St. Vincent de Paul was at once the saint of combativeness and charity.
Combativeness, on two fronts. First, the doctrinal front, in which he diligently fought the Jansenists in Rome, at court, among the nobility, among the clergy, among the people, in a political and strategic manner, with his immense personal influence. In addition to this form of intellectual combativeness, he also wanted to organize a crusade against Tunis and, for this purpose, he had recourse to the King of France.
On the other hand, he was the saint of charity, of compassion. We find in this conjunction a rare manifestation of a well-disposed spirit. In current opinion, anyone very combative will not be very compassionate, and one who is particularly charitable will not be pugnacious.
Now, if combativeness and compassion are virtues, there can be no incompatibility between them. On the contrary, all virtues are sisters. Therefore, those who have holy compassion are combative; and those who have holy combativeness are compassionate.
