July 26, 2025 • 12 mins
Explore the extraordinary life of St. Vincent De Paul, a man of humility, compassion, and generosity whose impact resonates even today. Born around 1581 and living until 1660, Vincents early life was shaped by his own experience of slavery, having been captured by Turkish pirates and sold in Tunis. His escape in 1607 led him to a life of service, becoming a priest and devoting his ministry to the poor. In 1625, he founded the Congregation of the Mission, a society of missionary priests known as Vincentians or Lazarists. Alongside Louise de Marillac, he established the Daughters of Charity, a group dedicated to nursing the sick, whose work in hospitals during several plagues is well-documented. Listen to the tale of this remarkable individual, and discover the lasting legacy of his profound spiritual journey.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter four of Life of Saint Vincent de Paul. This
is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
LibriVox dot org. Life of Saint Vincent de Paul by
Francis Alice Forbes, Chapter four the Galleys. Monsieur de Berulle
(00:29):
had certainly not exaggerated matters when he said that the
parish of Chatillon les Domes was in need of earnest workers.
Vincent looked about him and set to work at once.
The first thing to be done was to clean out
the church, which was in such a state of dirt
and squalor that people had some excuse for not wishing
to enter it. He then turned his attention to the clergy.
(00:51):
Already there. They were ignorant and easygoing men, for the
most part, who thought a good deal more of their
own amusement than of the needs of their But they
were not bad at heart. Vincent's representations of what a
priest's life ought to be astonished them at first, and
convinced them later, all the more so in that they
saw in him the very ideal that he strove to
(01:12):
set before them. There is no presbytery at Chatillon, and
to the astonishment of everyone, Vincent hired a lodging in
the house of a young gentleman who had the reputation
of being one of the most riotous livers in the town.
He was moreover half a heretic, and Vincent had been
warned to have nothing to do with him. But the
(01:33):
new rector had his own ideas on the subject, and
the ill assorted pair soon became very good friends. The
change in the young man's mode of life was gradual.
His first step was to be reconciled to the church,
his second to begin to interest himself in the poor.
Gradually his bad companions dropped away, until one day Chatillon
(01:54):
suddenly awoke to the fact that this most rackety of
individuals was taking life seriously, was in fact a changed man.
The whole town was in a stir. Who was this
priest who had so suddenly come among them, so self forgetful,
so simple, so unassuming, at whose influence was so strong
(02:15):
with all classes? He was a question that might well
be asked in the light of what was yet to come.
There lived near Chatillon a certain Comte de rouge Mont,
a noted duellist, whose violence and immorality were the talk
of the neighborhood. Having heard people speak of the wonderful
eloquence of Monsieur Vincent, this man came one day out
(02:37):
of curiosity to hear him preach. Surprised and touched in
spite of himself, he determined to make the preacher's acquaintance, and,
hastening into his presence, flung himself on his knees before him.
I am a wretch and a sinner, he cried. But
tell me what to do, and I will do it.
Raising him with gentle courtesy, Vincent bade him take care,
(03:00):
and spoke to him of all the good that a
man in his position might do in the world. The count, profoundly,
struck by the contrast between this man's life and his own,
the one so powerful for good and the other so
strong for evil, vowed to mend his ways, and he
kept his word. One by one he sold his estates
(03:22):
to find the wherewithal for Vincent's schemes of charity, and
he would have stripped himself of all that he had
had not Vincent himself forbidden it. His sword, which had
served him in all his duels, and to which he
was very much attached. He broke in pieces on a rock.
His great chateau, the walls of which had rung to
the sound of wild carousals, was now thrown open to
(03:45):
the sick and the poor, whom the once dreaded count
insisted on serving with his own hands. He died the
death of a saint a few years later, amid the
blessings of all the people whom he had helped. The
ladies of the parish, to whom, before Vincent's arrival, the
hour of the Sunday Mass had seemed too long for
God's service, and who had spent it chattering behind their fans,
(04:09):
began also to realize that there was something in the life.
Began also to realize that there was something in life
besides selfish amusement. Some of them, moved by curiosity, went
to see the new preacher, who, receiving them with his
usual kindness and courtesy, drew a touching picture of the
suffering and poverty that surrounded them, and begged them to
(04:32):
think sometimes of their less fortunate brothers and sisters. Two
of the richest and most fashionable ladies of the district,
touched by Vincent's words and example, gave themselves up entirely
to the service of the poor, traveling about the country,
nursing the sick, and even risking their lives in the
care of the plague stricken. They were the forerunners of
(04:54):
those sisters of charity who were in after years to
carry help and comfort among the poor of every country.
One day, as Vincent was about to say Mass, one
of these ladies begged him to speak to the congregation
in favor of a poor family whose members were sick
and starving. So successful was his appeal that when he
(05:15):
himself went a few hours later to see what could
be done, he found the road thronged with people carrying
food and necessities. This Vincent at once realized was not practical.
There would be far too much to day and nothing tomorrow.
There was no want of charity, but it needed organization.
Sending for the two ladies, he explained to them a
(05:37):
scheme which he had thought out on his way home.
Those who were ready to help the poor were to
band themselves together, each in turn promising to provide a
day's food for starving families. Thus was founded the first
Confraternity of the Ladies of charity who were to work
in concert for the reef of their poorer brethren. The
(05:57):
association was to be under the management of the curate
of the parish, and every good woman might belong to it.
Its members were to vote themselves to the service of
the poor for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their patron. They were to tend the sick cheerfully and kindly,
as they would their own children, not disdaining to minister
to them with their own hands. The work developed quickly.
(06:21):
Confraternities of charity were soon adopted in nearly all the
parishes of France, and have since extended over the whole
Christian world. The de Gondis, in the meantime, had discovered
the place of Vincent's retreat, and had written him several letters,
piteously urging him to return. They had succeeded in enlisting
as their advocate a certain Monsieur de Frayne, a friend
(06:43):
of Vincent's, who had promised to plead their cause, and
who set about it with a shrewd common sense that
was not without its effect. The work at Chatillon, he
represented to Vincent, could be carried on by any good priest.
Now that it had been set agoing, Whereas in refusing
to return to the de Gondis, he was neglecting an
opportunity for doing good on a very much larger scale.
(07:05):
Helped by their money and their influence, not only their
vast estates, but Paris itself lay open to him as
a field for his labors. Moreover, he had taken his
own way in going to Chatillon. Was he sure that
it was God's way. Vincent was humble enough to believe
that he might be in the wrong. He consented to
(07:25):
go to Paris to see Monsieur de Berulle, and to
allow himself to be guided by his advice. The result
was a foregone conclusion, for the de Gondis had won
over de Berulle completely to their side. The next day,
Vincent returned to the Hotel de Gondi, where he promised
to remain during the lifetime of the countess. Delighted to
(07:47):
have him back at any price, Vincent's noble patrons asked
for nothing better than to further all his schemes for
the welfare of the poor and infirm confraternities of charity
like that if Chatillon were established on all the de
Gondi estates Madame de Gondi herself, setting the example of
what a perfect lady of charity should be. Neither dirt, discourtesy,
(08:09):
nor risk of infection could discourage this earnest disciple of Vincent.
In spite of weak health, she gave freely of her time,
her energy and her money. Monsieur de Gondi was, as
we have already seen, general of the King's Galleys, or
as we should now say, admiral of the fleet. It
was no easy post in days when the Mediterranean was
(08:31):
infested with Turkish pirates, to whom the royal ships had
to give frequent chase. But the General had distinguished himself
more than once by his skill and courage at this
difficult task. The use of steam was as yet unknown,
and the King's galleys were rowed by the convicts and
prisoners of France, for it would have been impossible to
find volunteers for the work. Chained to their oars night
(08:55):
and day, kept in order by cruel cuts of the
lash on their bare shoulders, these men lived and died
on the rower's bench without spiritual help or assistance of
any kind. The conditions of service were such that many
prisoners took their own lives rather than face the torments
of such an existence. As Vincent went about his works
(09:16):
of charity in Paris, it occurred to him to visit
the dungeons, where the men who had been condemned to
the galleys were confined. What he saw filled him with horror.
Huddled together in damp and filthy prisons, crawling with vermin,
covered with sores and ulcers, brawling, blaspheming, and fighting, the
galley slaves made a picture suggestive only of hell. Vincent
(09:41):
hastened to Monsieur de Gondi, and, trembling with emotion, poured
forth a description of the horrors he had seen. These
are your people, monseigneur, he cried, You will have to
answer for them before God. The general was aghast. It
had never occurred to him to think of the condition
of the men who rote his ships, and he gladly
(10:02):
gave Vincent a free hand to do whatever he could
to relieve them. Calling two other priests to his assistants,
Vincent set to work at once to visit the convicts
in the Paris prisons, but the men were so brutalized
that it was difficult to know how to win them.
The first advances were met with cursing and blasphemy, but
Vincent was not to be discouraged. With his own gentle charity,
(10:24):
he performed the lowest offices for these poor wretches, to
whom his heart went out with such an ardent pity.
He cleansed them from the vermin which infested them, and
dressed their neglected sores. Gradually they were softened and would
listen while he spoke to them of the Savior who
had died to save their souls. At Vincent's earnest request,
money was collected among his friends and patrons, and a
(10:48):
hospital built where the prisoners condemned to the galleys might
be nursed into good health before they went on board.
In due time, the rumor of the good work that
was being done reached the ears of Lewis the Thirtis,
who promptly made Vincent de Paul almoner to the King's ships,
with the honors and privileges of a naval officer and
(11:08):
a salary of six hundred livres. This enabled Vincent to
carry his mission farther afield, and he determined to visit
all the convict prisons in the seaport towns, making Marseilles
as his first station. Here, where the conditions were perhaps
even worse than in Paris, Vincent met them in the
same spirit and conquered by the same means. The fact
(11:31):
that he had once been a slave himself gave him
an insight into the sufferings of the galley slaves and
a wonderful influence over them. Accustomed as they were to
be looked upon as brutes, it was a new experience
to be treated as if it were a privileged to
be in their company. This strange new friend, who went
about among them, kissing their chains, sympathizing with their sufferings,
(11:53):
and attending to their lowest needs, seemed to them like
an angel from heaven. Even the most hardened could not
resist such treatment. In the meantime, through the generosity of
Vincent's friends, hospitals were being built, and men and women
were offering themselves to help in any capacity in this
work of charity. Many of these earnest Christians gave their
(12:15):
very lives for the galley slaves, for fevers, plague, and
contagious diseases of every kind raged in the filthy convict
prisons and many priests and lay helpers died of the infection.
Yet other devoted workers were always found to take their place,
and the work which Vincent had inaugurated thrived and prospered.
(12:39):
End of Chapter four
Chapter four of Life of Saint Vincent de Paul. This
is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
LibriVox dot org. Life of Saint Vincent de Paul by
Francis Alice Forbes, Chapter four the Galleys. Monsieur de Berulle
(00:29):
had certainly not exaggerated matters when he said that the
parish of Chatillon les Domes was in need of earnest workers.
Vincent looked about him and set to work at once.
The first thing to be done was to clean out
the church, which was in such a state of dirt
and squalor that people had some excuse for not wishing
to enter it. He then turned his attention to the clergy.
(00:51):
Already there. They were ignorant and easygoing men, for the
most part, who thought a good deal more of their
own amusement than of the needs of their But they
were not bad at heart. Vincent's representations of what a
priest's life ought to be astonished them at first, and
convinced them later, all the more so in that they
saw in him the very ideal that he strove to
(01:12):
set before them. There is no presbytery at Chatillon, and
to the astonishment of everyone, Vincent hired a lodging in
the house of a young gentleman who had the reputation
of being one of the most riotous livers in the town.
He was moreover half a heretic, and Vincent had been
warned to have nothing to do with him. But the
(01:33):
new rector had his own ideas on the subject, and
the ill assorted pair soon became very good friends. The
change in the young man's mode of life was gradual.
His first step was to be reconciled to the church,
his second to begin to interest himself in the poor.
Gradually his bad companions dropped away, until one day Chatillon
(01:54):
suddenly awoke to the fact that this most rackety of
individuals was taking life seriously, was in fact a changed man.
The whole town was in a stir. Who was this
priest who had so suddenly come among them, so self forgetful,
so simple, so unassuming, at whose influence was so strong
(02:15):
with all classes? He was a question that might well
be asked in the light of what was yet to come.
There lived near Chatillon a certain Comte de rouge Mont,
a noted duellist, whose violence and immorality were the talk
of the neighborhood. Having heard people speak of the wonderful
eloquence of Monsieur Vincent, this man came one day out
(02:37):
of curiosity to hear him preach. Surprised and touched in
spite of himself, he determined to make the preacher's acquaintance, and,
hastening into his presence, flung himself on his knees before him.
I am a wretch and a sinner, he cried. But
tell me what to do, and I will do it.
Raising him with gentle courtesy, Vincent bade him take care,
(03:00):
and spoke to him of all the good that a
man in his position might do in the world. The count, profoundly,
struck by the contrast between this man's life and his own,
the one so powerful for good and the other so
strong for evil, vowed to mend his ways, and he
kept his word. One by one he sold his estates
(03:22):
to find the wherewithal for Vincent's schemes of charity, and
he would have stripped himself of all that he had
had not Vincent himself forbidden it. His sword, which had
served him in all his duels, and to which he
was very much attached. He broke in pieces on a rock.
His great chateau, the walls of which had rung to
the sound of wild carousals, was now thrown open to
(03:45):
the sick and the poor, whom the once dreaded count
insisted on serving with his own hands. He died the
death of a saint a few years later, amid the
blessings of all the people whom he had helped. The
ladies of the parish, to whom, before Vincent's arrival, the
hour of the Sunday Mass had seemed too long for
God's service, and who had spent it chattering behind their fans,
(04:09):
began also to realize that there was something in the life.
Began also to realize that there was something in life
besides selfish amusement. Some of them, moved by curiosity, went
to see the new preacher, who, receiving them with his
usual kindness and courtesy, drew a touching picture of the
suffering and poverty that surrounded them, and begged them to
(04:32):
think sometimes of their less fortunate brothers and sisters. Two
of the richest and most fashionable ladies of the district,
touched by Vincent's words and example, gave themselves up entirely
to the service of the poor, traveling about the country,
nursing the sick, and even risking their lives in the
care of the plague stricken. They were the forerunners of
(04:54):
those sisters of charity who were in after years to
carry help and comfort among the poor of every country.
One day, as Vincent was about to say Mass, one
of these ladies begged him to speak to the congregation
in favor of a poor family whose members were sick
and starving. So successful was his appeal that when he
(05:15):
himself went a few hours later to see what could
be done, he found the road thronged with people carrying
food and necessities. This Vincent at once realized was not practical.
There would be far too much to day and nothing tomorrow.
There was no want of charity, but it needed organization.
Sending for the two ladies, he explained to them a
(05:37):
scheme which he had thought out on his way home.
Those who were ready to help the poor were to
band themselves together, each in turn promising to provide a
day's food for starving families. Thus was founded the first
Confraternity of the Ladies of charity who were to work
in concert for the reef of their poorer brethren. The
(05:57):
association was to be under the management of the curate
of the parish, and every good woman might belong to it.
Its members were to vote themselves to the service of
the poor for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their patron. They were to tend the sick cheerfully and kindly,
as they would their own children, not disdaining to minister
to them with their own hands. The work developed quickly.
(06:21):
Confraternities of charity were soon adopted in nearly all the
parishes of France, and have since extended over the whole
Christian world. The de Gondis, in the meantime, had discovered
the place of Vincent's retreat, and had written him several letters,
piteously urging him to return. They had succeeded in enlisting
as their advocate a certain Monsieur de Frayne, a friend
(06:43):
of Vincent's, who had promised to plead their cause, and
who set about it with a shrewd common sense that
was not without its effect. The work at Chatillon, he
represented to Vincent, could be carried on by any good priest.
Now that it had been set agoing, Whereas in refusing
to return to the de Gondis, he was neglecting an
opportunity for doing good on a very much larger scale.
(07:05):
Helped by their money and their influence, not only their
vast estates, but Paris itself lay open to him as
a field for his labors. Moreover, he had taken his
own way in going to Chatillon. Was he sure that
it was God's way. Vincent was humble enough to believe
that he might be in the wrong. He consented to
(07:25):
go to Paris to see Monsieur de Berulle, and to
allow himself to be guided by his advice. The result
was a foregone conclusion, for the de Gondis had won
over de Berulle completely to their side. The next day,
Vincent returned to the Hotel de Gondi, where he promised
to remain during the lifetime of the countess. Delighted to
(07:47):
have him back at any price, Vincent's noble patrons asked
for nothing better than to further all his schemes for
the welfare of the poor and infirm confraternities of charity
like that if Chatillon were established on all the de
Gondi estates Madame de Gondi herself, setting the example of
what a perfect lady of charity should be. Neither dirt, discourtesy,
(08:09):
nor risk of infection could discourage this earnest disciple of Vincent.
In spite of weak health, she gave freely of her time,
her energy and her money. Monsieur de Gondi was, as
we have already seen, general of the King's Galleys, or
as we should now say, admiral of the fleet. It
was no easy post in days when the Mediterranean was
(08:31):
infested with Turkish pirates, to whom the royal ships had
to give frequent chase. But the General had distinguished himself
more than once by his skill and courage at this
difficult task. The use of steam was as yet unknown,
and the King's galleys were rowed by the convicts and
prisoners of France, for it would have been impossible to
find volunteers for the work. Chained to their oars night
(08:55):
and day, kept in order by cruel cuts of the
lash on their bare shoulders, these men lived and died
on the rower's bench without spiritual help or assistance of
any kind. The conditions of service were such that many
prisoners took their own lives rather than face the torments
of such an existence. As Vincent went about his works
(09:16):
of charity in Paris, it occurred to him to visit
the dungeons, where the men who had been condemned to
the galleys were confined. What he saw filled him with horror.
Huddled together in damp and filthy prisons, crawling with vermin,
covered with sores and ulcers, brawling, blaspheming, and fighting, the
galley slaves made a picture suggestive only of hell. Vincent
(09:41):
hastened to Monsieur de Gondi, and, trembling with emotion, poured
forth a description of the horrors he had seen. These
are your people, monseigneur, he cried, You will have to
answer for them before God. The general was aghast. It
had never occurred to him to think of the condition
of the men who rote his ships, and he gladly
(10:02):
gave Vincent a free hand to do whatever he could
to relieve them. Calling two other priests to his assistants,
Vincent set to work at once to visit the convicts
in the Paris prisons, but the men were so brutalized
that it was difficult to know how to win them.
The first advances were met with cursing and blasphemy, but
Vincent was not to be discouraged. With his own gentle charity,
(10:24):
he performed the lowest offices for these poor wretches, to
whom his heart went out with such an ardent pity.
He cleansed them from the vermin which infested them, and
dressed their neglected sores. Gradually they were softened and would
listen while he spoke to them of the Savior who
had died to save their souls. At Vincent's earnest request,
money was collected among his friends and patrons, and a
(10:48):
hospital built where the prisoners condemned to the galleys might
be nursed into good health before they went on board.
In due time, the rumor of the good work that
was being done reached the ears of Lewis the Thirtis,
who promptly made Vincent de Paul almoner to the King's ships,
with the honors and privileges of a naval officer and
(11:08):
a salary of six hundred livres. This enabled Vincent to
carry his mission farther afield, and he determined to visit
all the convict prisons in the seaport towns, making Marseilles
as his first station. Here, where the conditions were perhaps
even worse than in Paris, Vincent met them in the
same spirit and conquered by the same means. The fact
(11:31):
that he had once been a slave himself gave him
an insight into the sufferings of the galley slaves and
a wonderful influence over them. Accustomed as they were to
be looked upon as brutes, it was a new experience
to be treated as if it were a privileged to
be in their company. This strange new friend, who went
about among them, kissing their chains, sympathizing with their sufferings,
(11:53):
and attending to their lowest needs, seemed to them like
an angel from heaven. Even the most hardened could not
resist such treatment. In the meantime, through the generosity of
Vincent's friends, hospitals were being built, and men and women
were offering themselves to help in any capacity in this
work of charity. Many of these earnest Christians gave their
(12:15):
very lives for the galley slaves, for fevers, plague, and
contagious diseases of every kind raged in the filthy convict
prisons and many priests and lay helpers died of the infection.
Yet other devoted workers were always found to take their place,
and the work which Vincent had inaugurated thrived and prospered.
(12:39):
End of Chapter four
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