Feast day: 27 September
Saint Vincent de Paul
Sanctus Vincentius a Paulo
A peasant's son who became the organiser of French charity, founding the Vincentians, co-founding the Daughters of Charity with Louise de Marillac, and reforming the training of priests.
- Born
- 24 April 1581, Pouy, Gascony (France)
- Died
- 27 September 1660, Paris (France)
- Canonization
- Beatified 1729 by Benedict XIII; canonized 16 June 1737 by Pope Clement XII; declared patron of all charitable works by Leo XIII in 1885.
- Religious order
- Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians)
- Country
- France
Biography
Early life and conversion of heart
Born to a poor farming family in Gascony, Vincent was ordained young, in 1600, and at first sought a comfortable benefice. Service as chaplain to the galley slaves and as parish priest at Châtillon-les-Dombes in 1617, where he saw a whole family sick and abandoned, turned his ambition into a lifetime of organised charity.
Founder and reformer
He created the Confraternities of Charity, founded the Congregation of the Mission in 1625 for preaching to country people, and in 1633 with Saint Louise de Marillac the Daughters of Charity, whose 'cloister is the streets of the city'. He organised relief for war-ravaged Lorraine and Picardy, ransomed captives, cared for foundlings, and through the Tuesday Conferences and new seminaries renewed the French clergy.
Death and legacy
He died in Paris at seventy-nine. In 1833 Blessed Frédéric Ozanam placed the lay Society of Saint Vincent de Paul under his patronage; today Vincentian institutions serve the poor on every continent.
Timeline
- 1581 — Born at Pouy, Gascony
- 1600 — Ordained a priest
- 1617 — First Confraternity of Charity at Châtillon
- 1625 — Founds the Congregation of the Mission
- 1633 — Founds the Daughters of Charity with Louise de Marillac
- 1660 — Dies in Paris
- 1737 — Canonized by Clement XII
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Abandoned infant in his arms — His rescue of the foundlings of Paris.
Cassock and simple mission cross — Preaching missions to the rural poor.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Practical charity, humility, meekness mastered over a naturally hot temper, and simplicity, which he called 'my gospel'.
Importance in the Church
He gave the Church a durable model of organised, lay-supported service of the poor, and reformed priestly formation decades before it became universal practice.
Quotes
“The poor are our masters; they are our kings, and we must obey them.”
Conference to the Daughters of Charity
“Charity is the cement which binds communities to God and persons to one another.”
Conferences and letters
Writings
Correspondence, Conferences, Documents — Fourteen volumes of letters and conferences to missionaries and Daughters of Charity.
Prayers
Prayer of Saint Vincent de Paul
Lord, help me to make time today to serve you in those who are most in need of encouragement or assistance. Give me the eyes to see you in the poor, and the heart to love you there. Amen.
Prayer used by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.
Places
Chapel of the Vincentians, rue de Sèvres, Paris — Where his relics are venerated above the altar.
Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, France — Birthplace of the first Confraternity of Charity.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)