St Vincent de Paul was born to peasant farmers on April 24, 1581. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1600, and served as a parish priest in various spots in areas around Paris. He wanted to obtain an ecclesiastical post and live a comfortable life.

But everywhere he worked he experienced the misery of the peasants and slaves he met in his duties. Father Vincent became more and more devoted in the service of the poor, whom he felt were his lords and masters. He felt the need to establish institutions to carry out his ministry and mission, which he now saw as the continuation of the mission of Jesus himself. He became the leader of a community of priests and brothers called The Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians. Their mission was to evangelize the poor in rural areas, and to help in the formation and education of priests. He was a pioneer in clerical training, and was instrumental in establishing seminaries.

Later, Vincent established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish. From these activities, with the help of St Louise de Marillac, in 1633, came the formation of the Daughters of Charity, an order of non-cloistered women, 'whose convent is the sickroom, whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister is the streets of the city'.

He organized the rich women of Paris to collect funds for his missionary projects, founded several hospitals, collected relief funds for the victims of war, and ransomed over 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa.

St Vincent de Paul pursued his mission with great energy and conviction, answering the material and spiritual needs of the poor and the abandoned all his life. He passed away on September 27, 1660. Pope Clement XII canonized him on June 16, 1737.

Pope Leo XIII made St Vincent de Paul the patron of all charitable societies. Outstanding among these is the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, founded in 1833 by his admirer, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, whose feast day is September 7.

Mary Grad
Communications
Ontario Regional Council