The origins

It dates from the day when Msgr. Angebault, the bishop of Angers, blessed the newborn community at the foot of the shrine of St. Vincent, in the chapel of the Vincentians on the Rue de Sèvres in Paris. There stood Jean-Léon Le Prevost, who had initiated this undertaking, Clément Myionnet, co-founder, and a young man, Maurice Maignen, who would soon join his two companions.

Le Prevost had joined the first conference of charity (conference of St. Vincent de Paul), some months after its foundation. On 11 September 1844, Clément Myionnet, himself also a Vincentian member, had come from Angers to meet M. Le Prevost in Paris. Both had the same desires and views: to give their lives to the service of the poor in a new religious congregation.