Saint Vincent Ferrer

Vincent was born in Valencia on January 23, 1350, into the Ferrer family, nobles close to the royal house of Barcelona. He joined the Dominicans very young, studied in Barcelona, Lleida and Toulouse, and from 1385 taught theology in Valencia. Then came the schism. From 1378 Christendom had two popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon, and every kingdom had to choose. The Crown of Aragon sided with Avignon, and Vincent with it: he knew the Aragonese cardinal Pero de Luna well, the man who would become the antipope Benedict XIII — Pope Luna. He stayed close to him for years, as confessor and adviser. But what he is remembered for is something else. In 1399 he left the court and started walking. He preached for twenty years in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland, followed by a crowd of penitents who went with him from town to town. He spoke in Valencian and people understood him everywhere, which his contemporaries considered a miracle. His was an apocalyptic message — the end is near, the judgment is coming — and it drew enormous crowds. In the end, it was he who closed the schism he had helped keep alive. In 1416 he persuaded the king of Aragon to withdraw obedience from Pope Luna, his old protector: without Aragon, Benedict XIII was left alone, and the road to the Council of Constance opened up. He died in Vannes, in Brittany, on April 5, 1419, while traveling to preach. Callixtus III proclaimed him a saint in 1455. If your name is Vincent, today is your name day.