Vincent Ferrer | |
|---|---|
 San Vicente Ferrer byJuan de Juanes | |
| Priest andConfessor | |
| Born | 23 January 1350 Valencia,Kingdom of Valencia |
| Died | 5 April 1419(1419-04-05) (aged 69) Vannes,Duchy of Brittany |
| Venerated in | |
| Canonized | 3 June 1455,Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome,Papal States byPope Callixtus III |
| Majorshrine | Cathedral of Vannes Vannes,Morbihan, France |
| Feast | 5 April |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage |
|
Vincent Ferrer,OP (Valencian:Sant Vicent Ferrer[ˈsaɱviˈsɛɱfeˈreɾ];Spanish:San Vicente Ferrer;Italian:San Vincenzo Ferreri;German:Sankt Vinzenz Ferrer;Dutch:Sint-Vincent Ferrer;French:Saint Vincent Ferrier; 23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was aValencianDominican friar who gained acclaim as a preacher,missionary andlogician. After supportingAntipope Benedict XIII during theWestern Schism, Ferrer travelled to preach acrossWestern Europe and theBritish Isles. His preaching has been credited in some sources as converting 25,000 Jews toCatholicism, other sources indicate that they involved supporting coercive means, such as the forcible conversion ofsynagogues into churches. He was canonized in 1455.
.jpg)
Vincent was the fourth child of Guillem Ferrer, a notary fromPalamós, and his wife, Constança Miquel, apparently from Valencia itself orGirona.[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 afterVincent 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 oftheology and philosophy at fourteen.[6] Four years later, at the age of eighteen, Ferrer entered the Order of Preachers,[7] commonly called theDominican 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 thenovitiate of the Order, though, he experienced temptations urging him to leave. Even his parents pleaded with him to do so and become asecular priest. He prayed and practiced penance to overcome these trials. Thus he succeeded in completing the year of probation and advancing to hisprofession.
For a period of three years, he read solelySacred Scripture and eventually committed it to memory. He published a treatise on Dialectic Suppositions after his solemn profession, and in 1379 wasordained aCatholic priest at Barcelona. He eventually became aMaster of Sacred Theology and wascommissioned by the Order to deliver lectures on philosophy. He was then sent toBarcelona and eventually to theUniversity of Lleida, where he earned hisdoctorate in theology.[9]
Vincent Ferrer is described as a man of medium height, with a lofty forehead and very distinct features. His hair was fair in colour and tonsured. His eyes were very dark and expressive; his manner gentle. Pale was his ordinary colour. His voice was strong and powerful, at times gentle, resonant, and vibrant.[5]
The Western Schism (1378–1417) divided Catholicism between two, then eventually three, claimants to the papacy.Antipope Clement VII lived atAvignon in France, andPope Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced that the election of Urban was invalid, althoughCatherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope. In the service of CardinalPedro de Luna, Vincent worked to persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died in 1394, Cardinal de Luna was elected as the secondantipope successor to theAvignon papacy and took the name Benedict XIII.[10]
Vincent and his brother Boniface, General of the Carthusians, were loyal toBenedict 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 theCouncil of Pisa (1409) or theCouncil 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]
For twenty-one years he was said to have traveled toEngland,Scotland,Ireland,Aragon,Castile, France,Switzerland, andItaly, preaching theGospel and converting many. Many biographers believe that he could speak onlyValencian, but was endowed with thegift of tongues.[6] He was a noted preacher. Though he himself was an intellectual, his preaching style has been described as "innovative in that it incorporated a popular tone and rhetorical directness into the (by then traditional)Scholastic, thematic sermon structure".[12][dubious –discuss]
He preached toColette of Corbie and hernuns, and it was she who told him that he would die in France. Too ill to return to Spain, he did, indeed, die inBrittany in 1419. Breton fishermen still invoke his aid in storms, and in Spain he is the patron of orphanages.[13]
Vincent is said to have been responsible for the conversion of manyJews to Catholicism, allegedly by questionable means according to theJewish Encyclopedia; for instance, he is said to have strongly encouraged conversion and to have consecrated synagogues as churches.[14] A contemporary convert, a formerrabbi by the name ofSolomon ha-Levi, went on to become theBishop of Cartagena and later theArchbishop of Burgos. Vincent is alleged to have contributed toanti-Semitism in Spain, as commotion accompanied his visits to towns that had Jewish communities.[15]
Because of the Spanish'smethods of converting Jews at the time, the means which Vincent had at his disposal were either baptism orspoliation. According to theCatholic Encyclopedia, he won them over by his preaching, converting an estimated 25,000 Jews.[6]
Sources are contradictory concerning Vincent's achievement in converting a synagogue inToledo, Spain, into the Church ofSanta María la Blanca. One source says he preached to the mobs whose riots led to the appropriation of the synagogue and its transformation into a church in 1391;[16] a second source says he converted the Jews of the city who then changed the synagogue to a church after they embraced the Faith, but hints at the year 1411.[9] A third source identifies two distinct incidents, one in Valencia in 1391 and one in Toledo at a later date, but says that Vincent put down an uprising against Jews in one place and defused a persecution against them in the other.[17] Vincent also attended theDisputation of Tortosa (1413–14), called byAvignon Pope Benedict XIII in an effort to convert Jews to Catholicism after a debate among scholars of both religions.[15]
Vincent participated in the management of a significant political crisis in his homeland. KingMartin of Aragon died in 1410 without a legitimate heir, and five potential candidates came forth to claim the throne, all with royal bloodlines. It was determined that a committee of nine respected figures, three each from Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia (the realms comprising theCrown of Aragon), would review the qualifications and select the next king. Vincent was chosen as one of the representatives of Valencia, and he voted for the Castilian princeFerdinand of Antequera, who became the next King of Aragon.[18] On 28 June, Ferrer publicly proclaimedFerdinand of Castile as king of Aragon.[19] The process by which Ferdinand was determined to be the next king is known as theCompromise of Caspe.
Vincent died on 5 April 1419 at Vannes in Brittany, at the age of 69,[7] and was buried inVannes Cathedral. He wascanonized by Pope Callixtus III on 3 June 1455.[6] Hisfeast day is celebrated on 5 April.[20]
Entities named after him include a pontifical religious institute, theFraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, and two Brazilian municipalities,São Vicente Ferrer, Maranhão, andSão Vicente Ferrer, Pernambuco.
A 50-metre (164-foot)statue of Ferrer was erected inBayambang, Philippines, in 2019.[21]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Vincent Ferrer".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Media related toSaint Vincent Ferrer at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
