reprinted from The Catholic Prophets

Feast day 5th April                    

Born 1350             

Died 1419 

Famous Dominican Missionary, born in Valencia. Vincent was educated at Valencia and completed his philosophy at the age of 14. In 1367 he entered the Dominican Order, and was sent to the house of studies at Barcelona the following year. It would be difficult to overestimate the influence which he exercised in the Iberian peninsula. Castile, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Grenada, Andalusia, and Asturias were visited in turn, and everywhere miracles marked his progress.

"In the days of peace that are to come after the desolation of revolutions and wars, before the end of the world, the Christians will become so lax in their religion that they will refuse to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, saying, 'It is an unnecessary Sacrament.'; and when the false prophet and the Anti-Christ comes, all who are not confirmed will apostatize, while those who are confirmed will stand firm in the faith, and only a few will renounce Christ.

 Armies from west, east and north will fight in Italy. The Eagle (Great Monarch) will capture the false king. All the world shall be made obedient to him and a reformation will ensure throughout the world. Woe unto the shaven orders whose crowns are shaved.

Now he will be a veritable man but so proud that not only will he desire to have universal dominion in the whole world but will even demand to be called a god and will insist on receiving divine worship. The first affliction to come on the world in a short space of time is the advent of the antichrist a diabolical man who will bring darkness on the whole world. Again antichrist will direct his attacks against simple folk who because their hearts are turned to Him in rectitude and intention are so pleasing to God. He will make use of magic and produce life like apparitions which after all the merest trickery. He will bring fire down from heaven and make images speak for the demon can cause their lips to move. To all appearance he will recall the dead spirit of your father, the phantom infants will seem to speak. You must know that Antichrist will perform other prodigies by the power of demons and these will be true miracles according to the nature of things in themselves but false in regard to the definition of a miracle (i.e by the power of God). For he will cause images and babes of a month old to speak. The followers of antichrist will question these statues or babies and they will make answer concerning this lord who has come in the latter times, affirming that he is the savior. The devil will move their lips and form the words they utter when they declare the antichrist to be the true savior of the world and this way he will cause the destruction of many souls…Those in the 3^rd category whom he will try to seduce are learned folk such as masters and doctors of civil and canon law who can argue and grasp the proof of things. Against these antichrist will weave spells of enchantments, bringing out the most subtle arguments, the most seductive reasoning, to render these learned men tongue-tied and incapable of answering. It is not difficult to understand how this is done since the demon already holds their souls in the chains of sin, for the greater their knowledge the more heavy burdened will be their consciences if they do not live up to it. If he can hold their souls on chains it is easy for him to bind a morsel of flesh like the tongue so that they cannot speak except when and what he chooses. The remedy for this state of bondage is faith, which follows simple obedience and not argument or reasoning. Argument may be good for the strengthening of intelligence but it is not the true foundation of faith. Those whose faith rests on reason will lose it when they hear the specious reasoning of antichrist. Those on the contrary who rely on a firm belief founded on obedience will reply 'away with your arguments! Such reasonings are not the grounds of my faith.' The temporal lords and ecclesiastical prelates for fear of losing their power or position will be on his side, since there will exist neither king nor prelate unless he wills it."