ST. VINCENT
FERRER (1350-1419) was born in Valencia Spain and the fourth child
of the nobleman Guillem Ferrer, a notary from Palamós, and wife,
Constança Miquel, who apparently from Valencia itself or Girona.
Legends surround his birth, i.e. 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
was devoted to the Passion of Christ. 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 Dominican Order of
Preachers, in England also known as Black Friars. As soon as he had
entered the novitiate he experienced strong temptations 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. He
succeeded in completing the year of probation and advancing to his
profession.
For a period
of three years, he read only Sacred Scripture and eventually
memorised it. He published a treatise on Dialectic Suppositions after
his solemn profession, and in 1379 was ordained a priest at
Barcelona. He eventually became a Master of Sacred Theology and was
commissioned by the Order to deliver lectures on philosophy. He was
then sent to Barcelona and eventually to the University of Lleida,
where he earned his doctorate in theology.
The Western
Schism (1378–1418) divided Roman Catholicism between two, then
eventually three, claimants to the papacy. Antipope Clement VII lived
at Avignon in France, and Pope Urban VI in Rome. St. Vincent was
honestly convinced that the election of Urban was invalid, although
St. Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman
pope. In the service of Cardinal Pedro de Luna, St. Vincent worked to
persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died in 1394,
Cardinal de Luna was elected as the second antipope successor to the
Avignon papacy and took the name Benedict XIII.
Unfortunately,
St Vincent was at first loyal to Benedict XIII, but obviously not out
of malice as in the case of Clement VII he truly believed him to be
the legitimate pope. He worked for Benedict XIII as apostolic
penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace. Also, St. Vincent
labored to have Benedict XIII end the schism. When Benedict XIII did
not resign as intended at either the Council of Pisa (1409) or the
Council of Constance (1414–1418), he lost the support of the French
king and of most of his cardinals, and was excommunicated as a
schismatic in 1417. St. Vincent then encouraged King Ferdinand I of
Aragon to withdraw his support from Benedict XIII. St. Vincent later
claimed that the Western Schism had had such a depressing effect on
his mind that it caused him to be seriously ill.
For
twenty-one years he was said to have traveled to England, Scotland,
Ireland, Aragon, Castile, France, Switzerland, and Italy, preaching
the Gospel and converting many, including a considerable number of
Jews. Many biographers believe that he could speak only Valencian,
but was endowed with the gift of tongues so that all could understand
him in their own language, even when he only spoke Valencian.
He preached
to St. Colette of Corbie and to her nuns, and St. Colette revealed to
him that he would die in France. Too ill to return to Spain, the
prophecy came true and he died in Brittany France in 1419. Breton
fishermen still invoke his aid in storms, and in Spain he is the
patron of orphanages.
Apparently,
he also made prophecies, for there is a Great Monarch prophecy
attributed to him:
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“By
Revelation it is manifestly shown that the whole duration of the
world rests on a certain conditional
prolongation obtained by the Virgin Mary in the hope of the
conversion and correction of
the World…”
(i.e.
The time of the world is prolonged for a short while for the sake of
saving souls, a grace obtained by the Blessed Virgin, so this is the
possible reason why the fulfillment of the various Great Monarch
prophecies may extend past the dates that some of the saints gave in
the past. That is, the punishments are staved off on account of her
intercession. The prophecies will occur, just not exactly when we will
expect.)
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"Armies
from West, East and North will fight together in Italy and the Eagle
(Great Monarch?) shall capture the counterfeit king, (i.e a usurper?)
and all things shall be made obedient unto him, and there shall be a
new reformation in the world. Woe then to the shaven orders whose
crowns are shaved.”
(I.e woe to
shaven orders. This refers to orders that practice, or used to
practice the tonsure, the cutting or shaving some or all of the hair
on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. Possible
interpretations: woe to religious who cannot disguise themselves
during the times of persecutions because of their shaved heads, they
will be singled out and suffer? Or, perhaps woe to those who
pretend to be holy in their robes and tonsures but were hypocrites
and the Great Monarch will root them out?)
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Christians
will grow lax at the end of the Age of Peace – the importance of
the Sacrament of Confirmation
"In the
days of peace that are to come after the desolation of revolutions
and wars, before the end of the world, the Christians will become so
lax in their religion that they will refuse to receive the Sacrament
of Confirmation, saying 'it is an unnecessary Sacrament'; and when
the false prophet, the precursor of Anti-Christ comes, all who are
not confirmed will apostatise, while those who are confirmed will
stand firm in the faith, and only a few will renounce Christ."
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Later
apparition of St. Vincent Ferrer to approved mystic Marie-Julie
Jahenny on August 5, 1878, warning of the 'Plague of Degradation' and
the great scandals about to strike the Church, the highlights of his
warnings:
SOULS WEAKENED because pastors and ministers are INFECTED with the "PLAGUE OF DEGREDATION" - God is preparing the punishments but waits forsincere wills to return to Him - Pastors and Ministers will bePUNISHED THROUGH SCANDAL - A WARNING WILL BE GIVEN FIRST - God morecomforted by single people living in the world who live the Faithrather than priests who fail in their duty in the care of souls - weknow God is within us when we retain and feel peace within whileamidst Crosses and Persecutions. Click here to read the full text of this vision.
