St. Vincent Ferrer: The Angel of the Judgment

by Andrew Pradel

Commissioned by Our Lord Himself to preach His Gospel, St. Vincent began at age 50 an apostolate of preaching that would extend to France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and a few other countries as well. Travelling with him were as many as 10,000 people, including at least 50 priests. The throngs that gathered to hear him came from many miles around, such that he was forced to preach in the open--no church being large enough to hold all the people. Impr. 205 pgs, 12 Illus., PB

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Biography, Christian, Nonfiction

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1875

About the author

Rev. Fr. Andrew Pradel, O.P.

Reviews

[Camden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very descriptive of his holy life, recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about this saint. The book jumps around chronologically with the events of his life ,which can at times be confusing.

[Jonathan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the 1860s, this is a survey of the cities St. Vincent Ferrer traveled and the miracles he performed. Not a history, not even an exhaustive listing; it gives the reader a taste for St. Vincent Ferrer's life and works, but entices reader to learn more about this great man, his preaching quality and those he raised from the dead.

St. Vincent Ferrer used the Bible as a pillow, slept on the floor and for no longer than 5 hours a night.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was named after Saint Vincent Ferrer, and it has always been a great point of pride with me. I’m very proud of the achievements listed off by this saint, and wouldn’t avoid bragging about him to other people, partly because I have always believed Saint Vincent to be incredibly underrated given his level of holiness and how many souls he brought to the Faith. I’m very appreciative of the author’s enumeration of all of Saint Vincent’s great deeds.

With that being said, this book was difficult to get through. The author constantly overhwhelms you with his glorification of the saint, to the point where it makes for a very tedious read after a while. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here is a passage where even the saint’s physical features are glorified:

This prince of preachers was endowed with every oratorical quality capable of impressing the multitude. A pleasing exterior also weighed in his favor. He was of middle stature, well-proportioned, easy and dignified in manner and of handsome countenance… his forehead was broad, majestic, and calm; his large dark eyes shown of intelligence and modesty… His appearance alone, when in the pulpit, suffice to inspire all hearts with compunction, for his face was resplendent with sanctity and the virtues which accompanied it.

His expressive gestures were full of grace and energy, and they corresponded naturally with his words. His voice, which was as sonorous as a silver trumpet, adapted itself with marvelous effect to the necessity of the moment. When he declaimed against vice, his voice became loud and piercing and struck terror into the hearts of his hearers. When he exhorted them to a love of God… it immediately assumed a sympathetic accent, a tender sweetness, which melted them to tears.

I have not encountered this type of approach before. For me, it was distracting, and it hurt the author’s credibility in my eyes. We all know St. Vincent Ferrer was amazing, and indeed I expect an account of him to be amazing. But saying things like this person’s face exudes intelligence, modesty, calmness, majesty, sanctity, and virtue… it’s just a bit much.

The biggest detriment of this style is that it makes Saint Vincent hard to relate to. He is portrayed as being sublimely perfect in every way. He even did miracles from the womb. Other biographies of saints I enjoyed very much on a human level. There were some frailties, suffering, or weakness that hindered them and was great cause for mortification. Or there were sins that they labored over and atoned for. And in a way that inspired you because you felt that greatness is in fact possible!

One of the accounts from this book that is absolutely staggering is that St. Vincent baptized and converted over 200,000 Jews and 80,000 Muslims. Unfortunately, because of the style, it causes you to question some of these figures. Indeed, Catholic Encyclopedia is in conflict with it, stating that the number is 25,000 Jews converted via preaching, citing Ferrer’s first biographer. 25,000 is still an incredible number, but it’s nowhere near 200,000.

If you like hagiographies---biographies that idealize their subjects---then you will enjoy this book. This was my first taste of a hagiography and from this I learned it’s not really my thing.

[Catherine Cavanagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, about an extraordinary man who brought multitudes back to taking God seriously in their lives. In it are many stories about those conversions. However the reason it should be read by anyone called to preach the Gospel is that it contains precious information about how he conducted his successful parish missions and the dedication he had to fulfilling the mission God gave him. 'He usually chose for his subject the Last Judgment, and the practical conclusions which he drew therefrom were repentance, the reformation of conduct and a new life. One point on which he strongly insisted was the love of enemies.'

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

92/100 (= 5.5/6) ≈ 5 Stars

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Incredible! What a saint! Perhaps you have to go back all the way to the Apostles to find a similar saint! Really makes you want to read more though! In fact, this small paperback from TAN books is just a third of the original book (the second part was some of his spiritual doctrine, and the third part some practical devotions). Definitely worth reading more about him!!

[Nick Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Great Saint that people should know about. Many miracles including resuscitations from the dead.