Vincent de Paul (24 April 1581 27 September 1660) was a priest of the Catholic Church who became dedicated

d to serving the poor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He was canonized in 1737. St. Vincent was born in Pouy, Landes, Gascony, France, to a family of peasant farmers. He had four brothers and two sisters.

In 1625 de Paul founded the Congregation of the Mission, a society of missionary priests commonly known as the Vincentians or Lazarists. In 1633, with the assistance of Louise de Marillac he founded the Daughters of Charity.[1] He also fought against the Jansenist heresy. De Paul was renowned for his compassion, humility and generosity.[

Saint Louise de Marillac (August 12, 1591 - March 15, 1660) was the co-founder, with St. Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She was born out of wedlock on August 15, 1591. Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul met around the time of Antoine's passing in 1625. Vincent quickly recognized Louise's power and intelligence and understood her desire for spiritual direction. Over the next four years, Vincent and Louise communicated often through letters and personal meetings, with Vincent guiding Louise to greater balance in a life of moderation, peace and calm. In 1629, Vincent invited Louise to get involved in his work with the Confraternities of Charity. She found great success in these endeavors. Then, in 1632, Louise made a retreat seeking inner guidance regarding her next step. Her intuition led her to understand that it was time to intensify her ministry with poor and needy persons, while still maintaining a deep spiritual life. Louise, at age forty-two, drawn to focus on mission, communicated this aspiration to Monsieur Vincent. By the end of 1633, he too had received the guidance needed for them to bring the Daughters of Charity into existence.

Antoine-Frdric Ozanam (Milan, April 23, 1813 - Marseille, September 8, 1853) was a French scholar. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in the cathedral church Notre Dame de Paris in 1997, hence he may be properly called Blessed Frederick by Catholics. Twenty-year-old student Frederic Ozanam and a few friends started the Society of St.Vincent de Paul (SVP) in Paris on April 23, 1833. It was a time when the Catholic Church in France was the object of bitter hostility following the French Revolutions of 1789 and 1830.