THE LIFE AND SPIRITUALITY OF ST. VINCENT FERRER O.P.

by Sister Mary Martin O.P.

Born on the 32rd January 1350, the fourth child of the notary William Ferrer and his wife Constantia, Vincent Ferrer entered history with signs and wonders. His father, it is said, had a vision of his son as a Dominican, evangelising Spain and France, and his mother was told by an old woman to whom she had given alms "It is an angel you have within you" a prophecy fulfilled, perhaps, in the title by which Vincent would be known in manhood - "Angel of Judgement".

In any case, Vincent seemed from the outset, determined to grasp sanctity "by the horns"'. Entering the Order of the Friars Preachers (Dominicans) at the age of 17 (a "late vocation" in 1368), ignoring, but not without pain, the insistent pleas of his mother that he should not go, Vincent was refined like gold by fifteen years of formation in Dominican spirituality. This formation started with studies in Logic - forming the rational mind, - followed by the natural sciences, then on to Scripture study (opening him up to the wonders of Divine Revelation) and thence to Theology to fit him for the contemplation of God.

The sanctity of St. Vincent hung, then, on a carefully structured framework of the knowledge of God. Yet he was no dry intellectual. His life, to an almost laughable degree, (if one can say this without irreverence) was bathed in the miraculous. Miracles became so common in his life as to make one feel that a normal day was, for him, miraculous.

How can this saint of over six hundred years ago, scarcely living in the world of men, yet making such a concrete impact on it, be imitated? How can the Dominican of today follow a saint who wore a hairshirt, ate very little, led whole troops of flagellants, customarily ended his sermons with a miracle and converted whole populations (including an estimated 25,000 Jews)? In the specific details of his life - perhaps not at all. Yet, as a "pure" Dominican, raised on the saintly teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and bent on the great end of the Order, the salvation of souls, St. Vincent does teach the Dominican how to live his or her vocation to the hilt.

The Dominican ideal is embodied in St. Dominic. St. Vincent clung to the ideal of St. Dominic as a man clings to a log in open sea, and we are convinced from his writings that there could be no Vincent without St. Dominic. How did he resemble his Holy Father? It is interesting to note that descriptions of Vincent's phyiscal appearance are quite similar to those of St. Dominic. Both are described as medium in height with handsome faces, fairish colouring and large, beautiful eyes. Yet the most important resemblance between the two is that quality of priestliness - from head to foot, Dominic and Vincent were priests of Jesus Christ.

This quality of priestliness is central to Dominican spirituality. Jesus Christ is offered to the Father either sacramentally, as does the priest, or spiritually in the transformation of the Dominican priest, brother or sister into an image of Christ Himself, poor, chaste and obedient: a living holocaust to the Father. Such a priestly spirituality then is Christocentric, ecclesial, liturgical, apostolic and abandoned to Divine Providence. It was exemplified by St. Dominic and imitated by St. Vincent in his writings and in his life. Let us see how!

Fra Angelico portrays St. Dominic, full of wonder and devotion, at the foot of the Cross.There is also a painting of St. Vincent being embraced by the Crucified. It represents the moment when, after one of Vincent's long meditations on the Passion, he asked Our Lord

if it was possible for Him to have suffered so much. Our Lord answered "Yes, and more!" then detached His arms from the Cross and bent over the friar. The love which was exchanged in that moment was hidden from the understanding of others, but its fruits

were evident in Vincent's urge to preach Christ across Europe in the wake of His Holy Father.

A true priest has a great love for the Church, her teachings and her authority. St. Dominic expressed this love in his fight against heresy, a mission he has left to his children. St. Vincent followed Dominic by resolutely fighting anything that would undermine the church. From 1378-1419, a trial that afflicted the Universal Church, lay heavily on St. Vincent's shoulders- the Western Schism. The scandal of two popes was a heavy cross for the Church. Unfortunately St.Vincent Ferrer supported the anti-pope right until the end of the schism, which, ironically, he was instrumental in bringing to a close. It is edifying to read how, once St.Vincent realised his mistake, - an agonising experience for him as the anti-pope was a dear friend of his,- he clung relentlessly onto the truth, even at the inevitable breaking of his friendship, thundering relentlessly at the unwilling Benedict XIII to resign. But it was less his thunderous words to the anti-pope which brought an end to the Schism, than his influence over the general mass of Catholics. The whole of Europe looked to him as a standard of truth. Why? Because he was holy and therefore disinterested, unlike the anti-pope and his followers.

A true priest has a great love for the liturgy. St. Dominic's devotion to the Mass was attested to by all. Witnesses very frequently saw him celebrate Mass with eyes and cheeks wet with tears. His devotion to the Divine Office was equally fervent and he often moved up and down the Choir urging his brethren "Fortiter fratres!". Similiarly, St. Vincent in his Treatise on the Spiritual Life encouraged his brethren not to spare their voices, but to 'sing His praises joyously'.

His own horarium testifies to his devotion to the liturgy. He rose at 2am for Matins, after which he prayed privately, went to confession and took the discipline. He said Mass at 6am. The rest of the day until about 9pm was given over to the apostolate and to the liturgy.St. Vincent was renowned for being a careful liturgist. He knew his place before God and while his meticulous instructions for the liturgical celebrations may appear pedantic (he recommended that the rubrics of the day's office should be studied the night before so as to minimise on mistakes), he knew that "God is terrible", that Christ alone is worthy to offer worship to Him, and that for man to offer such worship in union with Christ necessitated the most perfect carrying out of even the smallest rubric.

A true priest should be zealous for souls. Of St.Dominic it is said 'He gave his days to souls and his nights to God'. St.Dominic's zeal is evident in that he made as the great end of his Order, the salvation of souls. His was not an insensitive zeal, brow-beating others to repentance, but a compassionate zeal, desiring souls to freely open themselves to the love of the Crucified, without which all was darkness. This realisation led St.Dominic to ask repeatedly 'What will become of sinners?' He realised that tenderness as well as firmness was needed to win sinners to repentance.

St. Vincent wrote to his brothers, "let men find in you a father full of compassion. Have...the heart of a mother who caresses her children...exhibit toward all the bowels of tender charity, so that the sinner may always feel that it is charity which inspires your words..." Merely to speak to others of vices and virtues, St.Vincent warns, will scarcely touch the sinner at all. St.Vincent wanted to be truly useful to the sinner, to preach in such a manner as to win souls and not just to fulfil his obligation to preach.

Although a prodigious miracle worker and a confessor to rulers, St. Vincent never served souls condescendingly. He says of himself "...both body and soul and all that is within me, stained by the corruption of the sins and iniquities I have committed, are only contamination and an object of horror. What is worse, I feel this corruption renewing itself in me daily and increasing..." St. Vincent truly believed this. One close to the Eternal Truth sees with frightening clarity!

A true priest relies on Divine Providence, since everything he is and receives is from this Source. St.Dominic's reliance on Divine Providence is well expressed in the miracle of the loaves. As a reward for St.Dominic's faith, loaves were provided for the brethren who had failed to receive any alms that day, and so as to leave no doubt as to the origins of the food, it was served by angels! In a no less extraordinary, if less spectacular way, St. Vincent relied on Divine Providence to provide daily food for between 150-300 flagellants, a group of penitents who followed St.Vincent on his travels. St.Vincent forbade any of them to beg for food. His teaching on abandonment to Divine Providence was "obey promptly and perfectly all His commands". He belonged totally to Christ, to be fed or starved at Will.

It all seems quite alien to us, this fourteenth century world of flagellants, miracles and mass conversions. Yet St. Vincent Ferrer's penetrating knowledge of God and of himself, his love for Christ, His Church and Her Liturgy, his thirst for the salvation of souls, and his humble abandonment to the Will and the Providence of God, - these are things which every Dominican, indeed every Christian, must seek after, and expect as a grace, from the Christ who wishes all to share in His Divine Priesthood as a people "consecrated in the Truth"