us who enter these doors that the witness of the unity of body and spirit, of the dignity of each person and of what we can achieve in the use of our gifts is paramount in this hospital, the flag ship of our Catholic health service in Victoria.

Once again, I thank the Sisters of Charity and you their collaborators for following with devotion and attention the inspiration which Saint Vincent has readily given as a light to the reality of who we are.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.