Santoral on April 5: San Vicente Ferrer. Catholic Santoral

Every April 5, the Catholic Church celebrates San Vicente Ferrerpresbyter, member of the Order of Preachers, the Master of Theology and Philosophy, preacher of the Gospel.

“If you want to be useful to the souls of your neighbors, first resort to God with all my heart and ask him with simplicity to grant you that charity,” said Saint Vincent, and that was what he put into practice. He toured an extensive territory between Spain, France and Italy, achieving many conversions; He worked to preserve the unity of the Church defending true faith, as well as by the reform of customs.

In the person of Christ

San Vicente Ferrer was born in Valencia (Spain) in 1350. He began his studies in one of the schools in his hometown. In February 1367 he took the Dominican habit. Then, he would expand his studies in Lleida, Barcelona and Toulouse. In Lleida, he became a master of logic and theology to his short 21 years.

Being deacon was sent to preach to Barcelona. There was a terrible famine and the arrival of food ships was expected with extreme anxiety, but they did not appear. The story that Vicente seeing the anguish of the people announced from the pulpit that the ships would arrive that same night. The gesture was not liked by his superior who rebuked him for walking with “prophecies”, exciting people. To everyone’s surprise, what Vicente said was fulfilled and that same night the ships arrived. The next morning the townspeople appeared at the door of the convent to cheer the deacon who had returned faith in God.

Before a church started by the schism

San Vicente Ferrer had an important participation in the recovery of the unity of the Church, after the problem raised by the papacy of Avignon (France). He saw, as a young man how the headquarters of the Church Government returned to Rome after more than 70 years, but also witnessed the trifulcas that occurred after the choice of urban VI that revived the tension between Avignon and Rome and that triggered the so -called Schism of the West; That is, the Church has two and up to three heads simultaneously. It was the antipapas period. Despite having initially supported the Pope of Avignon, Clemente VII, began to see with suspicion to the French curia and interceded so that King Fernando de Aragón did not recognize the headquarters of Avignon and worked for the unity of the Church. In the midst of all this long and complex process, which the saint accused of tremendously painful for his soul, Vicente tried how much he could keep on the sidelines and live fully as one more Dominican, however his moral prestige forced him to intervene. Providentially, his efforts were aimed at the crown to cooperate with the unit, making it withdraw his support for the French headquarters and then favoring the choice of Pope Martin V in 1417, so that the schism was concluded.

Working for unity

San Vicente Ferrer fought the division of the Church with effort. He did, it is true, making available to God his good offices, since he was an influential man, but he did it mainly through preaching. On the night of October 3, 1394, Vicente had a vision in which our Lord Jesus Christ appeared, next to San Francisco and Santo Domingo de Guzmán. The Lord asked him to go to preach through the cities, towns and the countryside. These were days when the saint suffered from fevers that caused him a lot of pain and that made him think that he was dying. The next day, Vicente was recovered and determined to undertake the great evangelizing journey of his life. It would be a total of 30 years that would walk through Western Europe on foot, northern Spain, southern France, northern Italy and Switzerland, preaching tirelessly, with enormous spiritual fruits. Among the many converts abounded by Jews and Moors -it is said that a total of 10 thousand alone in Spain.

On the other hand, we know that the Church is strengthened by its saints; She grows if she turns into charity, in the service to those in need. In that sense, it is worth mentioning one of the most interesting works of the distinguished preacher: the creation of the orphanage of Valencia. San Vicente Ferrer is attributed the foundation of the first orphanage of history in 1410, an institution that continues to work until today.

Always in the end

This great preacher is a known character in the history of letters due to its neatness in the writing of sermons. During the years of apostolic pilgrimage there was always time to prepare their homilies and focus on moral behavior reform. His zeal for souls, fed for his close treatment with Christ, led him to become a kind of preacher of the end of the world; In fact, many called him ‘the angel of the end of the world’. And in that powerful preaching about death, hell and glory, in which he called for conversion, Vicente Ferrer surprised with an extraordinary gift: who heard him during his trips did so in his own language, despite the fact that the good Dominican only spoke his native ‘Valencian’. The numerous testimonies that were collected for their cause attesting to it.

San Vicente Ferrer departed to the father’s house on April 5, 1419 in Vannes (France). Seeing himself sick, he tried to return to his beloved Valencia, but he couldn’t. However, he sent a farewell letter that is a source of pride for all Valencian and for any of his devotees. Today, San Vicente, is a patron of the Spanish city.

The saint was canonized by Pope Calixto III in 1455.

To learn more about this saint, enter the following link of the Catholic Encyclopedia: https://ec.aciprensa.com/wiki/San_Vicente_Ferrer.

To learn more about this saint enters the following link