Founder of the Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity, Confraternities of Charity, and Ladies of Charity. A man of deep faith, keen intellect, and enormous creativity, St. Vincent de Paul has become known as the “The Apostle of Charity” and “Father of the Poor.” His contributions to the training of priests and organizing parish missions and other services for the poor shaped the Church’s role in the modern world.
A contemporary of St. Vincent, St. Louise was inspired and directed by Vincent’s spiritual leadership. She collaborated with St. Vincent in founding the Daughters of Charity and organizing hospitals for the sick poor, asylums for the orphaned, workshops for the unemployed, championing literacy for the uneducated, and establishing standards for local charities. Louise was a wife, mother, teacher, nurse, social worker, and religious foundress.
Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813 - 1853)
Founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul., Frédéric was a husband and father, professor, and servant of the poor. He founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as a young student with others of the Sorbonne in Paris. Frédéric’s writings on social justice anticipated the first social encyclical of our modern times, Rerum Novarum.
The most Blessed Rosalie Rendu was a Daughter of Charity who served for 54 years in the Mouffetard area (the most impoverished district of Paris). Emmanuel Bailly, the President of the Society, sent the founding members of the Society to Sister Rosalie for guidance and direction. Sending the founders on Home Visits, she formed them in the spirit of St. Vincent, teaching them how to serve the poor with respect and compassion