Vincent de Paul, one of the most eminent saints of the modern Catholic Church, was born of humble parentage at Pouy near Dax in Gascony, 24th April 1576. He studied at Toulouse, and was admitted to priest's orders in 1600. On a voyage which he was making from Marseilles to Narbonne his ship was captured by corsairs, and he with his companions sold into slavery at Tunis. His master, a renegade Savoyard, yielded to the exhortations of Vincent, and resolved to return to the Christian faith, so, escaping from Barbary, they landed in France in 1607. Having gone thence to Rome, he was entrusted with a mission to the French court in 1608, and became almoner of Henry IV.'s queen, Marguerite de Valois. As pastor of Clichy and of Chatillon, he formed associations for helping the sick, visited prisons and galleys, and in 1619 was appointed almoner-general of the galleys. The tale is told, but lacks authority, that in 1622 he took the place and wore the fetters of a galley-slave, whose heart he had failed to reach otherwise. Meanwhile he had laid the foundation of what eventually grew into the great and influential congregation of Priests of the Missions, an association of priests who assist the parochial clergy by preaching and hearing confessions periodically. The rules of this congregation were finally approved by Urban VIII. in 1632; and in the following year the Fathers established themselves in the so-called Priory of St Lazare, in Paris, whence their name of Lazurists is derived. From this date his life was devoted to the organisation of works of charity and benevolence. To him Paris owes the establishment of the Foundling Hospital. The noble Sisterhood of Charity (see SISTERHOODS) was of his founding, and Vincent was entrusted by St Francis of Sales with the direction of the newly-founded order of Sisters of the Visitation. He died at the age of eighty-five, at St Lazare, September 27, 1660, and was canonised by Clement XII. in 1737. His festival is held on the 19th July.
There are English Lives by C. A. Jones (1873) and R. F. Wilson (1873), and French by Maynard (3d ed. 1886), Chantelauze (1882), Bougand (1889; trans. 1899), &c.
The Society of Vincent de Paul was founded at Paris in 1833 by eight young men, of whom Ozanam (q.v.) was one, for the purpose of helping the poor, and chose St Vincent de Paul as patron. The society, which has branches in all parts of the Catholic world, devotes itself to relieving the poor, founding and managing libraries for their use, establishing crèches for children and dispensaries, visiting prisoners, and finding employment for men out of work. Occasionally sums of money are raised by the society to relieve distress in cases of famine, &c.