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Saint Vincent de Paul ready to frame print
Born into a poor family in France in 1581, Vincent de Paul felt an early call to the priesthood and was ordained at the age of nineteen, an age which was quite unusual even at that time. Five years later, he was traveling by ship from Marseilles to Castres when he was captured by the Barbary Pirates and sold into slavery in Tunis. After two years he escaped back to Europe where he resumed his studies and his ministry as a priest.
He was soon drawn to focus on ministering to the poorest of the poor. He raised money to provide food and other necessities to poor families, and to ransom galley slaves from North Africa as he had himself once been. In 1622 he was appointed chaplain to the galleys and spent time working with and ministering to galley slaves. He founded the Congregation of the Mission also called the Vincentians, a religious order dedicated to serving the poor. He died in 1660 and was canonized in 1737. In 1833 the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was founded, named in his honor as a group dedicated to serving the needs of the poor.
In this icon St. Vincent is shown with the Sacred Heart and the crucifix. He is shown caring for poor children as he so often did during his earthly ministry. At the bottom of the icon is a quote from St. Vincent: Charity is the bond which unites communities to God and persons to one another.
His feast day is September 27th.
This icon hangs At St. Vincent dePaul Catholic Church in Houston TX.
