utiful and pious; Madame Goussault, the first President
of the Dames de Charite; and many others, whose purses were always at
Vincent's disposal.

The Congregation of the Mission Priests was to inaugurate another good
work for which there was an urgent necessity in the world of Vincent's
day. While yet at the College des Bons Enfants, he had realized how
great was the need of a special training for young men destined for
the priesthood and had founded a small seminary. After the move to St.
Lazare the undertaking had grown and prospered. A college of the same
kind had been lately founded by M. Olier, the zealous cure of St.
Sulpice; and these two institutions, the first of the famous
seminaries which were later to spread all over France, were powerful
for the reform of the clergy. One hundred and fifty years later the
Mission Priests of St. Lazare alone were at the head of sixty such
seminaries.

So the work of the Congregation increased and multiplied until it
seemed almost too much for human capacity. But Vincent knew wherein
lay the strength of the Mission Priests. "How may we hope to do our
work?" he would ask. "How can we lead souls to God? How can we stem
the tide of wickedness among the people? Let us realize that this is
not man's work at all, it is God's. Human energy will only hinder it
unless directed by God. The most important point of all is that we
should be in touch with Our Lord in prayer."

Dearest to his heart of all his undertakings was the first and chief
work of the Congregation--the holding of missions for the poor. By
twos and threes he would send out his sons to their labors, bidding
them travel to their destination in the cheapest possible way. They
were to accept neither free quarters nor gifts of any kind. All their
thoughts and prayers were to be concentrated on their work: they were
to live for their mission. Two sermons were to be preached
daily--simple instructions on the great truths--and those who had not
yet made their First Communion were to be catechized. The mission
lasted ten or fourteen days, during which the Mission Priests were to
have as much personal contact with the people as possible, visiting
the sick and the infirm, reconciling enemies and showing themselves as
the friends of all.

It was no easy task to be a good Mission Priest. It meant
self-mastery, self-renunciation, self-forgetfulness total and
complete. It meant the laying aside of much that lies very close to a