Who was Saint Vincent de Paul?
Vincent grew up in a little farming village in the south of France, where he helped his family by looking after the animals in the fields. When he grew up, he became a priest. France then had many very poor families: some had no bread, and some had no one to care for them when they were sick. Vincent saw them, and he knew he could not help them all by himself. But he could ask other good people to help.
So he gathered the Ladies of Charity, who cooked warm meals and carried baskets of food to families in need. He started a group of priests, the Congregation of the Mission, who went from village to village telling people about God’s love in simple words. And with Saint Louise de Marillac he began the Daughters of Charity, sisters who walked from house to house to care for the sick.
Vincent and the sisters also took in babies who had been left alone in the city, fed and rocked them, and found them loving homes. He kept helping even when he was very old, and he died in 1660. Many years later, a young man and his friends began the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, which still helps people in his name all over the world. Jesus said, “As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”
When is Saint Vincent de Paul’s feast day?
Saint Vincent de Paul’s feast day is September 27. It’s the day he died in Paris, in 1660, after a long life spent helping others.
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