Des Places led a mischievous adolescence: he once narrowly missed his sister with a shot from their father's revolver—he thought it was unloaded—when she was annoying him as he studied a role for a school play.

[4] Des Places' life began to change when he became aware of the needs of the poor while studying law—he was soon moved to help the homeless boys and chimney sweeps by giving them money from his allowance.

Though he graduated with his degree in law from Nantes in 1700, his growing involvement with the poor inspired the young des Places to give up his career.

[1] Seeing that many of his fellow seminarians were struggling to meet their basic needs, des Places began to support a small group of them financially.

Soon, a dozen of these students asked des Places to set up a formal community, so on Pentecost Sunday (27 May) of 1703, the group met in the Church of Saint Etienne-des-Grès to dedicate themselves to the Holy Spirit, under the special patronage of Mary.

[2] The society, which founded a new seminary—the Seminary of the Holy Spirit— had two aims: to support students on their way to the priesthood, and to serve the poor of rural France and in missions overseas.