When the Revolution of 1848 broke out, Ozanam served briefly and reluctantly in the National Guard. Later he made a belated and unsuccessful bid for election to the National Assembly at the insistence of friends. This was followed by a short and stormy effort at publishing a liberal Catholic journal called The New Era (L’Ere Nouvelle) which was aimed at securing justice for the poor and working classes. This evoked the ire of conservative Catholics and the consternation of some of Ozanam’s friends for seeming to side with the Church’s enemies.

All during this time, Ozanam, who had never enjoyed robust health, found his work-load increasing between the teaching, writing and work with the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. In 1846 he was named to the Legion of Honor. But at this time his health broke down and he was forced to take a year’s rest in Italy where he continued his research.

After four years of happy marriage, an only daughter, Marie, was born to the delighted Ozanams.

One of Frédéric’s role models, Père Lacordaire, was on his way to Rome to join the Dominicans. For a while, Ozanam considered joining him, but under the guidance of Abbe Noirot and considering his commitment to the work of the Conference of Charity which were multiplying around France, he decided against pursuing a life of celibacy and the cloister. After years of hesitation concerning marriage, Frédéric was introduced by his old friend and guide, Abbe Noirot, to Amelie Soulacroix, the daughter of the rector of the Lyons Academy. They married on June 23, 1841, and spent an extended honeymoon in Italy during which he continued his research.

In 1839 he was given a chair of Commercial Law at Lyon where his lectures received wide acclaim and where, after an offer to assume a chair of Philosophy at Orléans, he was asked to lecture also on Foreign Literature at Lyon which enabled him to support his mother. She died early in 1840, leaving him quite unsettled about his future.

In 1834, after passing his bar examination, Frédéric went to Italy where he was to gain his first appreciation of medieval art. After this, he returned to Paris to continue studying for his doctorate in Law. When he finished, he took up a practice of law in Lyon, but with little satisfaction. His attention turned more and more to literature. When his father died in 1837, he found himself the sole support of his mother which kept him in the field of law to make a living. In 1839, after finishing a brilliant thesis on Dante which revolutionized critical work on the poet, the Sorbonne awarded him a doctorate in literature.

Now, instead of engaging in mere discussion and debate, seven of the group (M. Bailly, Frédéric Ozanam, Francois Lallier, Paul Lamanche, Felix Clave, Auguste Letaillandier and Jules De Vaux) met on a May evening in 1833 for the first time and determined to engage in practical works of charity. In 1835 the Conference officially became the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This little band was to expand rapidly over France and around the world even during the lifetime of Ozanam.

At one meeting during a heated debate among Ozanam and his friends, their adversaries declared that, though at one time the Church was a source of good, it no longer was. One voice issued the challenge, “What is your church doing now? What is she doing for the poor of Paris? Show us your works and we will believe you!” In response, one of Ozanam’s companions, Auguste de Letaillandier, suggested some effort in favor of the poor. “Yes,” Ozanam agreed, “let us go to the poor!”

1833 – Establishes the Conference of Charity with other Sorbonne students. Under the sponsorship of an older ex-professor, J. Emmanuel Bailly, these young men revived a discussion group called a “Society of Good Studies” and formed it into a “Conference of History” which quickly became a forum for large and lively discussions among students. Their attentions turned frequently to the social teachings of the Gospel. The “Conference of History” became the “Conference of Charity” which eventually was named the “Conference of St. Vincent de Paul.”

While away at school, at first he suffered a great deal from homesickness and unsuitable company in boarding house surroundings. But after moving in with the family of the renowned Andre-Marie Ampere where he stayed for two years, he had not only the nourishment of a very Christian and intellectual environment, but also the opportunity to meet some of the bright lights of the Catholic Revival like Chateaubriand, Montalembert, Lacordaire and Ballanche. It was at this time that Frédéric’s attraction to history took on the dimensions of a life’s task as apologist… His aim was to help restore Catholicism to France where materialism and rationalism, irreligion and anti-clericalism prevailed. It was not long before Ozanam found the climate of the University hostile to Christian belief.