Vincent de Paul

Emmanuel Tarbé describes the life of Saint Vincent de Paul, a French saint born on April 24, 1581, to a Catholic farming family in Pouy. After studying theology in Toulouse, Vincent was ordained a priest in 1600 at age 19. His early priesthood included financial difficulties and a period of captivity after being captured by pirates at sea in 1605. He reportedly was sold into slavery in Tunis before regaining his freedom and attributing his rescue to the Virgin Mary.

Upon moving to Paris in 1608, Vincent served as chaplain to Queen Marguerite and worked as a tutor for the Gondi family. Following a period of personal doubt and despair, he vowed to dedicate his life to the poor. In 1617, while attending to a dying person in Folleville, he recognized the spiritual ignorance in rural areas. That same year, witnessing the distress of a sick family in Châtillon-les-Dombes, he founded the first Confrérie.