St. Vincent Ferrer was absolutely incredible , but no one seems to have ever heard of him. He was a Dominican priest, known for his gentleness, kindness, and humility. He was born in 1350, 2 years before the Black Death swept through Europe. At his canonization, the judges became too tired and stopped reciting validated miracles attributed to him after reading over 800 of them. In the areas where he preached, the Protestant Reformation failed to have any effect (although he died in 1419, over 100 years earlier).
He
said that he was the Angel of the Judgment from the Apocalypse (there was a schism, with 2
popes making claims to the Throne of Peter at the time), and that if people
didn’t repent and change their ways the way the people of Nineveh did
(which they did, quite dramatically, too), it would be the end of the world. In
fact, it was largely due to him that the “Great Western Schism”
finally ended. In many towns in Europe, as soon as he entered people started to
repent and thousands of people would follow him everywhere he went. He
discovered that much of the reason that people were falling away from God and
that very few people were converting was that the Gospel was not being
preached. He destroyed many schools in Italy and Switzerland where error was
being taught, and converted millions of people.
Treatise on the Spiritual Life
Angel
of the Judgment St Vincent
Ferrer 1350-1419
Remedies
against spiritual temptations and false revelations
Chapter XII: Remedies against certain spiritual temptations
I
shall teach you, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the remedies against
certain spiritual temptations which are very common in these times, and which
God permits for the purpose of purifying and testing His elect. And although they do not
appear to attack faith directly, yet they who carefully examine them cannot
fail to see that-they destroy the chief dogmas of religion, and set up the
throne of Antichrist. I shall not explain what these temptations are, so as not
to be an occasion of sin or scandal to any one; but I will show with what
prudence you should act, in order not to be overcome by them.
These
temptations, then, are of two kinds:
first
is the suggestion of the devil, who causes man to fall and to estrange himself
from God and the things that have reference to Him;
second
is the corrupt teaching of certain persons, and the pernicious example of those who
have already yielded to such temptations.
I shall teach you how to comport yourself towards God and in all that relates to Him, that you may be secured against these temptations. 1 shall afterwards show you how you should act in regard to men, touching their doctrine and manner of life.
The first remedy against the spiritual temptations which the devil plants in the hearts of many persons in these unhappy times, is to have no desire to procure by prayer, meditation, or any other good work, what are called revelations, or spiritual experiences, beyond what happens in the ordinary course of things; such a desire of things which surpass the common order can have no other root or foundation but pride, presumption, a vain curiosity in what regards the things of God, and, in short, an exceedingly weak faith. It is to punish this evil desire that God abandons the soul, and permits it to fall into the illusions and temptations of the devil, who seduces it, and represents to it false visions and delusive revelations. Here we have the source of most of the spiritual temptations that prevail at the present time; temptations which the spirit of evil roots in the souls of those who may be called the precursors of Antichrist, as we shall see by what follows.
Be
thoroughly persuaded, then, that true revelations, and the extraordinary means
by which God's secrets are known, are not the result of the desire of which we
have spoken, nor of any diligence or effort on the part of the soul itself; but
that they are solely the effects of the pure goodness of God communicating
itself to a soul filled with humility, who respectfully seeks for Him and sighs
after Him with all its strength.
Nor
ought we even to exercise ourselves in acts of humility, and in the fear of God,
with a view to being favored with visions, revelations, and extraordinary
sensations; for this would be to fall into the very sins to which such desires
lead.
The
second remedy is to dispossess the soul when at prayer, of consolation, small
though it be, if perchance you perceive that it engenders in your heart
sentiments of presumption or of self-esteem. This would insensibly lead you to
abuse what is termed honor and reputation, and would induce you to believe that
you merit to be honored and applauded in this world, and to have a share in the
glory of heaven. The soul that attaches itself to these false consolations
falls into very dangerous errors; for God justly permits the devil to have
power to augment in it these kinds of spiritual tastes, to repeat them
frequently, and to inspire it with sentiments that are false, dangerous, and
full of illusions, but which the misguided soul imagines to be true.
Alas!
how many souls have been seduced by these deceitful consolations? The majority
of raptures and ecstacies [sic], or, to call them by their proper name, the
frenzies of these forerunners of Antichrist spring from this cause. Hence, the
only consolation you should admit into your soul in time of prayer, is that
which is produced by the consciousness of your nothingness and misery; a
consciousness which will preserve you in humility, and inspire you with
profound reverence for the grandeur and majesty of God, and the desire that he
may be honored and glorified. Consolations such as these cannot mislead you.
The
third remedy is to have - a horror of every thought and sentiment, however
elevated they may be, which gives indications of a desire to penetrate into the
secrets of God when you perceive that they are capable of wounding any article
of faith or morals, especially if they are contrary to humility and purity,
for, doubtless, such can come only from the devil. Pay no attention, therefore,
to visions that afford no certainty that they are from God, or that they lead
you to what is pleasing to Him.
The
fourth remedy is not to attach yourself to any person, notwithstanding the
apparent sanctity of his life, or the capabilities he possesses, when you have
reason to doubt that his advice is not according to God, that it is not
regulated by real prudence, that is not in harmony with what the law of God
prescribes, or with what is proposed to us for imitation in the life of Jesus
Christ and His saints, or taught us by the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers.
Fear not to sin by pride or presumption when you despise such counsel, for such
is due to zeal and to the love of truth.
The
fifth remedy is to shun all interaction and familiarity with those who sow
broadcast, so to speak, the temptations of which I have spoken; with those who
uphold or commend them. Neither listen to their words, nor be desirous to
witness what they do; for the devil will avail himself of that curiosity to
captivate you by the sublimity of their speech, and by their outward show of
perfection, that you may thence be led to adopt their evil principles.
From
www.theotokos.org.uk