Saint Vincent Ferrer O.P. |
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Priest "Angel of the Last Judgment" |
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Born |
Valencia, Kingdom of Valencia |
23 January 1350
Died | 5 April 1419 Vannes, Duchy of Brittany |
(aged 69)
Venerated in | |
Canonized | 3 June 1455, Old Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Calixtus III |
Major shrine |
Cathedral of Vannes Vannes, Morbihan, France, Bogo City, Cebu, Philippines, Banay-banay,Lipa City, Philippines |
Feast | 5 April |
Attributes | |
Patronage |
Vincent Ferrer, O.P. (Valencian: Sant Vicent Ferrer, IPA: [ˈsam viˈsɛm feˈreɾ]) (23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was a Valencian Dominican friar, who gained acclaim as a missionary and a logician. He is honored as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
Vincent was the fourth child of the nobleman Guillem Ferrer, a notary who came from Palamós, and wife, Constança Miquel, apparently from Valencia itself or Girona. Legends surround his birth. It was said that his father was told in a dream by a Dominican friar that his son would be famous throughout the world. His mother is said never to have experienced pain when she gave birth to him. He was named after St. Vincent Martyr, the patron saint of Valencia. He would fast on Wednesdays and Fridays and he loved the Passion of Christ very much. He would help the poor and distribute alms to them. He began his classical studies at the age of eight, his study of theology and philosophy at fourteen.
Four years later, at the age of nineteen, Ferrer entered the Order of Preachers, commonly called the Dominican Order, in England also known as Blackfriars. As soon as he had entered the novitiate of the Order, though, he experienced temptations urging him to leave. Even his parents pleaded with him to do so and become a secular priest. He prayed and practiced penance to overcome these trials. Thus he succeeded in completing the year of probation and advancing to his profession.