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Saint Vincent de Paul in an old age portrait, in black cap and white collar, by an unknown painter about 1660

Saint Vincent de Paul

Once a slave in Tunis, he gathered the Daughters of Charity to care for the sick poor

Patron of
charitable societies, the Daughters of Charity
Western calendar
27 September
Orthodox calendar
Not kept

Vincent de Paul was a Gascon peasant's son, and as a young priest he was taken at sea by Turkish pirates in 1605 and sold as a slave in Tunis, escaping two years later. Back in France he preached missions to country people, visited galley convicts in their chains, founded the Congregation of the Mission and gathered the Daughters of Charity to care for the sick poor, foundlings and the refugees of war. Once, keeping the door at Saint-Lazare himself, he was told there was no room left for another retreatant and replied, "well, give mine". He died in Paris on 27 September 1660, and in 1885 Leo XIII made him patron of all charitable societies.

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It is the day each year when the Church remembers a saint in its prayers, and for most saints it is the day they died and went home to God. Many saints here have two dates, because the Western and Orthodox Churches keep their own calendars, and some Orthodox churches still count by the old Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind ours.

What is a patron saint?

A patron saint is one we ask to pray for us in a particular place, work or need, as many ask Anthony of Padua for help when something is lost, and as Ireland looks to Patrick. A few patronages were declared by a pope, and most grew from long custom. A card says “Patron of” only where a source we checked names one.

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