St. Vincent de Paul - Patron of Charitable Institutions - July 19th
Vincent was the son of poor French peasants. When he grew up and became famous, he loved to tell people how he had taken care of his father’s pigs. Because he showed himself to be very intelligent his father sent him to school. And after finishing his studies Vincent became a priest.
At first, he was given an important position as the teacher of rich children, and he lived rather comfortably. Then one day, he was called to the side of a dying peasant, and in front of many people, this man declared that all his past confessions had been bad ones, all sacrileges! Suddenly Vincent realized how badly the poor people of France needed spiritual help. When he began to preach to them, crowds went to confession, and he finally decided to found a congregation of priests to work especially among the poor.
The charities of St. Vincent de Paul were so many that it seems impossible for one man to have done so much. He took care of criminals who were made to labor in the sailing ships. He founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity with St. Louise de Marillac. He opened hospitals and homes of money for poor areas, sent missionaries to many countries, and bought back prisoners from the Mohammedans. So charitable a man, however, humbly admitted that he was not so by nature. “I would have been hard, rough and ill-tempered,” he said, “were it not for God’s grace.”
Am I selfish? Jesus asks me to be good to others, especially to those who suffer. He says to me, too, “Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me”.