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The Story of our Parish Patron St. Vincent
de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul was a peasant who started out
in life with an eye to getting ahead in the world and wound up devoting his
many talents to the service of the poor, the sick, orphaned children,
convicts and slaves. He deliberately discarded his worldly ambitions to
serve God.
In his lifetime, he moved among the great men and Women of his age-the king
and queen, the hierarchy, the illustrious, the wealthy. He was in a position
to use political power but didn’t.
Undoubtedly, St. Vincent de Paul was one of the greatest organizers who ever
lived.
However, he was not canonized for his stupendous talents as an organizer but
because he was a saint.
The story of his life is truly inspirational and has been the subject of
many books.
Naturally, a number of sentimental legends developed about him. Recent
historians have pointed out that these legends, charming as they may be,
could not possibly add to the
stature of so great a saint.
Peasant Background
Vincent was the third of six children born to a peasant couple in the
village of Pouay in Southern France. His father owned a small farm.
Recognizing the exceptional intelligence of the youth, his father arranged
for him to attend school. Seminaries supported by the dioceses did not exist
at this time. Vincent decided to become a priest and was determined to
obtain the best education possible so that he might rise in the church, not
an unworthy ambition. He prepared himself by studying at the university in
Toulouse. He might easily have been satisfied with the usual requirements of
the time-just enough Latin to say Mass and administer the sacraments-if he
had not been so ambitious. He was ordained in 1600 at the age of 19.
Young “Monsieur Vincent,” as he was called, went to Marseille in 1605 and on
his return trip to Paris was taken prisoner by pirates and held in captivity
for two years. The pirates sold him as a slave to a fisherman. He was sold
again because he was always too seasick to be of much use. His next master
was an old magician with whom he was able to ingratiate himself. The
magician taught him some bogus alchemy and ventriloquism. He was later to
amuse his friends with the latter art and once even entertained the Pope and
cardinals in Rome in this manner.
He made his escape from captivity and came in contact with a priest who had
lost his faith. St. Vincent tried for some time to bring the fallen priest
back to the Faith and finally was successful. In connection with this
episode he was inspired to make an absolutely sincere surrender of his whole
life to the service of the poor. The offering was difficult because, as he
himself wrote, by nature he “never had any particular devotion to the poor,
nay rather the opposite.”
Upon his return to Paris, St. Vincent met Cardinal Berulle, a man of
considerable influence. He was given a priory and made this the center of
his mission work among the poor. Appalled by the spiritual and material
poverty of the peasants of France, he started visiting the villages and
giving mission. Several learned priests, impressed by his example, joined
him. From this start, under St Vincent’s direction, the Congregation of the
Priests of the Mission instituted.
Because of the success of the missions among the villagers, St. Vincent
started missions or retreats for students about to be ordained. Out of this
grew the first seminaries in France. His retreats then extended to the
learned laymen of the time.
St.. Vincent accepted the post of grand chaplain to the gaI1ey sIaves, a
position he held until the end of his life. The famous story that the saint
once took the place of a galley slave so that the slave might visit his
family has been shown by his most thorough biographers to have been just a
legend.
Influenced Wealthy
One of the most remarkable things about St. Vincent was his tremendous
influence with women of high social standing. His portraits testify that he
was anything but a glamour-boy type. With his bulbous nose, heavy chin,
apparently few teeth, and bright little eyes, he was about as ugly-looking
as humans come.
His good humor, kindliness, sanctity, unselfishness and good manners
dominated. The finest drawing rooms were open to him. The high-born ladies
opened their purses for his charities. But he needed more than money. Always
practical, he organized the wealthy women into an auxiliary known as the
Ladies of Charity. One of these Ladies of Charity, Louise de Marillac, also
to become a saint, under St. Vincent’s guidance organized another auxiliary,
drawing membership from the sturdy peasant girls. This auxiliary cared for
the poor and was the beginning of the Sisters of Charity, correctly called
Daughters of Charity.
Loved Children
St. Vincent had so many irons in the fire it is difficult to determine which
might have been his favorite charitable work. He obviously was deeply moved
by the plight of abandoned children and with the help of the Ladies of
Charity and the Daughters he established homes for foundlings.
Touching as the legend is, there seems to be little truth in the story that
he went about the alleys of Paris filling his cloak with infants.
It was he who revolutionized the hospitals of France and was one of the
first to provide humane care for the mentally ill. He also raised large sums
of money to ransom Christian captives in North Africa.
During the Thirty Years War he established food kitchens in Paris and raised
thousands of dollars to distribute in relief.
‘Slave of God’
A humble priest, despite setbacks, disappointments and even slander, he kept
serenity and evenness of mind. His one desire was to be a “slave of God.” He
did not seek honors for himself.
In the last years of his life he was sick a great deal and died Sept. 27,
1660. He was canonized by Pope Clement XII and Pope Leo XIII named him the
patron of Catholic charitable societies.
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