BIRTH OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
St Vincent de Paul was born on 24th April 1581, in the village of Pouy, in France.
Vincent became a priest and dedicated his life to serving the outcasts, orphans, and the destitute.
Vincent died in Paris, on 27th September 1660, aged 80.
For all the good he did in his lifetime, he is probably most remembered now, for his shrine.
The Shrine to St. Vincent de Paul, is in the chapel of the Lazarists Mission.
His body lies above the main altar, but his heart can be found in the Convent of the Sisters of Charity.
At the time of his death his body was incorrupt, and like many of Catholicism’s most venerated figures, Saint Vincent de Paul’s body was said to be so pure, that it did not decay for more than five decades ~ except for his nose and eyes…..
However, after being re~located to the tiny, modest-looking Lazarists church, the monks found that their beloved incorruptible saint, turned out to have morphed into a messy pile of bones!
As only holy hands could touch the precious relics, the Lazarists tried to solve this bony jigsaw puzzle themselves.
After some desperate attempts to give Saint Vincent his original structure back, the church elders made the blasphemous, but very practical, decision to call in some surgeons as reinforcement.
Once the saint recovered his human shape, doctors had some embarrassing news to announce ~ some of the remains were missing!
Some archival research by the church eventually revealed that Saint Vincent’s dismemberment was actually done by the Church itself.
Previous Church members had sent the Saint’s arms to African and American colonies, to help convert heretics.
Other finger bones had been offered as gifts to members of Parisian high society for “private devotional use.”
The numerous missing parts of his fragile skeleton, were wired with wood like a taxidermy.
Wax representations of his face and hands were crafted to give the relic a ‘human’ presence.
After being put together as best they could, the relics of Saint Vincent de Paul were then wrapped in black silk, and dressed with sumptuous ecclesiastical garments.
The nuns performing this task, were so unfamiliar with the act that they dropped him, and broke one of his leg bones!!
Saint Vincent de Paul was then posed clutching an ivory crucifix from the Notre Dame treasury, to his chest.
This was the original crucifix that had been used to give the last rites to Louis XIII.
Vincent’s remains were then placed in an impressive glass and silver coffin, made by Odiot ~ one of the finest goldsmiths of the era.
It took the strength of ten men, and weeks of back pain, to carry the silver vault around the city to its final destination, where you can still admire it today.
Two miracles have been attributed to St Vincent.
A nun was cured of ulcers and a laywoman cured of paralysis.
As a result of the first miracle, Pope Benedict XIII beatified him on 13th August 1729.
Less than 8 years later on 16th June 1737, he was canonized by Pope Clement XIII.
The feast day for St. Vincent, the patron of all charitable societies, is 27th September.
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