1580 - 1660
Vincent de Paul was born to a peasant family in France. Although he later achieved fame for his dedication to the poor, his early life was spent in a determined struggle to escape his humble roots. His family shared his ambition, hoping that a career in the priesthood would better the family fortune. After being educated by the Franciscans, he was ordained as a priest at the young age of nineteen. It seems that his early attitude to his vocation was as worldly as that of his parents. On one occasion while he was still in the seminary, he refused to see his father who had come to visit him because he felt embarrassed by the shabbiness of his appearance.
Vincent spent the best part of the next twenty years ingratiating himself with high society and enjoying the table talk of fashionable salons where he was welcomed because of his engaging charm and notable social skills.
In mid-life, his bishop appointed him to a rural parish in Gascony. This proved to be a rude awakening since he was surrounded by people who were unable to find work in the desperately poor farming community and who were dying from starvation. At first he made every effort to escape the situation and return to the glamour of the city, but the bishop was obdurate. Humiliated by his own poor living conditions and the extreme poverty of those who sought his help, he determined to make such a success of his appointment that the bishop would recognise his ability and promote him to a senior position in the Church.
He began to take stock of his resources. His former connections with the wealthy and influential led him to seek their financial assistance. He also returned to the salons where he had passed many idle hours with women who had nothing else to do and enlisted their help. Inspiring them with zeal, he organised them into groups to go from house to house requesting disposable items of furniture, food and clothing. The response was overwhelming and the project snowballed. Poor parishes all over France began to seek him out to learn from his example. The lives of thousands of people were changed for the better, not by receiving luxuries but by being given a chance to overcome the basic survival needs that held them back from taking steps to improve their living conditions for themselves.
Vincent was transformed by the experience. Faced with the extreme poverty of his surroundings and being shamed by the spontaneous generosity of those who had never been motivated to share their resources with those in need, he went through a spiritual revolution. He came to realise that assisting the poor was not only a matter of charity but also a matter of justice. Recognising that the mistakes of his youth had been caused by a poor spiritual formation, he founded an order of priests, the Vincentians, who would receive a thorough training and who would devote their lives to the spiritual and material needs of the poor. Later, he was joined by Louise de Marillac, a woman who shared his ideals, and together they founded the Sisters of Charity. He subsequently extended his work to include the foundation of hospitals and orphanages and homes for the mentally infirm. He spent the last years of his life serving the needs of prisoners and slaves.
Vincent became a legend in his own lifetime and was canonised as a saint in 1737.
Find out more about the Saint Vincent de Paul Society
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