The Church celebrates the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul on September 27th. The following is a brief history of a society which was founded under his patronage in order to continue to serve the poor as he had done throughout his life.

"Enfold the world in a network of charity," such was the ambition of a handful of young men of the Romantic Period. It was the time when Victor Hugo dreamed of turning the page of classical theater, when Chateaubriand pursued his apologetics on Christianity and when the youth of France were in a seething frenzy with ideas and intellectual debates. For the young men of this time, who were rather well read and were arriving from their provinces, discovering the world as they discovered Paris, this hotbed of culture born from the uproar within the university as much as the frequenting of the elite, was obviously exhilarating.

Frederick Ozanam and his friends were no exception to the rule. They, no less than others, had a taste for romantic quarrels and rhetorical jousts, with the exception that they received a Christian education, which perhaps prepared them better than others to measure the vanity of endless struggles, the childishness of literary debates that were rich in ideas at the start, but ended too quickly in defending the idea for the idea, then, when all was said and done, defending the idea for its author. Ozanam was already permeated, from the first years of his adolescence, with questions of the higher realm pertaining to God. It was in this way, first of all, that this group of 19th-century young men contrasted sharply with their generation. Their battle would not be the Battle of Hernani but that of defending the faith. And, as action is better than a verbal argument, which can certainly convince but prove nothing, their theater would not be the Comédie Française, but would be the neighborhoods of the poor. "The blessing of the poor is that of God … Let us go to the poor!" cried Ozanam.

At the start of the turbulent 1830s they were seven young men and only one was older than 20. Distraught by a world that, little by little, renounced Christianity, they came together with the desire to support each other in their faith and to grow together in their faith. But how does one shine forth with only words taken from the gospel while living in a dechristianized society? They quickly saw the need to translate their faith into action.

It was thus that in April 1833, the first Conference of Charity was born. Its principle was simple: a group of young Christian men gathering to pray, reflect and work together to bring relief to the poor. Quickly the work grew with new members. Soon the group placed themselves under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul. What could be more natural than to place oneself under the protection of a saint who knew so well how to join prayer and action in fervent charity? St. Vincent de Paul united in his person all the characteristics that should pertain to a Conference: prayer, first of all, because he said, "I can do all things in him who supports and comforts me;" then action, which invites us, through his example and words, to "do more” unceasingly so as to bring relief to the poor, all the poor, without distinction, and in considering again that one must be forgiven for the good that one does for them; finally, by the intellectual concern, which animated Monsieur Vincent in many directions, but always with the desire that humanity grow in goodness. Thus he encouraged better formation for priests; he applied himself to the building of hospices and other works that humanized, after a fashion, the conditions of the poor; he turned his influence of being close to the "greats" of society to, slowly but surely, bring the government, and thus society, to be concerned with the fate of the poor and to provide more relief to them. Finally, Monsieur Vincent was not content to just pray and act alongside the poorest, he also reflected on the causes of the evils of poverty in order to eventually attempt to turn them around.

The Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul had no other ambition than to walk in the steps of their patron: to pray, reflect and act. That is why, throughout the world, groups of Christians come together guided by the founding desire to "serve Christ in the poor." Assembled together in lay communities, the Vincentians have no other ambition than to proclaim the Word of God by their actions and words. Nevertheless, these small communities do not lose sight of the fact that, in order to shine forth from without, joy must reign from within. Friendship towards all and caring for one another, therefore, constitute the foundations of the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul.

From the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

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