Saint vincent de paul brief biography examples

First part: His childhood ‑ History is silent (1581‑1600)

Chapter I: A childhood spent in the country

It can be said of many famous people that the part of their life that we know least about is their childhood.

This is very true of St. Vincent de Paul.

When was st vincent de paul born

Who would be interested enough to note down for history the comings and goings of an insignificant country lad? Was this boy not destined to lead the same obscure existence as generation after generation of his forebears? Would he not turn out to be just another faceless peasant worn down by the exhausting labour of struggling to cultivate land that was barren?

Yet the day would come when millions of people would look back, with interest, at the little French village that witnessed the first steps taken by a man whose fame has spread beyond all frontiers, and who, after four centuries, continues to challenge the passage of time.

A disputed date.

The first problem we have with Vincent’s child