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"No, I do not believe that there ever existed in the world so much pomp and vanity, so much impurity, as at the present day; to find in the world's epoch so criminal, we must go to the days of Noe and the universal deluge. The inns in the cities and villages are filled with persons of abandoned character; they are so numerous that the entire world is infected by them... Avarice and usury increase under the disguised name of contracts, simony reigns among the clergy, envy among the religious. Gluttony prevails to such an extent in every rank of social life that the fasts of Lent, the vigils and Ember days, are no longer observed... In a word, vice is held in such great honour that those who prefer the service of God to that of the world are held up to scorn as useless and unworthy members of society." Source: St. Vincent of Ferrer, The Angel of the Judgment, by Fr. Andrew Pradel, O.P.

"St. Vincent brought with him into the world a happy disposition for learning and piety, which were improved by a good education. In order to subdue his passions, he fasted from his childhood every Wednesday and Friday. The Passion of Christ was always the object of his tender devotion. The Blessed Virgin he ever honoured as his spiritual Mother. Looking on the poor as the members of Christ, he treated them with the greatest affection and charity. Having taken the habit of the Dominicans, he made surprising progress in perfection, taking St. Dominic for his model. The arms which he employed against the devil were prayer, penance, and perpetual watchfulness over every impulse of his passions. His heart was always fixed on God, and he made his studies, labour, and all other actions a continued prayer. He led a very mortified life, never eating flesh, nor wearing linen. His whole employment was in preaching the gospel, in converting Jews and Infidels to the Christian faith, and sinners to a holy life. He never passed a day wherein he gave not instructions to those who were assembled at prayers with him. Though by his sermons thousands were moved to give their possessions to the poor, the saint never accepted any thing himself; and was no less scrupulous in cultivating in his heart the virtue and spirit of obedience, than that of poverty; for which reason he declined accepting any dignity in the Church, or superiority in his Order. He was favoured with the gift of miracles, and cured innumerable sick wherever he came, also raised a dead man to life, in presence of a great multitude. He continued his preaching and labours to the last; and worn out with age and infirmity, died on the 5th of April, 1419, being sixty-two years old.

Pray for all of his character and function, that they may partake of his spirit and zeal, that they may faithfully labour in the vineyard, and not permit ignorance and vice to spread through their silence and neglect. Pray likewise that you may do your part in giving good example to all. A holy life is a continual sermon, by which you may draw others from error and vice, and make a much better defence of the truth than by hot disputing. And remember that a bad life is a contradiction of all your pretended zeal, and the greatest injury you can do to truth." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

"The saint's devotion to the Holy Eucharist is shown by his minute and careful legislation regarding all things connected with the service of the altar. Everything surrounding it, and especially the linen used for Mass, must be of spotless cleanliness, and no priest may say Mass in torn or dirty vestments. The chalices must be of gold or silver, and a crucifix must always be placed before the celebrant. When the Holy Viaticum is carried to the sick it must be taken with the utmost reverence, the priest in surplice and stole, accompanied by cross, lights, and holy water, and preceded by an acolyte with a bell to let the people know that their Lord is passing.

Only those who have passed a sufficient examination are to be admitted to the ranks of the clergy, and no one is to be ordained to sacred orders if he come with any other design than to serve God alone; ordination, therefore, should be refused to anyone for money, favor, or privilege, and all those in the least tainted with heresy or suspected of leading unholy lives must be rigorously excluded from the priesthood. (...) Finally, the clergy are reminded of the duty of instructing their flocks in the truths of the Faith, and they must teach them simple prayers according to their ability to learn. Source: Richard of Wyche, labourer, Scholar, Bishop, and Saint. by Sister Mary Reginald OP 1913

"St. Richard was born in Worcestershire. From his childhood, he had a great aversion to dances, shows, and gay amusements; and applied diligently to virtue and learning. Quitting all worldly prospects, he studied first at Oxford, then at Paris, where, with two companions, he lived in great poverty, contenting himself with coarse bread, and drinking only water, which nevertheless he used to say was the most pleasant time of his whole life.

He afterwards went to Bologna, to study canon law; and having taught there a short time, he returned to Oxford, and was chosen chancellor of that university. He was afterwards appointed chancellor to St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury; in which charge he was faithful, just, affable, modest, and sincere. He kept close to his holy prelate in all his tribulations, and accompanied him in his exile. Being ordained priest, he returned to England; and not long after was chosen bishop of Chichester. The king, Henry III., opposed his nomination, but Pope Innocent IV. ratified his election, and consecrated him with his own hands at Rome.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, St. Francis of Paola

"From his youth he seemed inflamed with the Holy Spirit; for, retiring into a desert, he spent six years in great austerity, with almost continued prayer and divine contemplation. Pray especially for young persons, that God would diminish in them excessive fondness for the world and themselves, and give them a true sense of their eternal state, that they may not admire and adore vanity, but God alone. And if any are under your care, reflect on your obligation both to God and them. See that they want no instruction, keep them to their hours of prayer and reading, teach them to employ themselves, oblige them to order and discipline, examine their company and conversation, study to make them easy in a regular life, allow them innocent diversions, but see that they are not fond of what is vain, extravagant, and foolish. By these degrees you may teach them to love God, to have a true esteem for virtue, and to live as becomes Christians. But by following a contrary method, in giving them liberty to gratify corrupt nature, you will concur to their ruin, and find too late their flattered innocence to end in professed vice.

St. Francis being prevailed upon to leave his solitude, for the encouragement of many who desired to follow his example, procured a church to be built near Faula, in Calabria, the place of his birth, and there laid the first foundation of a religious order. He obliged his followers to perpetual abstinence, to go barefoot, and to lie on the ground. And that they might be ever mindful of that humility, which, above all, he recommended to them as the ground of all Christian virtues, he called them Minims, that is the least and most contemptible of all the servants of God. In this method he lived to the ninety-first year of his age, and made a happy end in the year 1508.

Pray for all of this holy Order, that they may truly practice what they profess; that they may keep up the spirit of their founder, and be an example to all others of the true spirit of the Gospel. Learn something of it for yourself. The corruption of your nature can have no better remedy than in a discreet abstinence from such things as are too favorable to it, in being either vicious, or disposing that way. Learn never to despise others, but judge yourself the least and most contemptible of all." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother