 Frederic Ozanam was a 20 year old university
student in Paris when he founded the first "Conference of Charity" in 1833.
The Members of that first Conference chose
Saint Vincent de Paul as their patron saint,
citing him as a model on earth and a
protector in heaven. They then placed the
Society under the protection of the Blessed
Virgin and every year, on the 8th of
December, the members would renew their
request to Our Blessed Lady, that she guide
them in their charitable deeds.
First a student, and then an eminent professor
at Lyon and later at Paris, at the Sorbonne, all through his life, Frederic Ozanam
demonstrated courage, which he found in his
deep faith. His close friends used to call him "audacious, yet gently tenacious."
In June 1841, 28 year old Frederic married
Amélie Soulacroix and their only child, Marie,
was born in 1845.
Frederic Ozanam, apostle of charity,
exemplary spouse and father, grand figure of
the Catholic laity of the nineteenth century,
died at the age of 40, on September 8th, the
Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He was beatified by Pope John-Paul II in Notre
Dame de Paris Basilica on August 22, 1997.
His Feast Day is celebrated on September 9th. |
Blessed Frederic Ozanam
: Founder of the Society of St. Vicent de Paul