The Birth and Education of Vincent de Paul On Easter Tuesday 1576, Vincent de Paul came into the world in the small town of Pouy near Dax, an episcopal city in the Landes of Bordeaux … Read More
The Life of Vincent de Paul (Abelly): Book I, Chapter I
The Church in France at the Time of the Birth of Vincent de Paul God’s wisdom and power in guiding his Church are never so admirable as when he uses the very sufferings she endures … Read More
Vincent de Paul: a man of the Gospel
Introduction Throughout the history of the Church many men and women who have followed Jesus Christ have been classified as men and women of the gospel. In reality all the saints could be referred to … Read More
The Life of Vincent de Paul (Abelly): Dedication and Foreword
Dedication to the Queen Mother of the King Madame, The favorable reception Your Majesty always gave to Monsieur Vincent during his lifetime and the kindness with which you have honored his memory since his death … Read More
The Life of Vincent de Paul (Abelly): Introduction
Weights and Measures These have been left in French to preserve the flavor of the original, and to avoid, particularly dealing with money, having to change currency rates. Note, too, that weights and measures were … Read More
Some Less-Publicised Facets of Saint Vincent
“Saints must not be reduced to plaster statues, to colourless figures always first in the class and never singing a wrong note”. This idea is now generally accepted, but there is another way in which … Read More
The Dynamism of St Vincent’s Works
This article is made up mostly of reflections arising from two Spanish works on St Vincent: J M Ibáñez CM, Vicente de Paúl y los pobres de su tiempo (Vincent de Paul and the Poor … Read More
St Vincent, the Common Rules and the Individual Confrère
Much effort has gone into research, discussion and writing about Vincent’s thinking on the evangelisation of the poor and on the formation of the clergy. A proportionate amount of effort does not seem to have … Read More
Vincent de Paul: Minister of Restlessness
The first time I heard the expression: “Le prêtre doit être ministre de I’inquiétude” (the priest ought to be a minister of restlessness) was in a lecture by a Belgian priest in U.C.D. in 1965. … Read More
The Social Conscience of Vincent de Paul
Introduction As far as the poor were concerned, the social fabric of seventeenth-century France was a tapestry of loathing, fear and of repressive measures. The first part of this article traces the development of these … Read More