Alonso
Cano (1601–1667), Saint Vincent Ferrer Preaching, between 1644
and 1645, 214 x 164, Fundación Banco Santander
Saint Vincent
Ferrier, prêtre
En vrai fils de Saint
Dominique, Vincent Ferrier fut avant tout un prêcheur. De Valence (Espagne) où
il naquit (1350) à Vannes où il mourut (1419), il chemina sans cesse à travers
la France, l'Italie, la Suisse, exhortant les foules à la conversion, dans l'attente
du retour du Christ que semblaient annoncer les calamités de son temps, la
guerre et le schisme.
_17_07_2019_21.jpg)
Statua
marmorea di San Vincenzo Ferreri, Santa Caterina, Palermo
Saint Vincent Ferrier
Frère
dominicain (+ 1419)
Né à Valence en Espagne,
Vincent entre chez les dominicains à 17 ans. En ce temps là l'Église d'Occident
était déchirée par le Grand Schisme: un pape à Avignon, un pape à Rome. Maître
en théologie, Vincent soutient d'abord les papes d'Avignon. Mais pour que se
fasse l'unité, il adjura Benoît XIII, dernier pape avignonnais, de renoncer à
sa charge pour que l'Église puisse se rassembler autour d'un nouveau Pape.
Prédicateur populaire, il sillonne la France, l'Italie et la Suisse. Les foules
le suivent. Il les exhorte à se convertir: le retour du Christ est proche, les
calamités du temps (la Grande Peste!) l'annoncent. Vincent est, dans
l'imagination populaire, 'le prédicateur de la fin du monde'. Il meurt à Vannes
en Bretagne. Partout où il a prêché, les populations, qui le vénéraient déjà de
son vivant, l'invoquent après sa mort.
- vidéos: Des
Pierres qui prêchent - Fraternité St-Vincent-Ferrier et Sant
Visant Ferrer, sculpture pour la vallée des saints.
"En janvier 1418, il
arrive en Bretagne. Il parcourt le duché à dos d'âne ; il prêche à Nantes
d'abord, puis, entre autres villes, à à Pontivy, Quimperlé, Saint-Pol de Léon
et Morlaix. Partout la foule est si dense qu'il lui faut prêcher sur les places
publiques. D'après Albert Le Grand, il prêchait en sa langue maternelle,
"néanmoins nos bas-bretons l'entendaient aussi bien que s'il eût parlé à
chacun d'eux en son propre langage." Le périple de Vincent Ferrier se
termine à Vannes. Il y tombe malade; la duchesse de Bretagne elle-même accourt
à son chevet. Vincent s'éteint le 5 avril 1519, son corps est inhumé dans la
cathédrale. On y vénère toujours ses reliques." (diocèse
de Quimper et Léon - Saint Vincent Ferrier)
A Aix, Saint Vincent
Ferrier vient prêcher en 1401 et le Bienheureux André Abellon en
1415, durant la peste qui ravage le pays. (Diocèse
d'Aix et Arles - Une histoire)
Né en Espagne à Valence,
le 23 janvier 1346 ou 1347, il entre à 17 ans au couvent des dominicains de sa
ville et c'est là qu'il exerce son apostolat dans l'enseignement et la
prédication jusqu'en 1390. Il commence alors un itinéraire de Prêcheur qui le
mène d'abord près du pape d'Avignon, puis, à partir de 1399, à travers le midi
de la France, la Lombardie, le Piémont, la Suisse et la Savoie. Il visite ainsi
le Dauphiné, notamment trois vallées : L'Argentière, Freissinières et la
Vallouise, où les Vaudois attentent plusieurs fois à sa vie. Il arrive à
transformer le pays en obtenant de très nombreuses abjurations et un retour
général à la foi catholique. En 1408, il revient à Valence mais, après quelques
années, il regagne la France qu'il parcourt en tous sens, convertissant les
foules. Il meurt en Bretagne, au terme d'un carême prêché à Vannes, le 5 avril
1419. Il est canonisé en 1455. (Sanctoral du diocèse de Gap et d'Embrun, page
24)
Mémoire de saint Vincent
Ferrier, prêtre de l'Ordre des Prêcheurs. Né à Valence en Espagne, il ne cessa
de parcourir les diverses régions de l'Occident, soucieux de la paix de
l'Église et de son unité, prêchant inlassablement, à travers villes et routes,
l'Évangile de la pénitence et la venue du Seigneur à des foules innombrables,
remuées par sa parole véhémente et simple, accompagnée de miracles et de
prodiges, jusqu'à sa mort à Vannes, en 1419, au terme d'un carême qu'il
prêchait dans cette ville.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/922/Saint-Vincent-Ferrier.html
Anonymous
Mexican retablo, Saint Vincent Ferrer, oil on tin, mid 19th
century, El Paso Museum of Art
SAINT
VINCENT FERRIER
Missionnaire
(1357-1418)
Vincent naquit à Valence, en Espagne. Sa mère, avant sa naissance, eut
révélation de son avenir. Inquiète, elle consulta un saint personnage et en
reçut l'assurance que cet enfant prédestiné serait un grand saint, dont
l'éloquente parole ferait fuir les loups et ramènerait au bercail les brebis
égarées.
Tout petit enfant, il réunissait ses camarades, leur parlait du bon Dieu et de
la Sainte Vierge avec tant d'onction et d'amour, qu'ils en étaient touchés.
Après avoir édifié quelques années le couvent des Dominicains de Valence, il
fit ses premiers essais dans la prédication, et l'on accourut bientôt de loin
pour l'entendre. Il puisait son éloquence dans les plaies sacrées du Sauveur et
dans les lumières de l'oraison. Un jour qu'il devait prêcher devant un grand
seigneur, il se prépara, contre son ordinaire, plus par l'étude que par la
prière; son sermon fut remarquable. Mais le lendemain, prêchant devant le même
seigneur, après une longue préparation aux pieds du crucifix, il parla avec
beaucoup plus de chaleur et d'onction. Le prince lui en demanda la raison:
"Monseigneur, dit le Saint, c'est Vincent qui a prêché hier, et c'est
Jésus-Christ qui a prêché aujourd'hui."
Vincent avait quarante ans quand il entra pleinement dans sa vocation de
missionnaire, après avoir été guéri d'une grave maladie par Notre-Seigneur. Un
bâton d'une main, un crucifix de l'autre, il parcourut à pied presque toutes
les provinces de l'Espagne, de la France et de l'Italie, instruisant, édifiant,
convertissant les foules; il alla jusqu'en Angleterre, en Écosse et en Irlande,
répandre la semence de la parole divine.
Les églises ne suffisant pas à contenir la foule de ses auditeurs, il prêchait
ordinairement sur les places publiques et en pleine campagne. On compte que ce
prédicateur tout divin convertit vingt-cinq mille juifs et autant de musulmans,
et retira du vice plus de cent mille pécheurs. Dieu renouvela pour lui le
miracle des premiers jours de l'Église: Vincent ne prêchait qu'en latin et en
espagnol, et tous ses auditeurs, quels qu'ils fussent le comprenaient dans leur
langue.
Son triomphe était la prédication des fins dernières; il fut l'apôtre du
jugement dernier, et les foules frémissaient de terreur dès qu'il répétait les
paroles du prophète: "Levez-vous, morts, et venez au jugement."
Quand Vincent prêchait en quelque lieu, les marchands de disciplines, de
cilices et autres instruments de mortification accouraient et ne pouvaient
suffire à satisfaire les acheteurs. Tous les jours, après le sermon, son
compagnon sonnait les miracles, et on apportait les malades en foule. Vincent
Ferrier mourut à Vannes, en 1418.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame,
1950.
SOURCE : SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_vincent_ferrier.html
São Vicente Férrer, Convento de São Domingo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Saint Vincent Ferrier (†
1419)
Il est né à Valence, en
Espagne. Il entre à 17 ans chez les Dominicains, il étudie à Barcelone, puis à
Toulouse. Il est ordonné prêtre en 1378. Dès le début, on remarque son talent
de prédicateur et il est nommé aumônier du roi d’Aragon. A ce poste, il est
appelé à arbitrer des conflits.
Intervention dans le
Grand schisme
La déchirure dans
l’Église partagée entre deux papes, l’un résidant à Rome, l’autre résidant en
Avignon, va marquer profondément Saint Vincent Ferrier entre 1378 et 1417, date
à laquelle cessera le schisme. Il oeuvre pour restaurer l’unité de l’Église.
En 1378, un pape est élu
à Rome sous le nom d’Urbain VI. Les cardinaux prétendent avoir cédé à la pression
populaire et certains d’entre eux, réunis à Avignon vont élire Clément VII.
Vincent Ferrier se prononce pour Clément VII et il entraîne dans son sillage le
roi d’Aragon et de Castille.
A la mort de Clément VII,
c’est Pierre de Lune, un ami de Vincent qui est élu pape sous le nom de Benoît
XIII. Il appelle Vincent près de lui à Avignon. Vincent aimerait que les deux
papes, celui de Rome et celui d’Avignon, se désistent volontairement afin que
l’unité de l’Église soit restaurée. Il n’est malheureusement pas écouté et on
aboutira à l’élection d’un troisième pape en 1409. En 1414, un Concile se
réunit à Constance pour mettre fin au schisme. Comme Benoît XIII refuse de se
désister, Vincent condamne l’entêtement de son ami qui finira sa vie seul.
L’unité est restaurée en 1417.
Vincent Ferrier Apôtre
Déçu par le refus de
Benoît XIII de se démettre de sa fonction, Vincent avait décidé de se consacrer
à l ’apostolat: il évangélise la Provence, le Dauphiné, la Suisse, l’Espagne,
il essaie de rencontrer des juifs et des musulmans. Il défend avec ferveur le
dogme de l’Incarnation. Il va passer les dernières années de sa vie en France,
particulièrement en Bretagne. Il se nomme le « galérien de Dieu »: « je ne suis
qu’un pauvre vieux brisé qui n’en peut plus, qui ne sait rien ou plutôt qui ne
sait que son ignorance et sa lâcheté. Donnez-moi la grâce de me rendre compte
de plus en plus que je ne suis rien et que vous êtes tout ».
Dans ses déplacements, il
est suivi par une centaine de disciples; aux haltes, il prêche, il confesse, il
célèbre la messe. Le soir, dans une chambre mise à sa disposition, il prie
longuement et s’accorde très peu de repos. Il passe par Albi, Lyon, Dijon,
Bourges, Angers et arrive en Bretagne où il a été mandé par le Duc. Si le duché
est relativement calme, la situation spirituelle est cependant assez
désastreuse. Les anciens monastères bénédictins connaissent une période de
déclin, tandis que les ordres nouveaux, Franciscains et Dominicains, ne sont
pas encore installés.
Vincent arrive à Vannes le
dimanche des Rameaux 1418. Les notables s’avancent à sa rencontre. Devant, on a
mis les malades, les infirmes et plusieurs guérisons ont lieu. Il prêche sur la
place des Lices. Il va ensuite à Rennes, à Caen, à chaque étape on relate des
miracles. Il passe par Bayeux, Coutances, Avranches, ces villes ont beaucoup
souffert des luttes contre l’Angleterre, elles sont souvent privées de la
présence de leur évêque. Il revient en Bretagne, entre une nouvelle fois à
Vannes malade et y meurt le 5 avril 1419.
Le culte de saint Vincent
Ferrier
Il fut enterré à la
Cathédrale, comme les espagnols revendiquaient le corps, il fallut qu’une Bulle
du pape mette fin au conflit. Les miracles se multiplièrent sur sa tombe. En
1451 s’ouvre le procès de canonisation. Des personnalités religieuses se
réunissent à Malestroit, Vannes, se déplacent dans les villes qu’a visitées le
prédicateur pour recueillir les témoignages oraux se rapportant aussi bien aux
prédications qu’aux miracles. La canonisation fut prononcée en 1455 par un
compatriote de Vincent. On procéda à la reconnaissance des reliques. Des
disciples ont continué l’œuvre du prédicateur, parmi eux des laïcs, comme la
duchesse Jeanne de Bretagne qui forma Françoise d’Amboise. Celle-ci sera plus
tard la fondatrice du Carmel à Vannes.
La tapisserie de la
chapelle Saint-Vincent représente plusieurs miracles ainsi que la canonisation.
Un tableau de la cathédrale montre Vincent en train de guérir un paralytique.
C’est Vincent qui est représenté sur le portail de la cathédrale. On visite la
maison où est mort le saint, place Valencia. L’église de l’île aux Moines
conserve un buste en bois qui reproduit fidèlement les traits du saint au terme
d’une rude vie d’apostolat.
d’après Pierre
THOMAS-LACROIX, archiviste en chef du Morbihan.
SOURCE : http://www.dominicains.ca/Histoire/Figures/ferrier.htm
Juan Carreño de Miranda (1614–1685). Saint Vincent Ferrer, XVIIe siècle, Eszterházy Collection
Saint Vincent Ferrier
La vie spirituelle
Pour la gloire de
Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ je vous indiquerai les remèdes contre quelques
tentations spirituelles que Dieu permet très communes en ce temps pour la
purification et l'épreuve des élus. Elles n'attaquent ouvertement aucun des
principaux articles de la foi, mais l'homme clairvoyant comprend vite quelles
vont tout de même à détruire ces fondements de notre religion et qu'elles
préparent à l'Antéchrist sa chaire et son trône.
Je ne les exposerai pas
en détail pour n'être à personne une occasion de scandale ou de chute, mais je
vous dirai de quelle prudence vous devez user pour en triompher.
C'est tentations
surgissent de deux côtés : d'abord des suggestions et illusions du diable qui
trompe l'homme dans ses relations avec Dieu et dans tout ce qui se rapporte à
Dieu ; ensuite de la doctrine corrompue et des mœurs de ceux qui sont déjà
tombés dans ces tentations. Je vous indiquerai donc quelle doit être votre
conduite à l'égard des hommes, de leur doctrine et de leur manière de vivre.
I. - Tentations qui
viennent des suggestions diaboliques
Voici donc les remèdes
contre les tentations spirituelles que le diable soulève dans quelques âmes.
Ne pas désirer les grâces
extraordinaires.
Premier remède. Ceux qui
veulent vivre dans la volonté de Dieu ne doivent pas désirer obtenir par
l'oraison, contemplation ou autres œuvres de perfection, des visions, des
révélations ou des sentiments surnaturels dépassant l'état ordinaire de ceux
qui ont pour dieu une crainte et un amour très sincères. Car un pareil désir ne
peut venir que d'un fonds d'orgueil et de présomption, d'une curiosité vaine à
l'égard de Dieu et d'une foi trop fragile. La grâce de Dieu abandonne l'âme
prise de ce désir et la laisse tomber dans ces illusions et ces tentations du
diable qui la séduit en des visions et des révélations trompeuses. C'est la
tentation la plus commune de notre temps.
Consolations spirituelles
et humilité
Deuxième remède. Quand
vous priez ou que vous contemplez, ne supportez jamais dans votre âme aucune consolation,
même la moindre, si vous voyez qu'elle se fonde sur la présomption et l'estime
de vous-même, si elle vous porte à désirer honneur et réputation et à vous
croire digne de louange et de gloire en ce monde ou des joies du paradis.
L'âme qui prend plaisir à
pareille consolation tombe dans plusieurs erreurs funestes. Par un juste
jugement Dieu permet au démon d'accroître ces consolations, de les renouveler
et de faire naître dans cette âme des sentiments tout à fait faux et dangereux qu'elle
prend pour des communications divines.
Visions, foi et pureté
Troisième remède. Tout
sentiment, même très élevé, toute vision même sublime, du moment qu'ils vous
disposent contre un article de foi, contre les bonnes mœurs, surtout contre
l'humilité et la pureté, ayez-les en horreur : certainement ils sont l'œuvre du
diable.
Même si votre vision ne
vous inspire rien de semblable et vous apporte la certitude qu'elle est de Dieu
et vous pousse à faire la volonté divine, cependant, ne vous appuyez pas sur
elle.
Conseils des visionnaires
Quatrième remède. Quelle
que soit la piété, la sainteté de vie, l'élévation d'intelligence et autres
qualités d'une personne, ne suivez jamais ses conseils ou ses exemples, si vous
avez des raisons de croire que ses conseils ne sont pas selon Dieu ou la
prudence chrétienne et qu'ils ne vous engageraient pas dans la voie tracée par
Jésus-Christ et les saints et éclairée par les Saintes Écritures.
Ne pas fréquenter les
visionnaires
Cinquième remède. Fuyez
la société et la familiarité de ceux qui sèment et répandent ces tentations
comme de ceux qui les défendent et les louent. N'écoutez ni leurs récits ni
leurs explications. Ne cherchez pas à voir ce qu'ils font. Car le démon ne
manquerait pas de vous faire voir en leurs paroles et leurs gestes des signes
de perfection auxquels peut-être vous ajouteriez foi pour tomber et vous perdre
avec eux.
II. Tentations qui
viennent de fausses doctrines et mauvais exemples
Je vais vous indiquer
aussi les remèdes à employer contre la doctrine et les exemples de quelques
personnes qui propagent ces tentations.
Prudence et discrétion
dans l'examen.
Premier remède. Ne faites
pas grand cas de leurs visions, de leurs sentiments extraordinaires ni de leurs
extases. Bien plus, si elles vous disent quelque chose contre la foi, la Sainte
Ecriture ou les bonnes mœuvrs, ayez-en horreur : toutes ces visions et extases
sont de pures folies, des fureurs diaboliques.
Mais si elles sont
conformes à la foi, à la Sainte Écriture, aux exemples des saints et aux bonnes
mœurs, ne les méprisez pas : vous vous exposeriez à mépriser ce qui vient de
Dieu. Ne vous y fiez pas non plus sans réserve, car souvent, surtout dans les
tentations spirituelles, les faux se cache sous l'apparence du vrai, le mal
sous l'apparence du bien : le diable peut ainsi répandre son venin mortel dans
un plus grand nombre d'âmes sans défiance.
Réflexion et conseil
avant d'agir
Deuxième remède. Si
quelque révélation ou mouvement extraordinaire vous pousse à accomplir une
œuvre, surtout une œuvre importante sortant de vos habitudes, et dont vous vous
demandez si elle plaira à Dieu, attendez avant d'agir jusqu'à ce que vous ayez examiné
toutes les circonstances, en particulier le but et que vous ayez la certitude
d'être agréable à Dieu.
Toutefois n'en jugez pas
par vous-même, amis autant que possible en suivant les règles tirées de la
Sainte Ecriture et des exemples des saints que nous pouvons imiter. Je dis :
exemples que nous pouvons imiter, car saint Grégoire nous enseigne que
plusieurs saints ont fait des choses qui ne sont pas imitables, quoique bonnes
en elles-mêmes. Il suffit d'avoir pour elles respect et admiration.
Et si vous n'arrivez pas
à connaître la volonté de Dieu, demandez à des personnes de vie et de doctrine
sûres un conseil sincère.
Se réjouir de suivre la
voie ordinaire
Troisième remède. Si vous
êtes exempt de ces tentations au point de ne les avoir pas éprouvées, ou si les
ayant éprouvées vous en avez triomphé, élevez votre cœur et votre esprit vers
Dieu pour reconnaître humblement ce grand bienfait. Remerciez souvent ou plutôt
ne cessez de remercier de cette grâce. Prenez bien garde de ne pas attribuer à
vos forces, à votre sagesse, à vos mérites, à votre conduite ou au hasard ce
que vous avez gratuitement de la bonté de Dieu. Les saints enseignent que c'est
surtout pour cela que Dieu nous retire sa grâce, et nous laisse en proie aux
tentations et aux illusions du diable.
Ne rien faire dans le
doute
Quatrième remède. Lorsque
vous éprouvez quelque tentation spirituelle qui vous jette dans le doute,
n'entreprenez de votre propre initiative rien de grave que vous n'ayez déjà
coutume de faire. Réprimez l'impulsion de votre cœur et de votre volonté :
attendez humblement dans la crainte et le respect de Dieu qu'Il daigne vous
éclairer. Tenez pour certain que si dans le doute vous entrepreniez de
vous-même une chose grave et inaccoutumée, vous n'aboutiriez à rien de bon. Je
ne veux parler que des choses graves et sortant de l'ordinaire sur lesquelles
vous avez un doute.
Persévérez dans les
pratiques communes
Cinquième remède. Pour
toutes ces choses extraordinaires ne laissez jamais un bien que vous avez entrepris
avant qu'elles se produisent. Surtout gardez-vous d'abandonner la prière, la
confession, la communion, les jeûnes et autres œuvres de piété et d'humilité,
quand même vous n'y trouveriez aucune consolation.
Abandon à la divine
volonté
Sixièmes remède. Dans ces
occasions, élevez votre cœur et votre esprit vers Dieu en Le priant humblement
de faire ce qui sera le plus utile à sa gloire et au salut de votre âme.
Soumettez votre volonté à sa divine volonté. Si sa volonté est de vous laisser
dans ces tentations, que la vôtre soit de ne jamais L'offenser.
Saint Vincent Ferrier
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/04/05.php
Fornícula
amb imatge de Sant Vicent Ferrer, sant Joan de l'Hospital
I - LA VIE DE VINCENT
FERRIER
Vincent Ferrier, ou
Ferrer en catalan, est né à Valence en Espagne en janvier 1350. Il entre à 17
ans dans l'Ordre des Frères Prêcheurs, où il poursuit ses études jusqu'en 1378,
date à laquelle il reçoit la prêtrise et commence la phase active de son existence
: professorat, prédication, politique. De 1395 à 1398, il est à Avignon le
conseiller et le confesseur du pape Benoît XIII. C'est là qu'il tombe malade et
que le Christ lui apparaît en songe, escorté de saint Dominique et de saint
François. Il reçoit l'ordre d'aller prêcher par le monde. Il se relève guéri.
Pour la fête de sainte
Cécile 1399, il est investi par le pape de pouvoirs extraordinaires et de la
charge de « plénipotentiaire du Seigneur ». Il approche alors de la
cinquantaine et part vers son destin. Vingt ans durant, il ne connaît ni trêve
ni repos. Il parcourt à pied d'abord, puis, lorsque la fatigue de l'âge l'aura
épuisé, monté sur une bourrique, l'Espagne, l'Italie et la France. Sa renommée,
son éloquence, sa vertu, son pouvoir de thaumaturge, ébranlent l'Europe. Il met
fin au grand schisme d'Occident, prépare l'unité espagnole, pacifie la
chrétienté. Il est l'Ange de paix de l'Europe et l'Ange du Jugement comme il se
désigne lui-même, jusqu'au jour où, épuisé par son labeur quotidien auprès des
foules qu'il entraîne, des infidèles qu'il convertit, des rois et des princes
qu'il conseille et concilie, il meurt à Vannes en Bretagne, le 5 avril 1419,
vénéré comme un saint.
Il est canonisé en 1455
par le pape Callixte III. Il est le grand saint national des Catalans et le
second patron du diocèse de Vannes. Apôtre du Grand Retour pendant sa vie, il
continue de l'être après sa mort. On l'invoque afin de pouvoir par son
intercession vivre de telle façon qu'on soit digne de paraître avec confiance
au redoutable Jugement.
II - LES ŒUVRES DE
VINCENT FERRIER
Formé aux meilleures
écoles dominicaines de son temps – Lérida, Barcelone, Toulouse – Vincent
Ferrier hérita de la vocation et de l'esprit de son Ordre. Créé et conçu par
saint Dominique comme une milice de prêtres entièrement au service du Saint-Siège
et de la vérité catholique, il imposait à ses moines une étude théologique
approfondie. Celle-ci faisait confiance aux deux éléments qui s'intègrent
admirablement dans la sagesse chrétienne : la Raison et la Foi. Penseur
admirable, Vincent Ferrier s'enthousiasma pour cette sagesse. Tout au long de
son œuvre de chrétienté, il servit loyalement les droits de l'intelligence et
de l'orthodoxie religieuse. Il est intellectuel et on le retrouve tel dans sa
pensée philosophique, sa sagesse théologique, sa doctrine spirituelle, son
apostolat.
SA PENSÉE PHILOSOPHIQUE.
Il écrit deux ouvrages
célèbres Traité des suppositions dialectiques et Questions
solennelles sur l’unité de l’universel, où il oppose le réalisme modéré du
Docteur Angélique au conceptualisme rigide d'Occam. Avec Aristote et saint
Thomas il admet la valeur de l'intelligence et avec elle les critères de la
connaissance. La pensée n'est pas une duperie, elle sert à quelque chose, elle
est même nécessaire pour raisonner sa foi et étayer les dogmes sur de solides
bases rationnelles.
SA PENSÉE THÉOLOGIQUE.
Sa lutte commencée contre
Occam à propos de la philosophie, se prolonge dans la théologie. En 1378 le
schisme d'Occident se produit. Urbain VI se dit successeur de saint Pierre à
Rome, Clément VII à Avignon. Chaque nation prend parti pour l'un ou l'autre.
Dans les deux camps, il y a des hommes éminents, des saints. Une grande
dominicaine, sainte Catherine de Sienne, tient pour Rome ; un grand dominicain,
notre Vincent Ferrier, tient pour Avignon. Qui a raison, qui a tort ?
C'est alors que maître
Vincent écrit son Traité du Schisme, dont la première partie est un véritable
exposé didactique en faveur de la papauté. Les idées maîtresses en sont : le
caractère monarchique de l'Église : il ne peut y avoir deux papes parce qu'il
n'y a qu'une seule Église fondée par le Christ. C'est un devoir de rechercher
le pape légitime et de lui obéir sans réticence, parce qu'il n'y a qu'une seule
foi. Enfin, le Souverain Pontife est au-dessus des conciles. En affirmant si
nettement cette primauté du pape, maître Vincent apparaît comme un lointain
précurseur de l'infaillibilité pontificale.
SA DOCTRINE SPIRITUELLE.
Il n'est aucunement
besoin de parcourir toute l'œuvre de Vincent pour composer sa doctrine spirituelle.
Nous la trouvons toute faite dans son Traité de la vie spirituelle, qu'il nous
suffira de traduire et de commenter. Écrit en latin avant l'Imitation, mais
contenant la même doctrine, ce livre fit les délices des religieux, surtout
dans l'Ordre des Frères Prêcheurs où il s'intitula : Speculum fratrum
praedicatorum. L'édition de 1886, parue à Malines, a servi de base à notre
travail. Plusieurs traductions ont paru en diverses langues. Notons seulement
les traductions françaises de la Vén. Mère Julienne Morell avec de longs
commentaires (Paris, 1619) maintes fois reproduites entre autres par M. J.
Rousset (Paris, 1899) ; Sœur Lucie de Maisons (Paris, 1704) ; le P. Bernadot
(Saint-Maximin, 1918) dont toutes les notes ont été reprises dans la bonne
traduction espagnole de A. Sinues Ruiz (Valencia, 1950).
On ne sait à quel moment
de sa vie Vincent l'a écrit. Mais la maturité et la perfection de jugement dont
il fait preuve présupposent une expérience religieuse déjà longue. L'auteur est
en pleine vigueur intellectuelle. Ce qui frappe dès l'abord, ce ne sont pas les
divers éléments de la vie spirituelle énumérés, c'est le tout vivant et vécu
qu'ils composent. Homme d'action, presque continuellement hors du couvent, il
est foncièrement religieux, attaché aux disciplines de son état et à la culture
intérieure quelles doivent réaliser. Il divise son traité en trois parties. La
première traite des idées-bases qui sont : la pauvreté volontaire, l'amour du
silence, la pureté de cœur et ses effets, l'union divine ou la paix en Dieu.
La seconde considère
cette même vie dans sa pratique et sous l'angle social : c'est le directeur de
conscience, l'obéissance aux supérieurs, la mortification dans le boire et le
manger, la vie studieuse et la vie liturgique, l'exercice du saint ministère et
les tentations. Finalement les exigences de cette vie consistent dans
l'aspiration à la perfection. Enfin le tout se clôt par quelques saisissants
aperçus sur les sept formes du culte de Dieu, du mépris de soi, de l'amour du
prochain, et une grande vision d'avenir pour l'Église.
Telle est en bref la
lettre de ce traité, très court mais substantiel et éminemment pratique. Ce
n'est pas un simple vademecum ascétique, mais une véritable théologie de
l'apostolat, œuvre de grande puissance intellectuelle, qui évoque l'éminente
figure de son guide et prototype, saint Thomas d'Aquin. On peut y relever trois
notes caractéristiques de sa spiritualité.
Saint Vincent Ferrier est
un écrivain ascétique de tendance mystique : il oriente les pratiques
ascétiques au parfait dépouillement de l'âme pour la disposer à l'action de la
grâce et de l'union avec Dieu dans l'oraison.
Sa piété est
Christocentrique selon la grande, simple et droite tradition dominicaine. Elle
part du principe : Nous pour Dieu par le Christ.
Elle est intellectualiste
et sociale, Il n'y est pas question de dichotomie contemplation-action, mais
elle concilie dans un idéal unique la vie de sainteté intérieure et la vie
d'apostolat. Par cet intellectualisme sage, précis et positif, opposé au
sentimentalisme trouble et à l'illusionnisme, et tout orienté au bien de la
société par sa théorétisation de la sainteté apostolique, ce joyau de la spiritualité
du bas moyen âge garde une grande valeur d'actualité. Il peut être utilisé avec
fruit par tous ceux qui ont charge d'âmes ou qui se consacrent à l'apostolat.
SON APOSTOLAT DE LA
PAROLE.
C'est surtout en prêchant
que maître Vincent enseigna la chrétienté et l'évangélisa « semblable à un ange
volant au milieu du ciel ». La bulle de canonisation emploie cette expression
imagée et délicate, qui symbolise fort bien comment il se dévoua sans relâche à
l'apostolat de la parole. L'iconographie s'est emparée de cette image, et a
représenté saint Vincent Ferrier des ailes à l'épaule et une trompette aux
lèvres. Ce dernier détail parce que notre apôtre se serait cru l'ange
apocalyptique annonçant la fin du monde. Il est vrai qu'il l'a affirmé en
quelques occasions et qu'en ces circonstances il a cru la parousie imminente.
Est-ce à dire que ce fut là l'idée force de sa vie ?
Certains biographes l'ont
affirmé, ajoutant toutefois que s'il prêchait la fin du monde comme toute
proche, c'était sous forme comminatoire : Si vous ne faites pénitence ; que de
plus il se serait interposé comme un nouveau Jonas et en aurait retardé
l'exécution par sa sainteté, sa pénitence, les résultats de sa prédication.
D'autres affirment que ce thème d'horreur n'occupe qu'une place infime dans sa
pensée, et que situé dans l'ensemble de son enseignement, ce rôle
eschatologique n'a que fort peu d'importance : il n'occupe qu'un, deux, au
maximum cinq pour cent de ses thèmes de prédication et ne représente par
conséquent pas la vraie mission de maître Vincent. Cette solution mise en avant
par le P. Gorce nous semble la plus plausible et trouve son appui dans les
écrits mêmes de saint Vincent. Signalons sa lettre au pape Benoît XIII où il
donne cette pensée, qu'il développe souvent en chaire : « Dieu seul connaît la
date de la parousie et ce n'est pas à l'homme d'en connaître le temps et le
moment ». Qu'on lise aussi à la fin du Traité de la vie spirituelle sa
prophétie sur la prospérité future de l'Église.
Quoiqu'il en soit, il est
bien évident que maître Vincent joua un rôle considérable dans la société du
XIVe-XVe S. Pendant les vingt dernières années de sa vie, il prêchait tous les
jours deux ou trois heures, parfois plus. Toute circonstance lui était bonne,
tout auditoire lui convenait. Il prêchait à la ville, il prêchait à la
compagne, dans les églises, plus souvent encore sur les places publiques, car
on venait de loin pour l'entendre : les artisans quittaient leur atelier, les
laboureurs leurs champs, les magistrats le palais, les officiers publics leur
étude, maîtres et élèves les écoles, les Universités. Le peuple affluait sur la
place par milliers, attendant durant des heures, parfois toute la nuit,
l'arrivée du grand prédicateur. Depuis les temps de saint Bernard, aucune parole
humaine n'attira de telles foules et ne plut tant à l'âme française ou
espagnole que celle de maître Vincent. « Telle était son éloquence, dit Henri
Ghéon, qu'elle ébranlait les pierres mêmes, par violence sans doute, mais aussi
par persuasion ». Il prêchait dans sa langue maternelle, le valencien, dialecte
proche du catalan, la langue des anciens troubadours, qui pouvait être comprise
par les peuples de langue d'oc et de langue romane. Des sténographes
recueillaient les paroles de l'orateur, des auditeurs prenaient des notes ou
faisaient des résumés. Tout cela a été imprimé et publié, non sans que les
rédacteurs n'aient mis quelque chose d'eux-mêmes dans leurs manuscrits catalans
ou traductions latines, retranchant ou ajoutant quelque détail, amplifiant quelque
anecdote ou parabole rapportée en chaire. Ces compilations plus ou moins
fidèles ont été données au public comme les Sermons du saint. Elles ont en
effet pour origine sa prédication, mais on ne peut dire qu'elles soient sa
parole authentique. On peut toutefois, avec quelque profit, glaner dans ces
recueils, même dans l'état d'imperfection où ils sont arrivés jusqu'à nous.
C'est ce que nous avons fait en consultant les Canevas de sermons latins
publiés par le P. Fages, certains extraits d'après des écrits catalans
reproduits par le même auteur ou qu'on retrouve de ci, de là dans les bonnes
biographies du P. Gorce, de H. Ghéon, dans les narrations pieuses de Bayle,
Mouillard, Pradel, ou dans la revue Bona gent publiée à Valence lors du
cinquième centenaire de la canonisation de saint Vincent Ferrier (texte catalan
et traduction espagnole). Nous avons consulté la sélection des 25 discours de
St Vincent Ferrier parue aux Blackfriars Publications, qui forment un
commentaire remarquable sur la vie de Notre-Seigneur. L'auteur de cette
sélection-traduction intitule très judicieusement son beau travail : une
Christologie. Nous y renvoyons : A Christology from the sermons of St Vincent
Ferrer of the Order of preachers, Blackfriars Publications, London, 1954. Cette
même maison d'édition annonce pour l'année 1957 la traduction anglaise du
Treatise on the spiritual life, suivie du commentaire de Mère Julienne Morell.
Elle note la haute renommée dont jouit cet ouvrage, qui fut pendant toute une
époque l'équivalent de L'Imitation de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ.
On pourra consulter
l'article de Emmanuel Garcia Miralles : Los tratados « De suppositionibus
terminorum » y « De universitata universalis », de San Vicente Ferrer, dans
Estudios filosificos, IV (1955), pages 279-284. Du même auteur l'article San
Vincente Ferrer, Anotador de santo Tomas, dans Revista espanola de teologia, XV
(1955), pages 445-458. Ainsi espérons-nous donner un choix de textes
suffisamment judicieux, qui mieux que tout ce qui a été écrit sur notre grand
apôtre, fera ressortir sa forte personnalité et son enseignement tout à la fois
intellectuel et populaire.
SOURCE : http://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Vincent_Ferrier/ferrier/1vie.htm
St Vincent Ferrier,
confesseur
Mort à Vannes (Bretagne)
le 5 avril 1419. Canonisé en 1456 par Callixte III.
Fête inscrite comme
semidouble ad libitum en 1667 et obligatoire en 1706. Benoît XIII l’élève au
rang de double en 1726.
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Quatrième leçon. Vincent,
né à Valence en Espagne, de parents honnêtes, montra dès sa jeunesse la
maturité d’un vieillard. Ayant considéré avec l’étendue de son génie la
fragilité de ce monde rempli de ténèbres, il reçut à l’âge de dix-huit ans
l’habit religieux dans l’Ordre des Frères Prêcheurs. Après avoir émis
solennellement ses vœux, il s’appliqua assidûment à l’étude des saintes
lettres, et obtint avec la plus grande distinction le grade de docteur en théologie.
Ses supérieurs lui ayant bientôt permis de prêcher la parole de Dieu, il
commença à confondre la perfidie des Juifs et à réfuter les erreurs des
Sarrasins avec tant de force et de succès, qu’il amena à la foi du Christ une
grande multitude de ces infidèles, et port plusieurs milliers de Chrétiens à
renoncer au péché pou faire pénitence, et aux vice pour embrasser la vertu
Vincent avait été choisi de Dieu pour répandre les enseignements du salut chez
toutes les nations, quelles que fussent leur race et leur langue ; et, en
annonçant l’approche du dernier et redoutable jugement, il frappait de terreur
les âmes de tous ses auditeurs, les arrachait aux passions terrestres, et les
excitait à l’amour de Dieu.
Cinquième leçon. Dans
l’exercice de ce ministère apostolique, voici quel fut constamment son genre de
vie : chaque jour, de grand matin, il célébrait une Messe chantée ; chaque jour
aussi, il adressait un sermon au peuple ; il observait toujours un jeûne inviolable,
à moins d’une urgente nécessité ; il ne refusait jamais à personne ses saints
et équitables conseils ; jamais il ne mangea de viande ni ne porta de linge ;
il apaisa les dissensions des peuples et rétablit la paix entre des royaumes
divisés ; enfin, lorsque la tunique sans couture de l’Église fut déchirée par
un schisme douloureux, Vincent travailla beaucoup à ramener et à maintenir
l’union. Toutes les vertus brillèrent en lui ; marchant dans la simplicité et
l’humilité, il reçut avec bonté et il embrassa ses détracteurs et ses
persécuteurs.
Sixième leçon. La
puissance divine opéra par lui beaucoup de prodiges et de miracles en
confirmation de sa vie et de sa prédication. Très souvent, en effet, par
l’imposition de ses mains, les malades recouvrèrent la santé ; il chassa des
esprits immondes du corps des possédés, rendit l’ouïe aux sourds, la parole aux
muets, la vue aux aveugles ; il guérit des lépreux et ressuscita des morts.
Enfin, accablé par la vieillesse, et la maladie, cet infatigable héraut de
l’Évangile, qui avait parcouru plusieurs pays de l’Europe au grand profit des
âmes, acheva le cours de ses prédications et de sa vie à Vannes en Bretagne,
l’an du salut mil quatre cent dix-neuf. Calixte III, a inscrit Vincent au
nombre des Saints.
Medalló de Vicent Ferrer, la Nau, València
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Aujourd’hui, c’est encore
la catholique Espagne qui fournit à l’Église un de ses fils pour être proposé à
l’admiration du peuple chrétien. Vincent Ferrier, l’Ange du jugement, la
trompette des vengeances divines, se montre à nous, et vient glacer de terreur
nos cœurs infidèles en faisant retentir l’arrivée prochaine du souverain Juge
des vivants et des morts. Autrefois il sillonna l’Europe entière dans ses
courses évangéliques, et les peuples remués par son éloquence foudroyante se
frappaient la poitrine, criaient miséricorde au Seigneur, et se
convertissaient. De nos jours, la pensée de ces redoutables assises que
Jésus-Christ viendra tenir sur les nuées du ciel n’émeut plus autant les
chrétiens. On croit au jugement dernier, parce que c’est un article de la foi ;
mais on tremble peu dans l’attente de ce jour formidable. On pèche durant de
longues années ; on se convertit un jour par une grâce toute spéciale de la
bonté divine ; mais le grand nombre de ces néophytes continue à mener une vie
molle, pense peu à l’enfer et à la réprobation, moins encore au terrible
jugement par lequel Dieu doit en finir avec ce monde.
Il n’en était pas ainsi
dans les siècles chrétiens ; il n’en est pas non plus ainsi chez les aines
vraiment converties. L’amour en elles domine la crainte ; mais la crainte du
jugement de Dieu veille toujours au fond de leur pensée : c’est cette
disposition qui les rend fermes dans le bien qu’elles ont recouvré. Assurément,
ils se demandent peu quelle sera leur situation au jour où le signe du Fils de
l’homme brillera dans les cieux, où Jésus, non plus Rédempteur, mais Juge,
séparera les boucs des brebis, ces chrétiens qui ont tant à expier, et pour
lesquels, chaque année, le Carême n’est qu’une occasion de témoigner leur
lâcheté et leur indifférence. A voir leur sécurité, on dirait qu’ils ont reçu
l’assurance que ce moment terrible ne saurait receler pour eux ni une
inquiétude, ni une déception. Ayons plus de prudence, gardons-nous des
illusions de l’orgueil et de l’insouciance ; par une pénitence sincère,
assurons-nous le droit d’envisager avec une humble confiance cette heure
redoutable qui a fait trembler tous les saints. Quelle joie d’entendre cette
parole sortir de la bouche du Juge incorruptible : « Venez, les bénis de mon
Père ; possédez le royaume qui vous a été préparé dès l’origine du monde [1] !
» Vincent Ferrier s’arrache au repos de la cellule pour aller remuer des
nations entières qui dormaient dans l’oubli du grand jour des justices ; nous
n’avons pas, il est vrai, entendu sa parole ; mais n’avons-nous pas le saint
Évangile ? N’avons-nous pas l’Église qui, dès l’entrée de la sainte carrière
que nous parcourons, nous a fait lire les oracles formidables que Vincent
Ferrier ne faisait que commenter devant les chrétiens de son temps ?
Préparons-nous donc à paraître devant celui qui viendra demander compte des
grâces qu’il nous prodigue, et qui sont le fruit de son sang ; en mettant à
profit toutes les ressources de la sainte Quarantaine, nous pouvons nous
préparer un jugement favorable.
Le Bréviaire de l’Ordre
des Frères-Prêcheurs célèbre saint Vincent Ferrier par de magnifiques éloges.
Nous lui emprunterons quatre Répons et une Antienne, afin de louer plus
dignement l’illustre prédicateur.
R/. Le Père souverain,
celui qui gouverne les peuples, sur le soir du monde qui s’affaisse, a envoyé
Vincent comme un nouveau prophète chargé d’instruire le peuple chrétien ;
Vincent annonce que le jugement de Dieu est proche, * Ce jugement que tous les
hommes doivent voir de leurs yeux. V/. Il s’écrie souvent : Craignez Dieu ;
l’heure de son jugement est arrivée. * Ce jugement que tous les hommes doivent
voir de leurs yeux.
R/. Marchant à la suite
du Christ par la voie difficile, il s’éloigna des plaisirs terrestres ; il fit
briller l’éclat de la vérité ; il dissipa les ténèbres de l’erreur ; * Il
resplendit dans les régions de l’Occident, et tout l’univers retentit de sa
renommée. V/. Sa doctrine éclatait comme un soleil ; sa parole était ardente
comme la flamme. * Il resplendit dans les régions de l’Occident, et tout
l’univers retentit de sa renommée.
R/. La nuit, il
s’appliquait aux lettres sacrées, veillant dans la contemplation ; au matin,
comme un bel astre, il lançait les rayons de la doctrine ; * Le soir, il
appliquait à tous les maux un remède salutaire. V/. Pas une heure de sa vie ne
s’écoulait, sans qu’il l’eût remplie par quelque action sainte. * Le soir, il
appliquait à tous les maux un remède salutaire.
R/. Proférant les paroles
de l’éternelle vie, il enflammait l’âme de ses auditeurs ; il faisait pénétrer
dans le cœur des hommes l’amour des dons célestes ; traitant des vertus avec
une science profonde, * Il enseignait à dompter tous les vices. V/. Une foule
avide de l’entendre le suivait, lorsqu’il s’énonçait de sa bouche divine. * Il
enseignait à dompter tous les vices.
Ant. Rempli d’un esprit
prophétique, Vincent parla merveilleusement sur la fin du monde ; comme un
soleil, il se coucha à l’Occident de la terre, et escorté d’une troupe d’Anges,
il monta aux lumineuses demeures du ciel.
Que votre voix fut
éloquente, ô Vincent, lorsqu’elle vint réveiller l’assoupissement des hommes,
et leur fit éprouver les terreurs du grand jugement ! Nos pères entendirent
cette voix, et ils revinrent à Dieu, et Dieu leur pardonna. Nous aussi nous
nous étions endormis, lorsque l’Église, à l’ouverture de cette sainte carrière,
troubla notre sommeil en marquant de la cendre nos fronts coupables, et en nous
rappelant l’irrévocable sentence de mort que Dieu a prononcée sur nous. Nous
mourrons, et dans peu d’années ; nous mourrons, et un jugement particulier
décidera de notre sort pour l’éternité. Puis, au moment marqué dans les décrets
divins, nous ressusciterons, et ce sera pour assister au plus solennel et au
plus formidable des jugements. En face du genre humain tout entier, nos
consciences seront mises à nu ; nos bonnes et nos mauvaises œuvres seront
pesées publiquement ; après quoi viendra la nouvelle promulgation de la
sentence que nous aurons méritée. Pécheurs que nous sommes, comment
soutiendrons-nous les regards du Rédempteur qui ne sera plus en ce moment qu’un
Juge incorruptible ? Comment même supporterons-nous la vue de nos semblables,
dont l’œil plongera dans toutes les iniquités de notre vie ? Mais surtout, des
deux sentences que les hommes entendront prononcer sur eux, à laquelle
aurons-nous droit ? Si le juge la proférait à l’heure où nous sommes, est-ce
parmi les bénis de son Père, ou parmi les maudits ; est-ce à la droite, ou à la
gauche, qu’il nous rangerait ?
Nos pères étaient saisis
de crainte, lorsque vous leur adressiez ces questions, ô Vincent ! Ils firent
une sincère pénitence de leurs péchés, et après avoir reçu le pardon du
Seigneur, leurs craintes s’apaisèrent et firent place à l’espoir et à la confiance.
Ange du jugement de Dieu, priez, afin que nous aussi nous soyons remués par une
crainte salutaire. Dans peu de jours, nos yeux verront le Rédempteur monter au
Calvaire, courbé sous le poids de la croix, et nous l’entendrons dire aux
filles de Jérusalem : « Ne pleurez pas sur moi, mais sur vos enfants : car si
l’on traite ainsi le bois vert, comment sera traité le bois sec [2] ? »
Aidez-nous, ô Vincent, à profiter de cet avertissement. Nos péchés nous avaient
réduits à la condition de ce bois mort qui n’est plus bon que pour le feu des
vengeances divines ; par votre intercession, rattachez au tronc ces rameaux
détachés, afin qu’ils reprennent vie, et que la sève circule de nouveau en eux.
Ami des âmes, nous remettons entre vos mains l’œuvre de notre entière
réconciliation avec Dieu. Priez aussi, ô Vincent, pour l’Espagne qui vous donna
le jour et au sein de laquelle vous avez puisé la foi, la profession religieuse
et le sacerdoce ; mais souvenez-vous de la France, votre seconde patrie, que
vous avez évangélisée avec tant de fatigues et de succès ; souvenez-vous de la
catholique Bretagne qui garde si religieusement votre dépouille sacrée. Vous
fûtes notre Apôtre dans des temps malheureux : les jours que nous traversons
semblent plus orageux encore ; daignez, du haut du ciel, vous montrer toujours
notre fidèle protecteur.
[1] Luc. XI, 50.
[2] Luc XXIII, 31.
Antoine de Lonhy, Saint Vicent Ferrer, Musée de Cluny
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Voici l’ange du jugement,
comme il se nommait lui-même. Durant le schisme d’Occident, alors que la robe
sans couture de l’Église, du fait de la dispute entre plusieurs prétendants au
Pontificat, était sur le point d’être déchirée, et que la corruption dés peuples
chrétiens semblait préluder à la fin du monde, Vincent Ferrier, par sa parole
énergique et par ses miracles, ramena à la pénitence une grande multitude de
fidèles.
Au commencement, il fut
le confesseur de l’antipape Pierre de Lune (Benoît XIII) et soutint son parti
avec vigueur. Mais quand par la suite l’injustice des prétentions de
l’ambitieux Espagnol fut reconnue, saint Vincent Ferrier s’en détacha et prédit
même que le temps viendrait où les enfants joueraient à la balle avec son
crâne. Il en fut comme il l’avait annoncé, car en 1811 les Français occupant le
château d’Illuca, où gisait sans sépulture le corps de Pedro de Luna, en
détachèrent le crâne et jetèrent le reste par la fenêtre.
La fête de saint Vincent
Ferrier fut instituée par Clément IX (+ 1669). La messe est du Commun, sauf la
première collecte qui est propre.
Dieu n’abandonne jamais
l’Église, et l’histoire enseigne que, précisément au temps des grandes crises
religieuses ou politiques, il envoie toujours de grands saints, pour sauver les
peuples de la ruine. Nous aimons à mettre en relief une particularité
liturgique mentionnée dans la vie de saint Vincent Ferrier : Quotidie Missam
summo mane cum cantu celebravit. Nos pères, et aujourd’hui encore les
Orientaux, consentaient difficilement à lire la messe ; ils avaient l’habitude
de la chanter, comme l’avait fait Jésus au Cénacle avec les Apôtres.
Castell'Umberto: simulacro di San Vincenzo Ferreri, Patrono di Castell'Umberto, custodito nella Chiesa Madre Maria SS. Assunta.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
La liturgie unit l’office
divin et l’Église.
Saint Vincent : Jour de
mort : 5 avril 1419. — Tombeau : dans la cathédrale de Vannes. Image : On le
représente en dominicain, portant dans la main un soleil avec les lettres J. H.
S. Vie : Saint Vincent Ferrier, de l’Ordre des Dominicains, fut un prédicateur
populaire assisté de Dieu, l’un des plus grands du 15e siècle. La fascination
de ses discours entraînait tout le monde, de bon gré ou par force : rois,
princes de l’Église, ecclésiastiques et séculiers, jusqu’au plus simple peuple.
En Espagne seulement, sa parole et ses miracles auraient converti 25.000 Juifs
et 8.000 Maures. Les sermons qu’il fit sont incalculables. On parle de 20.000.
Il joua aussi un rôle bienfaisant au moment où prenait fin le grand schisme
d’Occident. Il mourut en 1419.
Pratique : Le bréviaire
raconte à son sujet : « Chaque jour, il célébrait de grand matin la messe
chantée ; chaque jour, il prêchait au peuple ; il observait un jeûne continuel,
ininterrompu. » Ces quelques mots nous peignent une vie liturgique idéale, unie
à la charité lit plus active envers le prochain. Le saint se dépensa sans
compter pour le bien du prochain. La liturgie unit harmonieusement le service
de Dieu, l’amour du prochain et l’ascèse. — La messe (Os justi) est du [commun
des confesseurs-332], c’est la messe du serviteur vigilant.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/05-04-St-Vincent-Ferrier#nh1
Saint Vincent Ferrer, Santo Domingo de German, Oaxtepec, Morelos, Mexico
Saint Vincent Ferrier, vit le jour dans la ville de Valence (Espagne) le 23 janvier 1357 et mourut le 6 avrit 1419.
On voit ici Vincent près du lit d’un moribond désespéré, qui répond à toutes
ses exhortations, par ces horribles paroles : “je veux me damner au déplaisir
de Jésus-Christ.” Vincent, plein de confiance en la miséricorde de Dieu, se
tourne vers le moribond et lui dit : “Malgré toi, je te sauverai.”
Il invite les personnes présentes à invoquer la Ste Vierge et l’on récite le
Rosaire. Avant que le Rosaire ne soit terminé, la chambre du moribond se
remplit tout-à-coup de lumière ; la Mère de Dieu apparaît, portant dans ses
bras le divin Fils, mais tout couvert de sanglantes blessures. Le pécheur,
témoin de ce spectacle demande pardon à Dieu et aux hommes.
Dans le tympan de la fenêtre, ses attributs, rappelant les différents traits de
sa vie sont figurés. En voici l’énumération :
- Le crucifix des martyrs, le même qu’il mit sur la bouche d’un ecclésiastique
d’Avignon pour le réconcilier avec Jésus Christ.
- Ses écrits, notamment le “Tractatus de vita spirituali.” Les paroles de
l’Apocalypse : “Time Deum et honore debito eum prosequere - Ego sum angelus
Apocalypseos.”
- Le monogramme de Jésus, avec ces paroles de St Paul : “portabis nomen meum
coram populis et princibus.”
- Un chapeau de Cardinal renversé, pour exprimer son refus des dignités
ecclésiastiques; un drapeau, comme symbole des prédications par lesquelles il
enrôlait les pécheurs convertis sous la bannière de Jésus-Christ; le lis,
symbole de la virginité conservée jusqu’à sa mort.
- Les fers de l’âne ; après avoir fait ferrer son âne et n’ayant pas de quoi
payer, les fers tombèrent quand l’âne secoua les pieds.
- Les chandelles qui s’allumaient à l’anniversaire du Saint. Les ailes de
Séraphin, qu’il prenait pour voler, consoler les malades.
- Le nuage miraculeux qui le rendait invisible à la reine d’Aragon et la
trompette de l’Apocalypse
SOURCE : http://www.eglise-saint-charles.com/visite_verriere_vincent.html
Also
known as
Vincent Ferreri
6 April in
some areas
Profile
Fourth child of
the Anglo–Scottish nobleman
William Stewart Ferrer and his Spanish wife,
Constantia Miguel; his father is
reported to have had a dream in which he was told that Vincent would be a world
famous Dominican friar.
The boy joined
the Dominicans in 1367.
Received his doctorate of theology from
the University of Lleida. Priest. Missionary. Taught theology.
Adviser to the King of Aragon.
During a severe fever in 1398,
Vincent had a vision of Christ, Saint Dominic
de Guzman and Saint Francis
of Assisi. It was a life changing experience – Vincent received
supernatural gifts and believed that he was a messenger of penance, an “angel
of the apocalypse” sent to prepare humankind for the Judgement of Christ.
Great preacher who converted thousands
in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the
Netherlands, England, Scotland,
and Ireland.
Invited to preach in
Muslim Granada.
Counselor to Pope Benedict
XIII. Travelled through Spain, France, Switzerland,
and Italy,
working to end the Western
Schism. Slept on the floor, had the gift of tongues (he spoke only Spanish,
but all listeners understood him), lived in an endless fast,
celebrated Mass daily,
and known as a miracle worker;
reported to have brought a murdered man back to life to prove the power
of Christianity to
the onlookers, and he would heal people thoughout a hospital just
by praying in
front of it. He worked so hard to build up the Church that
he became the patron of
people in building
trades.
Born
23 January 1350 in Valencia (part
of modern Spain)
5 April 1419 at Vannes, Brittany, France of
natural causes
interred in the cathedral of Vannes
3 June 1455 by Pope Callistus
III
at the recognition of
his canonization,
the stories of 800 of his validated miracles were
read out loud; there were more, but the celebrants decided to simple move on
with the recognition
–
Bayombong, Philippines, diocese of
Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, diocese of
in France
in Italy
Bible
cardinal‘s
hat
Dominican preacher with
a flame on his hand
Dominican preacher with
a flame on his head
Dominican holding
an open book while preaching
Dominican with
a cardinal‘s
hat
Dominican with
a trumpet nearby, often coming down from heaven, referring to his vision
Dominican with
wings, referring to his vision as being an ‘angel of
the apocalypse’
pulpit,
representing his life as a preacher
flame,
referring to his gifts from the Holy Spirit
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saint
Vincent Ferrer, by Mary Helen Allies
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
by Saint Vincent Ferrer
Sermon
on Saint Anne, by Saint Vincent
Ferrer
Sermon
on the Baptism of Jesus
The
Life of Our Lord, Symbolised in the Mass
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
video
Saint Vincent Ferrer, by Father Andrew
Pradel, Dominicans
e-books
Saint Vincent Ferrer, His Life, Spiritual Teaching, and
Practical Devotion, by Andre Pradel
Vincent Ferrer, by Father Stanislaus Hogan
webové
stránky v ceštine
webseiten
auf deutsch
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
situs
di indonesia
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
Readings
If you truly want to help
the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart.
Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it
you can accomplish what you desire. – Saint Vincent
Ferrer from On the Spiritual Life
MLA
Citation
“Saint Vincent Ferrer“. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 April 2024. Web. 6 April 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-vincent-ferrer/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-vincent-ferrer/
Altare di San Vincenzo Ferrero, chiesa di Nostra Signora del Rosario, Milazzo
Altare di San Vincenzo Ferrero, chiesa di Nostra Signora del Rosario, Milazzo
St. Vincent Ferrer
Famous Dominican missionary,
born at Valencia,
23 January, 1350; died at Vannes, Brittany,
5 April, 1419. He was descended from the younger of two brothers who
were knighted for their valour in the conquest ofValencia,
1238. In 1340 Vincent's father, William Ferrer, married Constantia Miguel,
whose family had
likewise been ennobled during the conquest
of Valencia. Vincent was their fourth child. A brother, not
unknown tohistory, was Boniface Ferrer, General of
the Carthusians,
who was employed by the antipope Benedict
XIII in important diplomatic missions. Vincent was educated at Valencia,
and completed his philosophy at the age of fourteen. In 1367 he
entered the Dominican
Order, and was sent to the house of studies at Barcelona the
following year. In 1370 he taught philosophy at Lérida;
one of his pupils there was Pierre Fouloup, later Grand
Inquisitor of Aragon.
In 1373 Vincent returned to the Dominican "Studium
arabicum et hebraicum" at Barcelona. During his stay there famine was
prevalent; filled with compassion for the
sufferers; Vincent foretold, while preaching one day, the near
approach of ships bearing wheat. His prediction was fulfilled. In 1377 he was
sent to continue his studies at Toulouse,
where, in his own words, "study followed prayer,
and prayer succeeded
study". In 1379 Vincent was retained by Cardinal
Pedro de Luna, legate of
the Court of Aragon,
who was endeavouring to win King Peter IV to
the obedience of Avignon.
The saint, thoroughly convinced of the legitimacy of the claims of
the Avignon pontiffs,
was one of their strongest champions. From 1385 to 1390 he taught theology in
the cathedral at Valencia.
After
this Vincent carried on his apostolic work while in Pedro
de Luna's suite.
At Valladolid he converted arabbi, later well known
as Bishop Paul
of Burgos. At Salamanca Queen Yolanda of Aragon chose
him for her confessor, 1391-5. About this time he was cited before the Inquisiton
for preaching publicly "the Judas had done penance",
but Pedro de Luna, recently raised to the papal chair
as Benedict
XIII, cited the case before his tribunal and burned the papers. Benedict then
called him to Avignon and
appointed him confessor and Apostolic penitentiary.
Notwithstanding the indifference of so many prelates in
the papal Court,
he labouredzealously among
the people. He steadfastly refused the honours, including the cardinalate,
which were offeredto him. France withdrew
from the obedience of Avignon in
September, 1398, and the troops of Charles VI laid siege to the city. An attack
of fever at this time brought Vincent to death's door, but during
an apparition of Christ accompanied
by St.
Dominic and St. Francis he was miraculously cured
and sent to preach penance and prepare men for the
coming judgment. Not until November, 1399, did Benedict allow Vincent Ferrer to
begin hisapostolate, furnished with full powers of a legate a
latere Christi. For twenty years he traversed western Europe,
preaching penance for sin and
preparation for judgment. Provence was the first field of
his apostolate; he was obliged to
preach in squares and open places, such were the numbers that flocked to hear
him. In 1401 he evangelized Dauphiny, Savoy,
and the Alpine region, converting many Catharins and Waldensians.
Thence he penetrated into Lombardy.
While preaching at Alexandria he
singled out from among the hearers a youth who was destined to
evangelize Italy, Bernadine of Siena.
Another chosen soul with
whom Vincent came in contact while in Italy was Margaret
of Savoy. During the years 1403-4 Switzerland, Savoy,
and Lyons received the missionary. He was followed by an army of
penitents drawn from every rank of society,
who desired to remain under his guidance. Vincent was ever watchful
of his disciples, and never did the breath of scandaltouch
this strange assemblage, which numbered at times 10,000. Genoa, Flanders,
Northern France,
all heardVincent in turn. It would be difficult to understand how he could
make himself understood by the many nationalities he evangelized, as he
could speak only Limousin, the language of Valencia. Many of his
biographers hold that he was endowed with the gift of tongues,
an opinion supported by Nicholas Clemangis, adoctor of the University
of Paris, who had heard him preach.
In
1408 Vincent was at Genoa consoling
the plague-stricken. A meeting had been arranged there between Gregory
XII and Benedict
XIII in the hope of putting an end to the schism. Vincent again
urged Benedict to
have pity on the afflicted Church, but in vain. Disappointed, he
returned to Spain.
It would be difficult to overestimate the influence which he exercised in the
Iberian peninsula. Castile, Aragon, Valencia,
Murcia, Granada, Andalusia,
and Asturias were visited in turn, and everywhere miracles marked
his progress; Christians, Jews,
and Moslems were
all lost in admiration of the thaumaturgus. From 1408 until 1416 he worked
almost continuously south of the Pyrenees. At different times
in Spanish history strenuous attempts had been made
to convert the Jewish people, baptism or
spoliation being the alternatives offered to them. This state of
affairs existed when Vincent began to work among them;
multitudes were won over by his preaching. Ranzano, his first biographer,
estimates the number of Jews converted at
25,000. In the Kingdom
of Granada he converted thousands of Moors. Vincent was
often called upon to aid his country in temporal affairs, as the counsellor of
kings and at one time the arbiter of the destiny of Spain.
In 1409 he was commissioned by Benedict
XIII to announce to Martin of Aragon the
death of his only son and heir.
After Martin's death,
the representatives of the Kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia,
and Catalonia appointed Vincentone of the judges to
determine the succession to the Crown. At the judgment,
known as the Compromise of Caspe, he took the leading part and helped
to elect Ferdinand of Castile. Vincent was one of
the most resolute and faithful adherents of Benedict
XIII, and by his word, sanctity,
and miracles he
did much to strengthen Benedict's position.
It was not until 1416, when pressed by Ferdinand, King of Aragon,
that he abandoned him. On 6 January, preaching at Perpignan,
he declared anew to the vast throng gathered around his pulpit that Benedict
XIII was the legitimate pope,
but that, since he would not resign to bring peace to the Church, Ferdinand had
withdrawn his states from the obedience of Avignon.
This act must have caused Vincent much sorrow, for he
was deeply attached to Benedict.
Nevertheless, it was thought that Vincent was the only person sufficiently
esteemed to announce such a step to
the Spanish races. John Dominici was more fortunate in
his attempts to pave the way for reunion, when he announced to the Council
of Constance the resignation ofGregory
XII. Vincent did not go to the Council
of Constance; he continued his apostolic journeys through France,
and spent the last two years of his life in Brittany,
where consciences without number were reformed and instructed in
a Christian way
of life.
Vincent felt that he was
the messenger of penance sent to prepare men for the judgment.
For twenty years he traversed Western Europe preaching penance and
awakening the dormant consciences of sinners by his wondrous
eloquence. His austere life was but the living expression of
his doctrine.
The floor was his usual bed; perpetually fasting,
he arose at two in the morning to chant the Office,
celebrating Mass daily, afterwards preaching, sometimes three hours,
and frequently working miracles.
After his midday meal he would tend the sick children; at eight o'clock he
prepared his sermon for the following day. He usually travelled on
foot, poorly clad. Among St. Vincent's writings are: De
suppositionibus dialecticis"; "De natura universalis"; "De
monderno ecclesiae schismate", a defence of the Avignon pontiffs;
and "De vita spirituali". His "Sermons" were published
at Antwerp (1570), Augsburg (1729),
and Lyons (1816); and his complete works at Valence (1591).
He was canonized by Calixtus
III at the Dominican Church of Santa
Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome,
3 June, 1455.
Sources
The earliest biographer
of St. Vincent Ferrer is RANZANO, see Acta SS., I April, 482-512;
ANTIST, Vida y historia del apostolico predictor. Vte Ferrer (Valentia,
1575); MIGUEL, Portentosa vida y milagros de s. Vincente Ferrer (Madrid,
1856); DAVILA, Hist. de Henrique III de Castilla (1638);
QUETIF-ECHARD, Script. ord. praed., I (Paris, 1719), 763-8; FAGES, Hist.
de s. Vincent Ferrier (Louvain, 1901); IDEM, Procès de canonisation
de St. Vincent Ferrier (Louvain, 1904): IDEM, Notes et doc. De
l'hist. de s. Vincent Ferrier (Louvain, 1905); DE ALPARTILS, Chron.
actitatorum temporibus Benedicti XIII, ed. EHRLE (Paderborn, 1906);
CHABAS, Estudio sobre los sermones valencianos de san Vincente Ferrer que se
conservan manuscriptos en la basilica de Valencia in Rev. de archivos
bibliotecas y museos (Madrid, 1902-3); HELLER, V. Ferrer und sein
Leben und Wirken (Berlin, 1830); MORTIER, Hist des maîtres généraux
de l'ordre des frères prêcheurs (Paris, 1909); ALLIES, Three Cath.
Reformers of the Fifteenth Century (London, 1879). See also Revue de
Bretagne for the apostolate of St. Vincent in that country; Annales
du Midi, for his postolate in Central France; and Hist. Jahrbuch (1896-8).
Reinhart, Albert. "St. Vincent Ferrer." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. 4 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15437a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to
St. Vincent Ferrer; please intercede for us.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15437a.htm
Saint Vincent Ferrer
St. Vincent Ferrer 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. At Valencia in Spain, this
illustrious son of St. Dominic came into the world on January 23, 1357. In the
year 1374, he entered the Order of St. Dominic in a monastery near his native
city. Of a very ardent nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of his Order
with great energy. He was chosen prior of the Dominican house in Valencia
shortly after his ordination.
Soon after his profession
he was commissioned to deliver lectures on philosophy. On being sent to
Barcelona, he continued his scholastic duties and at the same time devoted
himself to preaching. At Lerida, the famous university city of Catalonia, he
received his doctorate. After this he labored six years in Valencia, during
which time he perfected himself in the Christian life. In 1390, he was obliged
to accompany Cardinal Pedro de Luna to France, but he soon returned home.
The Western Schism
divided Christianity first between two, then three, popes. Clement VII lived at
Avignon in France, Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced the election of
Urban was invalid (though Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of
the Roman pope). In the service of Cardinal de Luna, he worked to persuade
Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died, Cardinal de Luna was elected at
Avignon and became Benedict XIII.
When, in 1394, de Luna
himself had become Pope at Avignon he summoned St. Vincent and made him Master
of the sacred palace. In this capacity St. Vincent made unsuccessful efforts to
put an end to the great schism. He refused all ecclesiastical dignities, even
the cardinal’s hat, and only craved to be appointed apostolical missionary.
He tried, unsuccessfully,
in 1408 and 1415, to persuade his former friend to resign. He finally concluded
that Benedict was not the true pope. Though very ill, he mounted the pulpit
before an assembly over which Benedict himself was presiding and thundered his
denunciation of the man who had ordained him a priest. Benedict fled for his
life, abandoned by those who had formerly supported him.
Now began those labors
that made him the famous missionary of the fourteenth century. An eloquent
and fiery preacher, he spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good
News in Spain, France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Lombardy, stressing
the need of repentance and the fear of coming judgment. (He became known as the
“Angel of the Judgment.”) Numerous conversions followed his preaching,
which God Himself assisted by the gift of miracles. He lived to behold the
end of the great schism and the election of Pope Martin V. Finally, crowned
with labors, he died April 5, 1419. His feast day is April 5.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/vincent-ferrer/
Vincent Ferrer, OP Priest
(RM)
Born in Valencia, Spain,
January 23, c. 1350; died in Vannes, Brittany, France, April 5, 1418; canonized
in 1455 by Pope Callistus III; formal bull issued in 1458 by Pius II
authorizing his feast on April 6, but it has always been celebrated on April 5.
"Whatever you do,
think not of yourselves but of God."
--Saint Vincent Ferrer.
Born into a noble, pious
family headed by the Englishman William Ferrer and the Spanish woman Constantia
Miguel, Saint Vincent's career of miracle-working began early. Prodigies
attended his birth and baptism on the same day at Valencia, and, at age 5, he
cured a neighbor child of a serious illness. These gifts and his natural beauty
of person and character made him the center of attention very early in life.
His parents instilled
into Vincent an intense devotion to our Lord and His Mother and a great love of
the poor. He fasted regularly each Wednesday and Friday on bread and water from
early childhood, abstained from meat, and learned to deny himself extravagances
in order to provide alms for necessities. When his parents saw that Vincent
looked upon the poor as the members of Christ and that he treated them with the
greatest affection and charity, they made him the dispenser of their bountiful
alms. They gave him for his portion a third part of their possessions, all of
which he distributed among the poor in four days.
Vincent began his
classical studies at the age of 8, philosophy at 12, and his theological
studies at age 14. As everyone expected, he entered the Dominican priory of
Valencia and received the habit on February 5, 1367. So angelic was his
appearance and so holy his actions, that no other course seemed possible to him
than to dedicate his life to God.
No sooner had he made his
choice of vocation than the devil attacked him with the most dreadful
temptations. Even his parents, who had encouraged his vocation, pleaded with
him to leave the monastery and become a secular priest. By prayer and faith,
especially prayer to Our Lady and his guardian angel, Vincent triumphed over
his difficulties and finished his novitiate.
He was sent to Barcelona
to study and was appointed reader in philosophy at Lerida, the most famous
university in Catalonia, before he was 21. While there he published two
treatises (Dialectic suppositions was one) that were well received.
In 1373, he was sent to
Barcelona to preach, despite the fact that he held only deacon's orders. The
city, laid low by a famine, was desperately awaiting overdue shipments of corn.
Vincent foretold in a sermon that the ships would come before night, and
although he was rebuked by his superior for making such a prediction, the ships
arrived that day. The joyful people rushed to the priory to acclaim Vincent a
prophet. The prior, however, thought it would be wise to transfer him away from
such adulation.
Another story tells us
that some street urchins drew his attention to one of their gang who was
stretched out in the dust, pretending to be dead, near the port of Grao:
"He's dead, bring him back to life!" they cried.
"Ah," replied
Vincent, "he was playing dead but the, look, he did die." This is how
one definitely nails a lie: by regarding it as a truth. And it turned out to be
true, the boy was quite dead. Everyone was gripped with fear. They implored
Vincent to do something. God did. He raised him up.
In 1376, Vincent was
transferred to Toulouse for a year, and continued his education. Having made a
particular study of Scripture and Hebrew, Vincent was well-equipped to preach
to the Jews. He was ordained a priest at Barcelona in 1379, and became a member
of Pedro (Peter) Cardinal de Luna's court--the beginning of a long friendship
that was to end in grief for both of them. (Cardinal de Luna had voted for Pope
Urban VI in 1378, but convinced that the election had been invalid, joined a
group of cardinals who elected Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII later in
the same year; thus, creating a schism and the line of Avignon popes.)
After being recalled to
his own country, Vincent preached very successfully at the cathedral in
Valencia from 1385-1390, and became famed for his eloquence and effectiveness
at converting Jews--Rabbi Paul of Burgos, the future bishop of Cartagena was
one of Vincent's 30,000 Jewish and Moorish converts--and reviving the faith of
those who had lapsed. His numerous miracles, the strength and beauty of his
voice, the purity and clarity of his doctrine, combined to make his preaching
effective, based as it was on a firm foundation of prayer.
Of course, Vincent's
success as a preacher drew the envy of others and earned him slander and
calumny. His colleagues believed that they could make amends for the calumny by
making him prior of their monastery in Valencia. He did withdraw for a time
into obscurity. But he was recalled to preach the Lenten sermons of 1381 in
Valencia, and he could not refuse to employ the gift of speech which drew to
him the good and simple people as well as the captious pastors, the canons, and
the skeptical savants of the Church.
Peter de Luna, a stubborn
and ambitious cardinal, made Vincent part of his baggage, so to speak; because
from 1390 on, Vincent preached wherever Peter de Luna happened to be, including
the court of Avignon, where Vincent enjoyed the advantage of being confessor to
the pope, when Peter de Luna became the antipope Benedict XIII in 1394.
Two evils cried out for
remedy in Saint Vincent's day: the moral laxity left by the great plague, and
the scandal of the papal schism. In regard to the first, he preached tirelessly
against the evils of the time. That he espoused the cause of the wrong man in
the papal disagreement is no argument against Vincent's sanctity; at the time,
and in the midst of such confusion, it was almost impossible to tell who was
right and who was wrong. The memorable thing is that he labored, with all the
strength he could muster, to bring order out of chaos. Eventually, Vincent came
to believe that his friend's claims were false and urged de Luna to reconcile
himself to Urban VI.
He acted as confessor to
Queen Yolanda of Aragon from 1391 to 1395. He was accused to the Inquisition of
heresy because he taught that Judas had performed penance, but the charge was
dismissed by the antipope Benedict XIII, who burned the Inquisition's dossier
on Vincent and made him his confessor.
Benedict offered Vincent
a bishopric, but refused it. Distressed by the great schism and by Benedict's
unyielding position, he advised him to confer with his Roman rival. Benedict
refused. Reluctantly, Vincent was obliged to abandon de Luna in 1398. The
strain of this conflict between friendship and truth caused Vincent to become
dangerously ill in 1398. During his illness, he experienced a vision in which
Christ and Saints Dominic and Francis instructed him to preach penance whenever
and wherever he was needed, and he was miraculously cured.
After recovering, he
pleaded to be allowed to devote himself to missionary work. He preached in
Carpetras, Arles, Aix, and Marseilles, with huge crowds in attendance. Between
1401 and 1403, the saint was preaching in the Dauphiné, in Savoy, and in the
Alpine valleys: he continued on to Lucerne, Lausanne, Tarentaise, Grenoble, and
Turin. He was such an effective speaker that, although he spoke only Spanish,
he was thought by many to be multilingual (the gift of tongues?). His brother
Boniface was the prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and as a result of Vincent's
preaching, several notable subjects entered the monastery.
Miracles were attributed
to him. In 1405, Vincent was in Genoa and preached against the fantastic
head-dresses worn by the Ligurian ladies, and they were modified--"the
greatest of all his marvelous deeds, reports one of his biographers. From
Genoa, he caught a ship to Flanders. Later, in the Netherlands, an hour each
day was scheduled for his cures. In Catalonia, his prayer restored the withered
limbs of a crippled boy, deemed incurable by his physicians, named John Soler,
who later became the bishop of Barcelona. In Salamanca in 1412, he raised a dead
man to life. Perhaps the greatest miracle occurred in the Dauphiné, in an area
called Vaupute, or Valley of Corruption. The natives there were so savage that
no minister would visit them. Vincent, ever ready to suffer all things to gain
souls, joyfully risked his life among these abandoned wretches, converted them
all from their errors and vices. Thereafter, the name of the valley was changed
to Valpure, or Valley of Purity, a name that it has retained.
He preached
indefatigably, supplementing his natural gifts with the supernatural power of
God, obtained through his fasting, prayers, and penance. Such was the fame of
Vincent's missions, that King Henry IV of England sent a courtier to him with a
letter entreating him to preach in his dominions. The king sent one of his own
ships to fetch him from the coast of France, and received him with the greatest
honors. The saint having employed some time in giving the king wholesome advice
both for himself and his subjects, preached in the chief towns of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. Returning to France, he did the same, from Gascony to
Picardy.
The preaching of Saint
Vincent became a strange but marvelously effective process. He attracted to
himself hundreds of people--at one time, more than 10,000--who followed him
from place to place in the garb of pilgrims. The priests of the company sang
Mass daily, chanted the Divine Office, and dispensed the sacraments to those
converted by Vincent's preaching. Men and women travelled in separate
companies, chanting litanies and prayers as they went barefoot along the road
from city to city. They taught catechism where needed, founded hospitals, and
revived a faith that had all but perished in the time of the plague.
The message of his
preaching was penance, the Last Judgment, and eternity. Like another John the
Baptist--who was also likened to an angel, as Saint Vincent is in popular
art--he went through the wilderness crying out to the people to make straight
the paths of the Lord. Fearing the judgment, if for no other reason, sinners
listened to his startling sermons, and the most obstinate were led by him to
cast off sin and love God. He worked countless miracles, some of which are
remembered today in the proverbs of Spain. Among his converts were Saint
Bernardine of Siena and Margaret of Savoy.
He returned to Spain in
1407. Despite the fact that Granada was under Moorish rule, he preached
successfully, and thousands of Jews and Moors were said to have been converted
and requested baptism. His sermons were often held in the open air because the
churches were too small for all those who wished to hear him.
In 1414 the Council of
Constance attempted the end the Great Schism, which had grown since 1409 with
three claimants to the papal throne. The council deposed John XXIII, and
demanded the resignation of Benedict XIII and Gregory XII so that a new
election could be held. Gregory was willing, but Benedict was stubborn. Again,
Vincent tried to persuade Benedict to abdicate. Again, he failed. But Vincent,
who acted as a judge in the Compromise of Caspe to resolve the royal
succession, influenced the election of Ferdinand as king of Castile. Still a
friend of Benedict (Peter de Luna), King Ferdinand, basing his actions on Vincent's
opinion on the issue, engineered Benedict's deposition in 1416, which ended the
Western Schism.
(It is interesting to
note that the edicts of the Council of Constance were thrown out by the
succeeding pope. The council had mandated councils every ten years and claimed
that such convocations had precedence over the pope.)
His book, Treatise on the
Spiritual Life is still of value to earnest souls. In it he writes: "Do
you desire to study to your advantage? Let devotion accompany all your studies,
and study less to make yourself learned than to become a saint. Consult God
more than your books, and ask him, with humility, to make you understand what
you read. Study fatigues and drains the mind and heart. Go from time to time to
refresh them at the feet of Jesus Christ under his cross. Some moments of
repose in his sacred wounds give fresh vigor and new lights. Interrupt your
application by short, but fervent and ejaculatory prayers: never begin or end
your study but by prayer. Science is a gift of the Father of lights; do not
therefore consider it as barely the work of your own mind or industry."
It seems that Vincent
practiced what he preached. He always composed his sermons at the foot of a
crucifix, both to beg light from Christ crucified, and to draw from that object
sentiments with which to animate his listeners to penance and the love of God.
Saint Vincent also
preached to Saint Colette and her nuns, and it was she who told him that he
would die in France. Indeed, Vincent spent his last three years in France,
mainly in Normandy and Brittany, and he died on the Wednesday of Holy Week in
Vannes, Brittany, after returning from a preaching trip to Nantes. The day of
his burial was a great popular feast with a procession, music, sermons, songs,
miracles, and even minor brawls (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Dorcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gheon, Husenbeth, Walsh, White).
Note: I highly recommend
reading the entry for Vincent Ferrer in Butler's Lives of the Saints. It's more
accurate than many of his biographies and much more detailed about the saints
travels and miracles than presented here.
Saint Vincent is the
patron of orphanages in Spain. And Breton fishermen still invoke his aid in
storms (Dorcy). He is also the patron of lead founders and invoked against
epilepsy, fever, and headache (Roeder).
In art, Saint Vincent is
a Dominican with a book, Christ is above with the Instruments of His Passion.
Sometimes Vincent is shown (1) pointing to Christ, with a lily and crucifix;
(2) ditto, Christ above, shrouded corpses under his feet; (3) surrounded by
cherubim, flame in one hand, book in the other; (4) with symbolic wings on his
shoulder, trumpet in his hand; (5) with flame, IHS and a radiant face; (6) with
Blessed Peter Cerdan (Roeder, Tabor); (7) with a cardinal's hat; or with Jewish
and Saracen converts around him (White). Click here to view a picture of Saint
Vincent created by Francesco del Cossa.
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0405.shtml
Saint Vincent
Ferrier, dessin de Jean Le Clerc dans Vita et miracula Vicentii
Ferrerii, Paris, 1712
Saint Vincent Ferrer,
C.O.P.
Memorial Day: April 5th
Profile
Born into a noble, pious
family headed by the Englishman William Ferrer and the Spanish woman Constantia
Miguel, Saint Vincent's career of miracle-working began early. Prodigies
attended his birth and baptism on the same day at Valencia, and, at age 5, he
cured a neighbor child of a serious illness. These gifts and his natural beauty
of person and character made him the center of attention very early in life.
His parents instilled
into Vincent an intense devotion to our Lord and His Mother and a great love of
the poor. He fasted regularly each Wednesday and Friday on bread and water from
early childhood, abstained from meat, and learned to deny himself extravagances
in order to provide alms for necessities. When his parents saw that Vincent
looked upon the poor as the members of Christ and that he treated them with the
greatest affection and charity, they made him the dispenser of their bountiful
alms. They gave him for his portion a third part of their possessions, all of
which he distributed among the poor in four days.
Vincent began his
classical studies at the age of 8, philosophy at 12, and his theological
studies at age 14. As everyone expected, he entered the Dominican priory of
Valencia and received the habit on February 5, 1367. So angelic was his
appearance and so holy his actions, that no other course seemed possible to him
than to dedicate his life to God.
No sooner had he made his
choice of vocation than the devil attacked him with the most dreadful
temptations. Even his parents, who had encouraged his vocation, pleaded with
him to leave the monastery and become a secular priest. By prayer and faith,
especially prayer to Our Lady and his guardian angel, Vincent triumphed over
his difficulties and finished his novitiate.
He was sent to Barcelona
to study and was appointed reader in philosophy at Lerida, the most famous
university in Catalonia, before he was 21. While there he published two
treatises (Dialectic suppositions was one) that were well received.
In 1373, he was sent to
Barcelona to preach, despite the fact that he held only deacon's orders. The
city, laid low by a famine, was desperately awaiting overdue shipments of corn.
Vincent foretold in a sermon that the ships would come before night, and
although he was rebuked by his superior for making such a prediction, the ships
arrived that day. The joyful people rushed to the priory to acclaim Vincent a
prophet. The prior, however, thought it would be wise to transfer him away from
such adulation.
Another story tells us
that some street urchins drew his attention to one of their gang who was
stretched out in the dust, pretending to be dead, near the port of Grao:
"He's dead, bring him back to life!" they cried.
"Ah," replied
Vincent, "he was playing dead but the, look, he did die." This is how
one definitely nails a lie: by regarding it as a truth. And it turned out to be
true, the boy was quite dead. Everyone was gripped with fear. They implored
Vincent to do something. God did. He raised him up.
In 1376, Vincent was
transferred to Toulouse for a year, and continued his education. Having made a
particular study of Scripture and Hebrew, Vincent was well-equipped to preach
to the Jews. He was ordained a priest at Barcelona in 1379, and became a member
of Pedro (Peter) Cardinal de Luna's court--the beginning of a long friendship
that was to end in grief for both of them. (Cardinal de Luna had voted for Pope
Urban VI in 1378, but convinced that the election had been invalid, joined a
group of cardinals who elected Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII later in
the same year; thus, creating a schism and the line of Avignon popes.)
After being recalled to
his own country, Vincent preached very successfully at the cathedral in
Valencia from 1385-1390, and became famed for his eloquence and effectiveness
at converting Jews--Rabbi Paul of Burgos, the future bishop of Cartagena was
one of Vincent's 30,000 Jewish and Moorish converts--and reviving the faith of
those who had lapsed. His numerous miracles, the strength and beauty of his
voice, the purity and clarity of his doctrine, combined to make his preaching
effective, based as it was on a firm foundation of prayer.
Of course, Vincent's
success as a preacher drew the envy of others and earned him slander and
calumny. His colleagues believed that they could make amends for the calumny by
making him prior of their monastery in Valencia. He did withdraw for a time into
obscurity. But he was recalled to preach the Lenten sermons of 1381 in
Valencia, and he could not refuse to employ the gift of speech which drew to
him the good and simple people as well as the captious pastors, the canons, and
the skeptical savants of the Church.
Peter de Luna, a stubborn
and ambitious cardinal, made Vincent part of his baggage, so to speak; because
from 1390 on, Vincent preached wherever Peter de Luna happened to be, including
the court of Avignon, where Vincent enjoyed the advantage of being confessor to
the pope, when Peter de Luna became the antipope Benedict XIII in 1394.
Two evils cried out for
remedy in Saint Vincent's day: the moral laxity left by the great plague, and
the scandal of the papal schism. In regard to the first, he preached tirelessly
against the evils of the time. That he espoused the cause of the wrong man in
the papal disagreement is no argument against Vincent's sanctity; at the time,
and in the midst of such confusion, it was almost impossible to tell who was
right and who was wrong. The memorable thing is that he labored, with all the
strength he could muster, to bring order out of chaos. Eventually, Vincent came
to believe that his friend's claims were false and urged de Luna to reconcile
himself to Urban VI.
He acted as confessor to
Queen Yolanda of Aragon from 1391 to 1395. He was accused to the Inquisition of
heresy because he taught that Judas had performed penance, but the charge was
dismissed by the antipope Benedict XIII, who burned the Inquisition's dossier
on Vincent and made him his confessor.
Benedict offered Vincent
a bishopric, but refused it. Distressed by the great schism and by Benedict's
unyielding position, he advised him to confer with his Roman rival. Benedict
refused. Reluctantly, Vincent was obliged to abandon de Luna in 1398. The
strain of this conflict between friendship and truth caused Vincent to become
dangerously ill in 1398. During his illness, he experienced a vision in which
Christ and Saints Dominic and Francis instructed him to preach penance whenever
and wherever he was needed, and he was miraculously cured.
After recovering, he
pleaded to be allowed to devote himself to missionary work. He preached in
Carpetras, Arles, Aix, and Marseilles, with huge crowds in attendance. Between
1401 and 1403, the saint was preaching in the Dauphiné, in Savoy, and in the
Alpine valleys: he continued on to Lucerne, Lausanne, Tarentaise, Grenoble, and
Turin. He was such an effective speaker that, although he spoke only Spanish,
he was thought by many to be multilingual (the gift of tongues?). His brother
Boniface was the prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and as a result of Vincent's
preaching, several notable subjects entered the monastery.
Miracles were attributed
to him. In 1405, Vincent was in Genoa and preached against the fantastic
head-dresses worn by the Ligurian ladies, and they were modified--"the
greatest of all his marvelous deeds, reports one of his biographers. From
Genoa, he caught a ship to Flanders. Later, in the Netherlands, an hour each
day was scheduled for his cures. In Catalonia, his prayer restored the withered
limbs of a crippled boy, deemed incurable by his physicians, named John Soler,
who later became the bishop of Barcelona. In Salamanca in 1412, he raised a dead
man to life. Perhaps the greatest miracle occurred in the Dauphiné, in an area
called Vaupute, or Valley of Corruption. The natives there were so savage that
no minister would visit them. Vincent, ever ready to suffer all things to gain
souls, joyfully risked his life among these abandoned wretches, converted them
all from their errors and vices. Thereafter, the name of the valley was changed
to Valpure, or Valley of Purity, a name that it has retained.
He preached
indefatigably, supplementing his natural gifts with the supernatural power of
God, obtained through his fasting, prayers, and penance. Such was the fame of
Vincent's missions, that King Henry IV of England sent a courtier to him with a
letter entreating him to preach in his dominions. The king sent one of his own
ships to fetch him from the coast of France, and received him with the greatest
honors. The saint having employed some time in giving the king wholesome advice
both for himself and his subjects, preached in the chief towns of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. Returning to France, he did the same, from Gascony to
Picardy.
The preaching of Saint
Vincent became a strange but marvelously effective process. He attracted to
himself hundreds of people--at one time, more than 10,000--who followed him
from place to place in the garb of pilgrims. The priests of the company sang
Mass daily, chanted the Divine Office, and dispensed the sacraments to those
converted by Vincent's preaching. Men and women travelled in separate
companies, chanting litanies and prayers as they went barefoot along the road
from city to city. They taught catechism where needed, founded hospitals, and
revived a faith that had all but perished in the time of the plague.
The message of his
preaching was penance, the Last Judgment, and eternity. Like another John the
Baptist--who was also likened to an angel, as Saint Vincent is in popular
art--he went through the wilderness crying out to the people to make straight
the paths of the Lord. Fearing the judgment, if for no other reason, sinners
listened to his startling sermons, and the most obstinate were led by him to
cast off sin and love God. He worked countless miracles, some of which are
remembered today in the proverbs of Spain. Among his converts were Saint Bernardine
of Siena and Margaret of Savoy.
He returned to Spain in
1407. Despite the fact that Granada was under Moorish rule, he preached
successfully, and thousands of Jews and Moors were said to have been converted
and requested baptism. His sermons were often held in the open air because the
churches were too small for all those who wished to hear him.
In 1414 the Council of
Constance attempted the end the Great Schism, which had grown since 1409 with
three claimants to the papal throne. The council deposed John XXIII, and
demanded the resignation of Benedict XIII and Gregory XII so that a new
election could be held. Gregory was willing, but Benedict was stubborn. Again,
Vincent tried to persuade Benedict to abdicate. Again, he failed. But Vincent,
who acted as a judge in the Compromise of Caspe to resolve the royal
succession, influenced the election of Ferdinand as king of Castile. Still a
friend of Benedict (Peter de Luna), King Ferdinand, basing his actions on
Vincent's opinion on the issue, engineered Benedict's deposition in 1416, which
ended the Western Schism.
(It is interesting to note that the edicts of
the Council of Constance were thrown out by the succeeding pope. The council
had mandated councils every ten years and claimed that such convocations had
precedence over the pope.)
His book, Treatise
on the Spiritual Life is still of value to earnest souls. In it he writes:
"Do you desire to study to your advantage? Let devotion accompany all your
studies, and study less to make yourself learned than to become a saint.
Consult God more than your books, and ask him, with humility, to make you
understand what you read. Study fatigues and drains the mind and heart. Go from
time to time to refresh them at the feet of Jesus Christ under his cross. Some
moments of repose in his sacred wounds give fresh vigor and new lights.
Interrupt your application by short, but fervent and ejaculatory prayers: never
begin or end your study but by prayer. Science is a gift of the Father of
lights; do not therefore consider it as barely the work of your own mind or
industry."
It seems that Vincent
practiced what he preached. He always composed his sermons at the foot of a
crucifix, both to beg light from Christ crucified, and to draw from that object
sentiments with which to animate his listeners to penance and the love of God.
Saint Vincent also
preached to Saint Colette and her nuns, and it was she who told him that he
would die in France. Indeed, Vincent spent his last three years in France,
mainly in Normandy and Brittany, and he died on the Wednesday of Holy Week in
Vannes, Brittany, after returning from a preaching trip to Nantes. The day of
his burial was a great popular feast with a procession, music, sermons, songs,
miracles, and even minor brawls (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Dorcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gheon, Husenbeth, Walsh, White).
Born: 1350 at
Valencia, Spain
Died: April 5th in
1419 at Vannes, Brittany , France
Canonized: 1458
Patronage: brick makers;
builders; Calamonaci, Italy; construction workers;
pavement workers; plumbers; tile makers
Representation: cardinal's
hat; Dominican preacher with a flame on his hand; Dominican preacher with a
flame on his head; Dominican holding an open book while preaching; Dominican
with a cardinal's hat; Dominican with a crucifix; Dominican with wings; flame;
pulpit; trumpet
Prayers/Commemorations
First Vespers:
Ant. Vincent, who,
enlightened with the gift of prophecy, taught wondrous things concerning the
end of time, on the verge of the western world sank like the sun to rest; and
now surrounded by a host of angels he dwells in regions of light. (P.T.,
Alleluia.)
V. Pray for us Blessed
Vincent. (P.T., Alleluia.)
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ. (P.T., Alleluia.)
Lauds:
Ant. To him whose
spotless purity of life shone with virginal brightness, the truth of whose
doctrine grew everywhere brilliant through preaching, Goodness Supreme hath
awarded a double crown. (P.T., Alleluia.)
V. The just man shall
blossom like the lily (P.T., Alleluia.)
R. And shall flourish
forever before the Lord. (P.T., Alleluia.)
Second Vespers:
Ant. O
Vincent, glorious Father, who mounting the heights of heaven wast greeted by
the plaudits of angelic choirs guide us who have often sounded thy praises to
the delightful kingdom of the blessed. (P.T., Alleluia.)
V. Pray for us , Blessed
Vincent. (P.T., Alleluia.)
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ. (P.T., Alleluia.)
Prayer:
Let us pray: O god,
who didst bring a multitude of nations to the knowledge of Thy holy name by the
wonderful preaching of Blessed Vincent, Thy Confessor, grant, we beseech Thee,
that we may deserve to find in heaven a bountiful rewarder in Him whom he
announced on earth as the judge to come: Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer II:
O God, through the
wonderful preaching of your confessor, the blessed Vincent, you granted that a
multitude of peoples should come to acknowledge your name; grant, we beseech
you, that we may be worthy to be rewarded in heaven by him whom he announced on
earth as the Judge who is to come , our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you. Amen.
Readings :
If
you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first
with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of
all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.
Saint Vincent Ferrer
from On the Spiritual Life
"Whatever you do, think not of yourselves but of God."
--Saint Vincent Ferrerr
SOURCE : http://www.willingshepherds.org/Dominican%20Saints%20II.html
Dominican-Order-church
in Friesach: pulpit: Vincent Ferrer
Dominikanerkirche Friesach in Friesach: Kanzel: Vinzenz Ferrer
St. Vincent Ferrer,
Confessor
From his life, written by
Ranzano, bishop of Lucera, in order to his canonization, in Henschenius, with
the notes of Papebroke. See Touron, Hommes Illustres de l’Ordre de St.
Dominique, t. 3. Fleury, b. 110.
A.D. 1419.
ST. VINCENT FERRER was
born at Valentia, in Spain, on the 23rd of January, 1357. His parents were
persons distinguished for their virtue and alms-deeds. They made it their rule
to distribute in alms whatever they could save out of the necessary expenses of
their family at the end of every year. Two of their sons became eminent in the
church. Boniface, who died general of the Carthusians, and St. Vincent, who
brought with him into the world a happy disposition for learning and piety,
which were improved from his cradle by study and a good education. In order to
subdue his passions he fasted rigorously from his childhood every Wednesday and
Friday. The passion of Christ was always the object of his most tender
devotion. The Blessed Virgin he ever honoured as his spiritual mother. Looking
on the poor as the members of Christ, he treated them with the greatest
affection and charity, which being observed by his parents, they made him the
dispenser of their bountiful alms. They gave him for his portion the third part
of their possessions, all which he in four days’ time distributed amongst the
poor. He began his course of philosophy at twelve years of age, and his
theology at the end of his fourteenth year. His progress was such that he
seemed a master in both studies at the age of seventeen; and by his
affectionate piety he had obtained an eminent gift of tears in that tender age.
His father having proposed to him the choice of a religious, an ecclesiastical,
or a secular state, Vincent, without hesitation, said, it was his earnest
desire to consecrate himself to the service of God in the Order of St.
Dominick. His good parents with joy conducted him to a convent of that Order in
Valentia, and he put on the habit in 1374, in the beginning of his eighteenth
year.
He made a surprisingly
rapid progress in the paths of perfection, taking St. Dominick for his model.
To the exercises of prayer and penance he joined the study and meditation of
the holy scriptures, and the reading of the fathers. Soon after his solemn
profession, he was deputed to read lectures of philosophy, and at the end of
his course, published a treatise on Dialectic Suppositions, being not quite
twenty-four years old. He was then sent to Barcelona, where he continued his
scholastic exercises, and at the same time preached the word of God with great
fruit, especially during a great famine, when he foretold the arrival of two
vessels laden with corn, the same evening, to relieve the city; which happened,
contrary to all expectation. From thence he was sent to Lerida, the most famous
university of Catalonia. There continuing his apostolic functions and
scholastic disputations, he commenced doctor, receiving the cap from the hands
of Cardinal Peter de Luna, legate of Pope Clement VII. in 1384, being
twenty-eight years of age. At the earnest importunities of the bishop, clergy,
and people of Valentia, he was recalled to his own country, and pursued there
both his lectures and his preaching with such extraordinary reputation, and so
manifestly attended with the benediction of the Almighty that he was honoured
in the whole country above what can be expressed. As a humiliation, God
permitted an angel of Satan to molest him with violent temptations of the
flesh, and to fill his imagination with filthy ideas, the fiend rather hoping
to disturb than seduce him. Also a wicked woman who entertained a criminal
passion for our saint, feigned herself sick, and sending for him on pretence of
hearing her confession, took that occasion to declare to him her vicious
inclinations, and did all in her power to pervert him. The saint, like another
Joseph, in the utmost horror, and in an humble distrust of himself, without
staying to answer her one word, betook himself to flight. The unhappy woman,
enraged at his conduct, acted the part of Potiphar’s wife in calumniating him.
But her complaints meeting with little or no credit, she, upon reflection,
became sensible of her fault: and, being stung with remorse, made him public
amends to the best of her power. The saint most readily pardoned her, and cured
a disturbance of mind into which she was fallen. The arms which the saint
employed against the devil were prayer, penance, and a perpetual watchfulness
over every impulse of his passions. His heart was always fixed on God, and he
made his studies, labour, and all his other actions a continual prayer. The
same practice he proposes to all Christians, in his book entitled: A Treatise
on a spiritual Life, in which he writes thus: “Do you desire to study to your
advantage? Let devotion accompany all your studies, and study less to make
yourself learned than to become a saint. Consult God more than your books, and
ask him, with humility, to make you understand what you read. Study fatigues
and drains the mind and heart. Go from time to time to refresh them at the feet
of Jesus Christ under his cross. Some moments of repose in his sacred wounds
give fresh vigour and new lights. Interrupt your application by short, but
fervent and ejaculatory prayers: never begin or end your study but by prayer.
Science is a gift of the Father of Lights: do not therefore consider it as
barely the work of your own mind or industry.” He always composed his sermons
at the foot of a crucifix, both to beg light from Christ crucified, and to draw
from that object sentiments wherewith to animate his auditors to penance and
the love of God.
St. Vincent had lived
thus six years at Valentia, assiduously pursuing his apostolical labours, under
great persecutions from the devils and carnal men, but in high esteem among the
virtuous, when Cardinal Peter de Luna, legate of Clement VII. in Spain, was
appointed to go from thence in the same capacity to Charles VI., king of
France. Arriving at Valentia in 1390, he obliged the saint to accompany him
into France. While the cardinal, who had too much of the spirit of the world,
was occupied in politics, Vincent had no other employ or concern than that of
the conversion of souls, and of the interests of Jesus Christ: and the fruits
of his labours in Paris were not less than they had been in Spain. In the
beginning of the year 1394, the legate returned to Avignon, and St. Vincent,
refusing his invitations to the court of Clement VII., went to Valentia.
Clement VII. dying at Avignon, in 1394, during the great schism, Peter de Luna
was chosen pope by the French and Spaniards, and took the name of Benedict
XIII. He commanded Vincent to repair to Avignon, and made him Master of the
Sacred Palace. The saint laboured to persuade Benedict to put an end to the
schism, but obtained only promises, which the ambitious man often renewed, but
always artfully eluded. Vincent in the mean time applied himself to his usual
functions, and by his preaching reformed the city of Avignon; but, to breathe a
free air of solitude, he retired from court to a convent of his Order. Benedict
offered him bishoprics and a cardinal’s hat; but he steadfastly refused all
dignities; and, after eighteen months, earnestly entreated to be appointed
apostolical missionary; and so much did the opinion of his sanctity prevail,
that the opposing his desire was deemed an opposition to the will of heaven.
Benedict therefore granted his request, gave him his benediction, and invested
him with the power of apostolical missionary, constituting him also his legate
and vicar.
Before the end of the
year 1398, St. Vincent, being forty-two years old, set out from Avignon towards
Valentia. He preached in every town with wonderful efficacy, and the people
having heard him in one place followed him in crowds to others. Public usurers,
blasphemers, debauched women, and other hardened sinners, every where were
induced by his discourses to embrace a life of penance. He converted a
prodigious number of Jews and Mahometans, heretics and schismatics. He visited
every province of Spain in this manner, except Galicia. He returned thence into
France, and made some stay in Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphiné. He went thence
into Italy, preaching on the coasts of Genoa, in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Savoy:
as he did in part of Germany, about the Upper Rhine, and through Flanders. Such
was the fame of his missions, that Henry IV., king of England, wrote to him, in
the most respectful terms, and sent his letter by a gentleman of his court,
entreating him to preach also in his dominions. He accordingly sent one of his
ships to fetch him from the coast of France, and received him with the greatest
honours. The saint having employed some time in giving the king wholesome
advice both for himself and his subjects, preached in the chief towns of
England, Scotland, and Ireland. Returning into France, he did the same, from
Gascony to Picardy. Numerous wars, and the unhappy great schism in the church,
had been productive of a multitude of disorders in Christendom; gross
ignorance, and a shocking corruption of manners, prevailed in many places;
whereby the teaching of this zealous apostle, who, like another Boanerges,
preached in a voice of thunder, became not only useful, but even absolutely
necessary, to assist the weak and alarm the sinner. The ordinary subjects of
his sermons were sin, death, God’s judgments, hell, and eternity. He delivered
his discourses with so much energy, that he filled the most insensible with
terror. Whilst he was preaching one day at Thoulouse, his whole auditory was
seized with trembling. At his sermons persons often fainted away, and he was
frequently obliged to stop, to give leisure for the venting of the sobs and
sighs of the congregation. His sermons were not only pathetic, but were also
addressed to the understanding, and supported with a wonderful strength of
reasoning, and the authorities of scriptures and fathers, which he perfectly
understood and employed as occasion required. His gifts of miracles, and the
sanctity of his penitential life, gave to his words the greatest weight. Amidst
these journeys and fatigues he never ate flesh, fasted every day, except
Sundays, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he lived on bread and water, which
course he held for forty years: he lay on straw or small twigs. He spent a
great part of the day in the confessional with incredible patience, and there
finished what he had begun in the pulpit. He had with him five friars of his
Order, and some other priests to assist him. Though by his sermons thousands
were moved to give their possessions to the poor, he never accepted anything
himself; and was no less scrupulous in cultivating in his heart the virtue and
spirit of obedience than that of poverty; for which reason he declined
accepting any dignity in the church or superiority in his Order. He laboured
thus near twenty years, till 1417, in Spain, Majorca, Italy, and France. During
this time, preaching in Catalonia, among other miracles, he restored to the use
of his limbs John Soler, a crippled boy, judged by the physicians incurable,
who afterward became a very eminent man, and bishop of Barcelona. In the year
1400, he was at Aix in Provence: in 1401, in Piedmont, and the neighbouring
parts of Italy, being honourably received in the Obedience 1 of
each pope. Returning into Savoy and Dauphiné, he found there a valley called Vaupute,
or Valley of Corruption, in which the inhabitants were abandoned to cruelty and
shameful lusts. After long experience of their savage manners, no minister of
the gospel durst hazard himself among them. Vincent was ready to suffer all
things to gain souls, and to snatch from the devil a prey which he had already
seemingly devoured. He joyfully exposed his life among those abandoned
wretches, converted them all from their errors and vices, and changed the name
of the valley into Valpure or Valley of Purity, which name it ever after
retained.
Being at Geneva in 1403,
he wrote a letter to his general, still extant, in which, among other things,
he informed him, that after singing mass he preached twice or thrice every day,
preparing his sermons while he was on the road: that he had employed three
months in travelling from village to village, and from town to town, in
Dauphiné, announcing the word of God; making a longer stay in three valleys in
the diocess of Embrun, namely, Lucerna, Argenteya, and Vaupute, having
converted almost all the heretics which peopled those parts: that being invited
in the most pressing manner into Piedmont, he for thirteen months preached and
instructed the people there, in Montserrat, and the valleys, and brought to the
faith a multitude of Vaudois and other heretics. He says, the general source of
their heresy was ignorance and want of an instructor, and cries out: “I blush
and tremble when I consider the terrible judgment impending on ecclesiastical
superiors, who live at their ease in rich palaces, &c., whilst so many
souls redeemed by the blood of Christ are perishing. I pray without
ceasing the Lord of the harvest that he send good workmen into his
harvest.” 2 He
adds, that he had in the valley of Luferia converted an heretical bishop by a
conference; and extirpated a certain infamous heresy in the valley Pontia;
converted the country into which the murderers of St. Peter, the martyr, had
fled; had reconciled the Guelphs and Gibelins, and settled a general peace in
Lombardy. Being called back into Piedmont by the bishops and lords of that
country, he staid five months in the diocess of Aoust,
Tarentaise, St. John of Morienne, and Grenoble. He says he was then at Geneva,
where he had abolished a very inveterate superstitious festival, a thing the
bishop durst not attempt; and was going to Lausane, being called by the bishop
to preach to many idolaters who adore the sun, and to heretics who were
obstinate, daring, and very numerous on the frontiers of Germany. Thus in his
letter. Spondanus, 3 and
many others say, the saint was honoured with the gift of tongues, and that,
preaching in his own, he was understood by men of different languages; which is
also affirmed by Lanzano, who says, that Greeks, Germans, Sardes, Hungarians,
and people of other nations, declared they understood every word he spoke,
though he preached in Latin, or in his mother-tongue, as spoken at Valentia. 4 Peter
de Luna, called Benedict XIII., sent for him out of Lorrain to Genoa, promising
to lay aside all claim to the papacy. The saint obeyed, and represented to him
the evils of the schism, which would be all laid to his charge; but he spoke to
one that was deaf to such counsels. He preached with more success to the people
of Genoa for a month, and travelled again through France and Flanders, and from
thence, in 1406, over all the dominions of Henry IV., king of England. The
years 1407 and 1408, he employed in reforming the manners of the people of
Poitou, Gascony, Languedoc, Provence, and Auvergne: at Clermont is still shown
the pulpit in which he preached in 1407. An inscription in a church at Nevers
testifies the same of that city: he was again at Aix in October, 1408. Benedict
XIII., being returned from Genoa, stopped at Marseilles, and came no more to
Avignon, but in 1408 went to Perpignan. In the same year the Mahometan king of
the Moors, at Granada in Spain, hearing the reputation of St. Vincent, invited
him to his court.—The saint took shipping at Marseilles, and preached to the
Mahometans the gospel with great success at Granada, and converted many; till
some of the nobles, fearing the total subversion of their religion, obliged the
king to dismiss him. He then laboured in the kingdom of Arragon, and again in
Catalonia, especially in the diocess of Gironne and Vich; in a borough of the
latter he renewed the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, related at
length in his life. 5 At
Barcelona, in 1409, he foretold to Martin, king of Arragon, the death of his
son Martin, the king of Sicily, who was snatched away amidst his triumphs in
the month of July. Vincent comforted the afflicted father, and persuaded him to
a second marriage to secure the public peace by an heir to his crown.
He cured innumerable sick
everywhere, and at Valentia made a dumb woman speak, but told her she should
ever after remain dumb, and that this was for the good of her soul; charging
her always to praise and thank God in spirit, to which instructions she
promised obedience. He converted the Jews in great numbers in the diocess of
Palencia, in the kingdom of Leon, as Mariana relates. He was invited to Pisa,
Sienna, Florence, and Lucca, in 1410, whence, after having reconciled the
dissensions that prevailed in those parts, he was recalled by John II., king of
Castille. In 1411 he visited the kingdoms of Castille, Leon, Murcia, Andalusia,
Asturias, and other countries; in all which places the power of God was
manifested in his enabling him to work miracles, and effect the conversion of
an incredible number of Jews and sinners. The Jews of Toledo embracing the
faith, changed their synagogue into a church under the name of Our Lady’s. From
Valladolid, the saint went to Salamanca, in the beginning of the year 1412,
where meeting the corpse of a man who had been murdered, and was carrying on a
bier, he, in the presence of a great multitude, commanded the deceased to
arise, when the dead man instantly revived; for a monument of which a wooden
cross was erected, and is yet to be seen on the spot. In the same city the
saint entered the Jewish synagogue with a cross in his hand, and, replenished
with the Holy Ghost, made so moving a sermon, that the Jews, who were at first
surprised, at the end of his discourse all desired baptism, and changed their
synagogue into a church, to which they gave the title of the Holy Cross. But
St. Vincent was called away to settle the disputes which had for two years
disturbed the tranquillity of the kingdom of Arragon, concerning a successor to
the crown. The states of Arragon, Catalonia, and Valentia were divided. The
most powerful among the Catalonians were for choosing count Urgel, but the
bishop of Saragossa, who opposed his election, being murdered, so impious and
inhuman a crime occasioned a general detestation of that candidate, destroyed
his interest, and was an alarm to a civil war. At last the states of the three
kingdoms agreed to choose nine commissaries, three for each kingdom, who were
to assemble in the castle of Caspé in Arragon, on the river Ebro, to decide the
contest, which was to be determined by the concurrence of not less than six of
the commissaries appointed for this purpose. St. Vincent, his brother, Boniface
the Carthusian, and Don Peter Bertrand were the three commissaries for the
kingdom of Valentia. The saint therefore left Castille to repair to Caspé.
Ferdinand of Castillo was declared the next heir in blood, and lawful king by
the unanimous consent of the commissaries. Saint Vincent on that occasion made
an harangue to the foreign ambassadors and people present, and when he had
named Ferdinand king, a prince highly esteemed for his valour, virtue, and
moderation, the acclamations of all present testified their approbation.
Ferdinand hastened to Saragossa, and was proclaimed on the 3rd of September,
1412. He made the saint his preacher and confessor; yet the holy man continued
his usual labours throughout Spain and the adjacent isles, and seemed to take
more pleasure in teaching an ignorant shepherd on the mountains, than in
preaching to the court. After having long endeavoured to move Peter de Luna to
resign his pretensions to the papacy, but finding him obstinate, he advised
king Ferdinand to renounce his obedience, in case he refused to acknowledge the
council of Constance; which that prince did by a solemn edict, dated the 6th of
January, in 1416, by the advice of the saint, as Oderic Raynold, Mariana, and Spondanus
most accurately relate. 6 The
saint laboured zealously to bring all Spain to this union, and was sent by king
Ferdinand to assist at the council of Constance. He preached through Spain,
Languedoc, and Burgundy, in his way thither. The fathers of the council pressed
his arrival, and deputed Hannibaldi, cardinal of St. Angelus, to consult him at
Dijon, in 1417. Gerson wrote to him also an earnest letter expressing a high
esteem of his person. 7 But
it does not appear that St. Vincent ever arrived at Constance, notwithstanding
Dupin and some others think he did. The saint’s occupations made him leave few
writings to posterity. The chief of his works now extant, are, A Treatise on a
Spiritual Life, or On the Interior Man, A Treatise on the Lord’s Prayer, A
Consolation under Temptations, Against Faith, and Seven Epistles. 8
St. Vincent having
laboured some time in Burgundy went from Dijon to Bourges, where he continued
his apostolical functions with equal zeal. In that city he received pressing
letters from John V. duke of Brittany, inviting him to visit his dominions. The
saint, convinced it was a call from God, passed by Tours, Angers, and Nantz, in
his way thither, being every where received as an angel from heaven, and in all
places curing the sick, and converting sinners. The duke resided at Vannes: in
which city the saint was received by the clergy, nobility, and people in
bodies, and the sovereign thought no honours sufficient to testify his esteem
of his merits. St. Vincent preached there from the fourth Sunday of Lent till
Easter Tuesday, of the year 1417; and foretold the duchess that the child she
then bore in her womb would one day be duke of Brittany, which came to pass,
for the eldest son then alive died without issue. All the diocesses, towns, and
countries of Brittany heard this apostle with great fruit, and were witnesses
of his miracles. His age and infirmities were far from abating anything of his
zeal and labours; he rooted out vices, superstitions, and all manner of abuses,
and had the satisfaction to see a general reformation of manners, throughout
the whole province. Out of Brittany he wrote letters into Castille, by which he
engaged the bishops, nobility, and Don Alphonsus, regent of that kingdom for
King John the Second, yet a minor, to renounce Peter de Luna as an anti-pope,
and acknowledge the Council of Constance, to which they accordingly sent
ambassadors, who were received with joy at Constance, on the 3rd of April,
1417. Pope Martin V. elected by the council in November, wrote to the saint,
and deputed to him Montanus, an eminent theologian, confirming all his
missionary faculties and authority. Henry V. king of England, being then at
Caen in Normandy, entreated the saint to extend his zeal to that province. He
did so; and Normandy and Brittany were the theatre of the apostle’s labours the
two last years of his life. He was then sixty years old, and so worn out and
weak that he was scarcely able to walk a step without help; yet no sooner was
he in the pulpit, but he spoke with as much strength, ardour, eloquence, and
unction, as he had done in the vigour of his youth. He restored to health on
the spot one that had been bed-ridden eighteen years, in the presence of a
great multitude, and wrought innumerable other miracles; amongst which we may
reckon as the greatest the conversions of an incredible number of souls. He
inculcated everywhere a detestation of law-suits, swearing, lying, and other
sins, especially of blasphemy.
Falling at last into a
perfect decay, his companions persuaded him to return to his own country.
Accordingly he set out with that view, riding on an ass, as was his ordinary
manner of travelling in long journeys. But after they were gone, as they
imagined, a considerable distance, they found themselves again near the city of
Vannes. Wherefore the saint perceiving his illness increase, determined to
return into the town, saying to his companions, that God had chosen that city
for the place of his burial. The joy of the city was incredible when he
appeared again, but it was allayed when he told them he was come not to
continue his ministry among them, but to look for his grave. These words,
joined with a short exhortation which he made to impress on the people’s minds
their duty to God, made many to shed tears, and threw all into an excess of
grief. His fever increasing, he prepared himself for death by exercises of
piety, and devoutly receiving the sacraments. On the third day the bishop,
clergy, magistrates, and part of the nobility, made him a visit. He conjured
them to maintain zealously what he had laboured to establish amongst them,
exhorted them to perseverance in virtue, and promised to pray for them, when he
should be before the throne of God, saying he should go to the Lord after ten
days. During that interval, under the pains of his distemper, he never opened
his mouth about his sufferings only to thank Almighty God for making him, by a
share in the cross, to resemble his crucified Son: for he suffered the sharpest
agonies not only with resignation and patience, but with exultation and joy.
His prayer and union with God he never interrupted. The magistrates sent a
deputation to him, desiring he would choose the place of his burial. They were
afraid his Order, which had then no convent in Vannes, would deprive the city
of his remains. The saint answered, that being an unprofitable servant, and a
poor religious man, it did not become him to direct anything concerning his
burial; however, he begged they would preserve peace after his death as he had
always inculcated to them in his sermons, and that they would be pleased to
allow the prior of the convent of his Order, which was the nearest to that
town, to have the disposal of the place of his burial. He continued his
aspirations of love, contrition, and penance; and often wished the departure of
his soul from its fleshy prison, that it might the more speedily be swallowed
up in the ocean of all good. On the tenth day of his illness, he caused the
passion of our Saviour to be read to him, and after that recited the
penitential psalms, often stopping totally absorpt in God. It was on Wednesday
in Passion-Week, the 5th of April, that he slept in the Lord, in the year 1419,
having lived, according to the most exact computation, sixty-two years, two
months, and thirteen days. Joan of France, daughter of King Charles VI. duchess
of Brittany, washed his corpse with her own hands. God showed innumerable
miracles by that water and by the saint’s habit, girdle, instruments
of penance, and other relics, of which the detail may be read
in the Bollandists. The duke and bishop appointed the cathedral for the place
of his burial. He was canonized by Pope Calixtus III. in 1455. But the bull was
only published in 1458, by Pope Pius II. His relics were taken up in 1456. The
Spaniards solicited to have them translated to Valentia, and at last resolved
to steal them, thinking them their own property, to prevent which the canons
hid the shrine in 1590. It was found again in 1637, and a second translation
was made on the 6th of September, when the shrine was placed on the altar of a
new chapel in the same cathedral, where it is still exposed to veneration.
The great humility of
this saint appeared amidst the honours and applause which followed him. He
wrote thus, from the sincere sentiments of his heart, in his Treatise on a
Spiritual Life, c. 16: “My whole life is nothing but stench: I am all infection
both in soul and body: everything in me exhales a smell of corruption, caused
by the abominations of my sins and injustices: and what is worse, I feel this
stench increasing daily in me, and renewed always more insupportably.” He lays
down this principle as the preliminary to all virtue, that a person be deeply
grounded in humility. “For whosoever will proudly dispute or contradict, will
always stand without the door. Christ, the master of humility, manifests his
truth only to the humble, and hides himself from the proud,” c. 1, p. 70. He
reduces the rules of perfection to the avoiding three things: First, the
exterior distraction of superfluous employs. Secondly, all interior secret
elation of heart. Thirdly, all immoderate attachment to
created things. Also to the practising of three things: First, the sincere
desire of contempt and abjection. Secondly, the most affective devotion to
Christ crucified. Thirdly, patience in bearing all things for the love of
Christ, c. ult.
Note
1. During the grand schism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
those countries which acknowledged each pope were called his Obedience.
Note
3. Spondan. ad an. 1403.
Note
4. Baillet says he preached in French, Spanish, and Italian, and where
these languages were not understood, in Latin; but alters his authors to
suppress the miracle.
Note
5. Bolland, p. 501. n. 23.
Note
6. Their authority renders the mistake of Fleury’s continuator
inexcusable, who pretends that the saint only acted in compliance with the
king’s inclination.
Note
7. Gerson, t. 2. p. 658. ed. nov.
Note
8. The sermons printed in three volumes under his name, cannot be his
work, as Dupin and Lappe observe; for his name is quoted in them, and they
answer in nothing the character and spirit of this great man. Perhaps they were
written by some one who had heard him and his companions preach. There is also
a treatise on the End of the World, and on Antichrist, under his name. Some reprehended
him for affirming the end of the world to be at hand; but he meant no more than
the apostles and fathers by the like expressions; for the duration of this
world is short in reality, and in public calamities we have signs which
continually put us in mind of its final dissolution, and might be well employed
by this saint to move the people with a more lively faith to fear that terrible
day. But only God knows the time; and the fifth general council of Lateran
forbids any preachers on any conjectures whatsoever to pretend to foretel or
determine it, (Con. t. 14, p. 240,) though the time of God’s judgment is
certainly near to every one by death. Some also found fault with the troops of
penitents who followed Vincent with disciplines. But they were sincere
penitents, in whom appeared the true spirit of compunction; very opposite to
the fanatical heretics of Germany called Flagellantes, who placed penance
entirely in that exterior grimace of disciplining or flagellation, teaching
that it supplied the salutary purposes of the sacraments: not to mention other
abuses which Gerson discreetly censures, t. 2. ed. nov. p. 660.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/051.html
Casa natal de San Vicente en Valencia
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Vincent Ferrer
Article
This wonderful apostle,
the “Angel of the Judgment,” was born at Valencia in Spain,’ in 1350, and at
the age of eighteen professed in the Order of Saint Dominic. After a brilliant
course of study, he became master of sacred theology. For three years he read
only the Scriptures, and knew the whole Bible by heart. He converted the Jews
of Valencia, and their synagogue became a church. Grief at the great schism
then affecting the Church reduced him to the point of death; but Our Lord
Himself in glory bade him go forth to convert sinners, “for My judgment is
nigh.” This miraculous apostolate lasted twenty-one years. He preached
throughout Europe, in the towns and villages of Spain, Switzerland, France,
Italy, England, Ireland, ScotApril land. Everywhere tens of thousands of
sinners were reformed; Jews, infidels, and heretics were converted. Stupendous
miracles enforced his words. Twice each day the “miracle bell” summoned the
sick, the blind, the lame to be cured. Sinners the most obdurate became Saints;
speaking only his native Spanish, he was understood in all tongues. Processions
of ten thousand penitents followed him in perfect order. Convents, orphanages,
hospitals arose in his path. Amidst all, his humility, remained profound, his
prayer constant. He always prepared for preaching by prayer. Once, however,
when a person of high rank was to be present at his sermon, he neglected prayer
for study. The nobleman was not particularly struck by the discourse which had
been thus carefully worked up; but coming again to hear the Saint, unknown to
the latter, the second sermon made a deep impression on his soul. When Saint
Vincent heard of the difference, he remarked that in the first sermon it was
Vincent who had preached, but in the second, Jesus Christ. He fell ill at
Vannes in Brittany, and received the crown of everlasting glory in 1419.
Reflection – “Whatever
you do,” said Saint Vincent, ” think not of yourself, but of God.” In this
spirit he preached, and God spoke by him; in this spirit, if we listen, we
shall hear the voice of God.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Vincent Ferrer”. Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
6 March 2014. Web. 5 April 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vincent-ferrer/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vincent-ferrer/
Francesco del Cossa (1436–1477). Griffoni-Altar, ursprl. Griffonikapelle in der San Petronio in Bologna, Mitteltafel: Hl. Vinzenz Ferrer, 1473, 153 x 60, National Gallery, London
The
Life of Our Lord Symbolised in the Mass, by Saint Vincent Ferrer
‘Contemplacio molt
Devota’
FOREWORD
Saint Vincent Ferrer was
born at Valencia, in Spain, on 23 January 1350, and was baptized the same day.
His family was of English origin and a Bernard Ferrer, fourth son of the Earl
of Derby, and Ansias Ferrer, a Scottish lord, took part in the conquest of
Valencia in 1238. Both were ennobled by James I of Aragon. On 2 February 1367,
Vincent entered the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) at Valencia, and was
ordained priest at Barcelona in 1379. His life was one of intense missionary
activity. He travelled on foot over Europe many times, preaching Christ Crucified
at a period when the Church was in sore straits. So vivid were his sermons that
he was called ‘The Angel of the Judgment’, and his miracles were so numerous –
the number of authentic miracles wrought by him and accepted by the Church is
873 – and so striking, that he was known even in his lifetime as ‘The
Wonder-worker’. He died on 5 April 1419, and was canonised by Pope Calixtus III
on 29 June 1455, though the Decree of Canonisation was not published until 1
October 1458 by Pope Pius I. On his missionary journeys he sang Mass each day.
His devotion to the Holy Sacrifice was extraordinary. He wept abundantly, and
the mere sight of him at the altar inspired love and reverence in all who were
present. This little treatise was composed by the saint for the benefit of
those who assisted at Mass, and although it is Mass according to the Dominican
Rite of which he speaks, his words may well be applied to the Holy Sacrifice
celebrated according to any Rite of the Church. Some of the symbolism may
appear to be rather forced, but the fact that a saint has written the little
work should win a welcome for it. The Contemplacio molt Devota has
been published many times, but never, as far as I know, in English. –
Stanislaus M. Hogan, O.P., 1929
A Very Devout Meditation on
the Life of Our Lord as Symbolised in the Sacrifice of the Mass
Every Christian should
believe with his whole strength that Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ,
ordained and instituted the Most August Sacrifice of the Mass on Maundy (Holy)
Thursday, in the presence of His holy Apostles, and that He bade them do
likewise with great reverence as a continual memorial. For this is the
testimony of Saint Luke (22:19), and of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the
Corinthians: Do this in remembrance of Me (1 Corinthians 11:24), that is, Keep
before you and meditate upon the Sacred Life of Jesus Christ by hearing Mass.
Wherefore the priest says at the Elevation of the Chalice: As often as you
do these things, you shall do them in remembrance of Me. He does not say, in remembrance
of My Passion, but in remembrance of Me, thus showing that the Mass is not only
a representation of the sacred death of Jesus Christ, but that it is also an
epitome of His whole life, from His Incarnation even to His Ascension.
Some may say, however,
that this command was given to, and imposed upon, priests only; that it was not
given to lay people. I reply, that the command was given to the laity as well.
Priests are bidden to keep the sacred life of Jesus Christ in mind by the
devout celebration of Mass; the laity are to keep that life before them by
assisting at Mass very devoutly.
Now, there are thirty
chief things which were done by the Son of God, Who came down from heaven and
took flesh in the virginal womb of the Most Holy Mary, each of which is
included in, and shown forth by, the Sacrifice of the Mass.
These things are the
following:
1. THE INCARNATION
The first thing done for
our sake by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was His most noble and most
wonderful Incarnation, when He came down from heaven and enthroned Himself in
the bosom of Mary Ever Virgin, and clothed Himself therein with our vesture –
that is, with our human nature; for His Godhead was hidden beneath the veils of
His human nature.
This wonderful work is
symbolised in the Mass when the priest enters the sacristy, thereby
representing the entrance of the Son of God within the virginal bosom of His
Virgin Mother, wherein He was clothed with our nature.
The devout Christian may
contemplate three things here:
First, as relics, vestments,
and other church ornaments are kept in the sacristy, so also in the glorious
shrine of the virginal bosom there were relics – the power of God the Father,
the wisdom and person of God the Son, and the operative grace of God the Holy
Ghost. Vestments, too, were there – to wit, Grace and Virtue, since the
fullness of Grace and of Virtue was found in Mary Ever Virgin; while the
ornaments with which our great High Priest was to offer sacrifice on the Altar
of the Cross on Good Friday were present in the most noble and most sacred Body
of Jesus Christ, which was formed from the pure and immaculate blood of His
Mother.
Secondly, the laity do
not see the priest vesting in the sacristy, though they believe he is vesting,
and hope he will come forth soon. When the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, was
vested in the virginal womb of Mary, the Jewish people knew it not, nor did
they behold the mystery, for His Incarnation was hidden and silent. But the
faithful ones believed that He would come, that He would become Man, and would
be born of a Virgin, as had been foretold by many of the prophets.
Thirdly, the priest puts
on seven different vestments – the soutane, if he be but a simple priest; the
rochet, if he be a Bishop; the cowl, if he be a monk; then the amice, alb,
girdle, maniple, stole, and chasuble. So also in the bosom of Mary Our High
Priest vested Himself with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, wherewith the
Most Holy Body of Our Lord was endowed and adorned. (Isaiah 11:2-3) This is the
first work which is represented by the Holy Sacrifice.
2. THE NATIVITY
The second work done by
Our Lord was in His issuing forth from the Virgin’s womb on Christmas Night,
and in His showing Himself to all the world; then the darkness of night was
changed into the brightness of day. He willed to be born in the presence of
Mary and Joseph, and to be cradled between two beasts – an ox and an ass. And a
multitude of angels sang: Gloria in Excelsis. ‘Glory (to God) in the
Highest.’ And the shepherds adored Him. He remained hidden in the bosom of the
glorious Virgin, but after His birth, He openly and publicly made Himself
known.
This is represented when
the priest issues from the sacristy: The deacon is a figure of Our Lady; Saint
Joseph is represented by the sub-deacon; the acolytes are symbolical of the two
animals. The lights they carry are symbols of the brightness which accompanied
the birth of Our Lord, while the choir which chants the Gloria
Patri ‘Glory be to the Father’ as the ministers leave the sacristy typify
the chorus of angels who sang the Gloria in Excelsis. The music is a
symbol of the joy which filled the hearts of the shepherds when the glad
tidings of Our Lord’s birth were announced to them. And the priest, clothed in
rich vestments, is a figure of the ineffable purity of Jesus Christ, Who was
the All Holy, the Stainless One.
3. THE CIRCUMCISION
The third most wonderful
work accomplished by Our Lord was His willing to be circumcised eight days
after His birth. Circumcision was an atonement for original sin, and Our Lord
was in no wise bound by the law, since He was absolutely sinless. But in submitting
to it, He taught us by His example a noble lesson of humility, since He willed
to appear as a sinner and in the likeness of sin.
When the priest, bowing
low, confesses that he is a sinner by the words, Confiteor Deo
Omnipotenti (I confess to Almighty God), he symbolises this act of Our
Lord. Though he has received sacramental absolution, he is nevertheless bound
to acknowledge that he is a sinner even if he were holier than Saint John the
Baptist, in order that he may show how Jesus Christ, the source and plenitude
of all perfection and sanctity, willed to be regarded as a sinner in submitting
to the law of circumcision that He might be the fulfilling of the law. Or he
symbolises the mystical Body of the Church, the faithful, and in the name of
all he confesses the sinfulness of all.
4. THE THREE KINGS
Fourthly, Our Lord
received the three Kings from the East, who, led by the star, were brought to
the manger, and though they found the Child with the ox and the ass, they
adored Him as their God and Lord of all things, and made their offerings of
gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The priest symbolises
this when he goes to the altar after the Confiteor, ‘I confess’, and,
bowing down, kisses it, saying: Remove from us, O Lord, our iniquities,
that we may deserve to approach the Holy of Holies with pure hearts. And,
first, as the three Kings offered their gifts, so also the priest offers the
incense of devout prayer, the gold of great reverence and adoration, and the
bitter myrrh in making the Sign of the Cross in memory of the woeful and most
bitter Passion of Jesus Christ.
5. THE PRESENTATION IN
THE TEMPLE
Fifthly, Our Divine Lord
willed to be presented in the Temple. {Most likely, this occurred before the
arrival of the Magi or ‘Kings from the East’.} His ever glorious Mother bore
Him thither and offered Him to the priest; and Simeon was there, and the holy
widow, Anna, praising God.
This is symbolised in the
Mass when the priest goes to the Epistle Side of the altar and reads the
Introit or Entrance Chant (Antiphon). The deacon and sub-deacon are figures of
holy Simeon and Anna, the prophetess. The acolytes and other assistants, who
may not ascend the altar steps, are symbolical of Mary and Joseph, and those
others who were present, and who stood listening most devoutly to all they
heard. Our Lady, indeed, was right worthy to draw near, but she would not, to
set the example to those lay folk who, however just and holy they may he,
should not approach the altar without grave necessity, lest they suffer loss.
When holy Simeon received
the glorious Son of God, Our Lord, into his arms, he sang his Nunc
Dimittis (Now You do Dismiss Your servant, O Lord) under the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost. These four verses (Luke 2:29-32) are symbolised by four
things done by the priest – the reading of the Introit, the Kyrie, (‘Lord have
mercy’) a petition for God’s mercy for himself and all others, the singing of
the Gloria in Excelsis, (‘Glory to God in the Highest’) and the Collect or
Opening Prayer.
6. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
Sixthly, Our Lord fled
into Egypt from the Land of Promise, giving way before the fury of Herod, and
remained in the country of Egypt with His Mother and Saint Joseph for seven
years {if the exile lasted that length of time, which most scholars seriously
doubt}.
When the sub-deacon,
assisted by an acolyte, proceeds to sing the Epistle, the priest, deacon, and
other acolyte remaining at the altar, we have a symbol of this sojourn in
Egypt. The priest leaves the altar, and. on being seated, does seven things, which
typify the seven years of exile –
he reads the Epistle
the Responsary (or
Responsorial Psalm)
the Alleluia (a Hebrew
word, which means Praise given to God)
the Tract {a special poem
or hymn, suitable to the occasion}
the Gospel
the incense is blessed
he gives the blessing to
the deacon standing up, to signify that Our Lord returned into His own country
in the seventh year
7. THE FINDING IN THE
TEMPLE
Seventhly, when Our Lord
returned from Egypt on the death of Herod, {about the year 4 B.C.} He was brought
by His Mother and Saint Joseph to the Temple in Jerusalem, when he was twelve
years old. Our Lord stayed in the Temple. On the third day Mary and Joseph
found Him in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions.
This is symbolised by the
priest when he goes to the altar and listens with devout attention to the
singing of the Gospel, to signify that as Our Lord listened to the questioning
of the Jewish doctors and instructed them regarding the Messiah, so he listens
to the teachings of his Divine Master. Wherefore, on the conclusion of the
Gospel by the deacon, the priest intones: Credo in Unum Deum (‘I
believe in One God’).
8. THE HIDDEN LIFE AT
NAZARETH
Eighthly, so great was
the joy of Our Lady and Saint Joseph when they found Our Lord in the Temple
that they wept; and Jesus Christ, on seeing this, filled with love and
humility, left the company of the doctors and went down with His parents to
Nazareth. There He assuaged their sorrow at His loss by His obedience to them,
for the evangelist tells us; He was subject to them (Luke 2:51). This
lowly service is symbolised by the priest when, on the conclusion of the Credo,
he turns to the people and says, Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with
you), afterwards arranging the Host, chalice, and other things appertaining to
the Holy Sacrifice, to signify the submission of Our Lord to His Blessed Mother
and Saint Joseph, since He said: The Son of Man is not come to be
ministered unto, but to minister (Matthew 20:28).
9. OUR LORD’S OBEDIENCE
AND HIS BAPTISM
Ninthly, when Our Lord
was thirty years old, He left His home at Nazareth, where He had ministered to
and obeyed His Mother and Saint Joseph, (until Saint Joseph’s death,) assisting
them in many ways. He went with the other children to draw water from the well,
as the Master of Ecclesiastical History tells us. He worked with Saint Joseph
at the carpenter’s bench as Saint Matthew (13:55), and Saint Mark (6:3), and
the Gloss of Saint Nicholas of Lyra (1270-1349) teach us. Then, in His
thirtieth year, He went to the river Jordan to be baptized. He did not require
to be baptized, yet He submitted to the rite, that the water might acquire
virtue through contact with His Sacred Body for the re-generation and salvation
of all who believed in, and were obedient to Him.
This is symbolised by the
priest when he washes his hands at the Lavabo. (Wash me, O Lord. I will wash my
hands among the innocent, and will compass your altar, O Lord.) He does not do
this of necessity, for his conscience has been cleansed already by Sacramental
Confession, but as a remembrance of the lesson of humility taught us by Jesus
Christ in willing to be baptized.
10. THE FAST IN THE
DESERT
Tenth, according to Saint
Luke, Saint Mark, and Saint Matthew, Our Lord retired into the desert after His
baptism, where He fasted forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor
drinking, but passing the whole time in prayer, not for Himself indeed, but for
us.
When the priest bows low
at the altar and prays, In spiritu humilitatis (In a humble spirit),
{‘With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord,’ –
this prayer is now being said just before the Lavabo, in both Pius V’s Mass and
in that of Paul VI} he symbolises this prayer of Our Lord. He prays that we may
become a sacrifice acceptable to God through the Sacrifice of the Mass; and the
prayer brings to mind the prostrations and humiliation of Our Lord when He
prayed and pleaded in the desert. Then the priest turns to the people,
saying: Orate fratres, Pray for me, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours
may both alike be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father, in the sight of the
Lord. Let it be borne in mind that Our Lord’s prayer in the desert was secret;
so also now the priest prays so secretly and silently that he cannot be heard
by either the deacon or sub-deacon.
11. OUR LORD’S PREACHING
Eleventh, when Our
Blessed Lord had, fasted He ‘began to preach and to say: “Do penance, repent,
for the Kingdom of God is at hand”.’ (Matthew 4:17) This is symbolised by the
priest when he sings, Sursum Corda (Lift up your hearts) in a loud
voice, holding his hands uplifted, showing us that Our Lord taught by word and
work.
12. HIS MIRACLES
Twelfth, Our Lord taught
not only by word and example, but He confirmed His teaching by His miracles, by
those things, to wit, which God alone can do – raise the dead to life, give
sight to the blind, and heal the palsied.
The priest recalls this
when he says three times, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, (‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’)
to show that Jesus Christ did not work wonders through any human power, but in
the might of the Three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, One
Almighty God. And when he says, Hosanna, it is to show us that Our Lord
worked miracles for our salvation.
13. THE PASCHAL SUPPER
Thirteenth, when Our Lord
had preached and wrought many miracles He came to Jerusalem to eat the Pasch
with His disciples. Many things necessary for the redemption of the human race
were done by Him in secret, amongst which there were two principal acts, to
wit, the institution of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and His last
discourse to His disciples, as recounted for us by Saint John (see John 13 to
17). This is symbolised when the priest reads the Canon in secret, so
that the deacon alone hears him read, as the Apostles only heard Our Lord’s
last discourse.
14. THE PRAYER IN THE
GARDEN
Fourteenth, when all was
finished, Our Lord went forth to the Garden of Olives, and there He prayed
three times to His Father on behalf of those who were in limbo (of the
ancients), on earth, and those who were yet unborn. And His sweat became blood,
a pre-monition to all who were to come after Him that their prayers must be fervent
if they were to overcome the great trials and conflicts they would have to
face, and which could only be borne by them through fervent prayer and
patience.
When the priest makes the
Sign of the Cross three times over the chalice, saying, Benedictam, Adscriptam,
Ratam, (‘Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless, acknowledge and approve [or
bless, consecrate and approve] this offering’) and then makes the Sign of the
Cross twice, once over the Host, the other over the chalice, saying Et Sanguis,
(‘so that it may become for us the Body and Blood of your most beloved Son’,)
he symbolises this prayer of Our Lord, to show that in His Passion Our Lord
prayed for Himself as Man and for us sinners.
15. OUR LORD IS SEIZED
AND BOUND
When He had prayed in the
manner aforesaid, the rabble came with great noise, with swords and staves, to
seize Jesus. He allowed Himself to be seized and bound, and to be brought in
shame before Pilate, who condemned Him to be crucified. Our Lord submitted to
the sentence and bore His Cross, which He accepted willingly.
This is symbolised in the
Mass, when the priest takes the Host in his hands to consecrate it,
saying, Et elevatis oculis in coelum (And lifting up His eyes to
heaven). And the bells ring to symbolise the tumult and shouting of the Jews
when they seized Jesus. Then the priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the
Host, saying, Benedixit ac fregit, et cetera, (He blessed and broke the bread
and gave it to his disciples, saying, et cetera), to symbolise the sentence of
death which Pilate pronounced on Our Lord.
16. HE IS CRUCIFIED
When Our Lord was
condemned to death He was brought to Mount Calvary and crucified between two
thieves, the thief on His right being called Dismas; the other, Gestas.
This is symbolised by the
priest when he uplifts the Sacred Host with both hands. The right hand is a
figure of the good thief; the left hand represents the bad thief. Then he
uplifts the chalice to signify that Our Lord offered up His Precious Blood on
the Cross to His Eternal Father for the redemption of the human race. Hence,
the priest should say in his heart at the elevation of the chalice: We offer
You, O Lord, the inestimable price of our redemption.
17. HE SPEAKS AND DIES
Our Lord did not cease
from praying when He was nailed to the Cross. And He cried out in a loud
voice, Heli! Heli! Lamma sabacthani? (My God! My God! Why have You
forsaken Me?). Saint Jerome says that Our Lord in fact began the
psalm, Deus, Deus meus, respice in me; Quare me, dereliquisti? (O God,
My God, look upon Me: Why have You forsaken Me?) (Psalm 21 in the Vulgate.) [It
is numbered Psalm 22 in the Hebrew] and continued the prayer and to pray this
Psalm. He then continued the Psalms and prayed until He came to the
words, In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. (Into Your hands, I commend
My spirit.) (Psalm 30:6 in the Vulgate.) [It is numbered Psalm 31:5 in the
Hebrew.] (Luke 23:46)
When Our Lord hung upon
the Cross the Jews made mock of Him continually, with scornful words, some
exclaiming, Vah! You that would destroy the temple of God, and in three
days build it up again (Mark 15:29); other crying out, If He be the
King of Israel, let Him now come down from the Cross. (Matthew, 27:42), while
others said, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. (Matthew 27:42) But
Our Lord answered no word; He prayed and pleaded without ceasing until the end.
The priest recalls this
to mind when, with his arms outstretched in the form of a cross, he
says, Unde et memores Domine, servi tui, et cetera. (Wherefore, mindful of
Your servants, O Lord). (Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the
blessed Passion, the Resurrection from the dead, and the glorious Ascension
into heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord, we, your servants and your holy
people, offer et cetera.)
Note. – This ceremony is
peculiar to the Carmelite and Dominican Rite.
18. HIS SIDE IS PIERCED
BY A LANCE
Though Our Lord was
wounded in His hands and feet by the nails, He willed for love of us that a
lance should pierce His sacred side, whence blood and water gushed forth. This
was miraculous and contrary to nature, for His Precious Blood had flowed-first,
in the scourging; secondly, in the crowning with thorns; and, again, when He
was nailed to the Cross. But after His death, when His side was pierced by a
lance, the blood and water flowed so copiously as to cause wonderment.
These Five Wounds are
symbolised in the Mass when the priest makes the Sign of the Cross five times
with the Host over the chalice, saying, Per Ipsum, et Cum Ipso, et in
Ipso (By [or through] Him, and with Him, and in Him). These Signs of the
Cross are symbolical of the Five Wounds of Jesus Christ.
19. THE SEVEN WORDS
When Our Lord was
crucified, He spoke seven times from the Cross in a loud voice. (Two of these
sentences have been mentioned in Meditation Number 17.)
These are symbolised when
the priest sings in a clear voice the Pater Noster, which contains seven petitions.
The priest does not say this prayer secretly, but aloud, for Our Lord spoke
aloud on the Cross.
20. THE SACRED
HUMANITY – His Bloodless Body Hangs Upon the Cross
Our Lord willed that His
Sacred Humanity should be divided in three parts – His Body hung upon the
Cross; His Precious Blood was poured out; and His soul descended into the Limbo
of the faithful.
This is symbolised at
Mass when the priest divides the Host into three portions. Yet, it should be
noted that he holds these three portions united one to the other; for, although
the Sacred Humanity was divided, the Godhead was not separated from the
Humanity. It was united to each part, as Saint John of Damascus says, Quod
semel assumpsit, numquam dimisit – (What [the Word of God] assumed, he
never dismissed.) That is, when the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ were
united, they were never separated. Thus, by way of similitude: If a piece of
glass be exposed to the sun, and then is broken into ten or twelve pieces, the
sun is not therefore broken up into as many pieces, but each piece of glass
reflects the sunlight in the same manner that the whole piece reflected it. So
also, each part of Our Lord’s Humanity was personally and substantially filled
with the plenitude of the Divinity, as each piece of glass receives the
sunlight fully.
21. THE CONVERSIONS
WROUGHT AT HIS PASSION
Wishing to, show the
efficacy of His Passion, Our Lord wrought the conversion of several persons of
various conditions. Wherefore He converted the thief, a man of wicked and
sinful life; the centurion, a leader of soldiers, who exclaimed: Indeed,
this Man was the Son of God; and many of the people, according to the testimony
of Saint Luke. And all the multitude of them that were come together to
that sight, and saw the things that were done, returned striking their breasts.
(Luke 23:43 and 47-48.)
These persons are prayed
for by the priest at Mass when he says three times, Agnus Dei (Lamb
of God, You Who take away the sins of the world). First, he prays for each
sinner, to show that Our Divine Lord yearns to save him even as He saved the
good thief. Secondly, he prays that, as Our Lord enlightened the centurion, the
head of his men, so may He deign to enlighten those who rule others, whether in
spiritual or temporal affairs. Thirdly, he prays that Our Lord will preserve in
peace and holiness the whole Christian people, that He will pardon their
offences, and make them recipients of His grace.
22. THE DESCENT INTO THE
LIMBO OF THE ANCIENTS
After His death, Our Lord
did not will to ascend into heaven immediately; on account of His true humanity
He willed to descend into Limbo first, that He might give joy to all those
saintly souls who longed for Him with eager yearning. As soon as they beheld
Him, those souls were filled with rejoicing, and were possessed of essential
glory; then, and for all eternity, being exempt from every sorrow.
The priest symbolises
this at Mass when he puts one fragment of the Sacred Host into the chalice, a
figure of the descent of the soul of Christ into Limbo, and of how He filled
those waiting there with such joy and glory that they knew not how so great
gladness had come to them. And through the delight and love, they praised and
blessed Our Lord, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because He
has visited and wrought the redemption of His people. (see Luke 1:68)
23. THE BURIAL
Our Blessed Lord willed
that after His most bitter death His body should be taken down from the Cross
by His friends, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel, who had obtained
Pilate’s permission. {Gamaliel’s participation is not recorded in the Gospels
but, based on Acts 5, an ancient tradition associated him with this work of
mercy.} They then placed it in the tomb, which still exists in the Church of
the Hoy Sepulchre. And His Virgin Mother, the Magdalene, and other holy women
were sorely stricken.
This is symbolised in the
Mass when the priest, having given the Pax, the Peace, calls in mind
during the short time in which he holds the Body of Christ in his hands the
grief of the Virgin Mother and those other holy women who made great lamentation,
wherefore he should be filled with sorrow for the sins he has committed.
24. THE ANOINTING
Our Lord willed that He
should be anointed with balm and myrrh; that He should be wrapped in a
winding-sheet and laid in a tomb cut out of the rock, and that His Body should
not suffer corruption.
This is symbolised when
the priest consumes the Body of Christ at Mass, for his heart should be a new
sepulchre. As the tomb was hewn from the solid rock, so the priest should be
strong of faith and of holy life; as the Body of Christ was wrapped in a clean
winding-sheet, the priest’s conscience should be cleansed from sin and his life
should be chaste; and as Our Lord’s Body was anointed with balm and spices, so
too should the heart of the priest be adorned with all virtues. These are the
thoughts which should fill, not only the priest, but every Christian who
assists at Mass, with love and devotion.
25. THE RESURRECTION
Our Divine Lord rose from
the dead on the third day, and His tomb was found empty.
This is symbolised in
Holy Mass when the priest goes from the middle to the Epistle Side of the altar
to show that Our Lord passed from this mortal life to life eternal. The empty
chalice is a figure of the empty tomb and of Our Lord’s Resurrection from the
dead by His own divine power. When the deacon folds the corporal it brings to
mind the sacred winding-sheet in which Our Lord’s Body was wrapped and which
was found in the tomb.
26. HE APPEARS TO HIS
MOTHER
After His Resurrection
Our Divine Lord appeared to His ever-glorious Virgin Mother. The evangelists do
not mention this; but the doctors of the Church tell us this expressly,
particularly Saint Ambrose in his treatise, De Virginibus. And it was
fitting that Our Lord should visit and console His Mother before any others, since
she had sorrowed more than all others at His death.
This is symbolised when
the priest turns to the people and says, Dominus vobiscum, (‘The Lord be
with you’) and then sings the prayer of the Post Communion, (the Prayer after
Communion) a prayer full of sweet comfort and a symbol of the consoling words
which Our Lord spoke to His Mother, and of the great praise which the souls of
the redeemed gave to Our Blessed Lady, exclaiming, Regina Coeli,
laetare (Rejoice! O Queen of Heaven).
27. HE APPEARS TO HIS
APOSTLES
Our Lord appeared to His
Apostles when they were together in the Supper-room, and said to them Peace be
unto you.
The priest symbolises
this when he turns again to the people and says, Dominus vobiscum –
that is, Peace be with you all. (‘The Lord be with you.’)
28. HIS COMMISSION TO THE
APOSTLES
Our Lord summoned His
Apostles and said to them, Going, therefore, teach ye all nations.
(Matthew 28:19)
This is symbolised when
the priest says, Ite, Missa est, and sends each one present at Mass back
to his duties, since the Holy Sacrifice is over. (‘Go forth, the Mass is
ended.’) [Formally, this is the Dismissal.]
29. HE APPOINTS SAINT
PETER HIS VICAR
Our Lord kept His promise
made to Peter and the other Apostles by appointing Saint Peter as His Vice
Regent, saying to him: Feed My sheep. For, according to the doctors of the
Church, Our Lord then constituted Saint Peter Supreme Head of the Church. To the
other Apostles He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall
forgive, et cetera, and He gave them power to forgive sins – that is, divine
power.
This is symbolised at the
conclusion of Mass when the priest bows his head and inclines his body, saying, Placeat
tibi, Sancta Trinitas, (‘May the lowly homage of my service be pleasing to You,
O most Holy Trinity’) praying that the Holy Sacrifice which he has offered in
the name of the Church may be acceptable to God and profitable to all Christian
people. The inclination which the priest makes in kissing the altar is a sign
of God’s infinite mercy, who condescended so much as to bestow on sinful man
that power which belongs to God alone-the power to forgive sin. Then the priest
makes the Sign of the Cross over the people to show that our sins are forgiven
through the Sacred Passion of Our Divine Lord. [The Blessing is now given
before the dismissal.]
30. THE ASCENSION
Our Lord willed to ascend
to heaven in the presence of the Most Holy Mary, His Apostles, and about fifty
persons (some say, though others believe the figure to be closer to one hundred
and twenty, Acts 1:15) who were assembled on the Mount of Olives, as Saint Luke
tells us. He lifted up His hands and blessed all who were grieving over His
departure, and then He returned whence He came. (see also Saint Paul’s list of
those who had seen the risen Lord in 1 Corinthians 15)
This great Ascension into
glory is symbolised at Mass when, having given the last blessing, the priest
returns to the sacristy.
Thus, the whole life of
Our Lord and Saviour is shown forth in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And may
He lead us to heaven, He Who lives and reigns, in a world without end. Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-life-of-our-lord-symbolised-in-the-mass-by-saint-vincent-ferrer/
Statua di San Vincenzo Ferrer nel vestibolo del Duomo di Siracusa. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 22 maggio 2008.
San Vincenzo Ferrer Sacerdote
- Memoria Facoltativa
Valencia (Spagna), 1350 -
Vannes (Bretagna, Francia), 1419
«Da trent'anni il mastro
Vincenzo va da una città all'altra, da un paese all'altro attraverso tutta
l'Europa, montato su un semplice somarello, in inverno come in estate, il
bell'abito dei domenicani lungo fino a terra a coprire i suoi piedi nudi. Come
Gesù è seguito da una folla immensa di poveri, di donne, di bambini, di
chierici, di contadini, di teologi, di duchi e di duchesse, tutti mescolati»
("Le meraviglie di Dio", Mondadori 2000). Nato a Valencia intorno al
1350, Vincenzo si trovò a vivere al tempo del grande scisma d'Occidente, quando
i papi erano 2 e poi addirittura 3. E, suo malgrado, egli si trova al centro
della divisione che minaccia il vertice della Chiesa. Ancora giovane
domenicano, era stato notato da Pietro de Luna, legato del papa avignonese.
Seguendo da vicino il cardinale, si rese però conto che la Chiesa aveva più che
mai bisogno del ripristino dell'unità e della riforma morale. Incominciò allora
la sua attività di predicazione. Nel 1394 il suo protettore, il cardinale de
Luna, divenuto papa con il nome di Benedetto XIII, lo nomina suo confessore,
cappellano domestico, penitenziere apostolico. Egli intensifica la sua attività
ma nel 1398 si ammala e ha una visione nella quale gli appare il Salvatore
accompagnato da san Domenico e san Francesco. Il Signore tocca la guancia del
malato e gli ordina di mettersi in viaggio e conquistare molte anime. Vincenzo
lascia allora Avignone ed intraprende vere e proprie campagne di predicazione
in Spagna, Svizzera e Francia, in cui parla dell'Anticristo e del giudizio
finale. Contribuisce così in modo decisivo alla fine dello scisma e al
miglioramento dei costumi. Morì a Vannes nel 1419.
Patronato: Costruttori
Etimologia: Vincenzo =
vittorioso, dal latino
Emblema: Globo di fuoco,
Stella
Martirologio Romano: San
Vincenzo Ferrer, sacerdote dell’Ordine dei Predicatori, che, spagnolo di
nascita, fu instancabile viaggiatore tra le città e le strade dell’Occidente,
sollecito per la pace e l’unità della Chiesa; a innumerevoli popoli predicò il
Vangelo della penitenza e l’avvento del Signore, finché a Vannes in Bretagna,
in Francia rese lo spirito a Dio.
Due mesi dopo il suo ritorno definitivo da Avignone a Roma, papa Gregorio XI muore nel marzo 1378. E nell’Urbe tumultuante ("Vogliamo un papa romano, o almeno italiano"), i cardinali, in maggioranza francesi, eleggono il napoletano Bartolomeo Prignano (Urbano VI). Ma questi si scontra subito con i suoi elettori, e la crisi porta a un controconclave in settembre, nel quale gli stessi cardinali fanno Papa un altro: Roberto di Ginevra (Clemente VII) che tornerà ad Avignone. Così comincia lo scisma d’Occidente, che durerà 39 anni. La Chiesa è spaccata, i regni d’Europa stanno chi con Urbano e chi con Clemente. Sono divisi anche i futuri santi: Caterina da Siena (che ha scritto ai cardinali: "Oh, come siete matti!") è col Papa di Roma. E l’aragonese Vincenzo Ferrer (chiamato anche Ferreri in Italia) sta con quello di Avignone, al quale ha aderito il suo re.
Vincenzo è un dotto frate domenicano, insegnante di teologia e filosofia a Lérida e a Valencia, autore poi di un trattato di vita spirituale ammiratissimo nel suo Ordine. Nei primi anni dello scisma lo vediamo collaboratore del cardinale aragonese Pedro de Luna, che è il braccio destro del Papa di Avignone, e che addirittura nel 1394 gli succede, diventando Benedetto XIII, vero Papa per gli uni, antipapa per gli altri. E si prende anche come confessore Vincenzo Ferrer, che diventa uno dei più autorevoli personaggi del mondo avignonese. Autorevole, ma sempre più inquieto, per la divisione della Chiesa. A un certo punto ci si trova con tre Papi, ai quali il Concilio riunito a Costanza, in Germania, dal novembre 1414, chiede di dimettersi tutti insieme, aprendo la via all’elezione del Papa unico. Ma uno dei tre resta irremovibile: Benedetto XIII, appunto. Allora, dopo tante esortazioni e preghiere inascoltate, viene per Vincenzo la prova più dura: annunciare a quell’uomo irriducibile, che pure gli è amico: "Il regno d’Aragona non ti riconosce più come Papa". Doloroso momento per lui, passo importante per la riunificazione, che avverrà nel 1417.
E’ uno dei restauratori dell’unità, ma non solo dai vertici. Anzi, Spagna, Savoia, Delfinato, Bretagna, Piemonte lo ricorderanno a lungo come vigoroso predicatore in chiese e piazze. Mentre le gerarchie si combattevano, lui manteneva l’unità tra i fedeli. Vent’anni di predicazione, milioni di ascoltatori raggiunti dalla sua parola viva, che mescolava il sermone alla battuta, l’invettiva contro la rapacità laica ed ecclesiastica e l’aneddoto divertente, la descrizione di usanze singolari conosciute nel suo viaggiare... E non mancavano, nelle prediche sul Giudizio Universale, i tremendi annunci di castighi, con momenti di fortissima tensione emotiva. Andò camminando e predicando così per una ventina d’anni, e la morte non poteva che coglierlo in viaggio: a Vannes, in Bretagna. Fu proclamato santo nel 1458 da papa Callisto III, suo compatriota.
La sua data di culto è il 5 aprile, mentre l'Ordine Domenicano lo ricorda il 5 maggio.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/26650
_4240.JPG)
Saint Vincent Ferrer, vitrail, Église Saint-André, Brech
Den hellige Vincent
Ferrer (~1350-1419)
Minnedag: 5.
april
Skytshelgen for Valencia
og Vannes; for byggmestere, blystøpere, taktekkere, trearbeidere og
teglverksarbeidere; for barnehjem i Spania; mot epilepsi, feber, besettelse,
hodeverk og truende farer; for et godt ekteskap, fruktbarhet og en god død
Den hellige Vincent (lat:
Vincentius) Ferrer ble født den 23. januar ca år 1350 i Valencia i Spania. Han
var fjerde barn av engelskmannen (eller skotten) William Ferrer, som hadde
slått seg ned i Spania og var gift med den spanske kvinnen Constantia Miguel.
Begge kom fra fornemme familier. De oppdro sønnen til en sterk hengivenhet for
Kristus og hans hellige Mor og en
sterk kjærlighet for de fattige. Han skal også tidlig ha vist sine
overnaturlige evner da han som 5-åring skal ha helbredet en nabogutt for en
alvorlig sykdom. Vincent viste tidlig strålende intellektuelle evner, og skal
ha påbegynt klassiske studier som 8-åring, filosofi som 12-åring og teologi som
14-åring. Han sluttet seg til dominikanerne (Ordo Fratrum Praedicatorum -
OP) i Valencia og mottok drakten den 5. februar 1367. Han studerte teologi og
filosofi i Lérida og Barcelona og tok en doktorgrad. Som 21-åring underviste
han i filosofi i Lérida, det mest berømte universitetet i Catalonia, og en av
hans studenter var Pierre Fouloup, senere Storinkvisitor i Aragón.
I 1373 vendte han tilbake
Barcelona. Der ble han satt til å preke, selv om han fortsatt bare var diakon.
Byen var da rammet av hungersnød, og korn som var sendt sjøveien, var ikke
kommet frem. Folket var nesten desperate. I en friluftspreken spådde Vincent at
skipene ville komme frem før solnedgang samme dag. Hans prior irettesatte ham
alvorlig for å komme med forutsigelser, men skipene kom frem samme dag, og det
lykkelige folket strømmet til klosteret for å hylle profeten. Hans overordnede
vurderte da at det var best å overføre Vincent til Toulouse, hvor han var ett
år og fortsatte sine studier i teologi og hebraisk.
Deretter ble han kalt
tilbake til Spania igjen. Han ble presteviet i Barcelona i 1378 og ble i 1379
prior for dominikanernes hus i Valencia - det var det eneste embete han
skulle beholde hele livet. Han var lærer ved katedralskolen i Valencia mellom
1385 og 1390. Han gjorde seg snart bemerket både som filosof og forkynner, både
ved å anspore kristne til anger og bot, men ikke minst ved å omvende jøder og
muslimer. En av dem var rabbi Paul av Burgos, som ble biskop av Cartagena (død
1435). Vincent følte også at hans kall var å bringe evangeliet til de
kjetterske sektene katarene og valdenserne.
I den pavestriden som
rystet Kirken på den tiden, Det store skisma (1378-1417), støttet Vincent
aktivt Avignon, idet han mente at valget av pave Urban VI var påtvunget av de
verdslige myndigheter, og han støttet motpave Robert av Genève under navnet
Klemens (VII). Det at til og med en så stor og lærd helgen kunne støtte feil
side i en så viktig sak, viser hvilken forvirring som det pavelige skisma hadde
ført til i Kirken.
Vincent gikk særlig inn
for motpave Pedro de Luna (under navnet Benedikt XIII), som ble valgt i 1394.
Vincent hadde kjent ham fra da Pedro fortsatt var pavelig legat ved hoffet til
Karl VI, og hadde vært hans offisielle teolog fra 1390. Vincent ble rådgiver
for kong Juan av Aragón og skriftefar for dronning Yolanda mellom 1391 og 1395.
Han stilte opp tesen at Judas hadde omvendt seg, og han hevdet at dommedag var
nær. Derfor ble han fra mange sider bekjempet som kjetter. Men han var alltid
villig til å erkjenne sine feiltakelser. Han ble trukket for Inkvisisjonen på
grunn av påstanden om at Judas hadde gjort bot, men den nyvalgte motpave
Benedikt sørget for at anklagen ble frafalt og brente Inkvisisjonens mappe på
Vincent.
Da Benedikt ble valgt til
motpave i 1394, kalte han Vincent til pavehoffet i Avignon og utnevnte ham til
sin rådgiver og skriftefar. Fra 1395 var han magister for pavepalasset og
fulgte Benedikt på hans reiser. Han støttet naturlig nok denne motpaven mot den
romerske paven, og overtalte hoffene i Frankrike, Aragón og Castilla til å
gjøre det samme. Han avslo imidlertid Benedikts tilbud om å gjøre ham til
kardinal.
Vincent prøvde forgjeves
å få Benedikt til å komme til en forståelse med paven i Roma, og han innså
snart at Benedikt med sin steile holdning var et hinder for enheten. Ikke
engang da et konsil av teologer i Paris gikk mot Benedikts krav på å være den
rettmessige paven, ville han fire en tomme. Presset på rådgiveren og
skriftefaren Vincent ble så stort at han ble alvorlig syk. Under sykdommen
hadde han en visjon av Kristus fulgt av de hellige Dominikus og Frans av Assisi som
sa at han skulle preke bot og evangelisere hele verden. Etter at han ble frisk,
fikk han etter store vanskeligheter i november 1399 motpavens tillatelse til å
forlate Avignon, og i ti år var han opptatt av ivrig misjonsvirksomhet i
Frankrike, Spania, Nederland, det fransktalende Sveits og Nord-Italia. En
biograf sier at han også kom til England og Skottland, men det finnes ingen
bevis for denne påstanden.
På denne tiden trodde
mange mennesker at jorden kom til å gå under i 1400. Vincent så sin misjon i et
apokalyptisk lys, og han trakk til seg store skarer som reagerte på hans
lidenskapelige appeller og advarsler, som det skjer ved vekkelser. Han kunne
ikke noe annet språk enn spansk, så mange tilla ham overnaturlige gaver. Mange
tilhørere besvimte under hans prekener om dommedag. Andre gråt bittert og
bestemte seg for et nytt og bedre liv.
I 1401 evangeliserte han
i Dauphiné, Savoia og Alpeområdene, og han omvendte mange katarer og
valdensere. Deretter fortsatte han inn i Lombardia. Blant dem som omvendte seg
på grunn av ham var de hellige Bernardin av Siena og Margareta av Savoia.
I 1403/04 prekte han i de franske delene av Sveits, Savoia og Lyon. En skare
botferdige menn og kvinner fulgte ham fra sted til sted, og i 1404 organiserte
denne gruppen, som ble kalt flagellanter eller botferdige. De kledde
seg i dominikanernes svarte og hvite farger og brukte pilegrimsstaver. Blant
disse som fulgte ham organiserte Vincent en gruppe hjelpere som kunne fortsette
hans misjonsarbeid når han forlot et sted. Ikke uventet ble mirakler tilskrevet
ham, og hans ry som undergjører ble senere økt av hans lettroende biografer.
Vincents bror Bonifatius
Ferrer var prior i Grande Chartreuse og dermed ordensgeneral for karteuserne,
og det klosteret tiltrakk mange bemerkelsesverdige postulanter på grunn av
Vincents forkynnelse. Fra 1409 var Vincent igjen tilbake i sin fødeby Valencia
og innehadde flere embeter i sin orden. Da Ferdinand I av Aragón hadde besteget
tronen, ble Vincent høytidelig utnevnt til hans skriftefar og hoffpredikant.
Mellom 1212 og 1214 oppholdt han seg igjen i Spania, der han prekte under åpen
himmel, siden ingen kirke var stor nok til å romme folkemengden. Igjen omvendte
han mange jøder; i Granada skal han ha omvendt 8.000 på en gang. Det het seg
siden at han hadde fått omvendt 25.000 jøder til kristendommen, og det sies at
han støttet jødeforfølgelsene i Spania i 1391. Dette har gjort at senere
historikere beskriver ham som «den antisemittiske katolske dominikaneren
Vincent Ferrer». I årene 1408-18 ble det innført harde antijødiske lover i
Spania da dronning Catalina i Castilla, som var under påvirkning av Vincent,
var regent for sin mindreårige sønn.
I 1414 prøvde konsilet i
Konstanz å få slutt på skismaet, som siden 1409 var utvidet ved at det nå var
tre pretendenter til Den hellige Stol. Vincent var sterkt medvirkende til å få
avsluttet paveskismaet, idet han i Perpignan den 6. januar 1416 trakk tilbake
sin støtte til Avignon-paven, noe han også fikk kong Ferdinand av Aragón til å
gjøre. Vincents «gjenoppbygging» av den kristne enhet gjorde at han senere ble
skytshelgen for byggmestere.
Vincent var den største botspredikanten
på 1400-tallet. Høydepunktet på hans prekenmisjon var årene 1412-19. Han kalte
seg Kristi legat og trodde at Jomfru Maria hadde fått forsikring fra sin
guddommelige sønn om at verden skulle bestå inntil misjonen til de hellige
Dominikus og Frans av Assisi var fullført. De siste tre årene av sitt liv
tilbrakte Vincent Ferrer i Frankrike, der han reiste rundt som botspredikant
utsendt av pave Martin V og ridende på et esel, for det meste i Normandie og
Bretagne. Han var på en prekenreise for å prøve å få slutt på Hundreårskrigen
mellom Frankrike og England, da han utslitt av anstrengelsene døde den 5. april
1419 i Vannes i Bretagne. Han ble gravlagt i domkirken Saint-Pierre der.
En spontan folkelig kult
vokste straks frem. Det faktum at det meste av hans forkynnelse hadde foregått
i områder som støttet Avignon-pavene, hindret ikke pave Callistus III (1455-58)
fra å kanonisere ham den 19. juni 1455, den formelle bullen ble utstedt i 1458
av pave Pius II (1458-64). Han godkjente en fest den 6. april, men i
virkeligheten har den alltid blitt holdt på 5. april. Vincent har vært høyt
æret til denne dag, ikke bare i Spania og Latin-Amerika, men også på
Filippinene. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.
Blant Vincents etterlatte
skrifter er to avhandlinger om filosofi, en bok om messeofferet og en
avhandling om skismaet i Kirken. Mange av hans prekener og noen brev er bevart,
det samme er en avhandling om det åndelige liv og om hvordan få trøst i tider
med prøvelser mot troen. Det finnes også en avhandling mot «jødenes troløshet»,
og den viser at han dessverre var en mann av sin tid på dette området.
Hans attributter er
kardinalhatt, prekestol eller trompet. Han fremstilles som predikant med åpen
bok, kors eller brennende ild, en sol med Kristi monogram IHS på brystet,
omgitt av omvendte maurere eller jøder. Han blir også avbildet med vingene til
Apokalypsens engel, som han hadde utmalt for sine tilhørere. Hans
favorittutsagn var: «Samme hva du gjør, ikke tenk på deg selv, men på Gud».
Hans biografi er betydelig oppblandet med legender.
Se også en side med flere bilder.
Kilder: Attwater
(dk), Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Bentley, Hallam, Lodi, Butler,
Butler (IV), Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Engelhart, Schnitzler,
Schauber/Schindler, Melchers, Dammer/Adam, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN,
Vic, Ecole - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Sist oppdatert: 2000-04-05 12:37
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/vferrer
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (–1754) e Giuseppe Angeli. San Vincenzo Ferreri, 1750, Santa Maria del Rosario. Venezia
Santo Vinsensius Ferrer
Vincent Ferreri
Diterbitkan :
05 Agustus 2013
Diperbaharui :
11 Maret 2017
Santo Vinsensius Ferrer
adalah seorang pahlawan iman yang mengagumkan. Ia dilahirkan di Valencia,
Spanyol pada tahun 1350. Ia memiliki devosi secara khusus kepada Santa Perawan
Maria. Apabila orang berbicara tentang Bunda Maria, ia merasa sangat bahagia.
Ketika berusia tujuh
belas tahun, Vinsensius masuk Ordo Dominikan. Ia
seorang yang sangat pandai dan berhasil baik dalam studinya. Vinsensius juga
seorang yang tampan, tetapi ia tidak pernah sombong ataupun tinggi hati atas
semua kelebihan yang dimilikinya.
Pada mulanya, pater Vinsensius mengajar di berbagai perguruan tinggi. Kemudian
ia menjadi seorang pengkhotbah yang termashyur. Selama dua puluh tahun, pater
Vinsensius berkhotbah di seluruh Spanyol dan Perancis. Meskipun pada masa itu
belum ada mikrofon, suaranya yang lantang dapat terdengar hingga jauh. Banyak
orang bertobat hanya dengan mendengarkan khotbahnya. Bahkan seorang rabi Yahudi
terkenal, Paulus de Burgos, menjadi seorang Katolik pula. Paulus kemudian
menjadi seorang imam dan akhirnya Uskup Cartagena,
Spanyol.
Banyak orang Katolik
sangat terkesan dengan khotbah-khotbah dan teladan kekudusan Vinsentius,
sehingga mereka menjadi lebih saleh. Umat Katolik yang dulunya tidak
mengamalkan iman mereka, sekarang berubah. Mereka menjadi taat dan saleh
sepanjang hidup mereka.
St. Vinsensius mengandalkan Tuhan. Ia juga minta bantuan doa dan matiraga dari
banyak orang demi keberhasilan khotbah-khotbahnya. Ia sadar bahwa bukanlah
kata-katanya ataupun bakat-bakatnya yang memenangkan hati banyak orang. Oleh
sebab itulah, ia selalu berdoa sebelum berkhotbah. Namun demikian, dikisahkan
bahwa suatu ketika, ia tahu bahwa seseorang yang amat penting akan mendengarkan
khotbahnya.
Ia bekerja lebih keras
dari biasanya untuk mempersiapkan khotbahnya, sehingga ia tidak sempat lagi
berdoa. Khotbah tersebut, yang telah dipersiapkannya dengan amat seksama,
ternyata tidak terlalu mengesankan sang bangsawan. Tuhan
membiarkan hal itu terjadi untuk mengajarkan kepada Vinsensius agar tidak
mengandalkan diri sendiri.
Di kemudian hari, bangsawan yang
sama datang lagi untuk mendengarkan khotbah Vinsensius. Tetapi, kali ini
Vinsensius tidak mengetahuinya. Seperti biasa, ia berdoa serta mengandalkan
segala sesuatunya kepada Tuhan. Sang bangsawan mendengarkan khotbahnya dan
sungguh sangat terkesan dengan apa yang telah ia dengar. Ketika Vinsensius
diberitahu menganai hal tersebut, ia berkata: “Dalam khotbah pertama,
Vinsensius-lah yang berbicara. Dalam khotbah kedua, Yesus Kristus-lah yang
berbicara.”
St. Vinsensius wafat pada
tahun 1419. Ia dinyatakan kudus oleh Paus Nikolas V
pada tahun 1455.
Arti nama
Dari bahasa Latin "vincere"
yang berarti "Menaklukan"
Variasi Nama
Vincent (English),
Bikendi (Basque), Vicenç, Vicent (Catalan), Vincenc, Cenek (Czech), Vinzent,
Vinzenz (German), Vince, Bence (Hungarian), Uinseann (Irish), Vincenzo, Enzo,
Vincente (Italian), Vincentius (Late Roman), Vincentas (Lithuanian), Wincenty
(Polish), Vicente (Portuguese), Vikenti (Russian), Vikentije (Serbian),
Vincenc, Vinko (Slovene), Vicente (Spanish)
SOURCE : https://katakombe.org/para-kudus/item/vincentius-ferrer.html
Ercole de' Roberti, San Vincenzo Ferrer spegne un incendio e salva un bambino, dettaglio della predella da un unico pannello: Storie di san Vincenzo Ferrer di Ercole de' Roberti, 27,5 x 217, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Roma
Ercole de' Roberti, Predella per la cappella Griffoni nella basilica di San Petronio a Bologna,
che
rappresenta i miracoli di san Vincenzo Ferreri, circa 1473, oggi alla Pinacoteca Vaticana.
Saint Vincent Ferrier
- Traité de la Vie spirituelle :
http://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Vincent_Ferrier/table.htm
Œuvres de Saint Vincent
Ferrier :
http://livres-mystiques.com/partieTEXTES/Vincent_Ferrier/table.htm
Saint Vincent Ferrer, by Mary Helen Allies : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-vincent-ferrer-by-mary-helen-allies/
