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#867: Saint Businessman... (fwd)
From:nozier@tradewind.net
Saint Businessman _______Pierre Toussaint By Robert A. Sirico
FORBES MAGAZINE ______NOVEMBER 15 1999
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU PICTURE a "saint"? Someone like Francis of
Assisi, perhaps, who gave up his worldly goods. Or a Mother Teresa,
making her life's work the rescue of India's outcasts. One type that
does not come to mind is an entrepreneur. But think about this for a
moment: Is there any law that says a saint cannot hold a regular job,
excel in marketable skills or build a business? We forget that the
apostles in the New Testament were fishermen first, who learned about
hard work and diligence in a market setting. We forget, too, that for
many centuries, and even today, monks have had to market goods like
wool and honey to the outside world to support their lives of
prayer, reflection and contemplation. Thus I see nothing strange in
hoping for the eventual canonization of a New York hairdresser, a man
named Pierre Toussaint. He overcame incredible odds to become one of
America's first rich, black professionals. In his life we see
capitalistic achievement and personal piety coexisting. Pope
John Paul II has already declared Toussaint "venerable," the
first step in the process of recognizing a saint. Born into slavery on
a sugar plantation in Haiti in 1766, Toussaint was brought to New
York by the son of his owner in 1787 to escape the bloodshed of the
Haitian slave revolts. Upon arrival, he began an apprenticeship with
a hairdresser. Toussaint was so good at his work that clients were soon
asking for his services. Toussaint attended daily Mass, and was known
for his piety, honesty, charity and integrity. People said he radiated
a serene and joyful faith. After his owner died, Toussaint earned
enough money to provide the widow, Marie Bérard, with the New York
socialite's lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. Toussaint paid
the bills and issued the invitations to her parties. Freed when Mrs.
Bérard died, Toussaint became a wealthy benefactor to Catholic charities
in New York. He and Juliette Noel, the woman he married when he
was 45, took in homeless immigrants and other unfortunate people to
live with them.
There's truth to the complaint I hear from businessmen that the
practical virtues aren't celebrated enough in contemporary religious
culture.
Toussaint paid for the reconstruction of St. Peter's church after it
burned and helped raise money for the construction of the old St.
Patrick's Cathedral in lower Manhattan. None of this protected him from
being turned away from the cathedral one day in 1836 by an usher who
didn't like the color of his face. A scandalized trustee of the
church heard about the insult, rebuked the usher and apologized to
Toussaint. When Toussaint died on June 30, 1853, the New York press
devoted numerous respectful obituaries to him. John Cardinal O'Connor,
Archbishop of New York, who is a backer of Toussaint's canonization,
had his remains moved from the cemetery of old St. Patrick's into
thecrypt below the main altar of the Fifth Avenue St. Patrick's. No
layman has ever been similarly honored.
What a magnificent example Pierre Toussaint is for us all. And yet he is
not usually listed in the pantheon of great Americans. Is it because he
doesn't fit into either stereotype? Neither the saint in sackcloth
nor the profiteering businessman?
I don't know the answer, but there's truth to the complaint I hear
from businessmen that the practical virtues are not celebrated enough
in contemporary religious culture.
Have you heard it said that "money is the root of all evil"? This is a
misquote. ITimothy 6: 10 says something very different: "The love of
money is the root of all evil." Money is not evil; it feeds and
clothes us and it makes possible charity for the poor. It is the
worshiping of money that is evil.
Norman Darden is a black New Yorkntrepreneur of humble beginnings who
has built a business of floor care services. Darden is writing a
biography of Toussaint. He says Toussaint's example inspired him to
persevere in both his faith and his business. That, in a nutshell, is
why I am hoping for the canonization of Pierre Toussaint. It
would remind people that capitalism and Christianity are not
incompatible. Venerable Pierre Toussaint is dramatic proof that doing
business and doing good are not at all mutually exclusive.