§ 115.1. =Fasts and Festivals.=--New =Mary Festivals= were introduced: _F. præsentationis M._ on 21st Nov. (Lev. xii. 5-8), _F. visitationis M._ (Luke i. 39-51), on 2nd July. In the 15th century we meet with the festivals of the Seven Pains of Mary, _F. Spasmi M._, on Friday or Saturday before Palm Sunday. Dominic instituted a rosary festival, _F. rosarii M._, on 1st Oct., and its general observance was enjoined by Gregory XIII. in A.D. 1571.--The =Veneration of Ann= (§ 57, 2) was introduced into Germany in the second half of the 15th century, but soon rose to a height almost equal to that of Mary.--The =Fasts= of the early Church (§ 56, 7) had, even during the previous period, been greatly relaxed. Now the most special fast days were mere days of abstinence from flesh, while most lavish meals of fish and farinaceous food were indulged in. Papal and episcopal dispensations from fasting were also freely given. § 115.2. =Preaching= (§ 104, 1).--To aid and encourage preaching in the language of the people, unskilled preachers were supplied with _Vocabularia prædicantium_. Surgant, a priest of Basel, wrote, in the end of the 15th century, a treatise on homiletics and catechetics most useful for his age, _Manuale Curatorum_. In it he showed how Latin sermons might be rendered into the tongue of the people, and urged the duty of hearing sermons. The mendicants were the chief preachers, especially the mystics of the preaching orders, during the 14th century (§ 114), and the Augustinians, particularly their German Observants, during the 15th (§ 112, 5), and next to them, the Franciscans.--The most zealous preacher of his age was the Spanish Dominican =Vincent Ferrér=. In A.D. 1397 he began his unprecedentedly successful preaching tours through Spain, France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Ireland. He died in A.D. 1419. He laboured with special ardour for the conversion of the Jews, of whom he is said to have baptized 35,000. Wherever he went he was venerated as a saint, received with respect by the clergy and prelates, highly honoured by kings and princes, consulted by rich and poor regarding temporal and spiritual things. He was canonized by Calixtus III. in A.D. 1455. Certain Flagellants (§ 116, 3) whom he met in his travels followed him, scourging themselves and singing his penitential songs, but he stopped this when objected to by the Council of Constance. His sermons dealt with the realities of actual life, and called all classes to repent of their sins. Of a similar spirit was the Italian Dominican =Barletta=, who died in A.D. 1480, whose burlesque and scathing satire rendered him the most popular preacher of the day. In his footsteps went the Frenchmen =Maillard= and =Menot=, both Franciscans, and the German priest of Strassburg, =Geiler of Kaisersberg=, quite equal to them in quaint terseness of expression and biting wit. All these were