Paul, Vincent de, one of the most eminent saints of tlie modern Homisli (.'hurch, and founder of the con- gregation of " Priests of the Missions," was born of very humble parentage at Ranquines, in the diocese of Dax, France, in 1576. The indications of ability which he exhil)ited as a youth interested in him sev- eral people of influence and means, and he was sent to Toulouse to be educated. He became an ecclesiastical student, and was admitted to priest's orders in IGOO. For a time he was tutor in a noble family, and was then made principal of the college "Des Bons En- fans." On a voj'age which he was making from Mar- seilles to Narbonne the ship in which he had taken passage was captured by corsairs, and he was sold into slavery at Tunis. After having spent several years in the most forlorn condition, he succeeded in reclaiming his master, a renegade Christian, to the true faith, and together with him Paul made his es- cape from Barbary. They landed in France in 1607. Shortly after this he went to Rome, and was intrusted by the pontiff with an important mission to the French court in 1608. He now took up his residence in Paris, and became the almoner of Marguerite de Valois. He also taught, and as tutor of the children of M. de Gondy, the commandant of the galleys at Marseilles, gained the friendsiiip of this distinguished man, and secured the appointment as almoner-general of the gallej's in 161'J. It was at this time that the well- known incident occurred of his offering himself and being accepted in the place of one of the convicts, whom he found overwhelmed with grief and despair at having been obliged to leave his wife and famil}' in extreme destitution. Bat Vincent de Paul is espe- cially noted for having laid the foundation of what eventually grew into the great and influential congre- gation of " Priests of tire Missions," an association of priests who devote themselves to tlie work of assisting the parochial clergy by preaching and hearing confes- sions periodically in those districts to which they may be invited bj' the local pastors. Tiie rules of this con- gregation were approved b}"^ Urban VIII in 1G32, and in the following year the fathers established themselves in the so-called priory of St. Lazare, in Paris, whence their name of Lazarlsts (q. v.) is derived. From this date his life was devoted to the organization of works of charity and benevolence. To him Paris owes the establishment of the Foundling Hospital, and the first S3'^stematic efforts for the preservation of the lives and the due education of a class theretofore neglected, or left to the operation of chance charitj^. The pious Sis- terhood of Charity is an emanation of the same spirit, and Vincent was intrusted by St. Francis de Sales with the direction of the newly founded order of Sis- ters of the Visitation. Tiie queen, Anne of Austria, warmly rewarded his exertions, and Louis XIII chose him as his spiritual assistant in his last illness. Vin- cent de Paul was placed by the queen-regent at the head of the Conseil de Conscience, the council chief!}' charged with the direction of the crown in ecclesiasti- cal affairs; and the period of his presidency was long looked i)ack to as the golden a;ra of impartial and hon- est distribution of ecclesiastical patronage in France. Vincent was not, in any sense of the word, a scholar; but his preaching, whicli (like tliat of the fathers of his congregation of Lazarists) was of the most simple kind, was singularly affecting and impressive. He left nothing behind him but the Rules or Conslitittions of the Congregation of the Mission (168.5); Conferences on these Constitutions (4to>, and a considerable num- ber of letters, chiefly addressed to tlie priests of the mission, or to other friends, on spiritual subjects. He died at an advanced ago at St. Lazare, Sept. 27, 1660,
and was canonized by Clement XII in 1737. His fes- tival is held on July 19, the day of his canonization. — Chambers. See Mrs. Jameson, Legends; Jervis, Hist, of the Church of France, i, 319 sq. ; ii, 11; Hook, Ec- cles. Biog. vii, 592.
Paul, William, D.D., an English prelate, flour- ished near the middle of the 17th century. Of his earl}' history we know scarcely anything. He was not educated for the sacred office of the ministry, but had entered the mercantile profession, and, possessed of a large property, had made himself quite prominent in that walk of life, when, through the influence of bishop Sheldon, Paul was called into the ministry, and finally given the important see of Oxford. It was hoped that his vast wealth would be expended for the good of the bishopric, and, to judge from the prepara- tions he made for the rebuilding of the dilapidated episcopal palace at Cuddesden, the hope was not un- founded. He died suddenly in 1665, having held the see only two years. He also held the valuable rectory of Chinnor in commendam. See Stoughton, Eccles. Hist, of England {Church of the Restoration'), i, 490.
Paula, St. ('Ayin n«rv\«), was a noble Roman ma- tron, a pupil and disciple of Jerome. Though de- scended from the Scipios and the Gracchi, and accus- tomed to luxurious self-indulgence, she preferred to follow her saintly teacher to Bethlehem and devote herself to a religious life. The church dedicated to St. Jerome at Rome is said to be upon the spot where the house of Paula stood, in which she entertained that holy man during his stay in Rome, A.D. 382. She studied Hebrew, in order to understand the Scrip- tures better. She built a monastery, hospital, and three nunneries at Bethlehem. Her daughter St. Eu- stochia was with her. The rule for these convents was very strict, and her own austerities were so severe that she was reprimanded for them by St. Jerome. Her granddaughter Paula was sent to her at Bethlehem to be educated, and succeeded her as superior of the mon- astery. Paula died (A.D. 404) making the sign of the cross on her lips, and was buried in the church of the Holy IManger, where her empty tomb is now seen near that of St. Jerome. Her relics are said to be at Sens. She is commemorated Jan. 26.