Vincent De Paul Quotes
Saint Vincent de Paul:
A Person of the 17th Century. A Person for the 21st Century.
When Saint Vincent de Paul died in Paris on September 27, 1660 he left behind only a few meager personal possessions. Among these objects were his bachelor's degree from the University of Toulouse and his graduate degree from the University of Paris. From among the many things that he could have saved, his careful preservation of these two diplomas testifies to the value that he placed on his own education, and his realization of how it had given direction and meaning to his life. We pray that you will feel the same way about the higher education that you will receive in the Vincentian tradition. A collaborative publication of the Vincentian Universities: …show more content…
What would have caught his eye as he traveled around the city he knew so well? He certainly could have focused his attention on the countless churches, palaces, monuments, and other fabulous sights for which Paris was so rightly renowned. On any given day he certainly could have observed a colorful mixture of royalty and nobles, bishops and priests, lawyers and doctors, professors and merchants, soldiers and every other type of person hurrying past him going about their business in that bustling city. However, Vincent de Paul really didn't pay much attention to these sights, or even to these people. Rather, he was always on the look out for very different sights. His keen eyesight unfailingly found what he was looking for: countless poor people who were more likely than not forgotten, marginalized, and even despised and feared, by the world that surrounded them. “. . . shouldn't we, respond on the basis of our shared humanity in the same way as he did to what we can …show more content…
He was innovative and pragmatic, honest and approachable, realistic and visionary. He was opportunistic and a risk-taker. He was values-driven. He was hard-working. He was very intelligent and yet blessed with common sense. He was a master of detail and could design complex systems, but never at the expense of his own or others' humanity. His communication style was simple, straightforward, unerringly to the point, and powerfully persuasive. He was also prayerful and contemplative. He felt equally comfortable in the presence of the queen, or in the presence of a beggar. In the end, his road to sanctity can be explained by his heartfelt desire to model his life of service on the example of Jesus Christ, the evangelizer of the poor and the source and model of all
A Person of the 17th Century. A Person for the 21st Century.
When Saint Vincent de Paul died in Paris on September 27, 1660 he left behind only a few meager personal possessions. Among these objects were his bachelor's degree from the University of Toulouse and his graduate degree from the University of Paris. From among the many things that he could have saved, his careful preservation of these two diplomas testifies to the value that he placed on his own education, and his realization of how it had given direction and meaning to his life. We pray that you will feel the same way about the higher education that you will receive in the Vincentian tradition. A collaborative publication of the Vincentian Universities: …show more content…
What would have caught his eye as he traveled around the city he knew so well? He certainly could have focused his attention on the countless churches, palaces, monuments, and other fabulous sights for which Paris was so rightly renowned. On any given day he certainly could have observed a colorful mixture of royalty and nobles, bishops and priests, lawyers and doctors, professors and merchants, soldiers and every other type of person hurrying past him going about their business in that bustling city. However, Vincent de Paul really didn't pay much attention to these sights, or even to these people. Rather, he was always on the look out for very different sights. His keen eyesight unfailingly found what he was looking for: countless poor people who were more likely than not forgotten, marginalized, and even despised and feared, by the world that surrounded them. “. . . shouldn't we, respond on the basis of our shared humanity in the same way as he did to what we can …show more content…
He was innovative and pragmatic, honest and approachable, realistic and visionary. He was opportunistic and a risk-taker. He was values-driven. He was hard-working. He was very intelligent and yet blessed with common sense. He was a master of detail and could design complex systems, but never at the expense of his own or others' humanity. His communication style was simple, straightforward, unerringly to the point, and powerfully persuasive. He was also prayerful and contemplative. He felt equally comfortable in the presence of the queen, or in the presence of a beggar. In the end, his road to sanctity can be explained by his heartfelt desire to model his life of service on the example of Jesus Christ, the evangelizer of the poor and the source and model of all