(c.1581-1660) Vincent was a very intelligent son of a peasant family in France and was educated by Franciscans. He was ordained a priest in 1600 and five years later was captured by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery. He was freed when he converted his owner about two years later. With a passion to serve the poor, he founded the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists) and helped Saint Louise de Marillac start the Daughters of Charity. Saint Vincent’s incorrupt heart is preserved in a reliquary at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris, where it was when Our Lady appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure in 1830.
Saint Vincent de Paul is synonymous with service to the poor. When hearing his name, many people think of the society named after him, started by Blessed Frederic Ozanam. What do others think of when they hear your name? What amends, direct or indirect, can we make to unite our name with service?
“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).
Reflection by Brad Farmer