Vincent Ferrer

Saint Vincent Ferrer (1357 - April 5, 1419) was a Dominican missionary; born in Valencia, Spain.

Ferrer was professed in the Order of Saint Dominic at the age of 18, and after studying, became Master of Sacred Theology. He was commissioned to deliver lectures on philosophy. He was sent to Barcelona and received his doctorate at Lerida, in the university city of Catalonia.

He was depressed because of the great schism and was close to death at the age of forty, but was supposedly healed by the Lord who instructed him to go out and convert many sinners. For twenty-one years, he was said to have traveled to Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Ireland, and Scotland, preaching the gospel and converting many sinners.

He is also well known in Spain for his intervention during the political discussions in the Middle Ages (known as the Caspe Compromise) by which a succession debate in Aragon was solved giving the throne to a Castillian prince: this would later help the final unification of Spain's territory as is today.

Saint Vincent died on the 5th of April, 1419 at Vannes, Brittany, France. His feast day is celebrated on the 5th of April.