Vincent Ferrer
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Vincent Ferrer, OP (
Early life
Vincent was the fourth child of Guillem Ferrer, a notary from Palamós, and his wife, Constança Miquel, apparently from Valencia itself or Girona.[1][2][3][4]
Legends surround Vincent's birth. It was said that his father was told in a dream by a Dominican friar that his son would be famous throughout the world. His mother is said never to have experienced pain when she gave birth to him. He was named after Vincent Martyr, the patron saint of Valencia.[5] He would fast on Wednesdays and Fridays and distribute alms to the poor. He began his classical studies at the age of eight, and his study of theology and philosophy at fourteen.[6] Four years later, at the age of eighteen, Ferrer entered the Order of Preachers,[7] commonly called the Dominican Order (in England also known as "Black Friars" because of the black cloak they wear over their white habits[8]). As soon as he had entered the novitiate of the Order, though, he experienced temptations urging him to leave. Even his parents pleaded with him to do so and become a secular priest. He prayed and practiced penance to overcome these trials. Thus he succeeded in completing the year of probation and advancing to his profession.
For a period of three years, he read solely
Vincent Ferrer is described as a man of medium height, with a lofty forehead and very distinct features. His hair was fair in color and tonsured. His eyes were very dark and expressive; his manner gentle. Pale was his ordinary color. His voice was strong and powerful, at times gentle, resonant, and vibrant.[5]
Western Schism
The
Vincent and his brother Boniface, General of the Carthusians, were loyal to Benedict XIII, commonly known as "Papa Luna" in Castile and Aragon.[6] He worked for Benedict XIII as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace.[10] Nonetheless Vincent labored to have Benedict XIII end the schism.[9] When Benedict XIII did not resign as intended at either the Council of Pisa (1409) or the Council of Constance (1414–1418), he lost the support of the French king and of most of his cardinals, and was excommunicated as a schismatic in 1417.
Vincent later claimed that the Western Schism had had such a depressing effect on his mind that it caused him to be seriously ill.[11]
Religious gifts and missionary work
For twenty-one years he was said to have traveled to
He preached to
Conversion of Jews and controversy
Vincent is said to have been responsible for the conversion of many
Because of the Spanish's methods of converting Jews at the time, the means which Vincent had at his disposal were either baptism or spoliation. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he won them over by his preaching, estimated at 25,000.[6]
Sources are contradictory concerning Vincent's achievement in converting a synagogue in
Compromise of Caspe
Vincent participated in the management of a significant political crisis in his homeland. King
Death and legacy
Vincent died on 5 April 1419 at
Entities named after him include a pontifical religious institute, the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, and two Brazilian municipalities, São Vicente Ferrer, Maranhão, and São Vicente Ferrer, Pernambuco.[citation needed]
A 50-metre (164-foot) statue of Ferrer was erected in Bayambang, Philippines, in 2019.
See also
- Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba
- Saint Vincent Ferrer, patron saint archive
- Statues of Saints Vincent Ferrer and Procopius, Charles Bridge
References
- Vilaweb, 31 March 2008, reprinted in Normalització, (in Catalan). The author of this article references El gran llibre dels sants, by Roger Costa Solé, Ara Llibres, Barcelona, 2007, as his source. Consulted 2016-12-18.
- ^ Como una red. Sermones de Vicent Ferrer, by Josep-Antoni Ysern i Lagarda, University of Valencia, (in Spanish). Consulted 2016-12-18.
- ^ "Notas sobre esta historia", in Historia de la portentosa vida y milagros del Valenciano Apostol de Europa San Vicente Ferrer, by Francisco VIDAL Y MICÒ and Serafin Thomas MIGUEL, Valencia, 1733, p. 453 (in Spanish). Consulted 2016-12-18.
- ISBN 0-313-30588-9. (p. 490)
- ^ a b "Minnaji O.P., Cora. "Biography: The Life of St. Vincent Ferrer: The Wonder Worker". The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, NYC". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Reinhart, Albert. "St. Vincent Ferrer". The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 10 May 2021 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b "St. Vincent Ferrer". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ "Black friar". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b c "The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints by Rev. Alban Butler". Ewtn.com. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ a b Media, Franciscan (5 April 2016). "Saint Vincent Ferrer". Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- ^ Hogan, Stanislaus M. (1911). Saint Vincent Ferrer : O.P. Kelly – University of Toronto. London : Longmans, Green.
- ^ p. 238, Pelle, Stephen. "An Old Norse Homily and Two Homiletic Fragments from AM 624 4to." GRIPLA 27 (2016): 263–281.
- ^ Website O.P.
- ^ "Jewish Encyclopedia, Vincent Ferrer". Jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ ISBN 0812218647. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ Despland, Michel. "La religion en Occident: Grandes ou petites vérités?" (in French). Encyclopédie de l'Agora. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
- ^ "Second Exodus". Second Exodus. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ISBN 84-232-0481-2
- ^ Bonneaud, Pierre (1999). "Le Rôle politique des ordres militaires dans la Couronne d'Aragón pendant l'interrègne de 1410 à 1412 à travers les Anales de Zurita". Aragón en la Edad Media. 14: 131–132.
- ISBN 0313305889.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Vincent Ferrer". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Further reading
Books
- Laura Ackerman Smoller, The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Saint Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014).
- The Life and Miracles of St. Vincent Ferrer: The "Angel of the Apocalypse"
- Andrew Pradel, St. Vincent Ferrer, of the Order of Friar Preachers: His life, spiritual teaching, and practical devotion, trans. by T. A. Dixon (London: R. Washbourne, 1875). (The French original received its imprimatur in 1863.)
Articles
- Albert Reinhart, 'St. Vincent Ferrer' in The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912).
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- John Gilmary Shea, 'Saint Vincent Ferrer' in Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1894).
- Terry H Jones, 'Saint Vincent Ferrer' in Saints.SQPN.com (Star Quest Production Network).
- Pelle, Stephen. 2018. Fragments of an Icelandic Christmas Sermon Based on Two Sermons of Vincent Ferrer. Gripla XXIX (2018): 231–259
- 'St. Vincent Ferrer' in Saints and Angels (Catholic Online).
External links
- Media related to Saint Vincent Ferrer at Wikimedia Commons