Born in 1350 at Valencia, Spain to an English father and Spanish mother, Vincent entered the Dominicans when he was eighteen. Until 1390 he preached and taught in Valencia, and then began a remarkable apostolate as a travelling preacher throughout France, Switzerland and North Italy. He started at the papal court in Avignon. Vincent was agonised by the evils of his times – the interminable wars between France and England, the split of the Eastern and Western Churches, the two or three “popes.” As the “Legate of Christ,” he preached ardently, simply, with miracles and remarkable charisms. He died in 1419 at the end of a Lenten course of preaching in Brittany. He was buried at Vannes. – CTS New Daily Roman Missal 2012, p 2628; Vatican II Weekday Missal 1975, p 1646-47.
