Saint Vincent Ferrer
Trumpeter of the Gospel

April 5

Vincent was born in Valencia, Spain in 1350. He was a beautiful child and already at a young age showed signs of goodness and compassion for others. Very soon people were saying this child is marked for an unusual life. Vincent started his studies at the tender age of eight and entered the Dominican Order at eighteen. He was a brilliant student and received a Masters in Theology at the University of Lerida. In 1379 in Barcelona, Vincent was ordained a Dominican priest.

Two evils cried out for remedy in Vincent’s day; the moral laxity left by the great plague and the scandal of the papal schism. With regard to the first, he preached tirelessly bringing thousands to a better life. In the midst of the papal schism he labored with all his strength, trying to bring some order to the chaos. The work was so strenuous that he fell seriously ill. During this time he had a vision and was charged to go forth and preach.

Having studied Scripture and Hebrew and having a rich relationship with his God, Vincent was well equipped for the task of preaching. Men, women, Christians, Moors and Jews, saints and sinners, rich and poor, followed him from city to city. All understood his sermons and thousands were converted. Vincent had a powerful voice of remarkable range, clear and resonant as a silver trumpet. His band of followers known as The Company of Vincent, continued to teach and do good works, there was never an experience of scandal or immorality known in this group. Religious houses, orphanages and hospitals sprang up in his path. Kings, queens, bishops civic magistrates invited him to their cities and sought his counsel.

Although many experienced Vincent as larger than life, he was a humble man. He had a tender love for Jesus and like him gathered the children around him to tell them the stories of Mary and Jesus. He worked countless miracles some of which are still remembered in the provinces of the country. He also wrote a book called Treatise on the Spiritual Life.

While on a preaching mission in Brittany, Vincent died on April 5, 1419 as the Passion of Christ was being read to him. He was seventy. Two years before his death the papal schism had ended. Vincent Ferrer was canonized by Calixtus III in 1455. The process of canonization bore witness to the effectiveness of his preaching, the many conversions, the miracles, the truth and sincerity of this Dominican Friar.