The Earliest Biographies of Saint Vincent de Paul [2]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35312/4axsrb68Keywords:
Early Biographies, Vincent de Paul, Canonization, MiracleAbstract
This article presents key excerpts from the earliest biographies of Saint Vincent de Paul, highlighting his charitable genius, ecclesial leadership, and the gradual recognition of his sanctity by the Church. Drawing from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sources, it recounts Vincent’s decisive response to social misery, especially his organization of care for abandoned infants, his role in founding and consolidating priestly communities, and his profound humility in governance. The narrative also traces the formal ecclesial process leading to his beatification in 1729 under Pope Benedict XIII, emphasizing the verified miracles attributed to his intercession and the Church’s theological interpretation of his life and virtues. Vincent emerges as a tireless evangelizer of the poor, a reformer of clergy, and a living embodiment of apostolic charity and humility. The article situates Vincent within the broader renewal of the post-Reformation Church, presenting him as a providential figure whose charism restored hope, discipline, and evangelical zeal in a wounded society, and whose legacy continues to inspire the Church’s mission today.
References
Abelly, Louis. 1664. La Vie du Vénérable Serviteur de Dieu Vincent de Paul, Instituteur et Premier Supérieur Général de la Congrégation de la Mission : Divisée en Trois Livres.
Bonnet, Jean-Baptiste. 1820. La Vie de Saint Vincent de Paul.
Collet, Pierre. 1748. La vie de Saint Vincent de Paul, instituteur de la Congrégation de la Mission et des Filles de la Charité, deux livres.
Coste, Pierre C.M. 1932. Le grand saint du grand siècle, Monsieur Vincent. Trois Livres.
Maynard, Abbé Ulysse. 1860. Saint Vincent de Paul : sa vie, son temps, ses œuvres, son influence (Four Volumes)
Maynard, Abbé Ulysse. 1873. Vie de Saint Vincent de Paul (Abridged version estracted from the four volumes).
Maynard, Abbé Ulysse. 1877. Virtues and Spiritual Doctrine of St. Vincent de Paul (Focuses on the spiritual teachings, preaching style, and virtues of Vincent de Paul—intended for preachers and pious readers seeking doctrinal insight rather than life narrative (Amazon).
Noiret, Gilbert C.M. 1729. Abrégé de la vie et des vertus du bienheureux Vincent de Paul, instituteur de la Congrégation de la Mission et des Filles de la Charité [Summary of the life and virtues of the Blessed Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity].
Rousset, Edouard. 1878. Notices bibliographiques sur les écrivains de la Congrégation de la Mission. Angoulême.
de’ Rossi, Antonio. 1729. A Chronological Listing of the Life, Virtues, and Miracles of Blessed Vincent De Paul Founder of the Congregation of the Mission, and of the Servants of the Poor, called the Daughters of Charity. Dedicated to His Holiness of Our Lord, Pope BENEDICT XIII. Rome, MDCCXXIX [Published] by, on Strada del Seminario Romano.
della Torre, Bernardo C.M., (1706-1749). He wrote Ristretto cronologico della vita virtù e miracoli del Beato Vincenzo de Paoli fondatore della Congregazione della Missione e delle serve de’poveri, dette le Figlie della Carità [Chronological listing of the life, virtues, and miracles of Blessed Vincent de Paul].
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 John E. Rybolt, C.M. (Translator and Editor) (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
License and Copyright Agreement
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities "tacitly or explicitly" of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
Copyright
Authors who publish with Studia Vincentiana agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0)that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
