ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

This Catholic stained glass window is centered on St. Saint Vincent de Paul 1580-1660. He was French priest renowned for charitable work. He was ordained in 1600. During his ministry to galley slaves he was capture by pirates and enslaved in Tunis, but was able to escape. . In Rome he came to the attention of Pope Paul V, who sent him on a mission to the French court of Henry IV, where Vincent remained as chaplain to the queen. His activism, and the holiness of his life brought about the revival of French Catholicism. He inspired many of the court to an interest in the poor of Paris and was the founder of organized charity in France. In 1625 he founded an order of secular priests to work in rural areas; it became the Congregation of the Mission, called Lazarists or Vin- centians. With these priests, St. Vincent conducted retreats, founded seminaries, and achieved widespread reform among the French clergy. For city work he founded the Sisters of Charity. St. Vincent's influence, through his spirit and through his institutions, is incalculable. He was canonized in 1737. His feast day is celebrated on Sept. 27.

At the top of the window is a dove surrounded by tongues of fire. The dove represents the Holy Spirit who inspired St Vincent in his priestly ministry. Below the central image are three ovals. The one on the left contains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The one on the right contains the Holy Eucharist. The central oval contains a symbol of the beatitudes. On top of the outer frame are seven fire-like winged shapes that represent the seven spirits (angels) of God that surround his throne in the book of Revelation. The twenty light blue circles in the border around the window represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer of the life of Jesus, Mary. The eighteen yellow, orange, red diamond like shapes in between the rosary beads represent the angels assigned to assist St Vincent in his most fruitful priestly ministry.