Abelly, Louis. Les Veritez Principales et Plus Importantes de la Foy, & de la Justice Chretienne. Paris: Georges Josse, 1675.
Call Number: SpC. 238.2 A141v1675
The choice of Bishop Louis Abelly to write the biography of the recently-deceased Vincent de Paul was a natural one from many perspectives. Abelly (1604-1691) was a member of Vincent’s famous “Tuesday Conferences” in Paris. Vincent’s support helped advance his ecclesiastical career first as Vicar-General of the diocese of Bayonne, then pastor of the parish of St. Josse in Paris, and spiritual director of the Hopital Generale also in Paris. Vincent’s approval of a candidate for such advancements was never given lightly, and never given to a candidate whom he was not convinced was worthy of the honors.
Abelly’s appointment as Bishop of Rodez would come after Vincent’s death while he was composing the saint’s biography. In many ways Louis Abelly stands as classic example of the type of priest and bishop which the Tridentine-Gallican reforms, supported so zealously by Vincent de Paul, envisioned.
By the time he began work on Vincent’s biography Abelly was already a well-known and popular author of devotional, theological, biographical, and controversialist works. He was an early, public, and vociferous opponent of Jansenist opinions. After a stroke in 1665 he resigned his see, and lived the rest of his long life in residence at Saint-Lazare where he was also buried.
Abelly used his retirement well, producing a steady stream of almost four dozen works which touched upon all of the classic topics which were of concern to Catholicism, at the close of the Counter-Reformation. Abelly’s works were often translated and many continued to be republished long into the nineteenth century.
The cited catechetical volume is part of the St. Vincent’s Reading list collection which aims to collect the entire Abelly bibliography.
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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.