To the glorious Saint Vincent de Paul who was born in France, under the Pontificate of Gregory XIII, destined by his parents to tend flocks, then applied to sacred studies, a bachelor in theology, ordained a priest, became a slave in Barbary, sold to three different masters, (he converted the last one from apostasy to the Christian Faith); and received in Rome some secret and important communications, to deliver to King Henry IV;
- To the Parish Priest, full of zeal and vigilance, who rebuilt the Church of Clichy without imposing any burden on the parishioners, and provided it with furniture and necessary ornaments;
- To the Parish Priest of Chatillon-en-Bresse, who laboured to reform the manners of the clergy, converted heretics, helped the poor, and led back into the way of truth those who had strayed into the paths of error;
- To the Priest, who was twenty-eighth Abbot of Saint Leonards, of Chaume; admitted into the house of Philip Emmanuel de Gondi, General of the galleys of France; Director of Frances Margaret de Silly, a lady of great virtue; enlightened tutor to her three children, of whom one was a duke and peer of France, the second, a Cardinal of Holy Church, and the third died at the age of eleven;
- To Saint Vincent, royal chaplain of the galleys of Louis XIII, whom he assisted on his death bed; chaplain to his widow, Anne of Austria, counsellor to that Queen concerning ecclesiastical affairs, Founder and first Superior General of the Secular Priests of the Mission, and of the Daughters of Charity, servants of the poor; as also, of several Associations of Ladies; of the nobility and peasantry, and of young girls, for the service of the sick; to him, who first carried the good news of the Gospel, through his priests, to the Island of Madagascar; and, as an indefatigable worker in the vineyard of the Lord, sent his own priests to preach in France, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Ireland, England, Barbary, and the Indies;
- To the Superior full of Zeal for the honour of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, who restored to the clergy of France the lustre of their virtues, re-established ancient discipline, founded and directed Seminaries, opened a school of Sacred Liturgy at Saint Lazare, in Paris; established the spiritual Exercises for the Ordinands, and Conferences for the Ecclesiastics, Retreats for all kinds of persons, desiring that the doors of the Houses of his Congregation should be always open;
- To the Apostle, the ardent enemy of vice and error, who zealously defended the principles of Faith and of Evangelical morality: full of horror for the new growing heresies; most submissive to the authority of the Church, and of Its Head, the successor of Saint Peter; full of respect for Bishops, and most obedient to their orders;
- To the father of all the poor, to the true friend of the unhappy, for whom, besides numerous secret alms, he expended more than a million and eight hundred thousand pounds in France; who founded splendid Hospitals on Christian soil and elsewhere; five in Paris, for the foundlings, the slaves, the working people, the beggars, the insane; one for the travellers to Saint Reine, in the diocese of Autun; one at Marseilles for the slaves; one in the town of Algiers, for the Christians who were kept in slavery;
- To the prime mover of so many works, who co-operated in the foundation of various Hostels for young girls; gave provisions to fifteen thousand poor in Paris, and, during thirty years, provided medicine and food for an immense number of afflicted in France, Savoy, Italy, and other more distant countries;
- To him who was the refuge and resource of Ecclesiastics, of Religious, of noble ladies, and of gentlemen, who were obliged, through love of their faith, to leave Scotland, Ireland, England, etc., and whom he provided with a home, maintenance and clothing;
- To Saint Vincent, who, the father, friend, and consoler of all, distributed a million of money in the Provinces of Champagne and Lorraine, and in the country of Ardennes; twelve thousand crowns to the Maronites of Lebanon; who ransomed more than twelve hundred slaves, at the price of twelve hundred thousand francs; and gave spiritual and temporal food to the Christians living amongst the Turks, at Turin, Algiers, Biserte, and Cales Petriera;
- To the Priest, who restored and furnished what was necessary for worship, in a number of churches that had been upset during the storms of civil war; he was, for the excited or oppressed French people, a peaceful mediator with kings, and restored order, justice, security and peace;
- To the pious man, praised by Saint Francis de Sales, who knew no one more worthy nor more prudent; who merited the most profound esteem of Saint Jane de Chantal, and was chosen by these two holy personages, to be the first Superior and Confessor of the Visitation nuns in Paris, whom he assisted with charity, instructed with zeal, and directed with prudence, during forty years;
- To him, who was loved by the Sovereign Pontiffs, esteemed by three Cardinals who were most renowned for their science, and their virtue; venerated by the most illustrious personages, consulted as the oracle of his century, by princes, bishops, parish priests, doctors, religious, and Abbots or Superiors of Communities; who rendered notable services to all the Religious Orders in France, especially by working at the reform of several abbeys or monasteries of men and women;
- To Saint Vincent de Paul, who was ever occupied with the Glory of God, with the salvation of souls, the honour of the Priesthood, the comfort of the poor; who was meek and amiable towards all; a model of simplicity, humility, uprightness; a signal benefactor of Religion, of the Church, the State, of Humanity. Full of virtue, of merits, of sanctity, he died at Saint Lazare in Paris, in 1660, under the Pontificate of Alexander VII, in the reign of Louis XIV; honoured at his funeral by the presence of the Prince de Gondi, the Duchess of Aiguillon, Monsignor Piccolomini, Archbishop of Cesarea and Papal Nuncio, a great number of prelates, parish priests, ecclesiastics. Abbots, Religious, cavaliers, and noble ladies; Beatified by Benedict XIII in 1729, solemnly Canonized in Rome by Clement XII in 1736, admired everywhere as the Hero of Charity and of Christian Humility; the object of a special Cult on the part of ecclesiastics;
- To Saint Vincent, The Author, In the Name of Those Who Honour Him and Pray to Him, Dedicates and Consecrates This Book.
- Don Bosco
- text taken from Virtue and Christian Refinement According to the Spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul, by Saint John Bosco