Saint Vincent Ferrer

Vincent Ferrer was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1350 and entered the Dominican Order at seventeen. A brilliant student and teacher of philosophy and theology, he lived through the Western Schism, when rival popes divided the Church. For years he supported the Avignon claimant, Benedict XIII, but later withdrew his obedience to help end the schism, which was resolved at the Council of Constance.

After a serious illness in 1398, he believed Christ had sent him to preach penance. For some twenty years he walked through Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy, preaching in the open air to enormous crowds about judgment and conversion, followed by bands of penitents. Countless conversions and miracles were attributed to him. Worn out, he died at Vannes in Brittany on April 5, 1419, and was canonized in 1455.

Valencia celebrates its patron with great joy: on the Monday after Easter week, children stage short plays called miracles of Saint Vincent on decorated stages, the altars de Sant Vicent, in the city's squares.

He is also loved in the Philippines and in parts of Latin America, where he is invoked for healing and in builders' blessings.