The Life of Saint Vincent de Paul
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Saint Vincent de Paul
Apostle of the Poor and Homeless
Our cry rings out to the whole world. Take notice! We are in the times of great Saints in the making. We are in the times of unequaled sinners. Enemies of God, we put you on notice: We’ve been there before; we’ve suffered the arrows of persecution in times past and we are still here. We are not finished. For the last 2000 years, just as it appeared the end was near, the Church was about to collapse, the world was coming to an end, God raised up Super Saints, those who said Yes to God’s call to holiness. One such great Saint in the making, one soul who reached for and received the crown of glory in Heaven, was St. Vincent de Paul.
In the history of the Church, we find The Lord very often raising the lowly to confound the proud. The Church is in need! All of Europe is being devastated by the onslaught of Calvinism and Lutheranism. The Heresy of Albigensianism that had its beginning in Albi, the south of France, had left its scars of division, even hundreds of years after it was condemned. Now, there was the threat coming from their neighbors to the north - Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic countries. People were confused; often their priests did not live what they preached and so the faithful stopped going to church. Would He lose these precious souls? God raised up another Saint and, through his living out of the Gospel, a Defender of the Faith. France, eldest daughter of the Church, would give the world and the Church a Seventeenth Century Mother Teresa.
A farmer’s son sows seeds which will grow into a beautiful spiritual bouquet in the garden of the Lord.
In southern France, close to the Spanish border, in the small village of Pouy, the family of a future Saint was expecting the birth of their third child. This day, a little bitter from the cold and dampness, would be brightened by the cry of a baby boy, as he takes his first peek at the world outside the safety of his loving mother’s womb. The Saint, we want to tell you about, our dear St. Vincent de Paul, was that baby! Born under humble circumstances, into a family of poor farmers, St. Vincent would always have a special place in his heart and his vocation for the poor, whether physically or spiritually deprived.
God placed this special child in the hands of holy parents, poor in the foolish eyes of the world, but rich in their faith. Vincent’s parents did not wait to have their baby baptized! Instead, a few short days after he was born, they brought him to their local parish to be initiated into the Church, receiving the first of the seven Sacraments, the Sacrament of Baptism. These parents of a future Saint were eager to have their newborn son begin his life not only as their son, but more importantly as a son of God; and to insure this, their focus was to have the priest quickly wipe him clean of the stain of Original Sin, that he would be ready to begin his journey on earth leading to Paradise and eternal life with a Heavenly Family.
The seed of faith, which had been planted by God would now be nurtured by this holy family. Holiness was evident in Vincent Defender of the Faith from infancy; his family said that from his earliest years, he would become elated when he was praying. As a child, he could be heard singing and praying the psalms, as he tended the cattle in the fields.
Jean de Paul, little Vincent’s father, had to work hard; the land was dry and parched when there was too little sun and did not yield a good crop; and when there was too much rain and not enough sun the crops were flooded and the results were always the same; too much work for too little return. Often the land did not yield enough to feed the livestock, no less the family. Out of necessity, the boy Vincent, along with his five brothers and sisters helped out the family, by working on the farm.
Vincent was assigned to watch over the sheep. As a young shepherd he early devised a way to tend his charges, even during the rainy season. When the land became so soaked, he could not walk without sinking up to his knees in the mud, Vincent improvised! He took some sticks of wood and made them into stilts; they raised him about three feet from the ground. His life story does not go into how many times he fell and got up again; all we do know is that he learned to balance himself and joyfully went about his appointed responsibilities. Through his new-found elevation, he not only remained dry, he was able to care for his flock, surveying the fields, guarding and counting each head, lest one should wander off and get lost. We can see God preparing Vincent for the walk he would have as pastor of a human flock.
Young Vincent and his love for the poor
What is one man’s suffering is another man’s joy; for as God, the Author of life, can turn dead seeds into sweet smelling blooms, God can turn what would appear a distasteful situation into an asset. There are times when out of necessity, if compromise is inevitable, farmers will build the barn better than the house. With the de Paul family, the barn was attached to the house, with only a split door separating the members of the barnyard family from the human family. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, the body heat of Saint Vincent de Paul the cows and other livestock furnishing much needed warmth in the winter; and when it was too inclement for man or beast in the yard, the family was able to feed their four-legged friends through the upper opening in the split door.
The de Paul family took care to not only labor earnestly to provide for the needs of the flesh, but at day’s end, to provide food for the soul. After the meal was over, all gathered around the fireplace in the kitchen (where they also slept); the father told them stories of the lives of the Saints; they all prayed together, offering praise and thanksgiving for their daily bread and supplicating the Lord to continue granting them what they need. As their parents tucked them into bed, the children would ask them for their blessing. [Do we bless our families before they go to sleep? Is our blessing the last thing our families bring with them when they leave the house?]
Although poor, Vincent’s parents were generous. Each Sunday, during the Sacrifice of the Mass when the time came for the Offertory, they placed what little money they had in the basket. In addition, no matter how hard the times, they always found money to give to those less fortunate than they. Vincent grew up with this holy example, always remembering Jesus’ words, “Whatever you do to the least of My brothers, that you do unto Me.”
From the time he was a young boy, Vincent saw Jesus in the faces of the poor. This would mold his noble heart into the life he would be called to, as advocate of the poor. One time, Vincent had saved thirty pieces of silver. He had dreamed about what he would buy for his family to make life a little easier. Then one day, Vincent encountered a poor beggar on the road; without a moment’s hesitation Vincent gave the poor soul all the silver he had. Had he seen Jesus? Was this his way of placing no one before the Lord. Whoever gives up mother and father...
At an early age, his mother instructed Vincent to turn to his Heavenly Mother, sharing all his joys and sorrows, his wounds and his triumphs, confident She would never let him down. As was the custom of other children of the area, Vincent built a little shrine to Mother Mary in a tree. There he would pour out his heart to her. He and his family would go on pilgrimage once or twice a year to a shrine to Notre Dame, in Buglose. On the way they would encounter other Frenchmen going to venerate their Mother; some petitioning and others responding with thanksgiving for prayers answered. Vincent remarked, later in life, that he could not remember Our Lady not answering his prayers. He taught that the more we love the Blessed Mother, the more we love Jesus, the happier we will be.
Vincent begins his journey to the priesthood
Vincent showed a thirst and aptitude for learning, which was further enhanced by a truly virtuous soul. When he was interviewed by the Bishop, to see if he qualified to receive First Holy Communion, he answered so brilliantly and authentically, the Bishop not only said he was ready, but encouraged the parents to send him to the city to further his education. His father responded by scraping together what little he had, to secure an education for this special son, with the Cordeliers or Franciscan Recollects.
Life at the college for Vincent was like a dream come true; he absorbed Grammar and Latin like a sponge; he excitedly looked forward to each day, like a child awaiting Christmas. What with his remarkable ability to learn and his humble and always eager desire to help, his joyful Yes to all in need, he became a friend and example to the other students at the College.
As you cannot hide a light under a bushel basket; he came to the attention of Mr. Commet, a nobleman of the village who asked him to tutor his children This overjoyed Vincent as what little he earned would enable him to cease being a financial burden on his parents. After four years he shared with Mr. Commet that he found himself drawn to the priesthood. Monsieur encouraged him to go answer the Lord’s call to serve Him as an “alter Christus.” Mr. Commet advised Vincent’s father of his son’s desire to become a priest, and he immediately sold two of his steers.
In 1596, at sixteen years of age, Vincent entered the University of Toulouse, where he studied and prepared for the priesthood. Shortly after entering, he received the tonsure. He was among the young men who that day were vested in the Franciscan habit and received into the Order of St. Francis. The Bishop cut his hair along with that of the other future priests present, and Vincent was no longer a lay man; he had taken his first step; he was now a cleric! After receiving minor orders, the Subdiaconate and then the Diaconate, on September 23, 1600, at less than twenty years old, Vincent realized his dream; he was ordained a Priest; he was no longer Vincent, but Father Vincent. He returned to the little chapel at the beginning of the woods, where he prayed as a little boy, and fervently celebrated his first Mass there.
St. Vincent’s walk was the living out of the Gospel. Like St. Francis, his focus in life was to be more like Jesus. But initially he sought Jesus, studying the Word of God and the Traditions of the Church. The more he did, the more he became the Gospel. Although he desired to continue his studies, the lack of funds and the debt he had incurred, when he was preparing for the priesthood, did not permit him to do so. But his holiness and generosity toward the poor came to the attention of a good woman who bequeathed her estate to him. Upon her death, he would receive 500 crowns of silver!
Now, the only problem was that this sum was owed to the departed by an unscrupulous debtor. He had fled to Marseille in
In this ceremony the Bishop cuts snips of hair from the front, back, two sides and the crown, as an invitation by the candidate to accept the Lord as his only portion. In some orders the top of the head leaving a crown of hair solely on the top of the head. This is a permanent sign of his commitment.
Today, a priest is not ordained until close to twenty seven years old, but in the days of Vincent de Paul the age was more like twenty four.Saint Vincent de Paul order to avoid paying the woman. Vincent knew that the only way he could hope to collect his inheritance was to seek out the debtor and appeal to him to pay. In 1605, Vincent left for Marseille to retrieve his inheritance!
In Marseille, he found the scoundrel, only to have him offer far less than the debt he owed; but having wisdom, St. Vincent accepted the paltry sum and prepared to return to Toulouse. A young gentleman staying in the same inn as Vincent, suggested he book passage on the boat he was taking to Narbonne. As this fit his budget and would save him time, Vincent joyfully accepted.
Vincent is sold into slavery
The two new-found friends boarded the ship; the voyage began smoothly; the sun was shining; the Mediterranean Sea was calm; all was well aboard the ship. But suddenly, ominously in the horizon loomed three ships carrying the colors of the Saracens. They signaled the ship, advising the French to prepare for them to board her. No sooner had they finished coming aboard, the Saracen pirates began fighting immediately. Although the French sailors, along with Vincent who joined in, fought bravely, they were greatly out-numbered and the ship was soon taken over. Vincent’s dream of returning home was now a horrible nightmare; the deck, brilliantly lit earlier by the rays of the sun, was now covered with blood and lifeless bodies. The wounded Vincent and those not killed were taken prisoners and placed in chains for the rest of the voyage.
At the end of eight days, after the pirates had satisfactorily benefited from other piracies, they arrived in Tunisia. Now, Vincent was penniless, the Saracens having stripped him and all aboard of all their possessions. When they landed, in order to not be challenged by the French authorities, the pirates falsely claimed they had taken the slaves (Vincent was one of them) from a Spanish ship. They paraded them around the port, offering them for sale. Having no takers, they brought them to the livestock auction here animals were bought and sold. The prospective buyers probed and inspected the Christians, just as they would animals. They opened their mouths, inspected their teeth; they looked them over, as they would a steer or goat. When the auctioneer asked for bids, the buyers offered less than for a beast of burden.
Finally, Vincent was bought by a fisherman. As Vincent was not a good sea traveller, he soon became sick and useless to the fisherman, and was returned to the market, to once again suffer the humiliation of being auctioned off like a side of beef. Vincent was sold to an elderly physician. Now the physician was kind and quickly learned to love Vincent, like a son. He paid him a fair wage and did not treat him as a slave. There were some problems; the good doctor was deeply interested in magic and wanted to ingrain this sorcery in Vincent; in addition, he tried to share all the knowledge he had amassed, his fifty years of research in alchemy; and if that was not bad enough, being a Moslem, he tried endlessly to convert Vincent to Islam! Vincent prayed to Our Lady, tirelessly begging to be delivered from the temptations that were assailing him; it would be so easy to give in; he was so tired of fighting. But he had his Mother Mary! Later speaking of this time, he gave full credit for his victory over the seductions that lambasted him to Mary.
The doctor was invited by the Grand Sultan to visit him in Constantinople. In spite of his age, this was an invitation, the good doctor could not refuse. The old man died enroute and Vincent was now the chattel of the doctor’s nephew who had inherited him as part of the legacy. It was August, 1606, and Vincent had lost the only kind person he had met, since being taken prisoner. The nephew was as cruel and heartless, as his uncle had been kind and generous. But God is always listening and never gives us more than we can bear. The nephew wanted no part of his uncle’s businesses and sold all he had inherited, including Vincent.
The nephew heard that the French ambassador to Turkey was arriving with an authorization to free all the French citizens who had been sold into slavery, so he quickly sold Vincent to Niçois, a former Christian who had become an apostate to escape the fate of Christian captives. To avoid being sold into slavery or sentenced to death, Niçois had renounced his religion and became a follower of Mohammed. Now, the Sultan was generous to the apostate; he rewarded him for his apostasy by presenting him with property and a grand vacation home in the mountains. But none of this made Niçois happy. He wandered aimlessly, seeking some peace in his soul.
Niçois brought Vincent to the desert where he worked under the broiling heat, radiated by the sun on the white sand. Although he was not mistreated, his food and lodging were very poor. But Vincent offered up all his suffering for the conversion of the apostate. As he worked, Vincent unceasingly sang to the Blessed Mother, invoking her aid.
Niçois had three wives, one of whom was Moslem. In her own right, she was very spiritual, praying to Allah five times a day. As she watched Vincent laboring under the hot sun, her heart was moved to pity. She silently grieved over his captivity and the conditions he lived under. She could see he was a good and holy man, and was impressed by his peace, the peace her husband did not have. She could not help marveling at Vincent’s strength, his acceptance of his state in life.
She found herself drawn to Vincent’s holy demeanor, as she listened to his chanting of the Psalms, the Salve Regina, and the Divine Office, as he went about doing his work. She asked Vincent to translate the chants, especially the Salve Regina. Vincent, with all the ardor he had stored up, began to teach her about Jesus and the Catholic Faith. The woman would look into Vincent’s tear-filled eyes, as he spoke of his Lord Who came to the earth to save all men, and she could feel all the love he had for his God. One night, she excitedly recounted to her husband, all that Vincent had told her. Then she began scolding her husband for having left his religion, saying she could not understand how he could deny such a loving God and abandon a beautiful religion which teaches love and compassion. She was to be the instrument which God would use to release her husband from the bondage of apostasy.
The following morning, the apostate sought out Vincent; he fell down on his knees, confessed all that he had done and told Vincent he wanted to return to his Faith. Vincent said the only way he would achieve peace was to return to France where Niçois could do penance for his sins. Months later the two, under the cover of night, clandestinely escaped to France, landed in Marseille and finally arrived in Avignon. It just happened to be that the vice-legate of the Pope lived in Avignon. There, in the church of St. Peter, the fallen Christian made peace with the Church. Niçois shared his desire to make penance for his grave sins. The legate, impressed by his sincerity helped him to enter the Monastery of the Brothers of Charity, where he remained serving the sick in the hospital, until his death. Vincent left for Rome.
Vincent having gained the patronage of the vice-legate, who gave him letters of introduction, remained in Rome for quite a time. The Vatican was awesome for Vincent; here was the holy land upon which the center of his Faith rested, his Church nourished by the blood of Martyrs. His eyes welled up with tears, and his voice choked with emotion, as he filed past the tombs of Popes, who had served the Church in unbroken succession, beginning with the first Pope - St. Peter.
St. Vincent returns to Paris and knows persecution.
He could have stayed and basked in the glory that was Rome, but knew he had to go on to Paris. News of Vincent de Paul’s involvement in the conversion of the apostate came to the attention of Pope Paul V10 and in 1608, Vincent was commissioned to go to Henry IV on a confidential mission. Vincent departed for Paris, poste-haste.
Because Vincent was not otherwise employed, the King asked him to be the Queen’s chaplain. The Queen told the King she sincerely repented her past conduct and wanted to change her life, and that she gladly accepted Father Vincent as her Spiritual Director and confessor. The Queen became very devoted; soon everyone looked upon her with admiration. Her selfishness replaced by selflessness, her life became filled with great acts of mercy and charity.
Queen Margot entrusted Father Vincent with the task of distributing great sums of silver to the poor and visiting the sick in the Hospital of Charity. Now, although Father preferred visiting the poor, he obeyed the Queen and ministered to the nobility. It was on such an occasion, he met King Henry IV’s son, the Dauphin and future King Louis XIII. While in the service of Queen Margot, Father Vincent returned to his interrupted studies and followed the lessons being given at the Sorbonne, with the idea of receiving a degree in Canon Law. He studied industriously, but never at the expense of his duty to the Queen and the poor. He distributed large sums to the poor, never keeping a coin for himself. He refused to live in the Palace.
Vincent chose to board, out of humility, in a modest lodging in the area of St. Germain. It was owned by a Judge of the Tribunal, Monsieur de Sore. Vincent was so happy, but his peace was to be short-lived. One day, when Vincent was sick in bed, with a fever (from an illness contracted in Africa), the Judge entered the room and, as was his custom, placed a large sum of money in the safe. But in a hurry and somewhat distracted, instead of leaving the key in a safe place, he left it on the server. Later the delivery boy from the pharmacy brought medicine to Father Vincent. Upon seeing him sound asleep, and noticing the key, he opened the safe and stole all the contents. On his return, the judge seeing the safe ajar and his money gone, accused Vincent.
Although Vincent calmly protested he was innocent, he was not able to prove it; he was not believed and was to bear the stigma of being a thief for six years. During the six long years, without friends, and anyone who believed in him, he never endeavored to defend himself. He just bore the scandal, resignedly repeating over and over again, “God knows the truth.” Finally six years after the fact, the truth always surfacing, the criminal was arrested for another crime and, wanting to clear his conscience, confessed to the crime Vincent had been accused of. St. Vincent never told anyone of his ordeal. Instead he used this as a teaching on retreats. Without using any names, he stressed the positive rather than remember and dwell on the negative, teaching that we can sustain the pain of false accusations, which pierce our hearts, by remembering always that God in His timetable will reveal the truth, if it is His Will. Thank God, even if it was after six years, that in Vincent’s case, it was God’s Will!
It is time to train those who bring the Lord in the Word
and in the Holy Eucharist to the faithful.
St. Vincent de Paul could no longer supervise the development of the Daughters of Charity, as his obligation was to the world, not only supplying to the hungry, the bread which feeds the body, but the Bread Who is the Life of the world, Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence. To bring Jesus to the world, that they might know Him and love Him, Father Vincent would need priests! He set about preparing seminarians for the priesthood.
Now they did not have plentiful seminaries like we have, today. Father Vincent used the house of Saint-Lazar for fifteen day retreats, which would prepare young men for the Priesthood, after they had completed their studies of Theology in the Sorbonne. He gave these retreats five times a year. It grew till he was having retreats in all the dioceses of France, then on to other countries and finally Rome.
The seminarians had all of fifteen days to prepare for their ordination to the priesthood, that which makes them priests forever. So, St. Vincent had all his Priests of the Mission speak to their bishops about the problem, and that was the beginning of seminaries and the many years the future priests would study in preparation of so important an apostolate.
The work of St. Vincent comes to the attention of the King
King Louis XIII heard of St. Vincent and his work. He asked if the Daughters of Charity could be nurses in his armies, and the Priests of the Mission - military chaplains. St. Vincent de Paul and the King became close friends, and the King began to consult St. Vincent. Because of his intervention, the King reconciled with the community.
February 11, 1638 the King consecrated France to the Blessed Mother and decreed that in memory of that event each year, on August 15th, a procession be made in her honor. The Holy Virgin granted the King his petition; a few weeks after the consecration, the enemy forces that had attacked France retreated! And if that was not enough, as he had prayed for an heir to succeed him to the throne, a son was born, who would be the future King Louis XIV.
In 1643, the King became seriously ill and called for St. Vincent. He prepared his friend, the King, for death. After Father finished chanting the Te Deum, King Louis XIII commended his soul to God and the King was dead.
The King was dead; now, as the heir apparent, the little Prince was not quite five years old, his mother the Queen became the Regent of France. She chose St. Vincent to be her Spiritual Director. This was a great honor, and St. Vincent accepted humbly. Under his influence, she changed her frivolous lifestyle and became interested in the plight of her country and the critical crisis attacking her subjects. She sold her jewelry and gave the money to the poor.
The Queen named St. Vincent - Secretary to the Council of Conscience (The Congregation of Faith), which in essence is the Grand Council which determines the outcome of all religious matters, settles all questions concerning the Faith and generally resolves everything pertaining to the Church. Since Cardinal Mazarin was the President of the Council, St. Vincent immediately set out, on horseback, for Mazarin’s château in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Now, the Cardinal was one of the most powerful men in France; he knew most of the clergy of France; he was named head of all the dioceses of important Bishops who contributed generously and were great influences on civil as well as church matters. Unfortunately Cardinal Mazarin, not satisfied or secure in his position and power, even as Prime Minister of the Realm, was jealous of the influence St. Vincent had over the Queen.
Every time St. Vincent tried to speak, the Cardinal interrupted him. When he was allowed to speak, the Cardinal mocked him - in front of all the members of the Court! Then the final blow, Mazarin finally ended by ridiculing the poverty of his cassock. St. Vincent responded: “I am poor, it is true, because all that I have goes to the poor, but I am proper and my cassock is not class, but neither is it torn, nor is it spotted.”
A short while later, Mazarin discharged St. Vincent from the Court and demanded that the Queen cease receiving him. The Queen was torn, for, on one hand, she had confidence in her Prime Minister Mazarin; but on the other hand, she looked upon St. Vincent as a Saint and selfless benefactor to his country. Although she saw in St. Vincent only holiness, and in Mazarin only shrewdness, she made the hard decision to deny St. Vincent de Paul entry to the palace.
St. Vincent de Paul, Founder and Defender of the Faith
Founder! St. Vincent de Paul founded twenty five houses that stretched to the far corners of Europe from France to Piedmont, Italy, Poland and beyond. Never satisfied, St. Vincent founded other confraternities and called them Charity; they were dedicated to attending the needs of the sick; then another branch of Charity, called Dames of the Cross was dedicated to the schooling of young girls; and another was created to care for orphan children, most of whom had been abandoned by their parents.
A Priest, forever! Though these corporal acts of mercy were paramount in his mind and heart, he relentlessly pursued his vocation of bringing the Sacrament of Penance to everyone. This Saint cared for the poor and rich equally, the famous and the infamous, Kings and Queens as well as paupers without homes, none more important than that he or she was a child of God. Amidst all the blows, slanders, and controversy which colored his life, this true son of Jesus kept his eyes on the cross; often, especially at the strike of each hour, making the Sign of the Cross on his chest (secretly with his thumb). No matter what happened in his life, good or bad, he always attributed it to the Will of God. Although he longed to be united with His Lord in Heaven, he was sensitive to the suffering of those on earth, and peacefully served them.
Defender of the Faith! St. Vincent never shrunk from telling the truth as he knew it. Now, there was a controversy splitting the Church concerning “Divine Grace.” Michael Baius was a professor and doctor of Divinity at Louvain, the world renowned university which has been attended by many famous priests like Archbishop Sheen. Baius proposed a theory concerning the Grace bestowed upon man before and after the fall, and other speculations which, among seventy six other hypothesis, were condemned by Pope Pius V in 1567. Baius accepted the Pope’s decision and disavowed all that he had written, including his theory on Grace.
Cornelius Jansenius and John Verger, students at Louvain, years later, came up with theories on Divine Grace, based on the errors of Baius that had been condemned. They were so committed to their new theory, Jansenius was convinced to write a book containing his theories on Divine Grace. Later, Jansenius became a Bishop and never published the book. Before his death, he said that he waited upon the judgment of Mother Church regarding his writings.
But sadly, after Jansenius died his friend Verger had the book published with some embellishments of his own. He became the foremost and most articulate proponent of Jansenism. He was so eloquent that initially even St. Vincent was taken in by him. But when he heard Verger express some of his errors and teach that the Church had failed five or six hundred years before, St. Vincent renounced him and his false brand of Theology. Feeling the weight of responsibility that we all have, to speak the truth and defend the Church against her defectors, St. Vincent used every means at his disposal to expose these errors.
The Sacraments! St. Vincent loved the Sacraments and stressed the importance of all seven Sacraments on the Mystical Body of Christ. He emphasized especially, the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. When he taught on confession, he repeated over and over again the importance of making a sincere and perfect confession, being truly sorry for our sins; the danger being those who pretend true remorse are more accountable for this sin than all the sins they may have eliminated from their confession; for this sin is not only against the Sacrament of Penance, but against the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ Whom they are receiving unworthily.
St. Vincent de Paul prepares to go Home
At the end, good and worthy father, his thoughts were of those he was leaving behind. It was 1658! Knowing they would need direction after he went to the Father, St. Vincent left each of his sons a small book of rules he had written for them, and pleaded with them to earnestly live by them. His congregation was again affirmed and confirmed by two more popes: Alexander VII and Clement X. Like the other great Saints before him, he gave to the last ounce of his blood. Eighty years old, his body racked with fever, drenched with sweat, awake most of the night, sleep impossible due to his uncontrollable shaking, he awakened, as always, at four in the morning. He did as he had done his sixty years of priesthood; he spent his first three hours praying; then celebrated Mass; then after Mass prayed for those in the last throes of agony that they might have a peaceful death.
Precious Saint, servant of God, Father Vincent received the last Sacraments, gave his last words of direction to his missionaries gathered around him; then his head gently fell back and he peacefully went to the Lord and His Mother Who I am sure were there waiting to take him home. Well done, little son. Welcome Home! On the 27th of September, 1660, after having labored on earth eighty years, he was gone. His congregation buried him in the church of St. Lazarus in Paris, with much ceremony. They all came, those he had touched who had not preceded him Home! They were an amazing bouquet of the Church, all sizes, all colors, nobles and peasants, brothers and sisters, all, filing by his tomb, bidding their friend goodby, for awhile.
Miracles started immediately!
The cause for his Beatification was opened. In 1712, investigating his remains, they found his body beautifully intact, incorrupt. A heavenly aroma rose from the open casket. His clothes were as fresh and unsoiled as the day he had been buried, fifty two years before. The coffin was solemnly closed, and although the people had already proclaimed him a Saint, now all waited for the findings of the Church. Upon carefully, scrupulously going into his life, his writings, investigating miracles attributed to him, Vincent de Paul was declared Blessed in 1729; and in 1742, Pope Clement XII declared him a Saint.