By Anthony Minh Mai, CSJB
Who is Vincent Lebbe?
Fréderic Vincent Lebbe is one of the great missionaries of the Catholic Church in the beginning of the twentieth century. He was born on August 19th, 1877 in Gand, a city in East Flanders, Belgium. He entered Lazarist order on November 6th, 1895 in Paris.[1] After reading the story the martyr Jean Gabriel Perboyre, a Vincentian who was sent to China to preach the Gospel of God and received the martyrdom in 1840, Lebbe wished to become a Vincentian and go to China to become a martyr for the salvation of Chinese people.[2] God satisfied his petition when he was sent to China in 1901 to be a missionary.
Fr. Lebbe has been considered as one of the greatest missionaries in China because his mission was fruitful in a large number of conversions to Catholicism. His prophetic vision contributed to the establishment of the Chinese Episcopacy, which assists China church in existing during the time of persecution. His charitable, educational and pastoral works help diminish the enmity of Chinese caused by aggressive attitude of imperialism and the misunderstand of foreign missionaries’ identity. He is also the founder of the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions (S.A.M) or the Lei Mingyuan Society雷鳴遠會, Congregation of St. John the Baptist (C.S.J.B) or 耀漢小兄弟會, The Little Sister of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (C.S.T) or 得來小妹妹會, and Association Fraternelle Internationale (A.F.I) or 國際女子服務團.
Fr. Lebbe’s charitable, educational and pastoral works not only helped reduce the hatred of the Chinese towards the Catholic Church, but also won much sympathy among the Chinese towards the Church. This animosity was caused by the wars conducted by the great powers and the Catholic Church was misunderstood as their instrument.
Lebbe transformed himself to become an intercultural missionary for the sake of evangelization. He also assisted Church’s members in transforming themselves to make their mission be fruitful. He created three principles of spirituality: Total sacrifice, true love, and constant joy to promote transformation.
I. Total Sacrifice
Beside ascetic life, C.S.J.B.’s members learn from John the Baptist the spirit of total sacrifice in order to be courageous in facing challenges when doing mission.[3] Moreover, Lebbe understands that from total sacrifice flows true love of others, and constant joy.
1. Meaning of Sacrifice according to Vincent Lebbe
For Lebbe, sacrifice and love are two inseparable sides of an action. Talking about service, objectively, is love. when I view subjectively this word, it is my sacrifice.[4] For Lebbe, sacrifice is not our purpose but a means to reach our goal. Without the goal of glorifying God and saving souls, our sacrifice loses its meaning. Lebbe’s understanding has the same meaning as the term consecration. Sacrifice, for Lebbe, does not destroy ourselves but consecrates ourselves for the sake of God and souls. To illustrate his meaning of sacrifice, Lebbe points out the example of the poor widow, who put two very small copper coins into the temple treasury (Mk 12: 41-44; Lk 21: 1-4). There is no destruction here. It is an act of consecration for the sake of God and of others. The meaning of total sacrifice conveys a positive meaning. The sacrifice here is the renunciation of low-value things to pursue high-value things. Lebbe cites the Gospel of John saying, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24).[5]
According to Cao Li Shan (曹立珊), a successor of Lebbe, Lebbe believed that our worldly life, possessions, love, entertainment, reputation, power, etc., are the means to reach the eternal life. However, “the powers of darkness”[6] often cause harm for eternal life. So, we must restrict ourselves to being bound by worldly things.[7]
2. Objects of Sacrifice
From the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 4: 1-10) and First Letter of John, Lebbe pointed out three main objects of sacrifice, which are “sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life” (1 Jn 2:16). These three desires can cause evil. Satan employs these means to tempt us into committing sins. The vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience aim to assist us in avoiding these temptations.[8]
3. Practice of Total Sacrifice
In the Bible, Jesus told us how to successfully enter the kingdom of God saying, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets” (Mt 7:12). In another place, Jesus states, “…but from then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone who enters does so with violence” (Lk 16:16). Lebbe understands that one must make his/her best effort to enter the kingdom of God. Lebbe urges C.S.J.B.’s monks to work with all their enthusiasm. If someone asks Lebbe about the meaning of total sacrifice, he will answer: “work”. He believes that when you work you will figure things out. Without working, you will not find solutions. When working hard for the sake of others, we are the witnesses of God’s love.[9]
Lebbe showed his total sacrifice when he left his family and his country to go to China to preach the Gospel. Because he pointed out the problems of foreign missionaries and struggled to transform the wrong system, he was sent four times to places where people did not speak Mandarin, the language he had learned. He was forced to return to France, but he took that chance to assist Chinese students in accomplishing their studies. This contributed to the reconciliation between the intellectuals and the Church. Before entering C.S.J.B., Lebbe liked to drink and smoke. When entering this congregation, he stopped drinking and smoking. Cao Li Shan states that every step he took, a drop of blood fell to the ground. His suffering makes his life similar with Jesus’ life.[10] His sacrifice is found in all the stories of his life of mission, although we cannot write all of them here.
The Fruits of Transformation are True love and Constant Joy
II. True Love of Others
For Lebbe, “true love of others” is the central point of spiritual life. This second spiritual principle assists the first one, “total sacrifice” in accomplishing its meaning. Sacrifice without love is useless. Lebbe avoided offering a definition of “true love”, but if you ask him the meaning of this second spiritual principle, he will answer that “true love” means that you always do good for others for the sake of their life before you can get benefit of your good deeds. Concretely, Lebbe asserted that you should give better things to others. When you take a bus or a train, give seat to others. If someone needs your help, even if you cannot assist him/her in satisfying his/her need you should give him/her good words.[11] Being rejected by foreign missionaries, Lebbe asked Cardinal Costantini the reason why they showed their opposition to him and he received the answer: because you so love Chinese.[12]
The true love of others is manifested in the promotion of equality of all members and way we address every member. The religious house is called family. The superior general is called Jiazhang (家長), which means the head of the family. A dean of a religious house is called brother Gongpu (公僕), which means a servant of everyone. A financial administrator is called brother Shenping or 神貧, which means poor in spirit.[13] Leaders of C.S.J.B. must serve all members with fairness, justice, and love.[14]
Love Others Unconditionally
Lebbe noted that loving others with a condition is not true love but selfishness. Lebbe cited the Jesus’ words to interpret this true love saying, “For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?” (Mt 5:46). Lebbe also took the Jesus’ parable of the invitation of the poor to the party to be an example for “true love” (Lk 4:12-14). Cao Li Shan, a witness of Lebbe’s good deeds, told us that in 1931, over ten thousand people in Gaoyang, Tikou, and other ereas in Hebei were affected by a famine and struggled to survive that winter. Their representatives asked Lebbe for help and promised that they would convert to Catholicism. Lebbe answered that he would help but without any condition. Conversion to Catholicism and his giving help were different. After they left, Cao Li Shan asked Lebbe why he refused to make them keep their promise. Lebbe answered that if I accept their promise, my charity work would not be true love. When doing good to others, we should not make any requirement.[15]However, being touched by Lebbe’s assistance, the people of these villages were willing to convert to Catholicism. This was a great harvest. We will see more the charity works of Lebbe and C.S.J.B.’s members in the discussions of “Educational Works of C.S.J.B.,” “Charity Works of C.S.J.B.,” and “Missionary Works of C.S.J.B.”[16]
III. Constant joy
This spiritual principle is announced by a member who takes temporary vows or perpetual vows, saying: “Jesus… I swear to follow you… observe the vows of chastity, property, and obedience with my constant joy…”.[17] Fr. Lebbe reminded every member that they must work hard for the sake of God with an attitude of constant joy.[18] When facing a difficulty in work, a C.S.J.B.’s member is required to fulfill his obligation with an attitude of constant joy.[19]
According to Lebbe, human emotion is easy to be changed. Lebbe’s third spiritual principle, “constant joy”, is influenced by the act of the will. When facing difficulties, one can keep calm and silent. One does not give up one’s goal. This is an act of virtue which one must practice to obtain. Lebbe used another example to illustrate this spiritual principle. He asserted that one should view this worldly life with supernatural eyes. With this vision, when you are happy or suffering, you can gain great joy in your soul. This is an active effort of one’s joyful will, which frees one from the state being bound up with worldly issues to open one’s soul to be closer to God. This act of will lets God’s will be fulfilled in one’s life.[20] We can see this act of will in Psalms saying, “I will run the way of your commandments, for you will broaden my heart” (Ps 119: 32).
[1] Jacques Leclercq, Cuộc Đời Cha Lôi Minh Viễn, trans. Bùi Văn Tuyền (Sài Gòn: Tu hội Thánh Gioan Baotixita, 1972), 32–33.
[2] Jacques Leclercq, 27.
[3] 雷鳴遠, 耀漢小兄弟會會規 (台中: 耀漢小兄弟會總會台中真福院, 1992), 14.
[4] 曹立珊, 雷鳴遠神父的神修綱領 (天主教耀漢小兄弟會, 2006), 25.
[5] 曹立珊, 26–27.
[6] “Gaudium et Spes” (Vatican, December 7, 1965), no. 37, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html.
[7] 曹立珊, 雷鳴遠神父的神修綱領, 27.
[8] 曹立珊, 27–29.
[9] 曹立珊, 34–35.
[10] 曹立珊, 35–36.
[11] 雷鳴遠, 耀漢小兄弟會會規, 44–45.
[12] 曹立珊, 雷鳴遠神父的神修綱領, 47.
[13] 雷鳴遠, 耀漢小兄弟會會規, 16, No. 9.
[14] 雷鳴遠, 16, No. 12.
[15] 曹立珊, 雷鳴遠神父的神修綱領, 48–49.
[16] See Minh Mai, “The Four Types of Missions of C.S.J.B.,” C.S.J.B., July 26, 2022, https://csjbvn.net/the-four-types-of-missions-of-c-s-j-b/.
[17] 雷鳴遠, 耀漢小兄弟會會規, 32, No. 63.
[18] 雷鳴遠, 53–54, No. 106.
[19] 雷鳴遠, 55, No. 114.
[20] 曹立珊, 雷鳴遠神父的神修綱領, 56–57.