OLD PEOPLE

St. Vincent's example
SIR,-G. P.'s letter on the subject of old people struck me as the most realistic of the series so far, putting forward practical suggestions. With two doctor sisters, 1 hear something of what is happening to old people in our midst nowadays.
The whole situation rather recalls to me what St. Vincent de Paul discovered as a parish priest in France.
heodore Maynard tells the story in Apostle of Chards. how St. Vincent preaching one Sunday on a poor family in need of help, went afterwards to sec how thcy were, and found the street blocked with people who had rushed to their help. lie realised then that there was no lack of good will and a real spirit of charity, but it needed to be organised. What we really need is a modern equivalent of the little organisations he founded in parishes, often in villages. Those for women were the most successful. The members had a most practical programme for finding the needy and bringing them the help required. In the case of old people, of course, the help has to be per manent to be of any use-that is, it must be carried out till death intervenes.
Just how bad things are no one knows till they encounter it. I have in mind an old woman, deaf, going blind, with a slightly paralysed arm and swollen legs-made worse by living in a damp ground-floor room -who had to do her cooking on a gas ring precariously perched on a wooden chair. Stooping to turn it on caused her great pain. I offered to provide an iron stand cooker, but was rudely refused by the landlady. Fortunately the minister-a Presbyterian-was more successful than I in preventing the old lady from knocking everything over and setting herself and the house ablaze. This sort of thing is happening all around us-can no one take a leaf out of St. Vincent de Paul's book and organise systematic help?
May I add that I think Catholic congregations are behind many protestant congregations in the matter of putting cars at the disposal of the decrepit members of the flock? Of course Catholic families are larger than most-but even so, surely there are many car owners who could, without great inconvenience, arrange to pick up some old party--and the men are often worse off than the women-and give a lift to and from Mass? And, of course, there are also lame people, and people with bad hearts and so on. who would be equally grateful for being lifted over the ground between them and the church. I do feel that this is a matter on which Catholic car owners could very well search their consciences. But it too calls for organisation.
Margaret T. Monro