MEMORIAL OF SAINT VINCENT FERRER, PRIEST: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Priest. He is the Patron Saint of builders because of his fame for “building up” and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. He is also the patron saint of Prisoners, Construction workers, Plumbers, Fishermen and Spanish orphanages. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Vincent Ferrer and all the Saints, we humbly pray for safety and well-being of all those traveling during this Easter Season and we lift us all before the throne of God. May He watch over our eternal welfare… Amen🙏
St. Vincent encouraged praying the rosary by saying: “Whoever observes this practice is beyond the reach of adversity!”
“Once humility is acquired, charity will come to life; a burning flame devouring the corruption of vice and filling the heart so full that there is no place for vanity.” ~ Quote of St. Vincent Ferrer
PRAYER: God, You raised up St. Vincent Your Priest for a ministry of evangelical preaching. Grant that we may see him reigning in heaven who while on earth proclaimed the future judgment. Amen🙏
SAINT VINCENT FERRER, PRIEST: St. Vincent Ferrer (1357-1419) was an illustrious follower of St. Dominic. As a Dominican preacher and missionary he brought thousands of Europeans into the Catholic Church during a period of political and spiritual crisis in Western Europe. St. Vincent Ferrer was born in Valencia, Spain, on January 23, 1357. The son of a knight. From his parents he learned virtue and generosity to the poor and his parents raised him to care deeply about his religious duties, without neglecting his education or concern for the poor. As a child he fasted every Wednesday and Friday and was tenderly devoted to the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Mother. One of his siblings, Boniface, later joined the Carthusian order and became its superior general. St. Vincent, however, would become a Dominican, and preach the Gospel throughout Europe. He excelled in his studies and joined the Dominican Order at age 18 in 1374 with the support of his parents. As a member of the Dominican Order of Preachers, St. Vincent committed much of the Bible to memory while also studying the Church Fathers and philosophy. He flourished in both austerity and scholarship, and became famous for performing more miracles than any other saint. His miracle-working powers began in the womb with the healing of a blind woman who touched his mother’s pregnant belly. By age 28, he was renowned for his preaching, and also known to have a gift of prophecy. Five years later, a representative of Pope Clement VII chose St. Vincent to accompany him to France, where he preached extensively. While St. Vincent sought to live out his order’s commitment to the preaching of the Gospel, he could not escape becoming involved in the political intrigues of the day. Two rival claimants to the papacy emerged during the late 1300s, one in Rome and another in the French city of Avignon. Each claimed the allegiance of roughly half of Western Europe. Caught between the rival claimants, St. Vincent attempted to persuade the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII to negotiate an end to the schism. Benedict, who was regarded as Pope in both Spain and France, sought to honor St. Vincent by consecrating him as a bishop. But the Dominican friar had no interest in advancing within the Church, and regarded many bishops of his time as negligent leaders distracted by luxury. “I blush and tremble,” he wrote in a letter, “when I consider the terrible judgment impending on ecclesiastical superiors who live at their ease in rich palaces, while so many souls redeemed by the blood of Christ are perishing. I pray without ceasing, to the Lord of the harvest, that he send good workmen into his harvest.”
St. Vincent not only prayed, but acted, committing himself to missionary work and resolving to preach in every town between Avignon and his hometown in Spain. In a commanding style, he denounced greed, blasphemy, sexual immorality, and popular disregard for the truths of faith. His sermons often drew crowds of thousands and prompted dramatic conversions. He was followed by a train of priests, nuns, penitents, and pilgrims that numbered in the thousands. Popular acclaim, however, did not distract him from a life of asceticism and poverty. He abstained completely from meat, slept on a straw mat and on the floor and maintained a perpetual fast, consumed only bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays, and accepted no donations for himself beyond what he needed to survive. Twice a day the “Bell of Miracles” was rung when all the sick and infirm were brought to him for cures; it was not unusual for him to perform one hundred miracles in a day. He also made scores of converts among the Muslims and Jews. For two decades, St. Vincent and his group of friars undertook preaching missions in Spain, Italy, and France. He traveled with five other Dominican friars at all times, and the men would spend hours hearing confessions. When he arrived in a village his retinue would set up camp, and St. Vincent would preach to great crowds on the subjects of sin, death, heaven, and hell. He would also celebrate Mass and hear confessions daily. When he traveled outside these regions, into Germany and other parts of the Mediterranean, those who did not know the languages in which he preached would testify that they had understood every word he said, in the same manner as the apostles experienced at Pentecost. St. Vincent believed that he was a special messenger of penance sent by God to prepare men for the final judgment; at that time the Black Death was ravaging across Europe killing millions, and the Great Schism was rending the Church in two. Through him multitudes were brought to penance and conversion. Although he did not heal the temporary divisions within the Church, St. Vincent succeeded in strengthening large numbers of Europeans in their Catholic faith. He was honorably received in the districts subject to the two claimants to the Papacy. He was even invited to Mohammedan Granada, where he preached the Gospel with much success. He lived to behold the end of the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. He wrote little, although some of his works have survived, and exist in modern English translations. St. Vincent Ferrer finally died on April 5, 1419 at age 62, in the city of Vannes in the French region of Brittany. He was canonized in 1455, by Pope Callistus III. He has more recently become the namesake of a traditional Catholic community approved by the Holy See, the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer. He is the Patron Saint of builders because of his fame for “building up” and strengthening the Church: through his preaching, missionary work, in his teachings, as confessor and adviser. He is also the patron saint of Prisoners, Construction workers, Builders, Plumbers, Fishermen and Spanish orphanages.
PRAYER: O God, who didst vouchsafe to glorify Thy Church by the merits and preaching of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Thy Confessor: grant us Thy servants that we may be taught by his example, and be delivered by his patronage from all adversities. O Lord, make haste to help me. Thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth…. Amen. Saint Vincent Ferrer ~ Pray for us 🙏