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In 1831, Frédéric Ozanam left his family and home in Lyon, France, to begin studies at the University of Paris, the Sorbonne. He was eighteen, with exceptional intellectual abilities, a zest for work, and a deep faith. Within ten years, he had obtained doctorates in law and literature and was becoming one of the most celebrated thinkers and writers of his day.
But it is not for his academic accomplishments that Blessed Frédéric Ozanam is widely remembered today. His most enduring legacy stems from a practical decision he made with six friends one April evening in 1833:
We must do what is most pleasing to God. We must do what our Lord Jesus Christ did when preach-ing the gospel. Let us go to the poor.
It was the beginning of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, an association of lay people that offers one-on-one assistance to the needy, in response to Jesus’ call to love of God and neighbor. Today its members—drawn from every continent, culture, status, and race—are the living expression of Frédéric’s vision “to embrace the world in a network of charity.”
Compassionate Love. Frédéric Ozanam was born on April 23, 1813, to devout parents…
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