Biography for st vincent depaul
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Saint Vincent de Paul
Image: Detail | Saint Vincent de Paul | Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ
Saint of the Day for September 27
(1580 – September 27, 1660)
Saint Vincent de Paul’s Story
The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent de Paul’s eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony, France, who had become a priest with little more mål than to have a comfortable life.
The Countess de Gondi—whose servant he had helped—persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among poor tenant farmers and country people in general. Vincent was too humble to accept leadership at first, but after working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley slaves, he returned to be the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians. These priests, with vows o
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Feast Day: September 27
Canonized: June 16, 1737
Beatified: August 13, 1729
Born in 1581 in France, Vincent de Paul became a priest at the early age of 19. He became famous for his kindness and generosity.
As a young priest, Vincent was captured by Turkish pirates at sea and sold into slavery. He eventually escaped, along with his master, whom he had converted. He came into close contact with the king and queen of France in both spiritual and diplomatic roles, but eventually his concern for the poor of France became his full-time work.
Vincent went to many places to visit the sick, the elderly, and the poor. He spent time with them and did what he could to take care of them. But Vincent knew it would take more than what he could do on his own to really make a difference. He realized he needed more money and more people to help all those who needed help.
Vincent began to ask wealthy people to donate money that he distributed to the sick and poor of his community. Vincent was s
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St. Vincent de PaulFeast day: Sep 27
On Sept. 27, the Catholic Church remembers Saint Vincent de Paul, the French, 17th century priest known as the patron of Catholic charities for his apostolic work among the poor and marginalized.
During a September 2010 Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI noted that St. Vincent “keenly perceived the strong contrast between the richest and the poorest of people,” and was “encouraged by the love of Christ” to “organize permanent forms of service” to provide for those in need.
The exact year of Vincent’s birth is not definitively known, but it has been placed between 1576 and 1581. Born to a poor family in the southwest of France, he showed his intellectual gifts from a young age, studying theology from around age 15. He received ordination as a priest in the year 1600, and worked as a tutor to students in Toulouse.
During a sea voyage in 1605, Vincent was seized by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery. His ordeal of captivity lasted until 160