Abstract
This article is a translation of a testimony that was written as part of the canonization process for Vincent de Paul. The testimony’s author, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, was a bishop and a member of the Tuesday Conferences—meetings during which Vincent taught members of the Congregation and ecclesiastics how to preach to ordinary people. Bossuet also worked in some of the Congregation's missions. An appendix contains a cover letter addressed to Pope Clement XI summarizing Bossuet's relationship with Vincent. As Edward Udovic notes, “Bossuet shares unique details” about Vincent, and “his testimony is worth examining because of his prominence in the French Church, his personal knowledge of Vincent, and as an example of similar testimonies collected after 1697 from the . . . group of witnesses who encountered Vincent de Paul in their youth.” The testimony describes Vincent’s virtues and works. It explains the important aspects of his faith and how he lived it out in personal practices both large and small. The testimony also details what he taught others about faith.
Recommended Citation
Udovic, Edward R. C.M., Ph.D.
(2020)
"BOSSUET: Testimony Concerning the Life and the Eminent Virtues of Monsieur Vincent de Paul (1702),"
Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 35:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol35/iss2/5