Vincent de Paul, Saint, 1580?–1660, French priest renowned for charitable work, b. Gascony. He was ordained in 1600. There are conflicting stories about his capture by pirates and enslavement in Tunis and his subsequent escape. In Rome he came to the attention of Pope Paul V, who sent him on a mission to the French court of Henry IV, where Vincent remained as chaplain to the queen. His activism, and the holiness of his life brought about the revival of French Catholicism. He inspired many of the court to an interest in the poor of Paris and was the founder of organized charity in France. In 1625 he founded an order of secular priests to work in rural areas; it became the Congregation of the Mission, called Lazarists or Vincentians. With these priests, St. Vincent conducted retreats, founded seminaries, and achieved widespread reform among the French clergy. For city work he founded the Sisters of Charity. St. Vincent's influence, through his spirit and through his institutions, is incalculable. He was canonized in 1737. Feast: Sept. 27.

Bibliography

See J. Leonard, ed., Letters of St. Vincent de Paul (1938); biographies by H. Daniel-Rops (1961) and M. Purcell (1963); P. Coste, The Life and Works of Saint Vincent de Paul (3 vol., tr. 1952).

Vincent de Paul, Saint

(born April 24, 1581, Pouy, France—died Sept. 27, 1660, Paris; canonized 1737; feast day September 27) French religious leader. Educated by the Franciscans at Dax, he was ordained in 1600 and graduated from the University of Toulouse in 1604. It is said that he was captured at sea by Barbary pirates but escaped. In 1625 he founded the Congregation of the Mission (also called Lazarists or Vincentians) in Paris as a preaching and teaching order. He also established the Confraternities of Charity, associations of laywomen who nursed the sick. With St. Louise de Marillac he cofounded the Daughters of Charity (Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul).