Introduction

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent was born of poor parents in the village of Pouy in Gascony, France, about 1580. He enjoyed his first schooling under the Franciscan Fathers at Acqs. Such had been his progress in four years that a gentleman chose him as subpreceptor to his children, and he was thus enabled to continue his studies without being a burden to his parents. In 1596, he went to the University of Toulouse for theological studies, and there he was ordained a priest in 1600.

In 1605, on a voyage by sea from Marseilles to Narbonne, he fell into the hands of African pirates and was carried as a slave to Tunis. His captivity lasted about two years, until Divine Providence enabled him to effect his escape. After a brief visit to Rome, he returned to France, where he became preceptor in the family of Emmanuel de Gondy, Count of Goigny, and General of the galleys of France. In 1617, he began to preach missions, and in 1625, he lay the foundations of a congregation which afterward became the Congregation of the Mission of Lazarists, so named on account of the Priory of St. Lazarus, which the Fathers began to occupy in 1633.

It would be impossible to enumerate all the works of this servant of God. Charity was his predominant virtue. It extended to all classes of persons, from forsaken childhood to old age. The Sisters of Charity also owe the foundation of their congregation to St. Vincent. In the midst of the most distracting occupations, his soul was always intimately united with God. Though honored by the great ones of the world, he remained deeply rooted in humility. The Apostle of Charity, the immortal Vincent de Paul breathed his last in Paris at the age of eighty. His feast day is September 27th. He is the patron of charitable societies.

A Timeline

1580 - Born, Pouy, Gascony, France.

1660 - Ordained at Toulouse.

1605 - Returning to Marseilles he was captured by Turkish pirates, who took him toTunis and sold him as a slave.

1607 - Escaped with his master, a renegade who he converted; returned to France and went to Avignon; went to Rome to continue studies in theology.

1609 - Sent back to France on a secret mission for Henry IV; he became alminer to the Queen Marguerite of Valois, and was provided with the little Abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Chaume. At the request of M. de Berulle, founder of the Oratory, he took charge of the parish of Clichy near Paris

1612 - Entered the services of the Gondi, an illustrious French family, to educate the children of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi. He became the spiritual director of Mme de Gondi. Also appointed curé of Chatillon-les-Dombes (Bresse), where he founded the first conference of charity for the assistance of the poor.

1617 - Recalled by the Gondi and returned to them, resuming the peasant missions. Several learned Paris priests, won by his example, joined him. Nearly everywhere after each of these missions, a conference of charity was founded for the relief of the poor, notably at Joigny, Châlons, Mâcon, Trévoux, where they lasted until the Revolution.

1628 - Established the Daughters of Charity. At the request of the Bishop of Beauvais, Potierdes Gesvres, Vincent also began the first of many retreats that gave rise to the seminaries as these prevailed later in France.

1634 - Founded the Ladies of Charity at the request of the Archbishop of Paris.

1635 - Established a seminary at the Collége des Bons-Enfants.

1642 - Founded Saint-Lazare and the Seminary of St. Charles.

1638-1660 - Vincent's charity went beyond the boundaries of France to Rome, Genoa, Savoy, Piedmont, Ireland, Scotland, the Hebrides, Poland, and Madagascar. His works abroad also took him to the poor slaves of Barbary, whose lot he had once shared. Their numbers ranged from 25,000 to 30,000 located between Tunis, Algiers, and Bizaerta.

1660 - Died, Paris, France

1729 - Declared Blessed by Benedict XIII

1737 - Canonized by Clement XII

1885 - Leo XII gave him as patron to the Sisters of Charity