[HERMANA
FAUSTA LABRADOR] [SAINT
VINCENT DE PAUL] [SAINT
LOUISE DE MARILLAC]
Born
at Pouy, Gascony, France, in 1580, though some authorities have said
1576; died at Paris, 27 September, 1660. Born of a peasant family, he
made his humanities studies at Dax with the Cordeliers, and his theological
studies, interrupted by a short stay at Saragossa, were made at Toulouse
where he graduated in theology. Ordained in 1600 he remained at Toulouse
or in its vicinity acting as tutor while continuing his own studies.
Brought to Marseilles for an inheritance, he was returning by sea in
1605 when Turkish pirates captured him and took him to Tunis. He was
sold as a slave, but escaped in 1607 with his master, a renegade whom
he converted. On returning to France he went to Avignon to the papal
vice-legate, whom he followed to Rome to continue his studies. He was
sent back to France in 1609, on a secret mission to Henry IV; he became
alminer to the Queen Marguerite of Valois, and was provided with the
little Abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Chaume. At the request of M.
de Berulle, founder of the Oratory, he took charge of the parish of
Clichy near Paris, but several months later (1612) he entered the services
of the Gondi, an illustrious French family, to educate the children
of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi. He became the spiritual director of Mme
de Gondi. With her assistance he began giving missions on her estates;
but to escape the esteem of which he was the object he left the Gondi
and with the approval of M. de Berulle had himself appointed curé
of Chatillon-les-Dombes (Bresse), where he converted several Protestants
and founded the first conference of charity for the assistance of the
poor. He was recalled by the Gondi and returned to them (1617) five
months later, resuming the peasant missions. Several learned Paris priests,
won by his example, joined him. Nearly everywhere after each of these
missions, a conference of charity was founded for the relief of the
poor, notably at Joigny, Châlons, Mâcon, Trévoux,
where they lasted until the Revolution.
After the poor of the country, Vincent's solicitude was directed towards
the convicts in the galleys, who were subject to M. de Gondi as general
of the galleys of France. Before being convoyed aboard the galleys or
when illness compelled them to disembark, the condemned convicts were
crowded with chains on their legs onto damp dungeons, their only food
being black bread and water, while they were covered with vermin and
ulcers. Their moral state was still more frightful than their physical
misery. Vincent wished to ameliorate both. Assisted by a priest, he
began visiting the galley convicts of Paris, speaking kind words to
them, doing them every manner of service however repulsive. He thus
won their hearts, converted many of them, and interested in their behalf
several persons who came to visit them. A house was purchased where
Vincent established a hospital. Soon appointed by Louis XIII royal almoner
of the galleys, Vincent profited by this title to visit the galleys
of Marseilles where the convicts were as unfortunate as at Paris; he
lavished his care on them and also planned to build them a hospital;
but this he could only do ten years later. Meanwhile, he gave on the
galley of Bordeaux, as on those of Marseilles, a mission which was crowned
with success (1625).
Congregation of the Mission
The
good wrought everywhere by these missions together with the urging of
Mme de Gondi decided Vincent to found his religious institute of priests
vowed to the evangelization of country people--the Congregation of Priests
of the Mission (q.v.).
Experience had quickly revealed to St. Vincent that the good done by
the missions in country places could not last unless there were priests
to maintain it and these were lacking at that time in France. Since
the Council of Trent the bishops had been endeavoring to found seminaries
to form them, but these seminaries encountered many obstacles, the chief
of which were the wars of religion. Of twenty founded not ten had survived
till 1625. The general assembly of the French clergy expressed the wish
that candidates for Holy Orders should only be admitted after some days
of recollection and retreat. At the request of the Bishop of Beauvais,
Potierdes Gesvres, Vincent undertook to attempt at Beauvais (September,
1628) the first of these retreats. According to his plan they comprised
ascetic conferences and instructions on the knowledge of things most
indispensable to priests. Their chief service was that they gave rise
to the seminaries as these prevailed later in France. At first they
lasted only ten days, but in extending them by degrees to fifteen or
twenty days, then to one, two, or three months before each order, the
bishops eventually prolonged the stay of their clerics to two or three
years between philosophy and the priesthood and there were what were
called seminaries d'ordinands and later grands seminaries, when lesser
ones were founded. No one did more than Vincent towards this double
creation. As early as 1635 he had establish a seminary at the Collége
des Bons-Enfants. Assisted by Richelieu, who gave him 1000 crowns, he
kept at Bons-Enfants only ecclesiastics studying theology (grand seminarie)
and he founded besides Saint-Lazare for young clerics studying the humanities
a lesser seminary called the Seminary of St. Charles (1642). He had
sent some of his priests to the Bishop of Annecy (1641) to direct his
seminary, and assisted the bishops to establish others in their dioceses
by furnishing priests to direct them. At his death he had thus accepted
the direction of eleven seminaries. Prior to the Revolution his congregation
was directing in France fifty-three upper and nine lesser seminaries,
that is a third of all in France.
The ecclesiastical conference completed the work of the seminaries.
Since 1633 St. Vincent held one every Tuesday at Saint-Lazare at which
assembled all the priests desirous of conferring in common concerning
the virtues and the functions of their state. Among others Bossuet and
Tronson took part. With the conferences, St. Vincent instituted at St-Lazare
open retreats for laymen as well as priests. It is estimated that in
the last twenty-five years of St. Vincent's life there came regularly
more than 800 persons yearly, or more than 20,000 in all. these retreats
contributed powerfully to infuse a Christian spirit among the masses,
but they imposed heavy sacrifices on the house of St-Lazare. Nothing
was demanded ofthe retreatants; when there was question of the good
of souls Vincent thought little of expense. At the complaints of his
brethren who desired that the admission of the retreatants should be
made more difficult he consented one day to keep the door. Towards evening
there had never been so many accepted and when the embarrassed brother
came to inform him that there was no more room he merely replied "well,
give mine".
Work for the Poor
Vincent
de Paul had established the Daughters of Charity almost at the same
time as the exercises des ordinands. At first they were intended to
assist the conferences of charity. When these conferences were established
at Paris (1629) the ladies who joined them readily brought their alms
and were willing to visit the poor, but it often happened that they
did not know how to give them care which their conditions demanded and
they sent their servants to do what was needful in their stead. Vincent
conceived the idea of enlisting good young women for this service of
the poor. They were first distributed singly in the various parishes
where the conferences were established and they visited the poor with
these ladies of the conferences or when necessary cared for them during
their absence. In recruiting, forming, and directing these servants
of the poor, Vincent found able assistance in Mlle Legras. When their
number increased he grouped then into a community under her direction,
coming himself every week to hold a conference suitable to their condition.
(For further details see Sisters of Charity.) Besides the Daughters
of Charity Vincent de Paul secured for the poor the services of the
Ladies of Charity, at the request of the Archbishop of Paris. He grouped
(1634) under this name some pious women who were determined to nurse
the sick poor entering the Hotel-Dieu to the number of 20,000 or 25,000
annually; they also visited the prisons. Among them were as many as
200 ladies of the highest rank. After having drawn up their rule St.
Vincent upheld and stimulated their charitable zeal. It was due to them
that he was able to collect the enormous sums which he distributed in
aid of all the unfortunates. Among the works, which their co-operation
enabled him to undertake, that of the care of foundlings was one of
the most important. Some of the foundlings at this period were deliberately
deformed by miscreants anxious to exploit public pity. Others were received
into a municipal asylum called "la couche", but often they
were ill-treated or allowed to die of hunger. The Ladies of Charity
began by purchasing twelve children drawn by lot. who were installed
in a special house confided to the Daughters of Charity and four nurses.
Thus years later the number of children reached 4000; their support
cost 30,000 livres; soon with the increase in the number of children
this reached 40,000 livres.
With the assistance of a generous unknown who placed at his disposal
the sum of 10,000 livres, Vincent founded the Hospice of the Name of
Jesus, where forty old people of both sexes found a shelter and work
suited to their condition. This is the present hospital of the uncurables.
The same beneficence was extended to all the poor of Paris but the creation
of the general hospital which was first thought of by several Ladies
of Charity, such as the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. Vincent adopted the idea
and did more than anyone for the realization of what has been called
one of the greatest works of charity of the seventeenth century, the
shelteringof 40,000 poor in an asylum where they would be given a useful
work. Inanswer St. Vincent's appeal the gifts poured in. The king granted
the lands of the Salpétriere for the erection of the hospital,
with a capital of 50,000 liveres and an endowment of 3000; Cardinal
Mazarin sent 100,000 livres as first gift, Président de Lamoignon
20,000 crowns, a lady of the Bullion family 60,000 livres. St. Vincent
attached the Daughters of Charity to the work and supported it with
all his strength.
St. Vincent's charity was not restricted to Paris, but reached to all
the provinces desolated by misery. 
In
that period of the Thirty Years War known as the French period Lorraine,
Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent
for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and scourges which
then more than ever war drew in its train. Vincent made urgent appeals
to the Ladies of Charity; it has been estimated that at his reiterated
requests he secured 12,000 livres equivalent to $60,000 in our time
(1913). When the treasury was empty he again sought alms which he dispatched
at once to the stricken districts. When contributions began to fail
Vincent decided to print and sell the accounts sent him from those desolated
districts; this met with great success, even developing a periodical
newspaper called "Le magasin charitable". Vincent took advantage
of it to fund in the ruined provinces the work of the potages économiques,
the tradition of which still subsists in our modern economic kitchens.
He himself compiled with minute care instructions concerning the manner
of preparing these potages and the quantity of fat, butter, vegetables,
and bread which should be used. He encouraged the foundation of societies
undertaking to bury the dead and to clean away the dirt which was a
permanent cause of plague. They were often headed by the missionaries
and the Sisters of Charity. Through them also Vincent distributed to
their land. At the same time, in order to remove them from the brutality
of the soldiers, he brought to Paris 200 young women whom he endeavored
to shelter in various convents. and numerous children whom he received
at St-Lazare. He even founded a special organization for the relief
of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris. After the
general peace he directed his solicitude and his alms to the Irish and
English Catholics who had been driven from their country.
All these benefits had rendered the name of Vincent de Paul popular
in Paris and even at the Court. Richelieu sometimes received him and
listened favorably to his requests; he assisted him in his first seminary
foundations and established a house for his missionaries in the village
of Richelieu. On his deathbed Louis XIII desired to be assisted by him:
"Oh, Monsieur Vincent", said he, "if I am restored to
health I shall appoint no bishops unless they have spent three years
with you." His widow, Ann of Austria, made Vincent a member of
the council of conscience charged with nominations to benefices. These
honors did not alter Vincent's modestyand simplicity. He went to the
Court only through necessity, in fitting but simple garb. He made no
use of his influence save for the welfare of the poor and in the interest
of the Church. Under Mazarin, when Paris rose at the time of the Fronde
(1649) against the Regent, Anne of Austria, who was compelled to withdraw
to St-Fermain-en-Laye, Vincent braved all dangers to go and implore
her clemency in behalf of the people of Paris and boldly advised her
to sacrifice at least for a time the cardinal minister in order to avoid
the evils which the war threatened to bring on the people. He also remonstrated
with Mazarin himself. His advice was not listened to. St. Vincent only
redoubled his efforts to lessen the evils of the war in Paris. Through
his care soup was distributed daily to 15,000 or 16,000 refugees or
worthy and poor; 800 to 900 young women were sheltered; in the single
parish of St. Paul the Sisters of Charity made and distributed soup
every day to 500 poor, besides which they had to care for 60 to 80 sick.
During this time Vincent, indifferent to dangers which he ran, multiplied
letters and visits to the Court at St-Denis to win minds to peace and
clemency; he even wrote a letter to the pope asking him to intervene
and to interpose his mediation to hasten peace between the two parties.
Jansenism also made evident his attachment to the Faith and the use
to which he put his influences in its defense. When Duvergier de Hauranne,
later celebrated as the Abbé de St-Cyran, came to Paris (about
1621), Vincent de Paul showed some interest in him as in a fellow countryman
and a priest in whom he discerned learning and piety. But when he became
better acquainted with the basis of his ideas concerning grace, far
from being misled by them, he endeavored to arrest him in the path of
error. When the "Augustinus" of Jansenius and "Frequent
Communion" of Arnauld revealed the true ideas and opinions of the
sect, Vincent set about combating; he persuaded the Bishop of Lavaur,
Abra de Raconis, to write against them. In the Council of Conscience
he opposed the admission to benefices of anyone who shared them, and
joined the chancellor and the nuncio in seeking means to stay their
progress. Stimulated by him some bishops at St-Lazare took the initiative
in relating these errors to the pope. St. Vincent induced 85 bishops
to request the condemnation of the five famous propositions, and persuaded
Anne of Austria to write to the pope to hasten his decision. When the
five propositions had been condemned by Innocent X (1655) and Alexander
VII (1656), Vincent sought to have this sentence accepted by all. His
zeal for the Faith, however, did not suffer him to forget his charity;
he gave evidence in behalf of St-Cyran, whom Richelieu had imprisoned
(1638), and is said to have assisted at his funeral. When Innocent X
had announced his decision he went to the solitaries of Port-Royal to
congratulate them on the intention they had previously manifested of
submitting fully; he even begged preachers renowned for their anti-Jansenist
zeal to avoid in their sermons all that might embitter their adversaries.
The religious orders also benefited by the great influence of Vincent.
Not only did he long act as director to the Sisters of the Visitation,
founded by Francis de Sales, but he received at Paris the Religious
of the Blessed Sacrament, supported the existence of the Daughters of
the Cross (whose object was to teach girls in the country), and encouraged
the reform of the Benedictines, Cistercians, Antonines, Augustinians,
Premonstratensians, and the Congregation of Grandmont; and Cardinal
de Rochefoucault, who was entrusted with the reform of the religious
orders in France, called Vincent his right hand and obliged him to remain
in the Council of Conscience.
Vincent's zeal and charity went beyond the boundaries of France. As
early as 1638 he commissioned his priests to preach to the shepherds
of the Roman Campagna; he had them give at Rome and Genoa the exercices
des ordinands and preach missions on Savoy and Piedmont. He sent others
to Ireland, Scotland, the Hebrides, Poland, and Madagascar (1648-60).
Of all the works carried on abroad none perhaps interested him so much
as the poor slaves of Barbary, whose lot he had once shared. These were
from 25,000 to 30,000 of these unfortunates divided chiefly between
Tunis, Algiers, and Bizaerta. Christians for the most part, they had
been carried off from their families by the Turkish corsairs. They were
treated as veritable beasts of burden, condemned to frightful labour,
without any corporal or spiritual care. Vincent left nothing undone
to send them aid as early as 1645 he sent among them a priest and a
brother, who were followed by others. Vincent even had one of these
invested with the dignity of consul in order that he might work more
efficaciously for the slaves. They gave frequent missions to them, and
assured them the services of religion. At the same time they acted as
agents with their families, and were able to free some of them. Up to
the time of St. Vincent's death these missionaries had ransomed 1200
slaves, and they had expended 1,200,000 liveres in behalf of the slaves
of Barbary, not to mention the affronts and persecutions of all kinds
which they themselves had endured from the Turks. This exterior life
so fruitful in works had its source in a profound spirit of religion
and in an interior life of wonderful intensity. He was singularly faithful
to the duties of his state, careful to obey the suggestions of faith
and piety, devoted to prayer, meditation, and all religious and ascetic
exercises. Of practical and prudent mind, he left nothing to chance;
his distrust of himself was equalled only by his trust in Providence;
when he founded the Congregation of the Mission and the Sisters of Charity
he refrained from giving them fixed constitutions beforehand; it was
only after tentatives, trials, and long experience that he resolved
in the last years of his life to give them definitive rules. His zeal
for souls knew no limit; all occasions were to him opportunities to
exercise it. When he died the poor of Paris lost their best friend and
humanity a benefactor unsurpassed in modern times.
Forty years later (1705) the Superior-General of the Lazarists requested
that the process of his canonization might be instituted. Many bishops,
among them Bossuet, Fénelon, Fléchier, and Cardinal de
Noailles, supported the request. On 13 August, 1729, Vincent was declared
Blessed by Benedict XIII, and canonized by Clement XII on 16 June, 1737.
In 1885 Leo XIII gave him as patron to the sisters of Charity. In the
course of his long and busy life Vincent de Paul wrote a large number
of letters, estimated at not less than 30,000. After his death the task
of collecting them was begun; in the eighteenth century nearly 7000
had been gathered; many have since been lost. Those which remained were
published rather incorrectly as "Lettres et conferérences
de s. Vincent de Paul" (supplement, Paris, 1888); "Lettres
inédites de saint Vincent de Paul" (Coste in"Revue
de Gascogne", 1909, 1911); Lettres choisies de saint Vincent de
Paul" (Paris, 1911); the total of letters thus published amounts
to about 3200. There have also been collected and published the saint's
"Conférences aux missionaires" (Paris, 1882) and "Conférences
aux Filles de la Charite" (Paris, 1882).