You’ve heard his name. You recognize his image.

Let’s learn more about St. Vincent de Paul.

Background

Vincent de Paul (April 24, 1580 – September 27,1660) wasn’t born a saint. Over the course of his lifetime, he followed call after call, discovering the presence of God in experience after experience and encounter after encounter. Through his openness, prayer, and reflection, he was transformed into the person who inspires us and millions of others to “Go about doing good” (Acts of the Apostles 10:38) as Jesus did, as Vincent did. 

Early Priesthood

Vincent was ordained a priest in 1600. His reasons for seeking ordination were not the noblest. His father wanted him to be a priest because then he could earn enough to send money home to provide a more secure life for his family. Vincent was not the first or the last to do this. Though, God had a different plan for him.  

Organizing Charity

There are three profound experiences that led to Vincent forming three different organizations. These summarize the story well.  

While assigned as pastor at Châtillion-les-Dombes (today Châtillion-sur-Charalaronne).  The priests in the area were irresponsible in their ministry, living debaucherous lives. Similarly, the needs of people living in poverty were ignored. One day, a parishioner brought to his attention the needs of a woman and her several children. All of them were ill. They had no food or medicine.  He was touched by their great need so decided to preach on the topic. Little did he know what would follow. 

That afternoon there was a parade of people heading to this family’s home. Everyone was carrying something: a pot of soup, a loaf of bread, etc. When Vincent went to visit the family, he realized this generous outpouring of food would spoil before the family could eat it all. This led to one of his foundational insights: Charity must be organized. 

While it took several years, Vincent, along with some parishioners, wrote a rule to establish the Confraternities of Charity, an organization of lay people, which was approved by the bishop. Many parishes adopted the rule and organized their charity accordingly. The rule also guides the spiritual growth of the members. For Vincent, charitable service is not distinct from the spiritual life. It is an essential part of it. 

Hitting It Big

Thanks to his having been hired by the wealthy and prominent Gondi family, Vincent had many benefices that provided the money he and his father sought through his ordination. However, it was during a visit to Folleville, where his employers had many hectares of productive land on which many people lived and worked, that the second of these three important things occurred. 

A young woman from the nearby town of Gannes made her way the Gondi home in Folleville to ask if Madam would send a priest to hear the confession of her father who was thought to be dying. Her father was known to be an upright man of good reputation. Vincent went and heard this man’s confession which stunned him, so grave were this man’s sins. 

After unburdening himself through this confession, the man recovered. He spoke openly about how if Vincent hadn’t gently ministered to him during this confession he would have died in a grave state. Madam de Gondi was among the people to whom the man told his story. She became very concerned about the spiritual health of all the people who worked her lands.

We Don’t Know What He Said

She asked Vincent to preach on the importance of making a general confession on January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Vincent agreed. He, too, was amazed by the change God had brought about in the man whose confession he heard, and so were many other people. The small church was filled; Vincent preached and then started hearing confessions. More people came. So many people came that Madam sent a request to the Jesuits in Amiens to send priests to help hear the confessions. 

But We Know What Happened

Over time, as Vincent and Madam reflected on this and as he continued to preach on this theme in other towns on the Gondi lands, he began to think about forming a community of priests and brothers who would focus their ministry on the needs of people, especially poor people, living in remote towns and villages. This led him, with substantial assistance from the Gondi family, to to his forming of the Congregation of the Mission which preaches the Gospel to the poor, educates and forms the clergy so they will minister well to people living in poverty, and invites lay people into the ministry of charity as part of their spiritual life.

During Vincent’s lifetime, many people moved from the countryside into the city of Paris. This was especially true during war time since it was safer living in the city. In these people, Vincent found another dimension of poverty. One of his responses to this was, with Louise deMarillac, to form the Company of the Daughters of Charity. This is the first community of women in the Catholic Church who were permitted to serve outside their convent (monastery). Their ministry would have them in the streets, in the homes of people living in crushing poverty, in orphanages and hospitals and beyond. 

At The End

In Vincent’s world view, no one is left out. He sees the presence of God in marginalized (poor) people. He invites lay people, vowed women and men, and clerics (deacons, priests, and bishops) more deeply into the life of holiness through service to the people who suffer the most.

Vincent died on September 27, 1660, and was canonized on June 16, 1737. He is popularly and fittingly called the “Apostle of Charity.”

St. Vincent de Paul, Our Patron and Inspiration

During this years of priestly ministry, Vincent founded three organizations that continue into the present. These are: The Confraternities of Charity, The Congregation of the Mission and The Company of the Daughters of Charity.

The Confraternities of Charity

a lay organization rooted in parishes, dedicated to lovingly providing for the needs of poor neighbors; first established in Châtillon-les-Dombes, France 1617.

The Congregation of the Mission 

a community of priests and brothers, founded in 1625, dedicated to meeting the material and spiritual needs of people, so that with renewed faith, they can help spread the Gospel and help meet the material needs of people living in poverty;

The Company of the Daughters of Charity

founded in 1630 are the first congregation of women in the Catholic church free to serve outside of monastery walls. They  transformed health care, brought charity to people living in sub-human conditions, helped with the care of foundlings (abandoned babies), mended the wounds of injured souldiers, and provided for other marginalized people.

Apostle of Charity

Pope Leo XIII declared St. Vincent de Paul the universal patron of charity on May 10, 1885. How and why, he did this matters greatly.

Pope Leo served from 1878-1903. He was greatly concerned about how people, poor people especially, were being dehumanized by the Industrial Revolution. He consulted with cardinals, bishops, and the superiors general of several religious communities seeking recommendations for someone who would “help inspire a new movement of charitable zeal” to meet the needs of the people moving from rural areas to cities and from the “old world” (Europe and elsewhere) to the “new world” (USA and the Americas).

St. Vincent de Paul was the obvious choice! He had lived through similar circumstances and responded with his own revolution of charity and goodness. Thus, Pope Leo gave him the title Apostle of Charity which helped popularize him (again) among Catholics and others around the world. This led to many good things happening, among them, the Catholic Charities movement in the United States which began in the early 20th century thanks to the efforts of Monsignor John O’Grady, an Irish-born, Vincentian educated priest sent on mission to the Diocese of Omaha. His brainchild grew into a nation-wide force for good, present in each (arch)diocese in the country.  It also resulted in a large expansion of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded by Frederic Ozanam and his companions in Paris in 1833.Vincent’s influence has extended well-beyond his lifetime, to be sure.

Now we have another Pope Leo. He has identified the rise of artificial intelligence as a revolution as potentially as promising and as threatening to humanity as was the industrial revolution. May St. Vincent de Paul guide us and inspire us to be agents for good during this revolution.

St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!