With references to Correspondence, Conferences, and Documents (CCD), edited by Pierre Coste, C.M.
Faith, God and Divine Providence
1. On loving God
“God is love and wants us to go to Him through love.”
Source: Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, Vol. I, p. 81 (CCD I:81).
2. On Divine Providence
“What a hidden treasure there is in holy Providence, and how wonderfully Our Lord is honored by those who follow it.”
Source: CCD I:59.
3. On trusting God
“Let us draw our strength from our weakness, which serves as a reason for Our Lord Himself to become our strength.”
Source: CCD I:226.
4. On surrender to God
“God is the Master and does all for the best. Let us leave the care of everything to Him.”
Source: CCD I:350.
5. On God’s presence
“There will be two of you for the work: Our Lord and you; and with Him you can do all things.”
Source: CCD I:369.
6. On God’s will
“Let us be truly submissive to His good pleasure in the situation of the moment.”
Source: CCD I:484.
7. On Providence
“Let us abandon ourselves to the Providence of God and be on our guard against anticipating it.”
Source: CCD II:499.
8. On following Providence
“Wisdom consists in following Providence step by step.”
Source: CCD II:521.
9. On trusting Providence
“Let us keep ourselves always dependent on God’s Providence, since it pleases Him and He sees what is best for us.”
Source: CCD II:517.
10. On God’s strength
“Remember that Our Lord is the strength and wisdom of those whom He employs.”
Source: CCD II:605.
Charity and Love of Neighbor
11. On charity
“Charity is the cement that binds communities to God and persons to one another.”
Source: CCD II:413.
12. On love becoming action
“Let us love God, but let it be with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows.”
Source: CCD XI:32.
13. On practical love
“It is not enough for me to love God if my neighbor does not love Him.”
Source: CCD XII:215.
14. On making God loved
“I am sent not only to love God but to make Him loved.”
Source: CCD XII:215.
15. On charity and justice
“There is no act of charity that is not accompanied by justice.”
Source: CCD II:68.
16. On helping the poor
“In helping them, we are doing an act of justice and not of mercy.”
Source: CCD VII:115.
17. On serving others
“Charity cannot remain idle; it impels us to work for the salvation and consolation of others.”
Source: CCD XII:216.
18. On effective charity
“So very often many acts of love of God, although very good and desirable, are to be suspected if they do not reach the practice of effective love.”
Source: CCD XI:32.
19. On Christian witness
“People will never believe in us if we do not show love and compassion to those whom we wish to believe in us.”
Source: CCD I:277.
20. On the works of charity
“God does not consider the outcome of the good work undertaken, but the charity that accompanied it.”
Source: CCD I:205.
The Poor and Christ
21. On seeing Christ in the poor
“Turn the medal, and you will see by the light of faith that the Son of God, who willed to be poor, is represented to us by these poor people.”
Source: CCD XI:26.
22. On the poor and the Gospel
“The poor common people are starving for the Word of God and are being allowed to die of hunger.”
Source: CCD II:369.
23. On the mission to the poor
“I am here to catechize, instruct, hear confessions, and assist persons who are poor.”
Source: CCD XI:98–99.
24. On the mission of Christ
“Our Lord seems to have made His principal aim, in coming into the world, to assist poor people and to take care of them.”
Source: CCD XI:98.
25. On serving the whole person
“We have to help them and have them assisted in every way, by us or by others.”
Source: CCD XII:77–78.
26. On Gospel preaching
“To preach the Gospel by word and by works, that is the most perfect way.”
Source: CCD XII:77–78.
27. On the poor
“I think I would offend God if I did not do all in my power for the poor country people.”
Source: CCD IV:561.
28. On serving Christ
“In serving persons who are poor, we serve Jesus Christ.”
Source: CCD IX:5.
29. On the poor and Christian vocation
“Would that God had rendered us worthy of spending our lives, as Our Lord did, for the salvation of those poor souls so far removed from all assistance.”
Source: CCD II:288.
30. On God’s love for the poor
“God loves the poor, consequently, He loves those who love the poor.”
Source: CCD III:384 / Vincentian tradition; see also the discussion in the Vincentian source collection.
Humility and Simplicity
31. On humility
“Humility … may this be our password.”
Source: CCD I:169.
32. On simplicity
“God has given me such a high esteem of simplicity that I call it my Gospel.”
Source: CCD IX:476.
33. On living simply
“I have special devotion and consolation in saying things as they are.”
Source: CCD IX:476.
34. On humility and service
“Grant us the grace to put ourselves in the last place among men and to keep ourselves there.”
Source: CCD I:524–525.
35. On Christian humility
“Those who truly know Jesus Christ crucified would be very glad to pass, as He did, for the least of all people.”
Source: CCD I:524.
36. On pride
“What good will it do us to possess humility with regard to our person if we take pride in our state?”
Source: CCD I:524.
37. On human weakness
“Mistrust of your own strength must be the basis for the trust you should have in God.”
Source: CCD III:143.
38. On powerlessness
“Let us honor the omnipotence of God by recognition of our own powerlessness.”
Source: CCD III:198.
Patience, Gentleness and Prudence
39. On gentleness
“Try not to rush around, but do everything gently.”
Source: CCD I:375.
40. On patience
“There is no lot in life where there is nothing to be endured.”
Source: CCD III:173.
41. On difficulties
“In proportion as difficulties increase, God will increase His grace for you.”
Source: CCD III:136.
42. On perseverance
“Grace is necessary to begin, and we need more to persevere to the end.”
Source: CCD I:346.
43. On progress in spiritual life
“On God’s road, not to advance is to fall back, since one never remains in the same condition.”
Source: CCD II:146.
44. On zeal
“Zeal is the soul of the virtues.”
Source: CCD II:84.
45. On excessive zeal
“It is easy to go from deficiency to excess of the virtues, from being just to becoming rigid, and from zealous to inconsiderate.”
Source: CCD II:84.
46. On leadership
“One must be firm and unchanging with regard to the end, but gentle and humble as to the means.”
Source: CCD II:332.
47. On good leadership
“To be unwavering as to the end and gentle as to the means is the soul of good leadership.”
Source: CCD II:403.
48. On gentleness and discernment
“I think that only gentle souls receive the gift of discernment.”
Source: CCD XII:157.
Christ-Centered Life and Mission
49. On living in Christ
“We live in Jesus Christ through the death of Jesus Christ, and we must die in Jesus Christ through the life of Jesus Christ.”
Source: CCD I:276.
50. On the missionary vocation
“What great missionaries you and I would be if we only knew how to animate souls with the spirit of the Gospel which should make them conformable to Jesus Christ.”
Source: CCD II:494.
Important Source Note
The principal source for these quotations is Saint Vincent de Paul, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, edited from Pierre Coste’s Correspondance, Entretiens, Documents. The authoritative English edition was translated, edited and annotated by members of the Vincentian and Daughters of Charity communities and published by New City Press. DePaul University has made the collection available digitally.
The original French Coste edition was published in Paris by Librairie LeCoffre between 1920 and 1925 and is available through DePaul University’s digital collection.
Citation abbreviation:
CCD I:81 = Correspondence, Conferences, Documents, Volume I, page 81.
CCD XI:32 = Volume XI, page 32, etc.
Recommended primary-source links
DePaul University — Complete English CCD Collection
DePaul University — Original French Coste Collection
VinFormation — Vincentian Quote Database
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