In 1357, Vincent Ferrer was born in Valencia, Spain. His parents instilled in him a strong sense of religious duty while also prioritizing education and helping the underprivileged. Later, Boniface, one of his siblings, joined the Carthusian order and rose to the rank of superior general. On the other hand, Vincent would convert to Dominicanism and spread the gospel over Europe. He joined in 1374 when he was 18 years old.

Vincent learned to memorize a large portion of the Bible while studying the Church Fathers and philosophy as a member of the Dominican Order of Preachers. By the age of 28, he was well-known for both his preaching and his prophecy gift. Five years later, Vincent was chosen to travel with Pope Clement VII's envoy to France, where he delivered several sermons.

Even though Vincent tried to fulfill his order's mandate to preach the gospel, he was unable to avoid getting entangled in the political intrigues of the time. In the late 1300s, two competing candidates for the pope—one in Rome and the other in the French city of Avignon—came to prominence. Roughly half of Western Europe pledged loyalty to each.

Vincent, caught between competing claimants, tried to convince Pope Benedict XIII of Avignon to mediate a settlement to end the schism. In an attempt to show Vincent respect, Benedict, who was recognized as Pope in both France and Spain, consecrated him as a bishop. However, Vincent had no desire to rise in the Church and thought that many of the bishops in his day were careless men who were preoccupied with extravagance.

In addition to praying, Vincent took action, deciding to become a missionary and preach in every Spanish town between Avignon and his birthplace. He criticized sexual immorality, blasphemy, greed, and the general disdain for religious precepts firmly and authoritatively. Thousands of people frequently attended his sermons, which resulted in notable conversions.

But he continued to live a life of austerity and hardship while receiving praise from the public. He slept on a straw mat, ate only bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays, refused all donations other than what he needed to survive, and refrained from all meat. He was often traveling with five other Dominican friars, and they would listen to confessions for hours on end.

Vincent and his friars conducted preaching missions throughout France, Italy, and Spain for twenty years. And when he went beyond these borders, into Germany and other Mediterranean countries, people who did not understand the languages he preached in would swear, as the apostles did at Pentecost, that they had comprehended every word he said.

Despite his inability to reconcile the transient rifts within the Church, Vincent was successful in fortifying the Catholic faith of a sizable portion of the European populace. Though he didn't write much, some of his pieces have survived and can be found in translations into contemporary English.

At the age of sixty-two, St. Vincent Ferrer passed away in Vannes, in the Brittany area of France, on April 5, 1419. Not too long after his canonization in 1455, he became the namesake of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, an established Catholic order recognized by the Holy See. He is revered as the patron saint of builders and his feast day is celebrated on April 5.

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