Saint Vincent de Paul, apostle of charity

Amid the pomp and pageantry of the 17th century, "Monsieur Vincent" practised and propagated exemplary charity on behalf of the sick, the galley slaves, the poor, the illiterate, and abandoned children. He came from a peasant family in the Landes region of France, but rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest figures of his time, including Queen Margot, the Gondi family, Pierre de Bérulle and Saint Francis de Sales. Present throughout the world, his legacy is a perfect illustration of what Christian charity can attain. He was canonised in 1737 by Pope Clement XII. Later, Pope Leo XIII named him "patron saint of all charitable works".

Saint Vincent de Paul at the bedside of the dying king, Saint-Séverin church, Paris / © CC BY-SA 3.0/GFreihalter

Reasons to believe:

Saint Vincent de Paul's sermons and 347 letters that have come down to us provide a record of his life and achievements. They form a magnificent collection that sheds light on the meaning and depth of his charity.

From a young shepherd tending his father's flock, Vincent became a royal chaplain. This rise was providential as Vincent used his position solely to obtain the help of the elites of his time to set up the charitable works that were close to his heart.

Various people contributed to the creation of the charities and missionary congregations founded by Vincent. Even taking this into account, the number, scale and posterity of these achievements are staggering. Vincent successively founded the "Ladies of Charity" to assist the destitute (1617), the Congregation of the Mission to evangelise the French countryside (1625), the Company of the Daughters of Charity (1634), the Hospital for Found Children (1638), the Christian Union of Saint-Chaumond for education (1652), and the Holy Name of Jesus Hospital (1653), to name the main ones.

Each one of these beautiful and lasting institutions is a clear sign of God's action. To take just one example, the Congregation of the Mission has stood the test of time and is now present on five continents, underlining the saint's remarkable spiritual fruitfulness.

Despite his incredible level of activity, Vincent never fell into the trap of activism, because he subordinated his actions to prayer and the sacraments every day. His spiritual and mystical life was exceptional. Christ was the primary source of all his activity.

Resting today in the chapel of the Lazarists in Paris, the body of Saint Vincent de Paul remained totally incorrupt for several years after his death. The first exhumation was performed in 1712, 52 years after his death. On that day, the witnesses present, ecclesiastics, doctors and lawyers, found his body supple and intact except for the eyes and nose. At the second exhumation in 1737, his body had started to decompose but exuded a sweet fragrant smell.

One hundred and thirty-five people testified under oath during the canonisation process of Vincent de Paul, including bishops, doctors, teachers, religious, political and financial leaders: fifty-six miracles are attributed to him and are among the many elements examined.

The following is one of the miracles retained for his beatification: A seven-year-old tetraplegic boy, Alexandre-Philippe Legrand, was entrusted to the Hospital for Foundlings. Declared incurable by the doctors, he was taken in by the Daughters of Charity. The Superior began a novena for him, and the boy was taken to Vincent de Paul's tomb every day. Alexandre-Philippe soon regained full use of his limbs.

Summary:

Vincent was born on April 24, 1581, on the Ranquines farm, near Dax in south-western France, a place that was renamed Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in the 19th century in his memory. His family was of modest means - Jean, his father, worked as a ploughman and ran a livestock farm - but at home everyone had enough to eat. Vincent was the third child in a family of six, composed of two girls and four boys. Everyone took part in the daily life of the household. The future saint spent much of his childhood looking after sheep, pigs and cows. He was educated at the Cordeliers school in Dax. At the time, nothing betrayed that the teenager would go on to lead an exceptional life.

However, attending this school revealed young Vincent's intellectual abilities and human qualities. His first providential encounter was with Mr Comet, a lawyer at the court in Dax, who appreciated his talents. Vincent becamethe tutor of the lawyer's sons. Vincent also had a faith that could move mountains and he intended to serve God in one way or another when he grew up. On December 20, 1596, the bishop of Tarbes, Mons. Salvat d'Iharse, conferred minor orders on him. Vincent was only 15.

His vocation was maturing. He knew that earthly goods and material concerns, important as they were, came second to Christ and the Gospel. He did not in any way oppose the temporal and the spiritual, but considered that God was calling him to serve Him by serving mankind.

In 1597, he was sent to the University of Toulouse to study theology with a view to becoming a priest. He remained there for seven long years, demonstrating an incredible capacity for work. Along the way, he was ordained a priest on September 23, 1600, at the unusual age of 19. Appointed parish priest, he was able to continue his studies until he obtained a bachelor's degree in theology.

His reputation on account of his tireless service to the poor, pastoral zeal and his human qualities soon the royal court of France and the Holy See. In 1609, Pierre de Bérulle, the future cardinal, became his confessor. When he moved to Paris, the high nobility opened the doors of their social and intellectual gatherings (salons) to him. The following year, he was appointed chaplain to Marguerite of France ("Queen Margot"), who devoted a large part of her income to charitable works, including the Confraternity of the Brothers of Saint John of God, a charitable and spiritual movement that would inspire Vincent when he founded his own congregations.

In 1612, he was appointed parish priest of Clichy (France, Hauts-de-Seine). The "modest pig keeper" as Vincent called himself, devoted tremendous energy to helping souls and bodies. He rebuilt the church, which was in danger of collapse, and became a tutor for the family of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi, general of the king's galleys. This was another encounter marked by the seal of Providence: not because a social advancement (he had no concern whatsoever for honours), but in that it gave him access to the marginal world, reputedly cursed, of galley slaves. His charity towards convicts continued to grow until the end of his life. Louis XIII appointed him chaplain general of the galleys in 1619.

As Madame de Gondi's confessor, he made several trips to the provinces with her. It was there that he discovered the shocking poverty of the peasants. He continually organised relief work and missions on their behalf.

In parallel to his intense spiritual life, Vincent planned to create institutions to help a greater number of poor people, children and the elderly. He tirelessly solicited thesupport of a growing number of leading figures of the day. On December 12, 1617, he founded the "Ladies of Charity" in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne (France, Ain) to provide assistance to the destitute. This was Monsieur Vincent's first institutional work.

With the help and financial support of Madame de Gondi, Vincent founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Mission (the Lazarists) in 1625 to evangelise the French countryside. Attentive to the religious and human formation of the future members of the congregation, he soon opened a Mission seminary, in line with the recommendations of the Council of Trent. It was an immediate success. The first Lazarists were sent to Algeria, Madagascar and Poland.

In 1634, it was the turn of the Company of the Daughters of Charity to see the light of day, with the help of Louise de Marillac, herself a friend of the Princess of Condé, a relative of the King. The number of vocations grew in just a few months, reflecting the saint's incomparable spiritual fertility. Today, we can no longer count the relief that these nuns provided to the most destitute populations over the years.

The following years were a period of overflowing activity, but Vincent never fell into the trap of activism, because he subordinated his actions to prayer and the sacraments every day. His charity was Christological. He was the perfect representative of the 17th-century French School of Spirituality, which rediscovered and focused charisms on Jesus' different states of life.

In 1635, he sent aid to the people of Lorraine. Later, he sent food and comfort to the inhabitants of Champagne, Picardy and Île-de-France. Three years later, he created the Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés, a pioneering work at the time, responsible for receiving, feeding and caring for homeless or abandoned children.

When Queen Anne of Austria, whose confessor he had become, appointed him in 1643 to the "Conscience de conscience", in charge of the kingdom's ecclesiastical affairs, he was delighted to now have access to the country's greatest lords, to whom he could explain the duty to continue charitable work.

By 1648, an estimated 500 children had been helped thanks to the saint's organisation. But this was far from enough for him. He appealed to the generosity of the nobility. Donations poured in. He didn't stop there. In less than two years, he and Marie Lumague founded the Christian Union of Saint-Chaumond to educate children and young girls, followed by the Hospital of the Holy Name of Jesus, a leading charitable centre in Paris.

He also became aware of the spiritual poverty of his time, including among the most privileged. He therefore devised retreats lasting several days, which he first ran personally, where the aristocracy rubbed shoulders with the common people. Last but not least, three years before his death, he founded a hospice for the elderly, which was to become the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière.

Vincent de Paul gave up his soul to God on September 27, 1660 and was buried the next day in the Parisian church of Saint-Lazare. It is now displayed in the Lazarists chapel (rue de Sèvres, Paris), inside a silver shrine, with the exception of his forearm and heart, which are kept in the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity.

Beatified in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII, Vincent de Paul was canonised on June 16, 1737, by Clement XII. In 1885, Pope Leo XIII named the "poor pig keeper" "patron saint of all charitable works".

Patrick Sbalchiero

Beyond reasons to believe:

Renowned for his compassion, humility, and generosity, and at the origin of the Vincentian Family of organizations, Saint Vincent de Paul is a universally known, visionary and enduring figure of charity, venerated as a saint in both the Catholic Church and the Anglican communion.

Going further:

St. Vincent De Paul by F. A. Forbes, TAN Books; Reprint edition (January 1, 1999)

More information:

Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac: Rules, Conferences, and Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality ) by Vincent de Paul (Author), Louise de Marillac (Author), John E. Rybolt (Editor), Frances Ryan (Editor), Paulist Press (January 1, 1995)