Vincent de Paul
c. 1581 – 1660
Saint Vincent de Paul organized missions and practical care for poor communities in France. Explore his September 27 feast and work with Louise de Marillac.
A Priest in Early Modern France
Vincent came from Gascony and entered the priesthood around the beginning of the seventeenth century. His career took shape through service, patronage, and changing pastoral responsibilities. Accounts of his early life contain disputed details and differing dates. His mature institutional work is a firmer starting point than repeating every episode of capture and escape as settled biography.13
Missions and the Formation of Clergy
Vincent helped establish the Congregation of the Mission, which connected preaching in rural communities with the formation of clergy. His concern was practical as well as instructional: religious work required organization, trained people, and durable support. This makes him important to the history of Catholic renewal in France beyond the familiar image of an individual giving alms.1
Louise de Marillac and Organized Service
Vincent worked with Louise de Marillac and other women to develop forms of service to sick and impoverished people. The Daughters of Charity began in 1633. Their work depended on women’s leadership and daily labor, so the institutional story should not be attributed to Vincent alone. Correspondence and community records preserve this collaborative dimension more clearly than heroic shorthand.12
September 27 and the Vincentian Legacy
Vincent died in Paris in 1660 and is commemorated on September 27. Later Vincentian communities adapted his combination of service, formation, and religious commitment across many settings. Their existence demonstrates a long reception history; it does not establish that every later charitable institution bearing his name was personally founded by him. Distinguishing the founder from later adaptations keeps the chronology accurate.13
Sources and further reading
- Reference workSt. Vincent de PaulThe Catholic Encyclopedia, Robert Appleton Company; New Advent transcriptionSupports missions, charitable organizations, clerical formation, and collaboration with Louise; early-life chronology is treated cautiously.Published: 1912. Accessed .
- Institutional resourceSaint Louise de MarillacDaughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de PaulInstitutional chronology of the collaboration and the 1633 foundation.Accessed .
- Institutional resourceSveti Vinko PaulskiVatican NewsCroatian Catholic biography supporting the commonly used 1581 birth year and September 27 commemoration.Published: 2022-09-27. Accessed .
Paragraph citations point to starting sources. They do not imply that every source is neutral or that sources agree with one another.
Editorial record
Source-guided profileVersion 1 · Updated
Narrative synthesis with paragraph-level starting citations. Evidence, tradition, debate, and uncertainty are labeled separately.
- v1 · 2026-10-22Figure profile added to or upgraded within Feason’s connected Christian encyclopedia.
- Contemporary evidence
- Material or textual evidence created near the person, place, or event.
- Tradition
- Later community memory, devotion, or institutional claim, attributed to its holders.
- Historical debate
- More than one responsible interpretation remains in active discussion.
- Unknown
- The surviving record cannot presently establish a confident answer.
Known For
- Congregation of the Mission
- Organized Charity
- Daughters of Charity Co-Founder
Conversations
Discuss this figure with the community. Be charitable and precise.
Loading…