Vincent de Paul was born in 1581 near the town of Ranquine in Gascony in southwest France. The town is now known as Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Landes, France.

Born into a peasant family, Vincent was a highly intelligent youth and received his early education from the Franciscan friars at Acqs. He began divinity studies in 1596 at the University of Toulouse and was ordained at the age of 20.

He was later taken captive by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery in Tunis. In 1607 he was freed after he converted one of his owners to Christianity.

Returning to France, Vincent served as a parish priest near Paris where he started several organizations to help the poor. He was assigned as Chaplain at the court of Henry IV of France. With Louise de Marillac, he founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity. He also instituted the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Lazarists).

He spent his entire priestly life working for the poor, the enslaved, the abandoned, the ignored -- the pariahs of society.

Vincent died at Paris in 1660, was beatified in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII and canonized on June 16, 1737 by Pope Clement XII.

St. Vincent de Paul is the patron saint of charitable societies, charitable workers, charities, horses, hospital workers, lepers, prisoners, and volunteers.

His memorial is September 27.

St. Vincent de Paul on the poor:

"Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor. Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool by the Gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews, he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: "He sent me to preach the good news to the poor." We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ's actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.

"Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also love whose who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to be understanding where they are concerned. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul's words: "I have become all things to all men." Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbors' worries and distress.

"It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been given to us as our masters and patrons."

"The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it." -- Saint Vincent de Paul

"However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of."  -- St. Vincent de Paul

Updated: 8/11/2011