Abelly, Louis, eveque de Rodez. La vie du venerable serviteur to Dieu Vincent de Paul, instituteur et premier superieur general de la Congregation de la Mission. Divisee en trios livres, Paris: Chez Florentin Lambert: 1664.
Call Number: SpC 271.7702 V768Yaa1964
When the 79-year-old Vincent de Paul died in Paris on September, 27, 1660 popular opinion already venerated his sanctity. However, the canonization process then in effect required a cooling off period of several decades before his cause could be introduced. In order to solidify public memory of the historicity of Vincent’s heroic virtues, and provide the basis for an eventual canonization process, Vincent’s successor as superior general of the Congregation of the Mission, Rene Almeras commissioned a biography of Vincent.
The author was carefully chosen. Louis Abelly, (1604-1691) the retired Bishop of Rodez, was not only a bishop, but a popular theological author, as well as being someone who had known Monsieur Vincent for decades. Abelly had lived in retirement at the Vincentian mother-house in Paris: Saint Lazare.
Abelly’s massive biography was published at the beginning of 1664. The bishop is believed to have been aided in his research by the work of Brother Louis Robineau, C.M. and Brother Bertrand Durcournau, C.M., both of whom had served as secretaries to Vincent de Paul.
Making extensive use of the saints own letters, conferences, and other contemporary documents (many of which have been subsequently lost) Abelly’s biography is still the cornerstone of all biographies of the saint. The three volume work stands as an impressive achievement of early modern proto-critical biography. It also, however, stands as a representative example of traditional hagiography. The presumption of Vincent’s sanctity obviously undergirds the work, and when there are unexplained gaps, or inconvenient truths, especially in the account of Vincent’s early life Abelly carefully fills in these gaps with carefully crafted myths, and other factual repairs.
A condensed one-volume version of the biography was published by Abelly in 1668. The biography was an immediate success going through many editions and translations into other languages. It also played its desired role in the preparations for Vincent’s canonization which took place in 1737.
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St. Vincent’s Reading List is recurring blog series exploring texts known to have been read and recommended by St. Vincent de Paul, those which can be presumed to have been read by him, and important works published during his lifetime (1581-1660). All materials discussed are held by DePaul’s Special Collections and Archives. The entire series may be viewed here.