St. Vincent de Paul was born on April 24, 1581, in Pouy, France. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1600 and received a Bachelor of Theology from the University of Toulouse, France in 1604. In his early days he served as a missionary to North Africa where he was captured and enslaved. After his release, St. Vincent was assigned to the court of King Henry of France. While in Paris, St. Vincent realized that his true vocation lay in the service of the poor and not in the courts of royalty. For the rest of his life he committed himself to this task.

On July 29, 1617, St. Vincent was named parish priest in the little French country village of Chatillon le Dombes. It was during this time that a woman whose family lived on the outskirts of the village and was desperately in need of assistance approached him. St. Vincent not only ministered to the spiritual needs of this family, but he motivated and organized his congregation to extend charity to his neighbor as well.

It was through this experience that St. Vincent began organizing the regular distribution of relief to the poor, and making special visits beforehand to these homes to understand individual circumstances. After discussing this project with several ladies in his parish, they began local charity work - laying the groundwork for what would become the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, or the Daughters of Charity. Later on, he also founded a congregation of priests called the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians), and a lay society of women, called the "Ladies of Charity."

On November 29, 1633, together with St. Louise de Marillac, St. Vincent officially founded the Daughters of Charity. Through this ministry he was instrumental in organizing hospitals for the sick and poor, founding institutions for abandoned children, opening soup kitchens, creating job training programs, teaching young women to read, bettering prison conditions, and organizing countless local charities in the villages throughout France. He died in Paris on September 27, 1660, at the age of 79.

Pope Clement XII declared Vincent de Paul to be a Saint on June 16, 1737. The first members of the Congregation of Mission arrived in the United States in 1816. Pope Leo XIII declared St. Vincent to be the Patron of Charitable Endeavors in 1885.