After working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley slaves, he returned to be the superior of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the "Vincentians" (in France known as "Lazaristes"), which he co-founded.

These Vincentian priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages.

He was a pioneer in seminary education and also founded the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

[1] Vincent de Paul was born in 1581 in the village of Pouy, in the province of Guyenne and Gascony, Kingdom of France,[2]: 18  to peasant farmers.

In 1605, Vincent sailed from Marseilles on his way back from Castres where he had gone to sell property he had inherited from a wealthy patron in Toulouse.

They had to wait ten months, but finally they secretly boarded a small boat and crossed the Mediterranean, landing in Aigues-Mortes on 29 June 1607.

More recently, however, some biographers have raised doubts about that narrative but have not suggested any alternative account of Vincent's life during those two years.

In conclusion, we must accept one of two alternatives; either Vincent de Paul was a prisoner in Tunis from 1605 to 1607, or we must regard his letter of 24th July, 1607, and the postscript dated 28th February, 1608, as a brilliant fraud which he perpetrated without any possible access to literary or other sources for inspiration.

[5] "Although Vincent had initially begun his priesthood with the intention of securing a life of leisure for himself, he underwent a change of heart after hearing the confession of a dying peasant.

"[12] It was the Countess de Gondi who persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among poor tenant farmers and country people in general.

[11] On 13 May 1643, with Louis XIII dead, Queen Anne had her husband's will annulled by the Parlement de Paris (a judicial body comprising mostly nobles and high clergymen), making her the sole Regent.

Anne nominated Vincent de Paul as her spiritual adviser; he helped her deal with religious policy and the Jansenism question.

A number of organizations specifically inspired by his work and teaching and which claim Vincent as their founder or patron saint are grouped in a loose federation known as the Vincentian Family.

He organized wealthy women of Paris as the Confraternities of Charity to assist with this work, collect funds for missionary projects, found hospitals, and gather relief funds to assist victims of war and ransom 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa.

[3] After working for some time in Paris among imprisoned slaves there, he founded what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the "Vincentians" (also known in parts of Europe as the "Lazarists").

These priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages.

[5] The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, a charitable organization dedicated to the service of the poor, was established in 1833 by French university students, led by Frédéric Ozanam.

Parishes are dedicated to Vincent in Los Angeles;[27] Washington, D.C.;[28] Omaha, Nebraska;[29] Mays Landing, New Jersey;[30] Mt.

[31] Houston, Texas;[32] Delray Beach, Florida; Wheeling, West Virginia,[33] Coventry, Rhode Island, Churchville, New York,[34] Peryville, Missouri,[35] Lenox Dale, Massachusetts,[36] Girardville, Pennsylvania,[37] Arlington, Texas, Denver, Colorado,[38] Malang (Indonesia),[39] Philippines and elsewhere.