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Who was Saint Vincent de Paul?
Vincent was the son of French peasants. His father wanted a different way of life for him than his family's traditional role of tending sheep so, with this parental goal in mind, sent Vincent to study with the Franciscans at Dax. Later he continued his studies at Saragossa and Toulouse and was ordained a priest in 1600.

A major event came to pass in Vincent's life, when, traveling by boat, he was captured by African pirates and brought to Tunis, Africa, and sold as a slave. He succeeded in converting his "owner" and together they returned to France. There Vincent became almoner for Queen Marguerite of Valois, pastor of Clichy, and tutor to the family of Count and Countess de Gondi. In 1625, this devout couple persuaded Vincent to establish a congregation of priests to preach in the towns and villages and to perform charitable works.

Vincent wrote the Rule for this new congregation naming it the Institute of the Missions. Its priests, however, soon became known as Vincentians, in honor of their founder, or Lazarists, for the name of their center, St. Lazare Priory. The Vincentians were soon directing seminaries and colleges in various parts of the world and working with the poor in countries like Italy, Poland, Ireland and Scotland.

Though Vincent, marked by his own experience, procured the ransom of over 1200 Christians enslaved in North Africa, his name is most well known for his untiring and effective work on behalf of the poor, sick, aged and orphaned. He built or procured hospitals, homes for orphans, foundlings and the aged, and founded confraternities in parishes to look after the sick poor. Even today there are societies, hospitals, nursing homes, and homes for children that bear his name.

What links Saint Vincent to the Sisters of Providence?
As Sisters of Providence, we see the first thread of Vincent in our lives when he organized a group of well-to-do women, called Ladies of Charity. These women both assisted him in his work and collected revenue to support his charitable works. Finding he really needed full-time help, he founded, with the help of Louise de Marrilac, the Daughters of Charity for this purpose. He called these women daughters rather than sisters because nuns of the day were confined to convent cloisters. The community he founded would consider "parish churches" their chapels, and the streets and hospital wards of Paris, their "cloisters." Vincent's Rule of Life for the Daughters of Charity is the Rule we, Sisters of Providence, follow today.

Vincent died at 90 years of age. Pope Leo III declared him the patron of all charitable institutions.

[For information on the spirituality of Saint Vincent, visit our prayer and spirituality page.]

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