St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850) was an incredibly zealous and active priest who did a lot of good for the people of Rome. His great and many charitable works included spiritual guidance to those in the military, especially to sick soldiers, as well as to condemned prisoners. Vincent was the spiritual director for a number of colleges and seminaries. He also founded three religious orders, as well as numerous mission colleges, trade schools for young boys, and a large orphanage. He reorganized guilds for several jobs, and when the cholera struck in 1837, he established organizations to not only help those who had fallen ill, but to also provide for the victims’ dependents.

For all this and even more, this amazing man became known among his grateful people as "the second St. Philip Neri."

Many paintings of St. Vincent depict him holding a small picture of the holy Madonna and Child. There is, in fact, a very sweet and interesting reason for this detail.

Back at that time, it was an Italian custom to kiss a priest’s hand in greeting or to bid farewell. Vincent, who was a very active priest among the people, did not like the idea of having his hand kissed whenever he met someone. And so, the Saint cleverly devised to have a small box made in which he kept a tiny statue of Our Lady. On the outside of the box, he had a painting of the Madonna and Child. Thus made, he kept this unique sacramental with him whenever he traveled. Then, as soon as someone would draw near to kiss Vincent’s hand, the holy priest would hold out the box instead, so that it was Mary and Jesus who received the respectful gesture.