Saint Vincent de Paul
1581 — 1660
Vincent de Paul, born to a Gascon peasant family in 1581, was ordained a priest in 1600. His encounter with a dying peasant who lacked the sacraments, and later his work as chaplain to galley slaves, turned his ambition for a comfortable benefice into a lifelong commitment to the destitute. He founded the Vincentians (1625) and co-founded the Daughters of Charity (1633) with Louise de Marillac.