Saint Vincent Ferrer’s Insightful Guide to a Holy Lent

Among the preachers of the Catholic faith who have been celebrated throughout the history of the Church, few could match the fierce and relentless pursuit of souls that characterized the ministry of Saint Vincent Ferrer, whose indomitable spirit won many souls for Jesus Christ.

Among these, the Dominican’s many sermons include ones about the season of Lent. The insightfulness and practicality of Saint Vincent’s message can help us along our journey to Calvary and Easter Sunday.

1) Have Patience with Yourself and Others

At the beginning of Lent, we often experience a sense of enthusiasm for fasting and penance, eager to discipline our desires and order ourselves towards deeper friendship with God. But as Saint Vincent points out, because we are not accustomed to fasting, it can begin to grind on us, making us irritable and weary.

Because of this, the saintly preacher places special importance on being patient, not just with ourselves but also with our neighbors, who bear their own penances.

The important thing to do is to persevere and remember the suffering Christ endured for each of us. Saint Vincent compares the Lenten struggle to soldiers who, rather than flee at the first sounds of the cannons, rally and fight even more fiercely for the ultimate victory.

2) Penance for Our Body, Our Soul, and Our Purse

The reality of sin manifests itself in a variety of ways, either through disordered passions of the body, the pride and hypocrisy of the soul, or the greedy accumulation of wealth. The multitudes of temptations we face in this life warrant a broad response seeking to do justice for our offenses against God and our neighbor.

Saint Vincent reminds us that Lent is a time for us to take a holistic approach, giving us the space to better appreciate our failings and improve in not just one aspect of the spiritual life, but in all aspects, so that we may become perfect “just as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

3) Confessing Our Sins Before God

In the reading from the Gospel of Saint Matthew preached on Ash Wednesday, Christ admonishes his disciples to not fast like the hypocrites and make a public display of their piety. Rather, our penance and prayer should be directed internally to our conscience, referred to by Saint Vincent as the “face of the soul,” by which God recognizes and engages the Christian faithful.

Confession is how we can wash away sin from our conscience and thereby return us to perfect communion with the Father. Confession is where God judges us, not for our condemnation, but for our forgiveness and salvation.

Saint Vincent always placed the call to repent and believe in the Gospel at the center of his ministry.

The season of Lent is a time when the Church renews her focus on the promises of Christ’s Passion so that we can earnestly rejoice in the Resurrection that is to come.