St.Vincent de Paul,priest.

† September 27, 1660 Paris, France

Meaning of the name: winner (lat.)

Patron of associations, businesses, priests, children’s homes and hospitals, prisoners, in search of lost things

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent de Paul was born on April 24, 1581, in the village of Pouy near the town of Dax in France at the foot of the Pyrenees. His parents were poor farmers. They had six children and had to work hard from an early age. From an early age, Vincent had a sense for the poor and gave them gifts wherever he could. When the father saw this, he decided to do everything for his son to become a priest. That’s what happened. He went to the Franciscans, where he acquired basic knowledge. He was very gifted and diligent and soon earned his living by tutoring others, so he was not a burden on his parents. In 1597 he transferred to the University of Toulouse. That already cost a lot of money. The father sold the oxen and plow so the son could study. In 1600, Vincent was ordained a priest. He then continued his studies in Zaragoza and Toulouse. In 1605 he traveled from Marseille to Narbonne. It was a short trip, he went by boat. However, they were ambushed by pirates on the way, captured, and dragged to North Africa. There they were sold as slaves. Vincent worked as a doctor’s assistant, later on a large estate. He was an exemplary worker and encouraged his comrades to persevere. He told them stories from the lives of the saints and taught them psalms. It reached the ears of one of the farmer’s three wives. She went to Vincent and liked what he was talking about. Together they agreed and secretly left Africa with her husband. In 1607 they landed in France. In Avignon, she was baptized and her husband, who was an apostate Christian, rejoined the Church.

In the same year, he visited Rome and then became a court priest in Paris to Queen Margaret of Valois. But Vincent didn’t like it. In 1612, he became administrator of a parish in a Paris suburb. Later he was appointed parish priest in the village of Chatillon-les-Dombes. He influenced the count family of Gondi, he helped raise three sons, one of whom became an important duke and the other a cardinal. With the financial and moral support of Countess Gondiová, he started preaching, going from village to village together with several priests. The archbishop was happy because many sinners found their way back to the Church. In 1625, he dedicated to them the house where Vincent organized his brotherhood, which was confirmed in 1631 by Pope Urban VIII. as a congregation. Vincent called them Lazarists after the house of St. Lazarus, which they received as a gift. Vincent built a house for the sick and poor, went to prisons, and tirelessly cared for those in need.

In addition to the male congregation, he founded in 1633 with St. Louise de Marillac apostolic society of women – Daughters of Christian Charity. He did not prescribe them a closed monastic life or solemn eternal vows. He wanted them to devote themselves as much as possible to those who need it, e.g. illegitimate children. He took care of fallen women and the elderly, founded a hospital for them, and built an insane asylum. He introduced spiritual exercises for priests, but also ordinary people. He sent his priests as missionaries to Poland, Hungary, Scotland, Ireland, Tunisia, and Algeria… In addition, he did not miss a single day of contemplation, deep prayer, St. mass, and breviary. He fought against Jansenism – a pessimistic delusion that was spreading in France at the time. For the past eleven years, he had suffered greatly from a painful cold. He died suddenly – on September 26, 1660, he became very weak. They provided him with the sacraments of the dying and the next day, September 27, 1660, he died. He was eighty years old. Fifty years later, his body was found intact. In 1737 he was declared a saint. He is the patron of all acts of love for one’s neighbor.