A bright child Perhaps no one else in history has done more to serve the poor than St Vincent de Paul. He is venerated by both the Catholic and Anglican communions.
He was born in 1581, in the village of Pouy, to peasant farmers (despite the aristocratic-sounding name). From a young age he showed a talent for reading and writing. When he was 15 his father sold the family’s ox to pay for Vincent to attend seminary, where he spent two years, before going to the University of Toulouse.
The college was riven by various factions to the extent that an official was murdered by two students. Vincent was ordained at 19.
