St Vincent de Paul Medal - Patron Saint of charities, hospitals, prisoners, lost articles
2.5cm long x 1.5cm wide
Facts
Feastday:
September 27
Patron:
of charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; Madagascar;
prisoners; Richmond, Virginia; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul
Societies; Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory; Vincentian Service Corps;
volunteers
Birth: 1581
Death: 1660
Beatified: August 13, 1729, Rome, Papal States by Pope Benedict XIII
Canonized: June 16, 1737, Rome, Papal States by Pope Clement XII
St. Vincent de Paul was born to a poor peasant family in the French
village of Pouy on April 24, 1581. His first formal education was
provided by the Franciscans. He did so well, he was hired to tutor the
children of a nearby wealthy family. He used the monies he earned
teaching to continue his formal studies at the University of Toulose
where he studied theology.
He was ordained in 1600 and remained in Toulose for a time. In 1605,
while on a ship traveling from Marseilles to Narbone, he was captured,
brought to Tunis and sold as a slave. Two years later he and his master
managed to escape and both returned to France.
St. Vincent went to Avignon and later to Rome to continue his
studies. While there he became a chaplain to the Count of Goigny and was
placed in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. He became
pastor of a small parish in Clichy for a short period of time, while
also serving as a tutor and spiritual director.
From that point forward he spent his life preaching missions to and
providing relief to the poor. He even established hospitals for them.
This work became his passion. He later extended his concern and ministry
to convicts. The need to evangelize and assist these souls was so great
and the demands beyond his own ability to meet that he founded the
Ladies of Charity, a lay institute of woman, to help, as well as a
religious institute of priests - the Congregation of Priests of the
Mission, commonly referred to now as the Vincentians.
This was at a time when there were not many priests in France and
what priests there were, were neither well-formed nor faithful to their
way of life. Vincent helped reform the clergy and the manner in which
they were instructed and prepared for the priesthood. He did this first
through the presentation of retreats and later by helping develop a
precursor to our modern day seminaries. At one point his community was
directing 53 upper level seminaries. His retreats, open to priests and
laymen, were so well attended that it is said he infused a "Christian
spirit among more than 20,000 persons in his last 23 years."The Vincentians remain with us today with nearly 4,000 members in 86
countries. In addition to his order of Vincentian priests, St. Vincent
cofounded the Daughters of Charity along with St. Louise de Marillac.
There are more than 18,000 Daughters today serving the needs of the poor
in 94 countries.
He was eighty years old when he died in Paris on September 27, 1660.He
had "become the symbol of the successful reform of the French Church".
St. Vincent is sometimes referred to as "The Apostle of Charity" and
"The Father of the Poor".
His incorrupt heart can be found in the Convent of the Sisters of
Charity and his bones have been embedded in a wax effigy of the Saint
located at the Church of the Lazarist Mission. Both sites are located in
Paris, France.
Two miracles have been attributed to St Vincent - a nun cured of
ulcers and a laywoman cured of paralysis. As a result of the first, Pope
Benedict XIII beatified him on August 13, 1729. Less than 8 years later
(on June 16, 1737) he was canonized by Pope Clement XIII. The Bull of
Canonization recognized Vincent for his charity and reform of the
clergy, as well as for his early role in opposing Jansenism.
It has been reported that St. Vincent wrote more than 30,000 letters
in his lifetime and that nearly 7,000 had been collected in the 18th
century. There are at least five collections of his letters in existence
today.
The feast day for St. Vincent, the patron of all charitable societies, is September 27
