3rd century – c. 304
A deacon trained by Bishop Valerian who preached boldly during persecution and endured torture and martyrdom under Diocletian.
The Holy and Glorious Martyr Vincent the Deacon, Protomartyr of Spain
Vincent of Saragossa, also called Vincent of Zaragoza or Vincent the Deacon, was a deacon of the Spanish Church who was martyred during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian, traditionally dated to about 304. He is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the protomartyr — the first martyr — of Spain.
Born in the late third century at Osca (modern Huesca) in Hispania Tarraconensis, he was educated and ordained to the diaconate at Saragossa by Bishop Valerius. Because the bishop had a speech impediment, Vincent acted as his spokesman and became the principal preaching voice of the diocese.
Arrested together with Valerius and brought before the Roman governor Dacian at Valencia, Vincent refused to surrender the Scriptures to be burned and endured a sequence of severe tortures before dying in prison. Sources relate that he preserved such peace throughout his ordeal that his jailer was converted to Christianity.
He is a pre-schism Western saint. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him on November 11, while the Catholic and Anglican calendars keep his feast on January 22; the Orthodox Church also commemorates him on January 22.
Vincent spent most of his life at Saragossa, where he was educated and ordained deacon by Bishop Valerius (Valerian). Because the bishop suffered from a speech impediment, Vincent acted as his spokesman, serving as the primary preaching voice of the diocese.
This office made him a conspicuous figure when the persecution of Diocletian reached Spain, and he is remembered for the boldness of his preaching at a time of danger to the Church.
Arrested with Valerius and brought before the governor Dacian at Valencia, Vincent was imprisoned in a notably dark and foul facility. He refused the offer of release on condition that he consign the Scriptures to the flames.
The tortures inflicted on him were severe: he was stretched on a rack and his flesh torn with iron hooks, his wounds were rubbed with salt and burned, and he was laid upon a red-hot gridiron. He was finally cast into a prison cell strewn with broken pottery, where he died.
Sources relate that throughout his ordeal he preserved such peace and tranquillity that his jailer was converted to Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates him as the first martyr — the protomartyr — of Spain.
By tradition the saint's body was thrown into the sea in a sack but was later recovered by Christians, and his remains were eventually taken to Cape St. Vincent in Portugal, where a shrine was erected.
In 1173 King Afonso I of Portugal had the remains exhumed and transported by ship to Lisbon Cathedral. His left arm is displayed in Valencia Cathedral, further relics are housed at Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic, and a leg-bone relic is kept in the Treasury of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
His veneration spread rapidly through the Church. Vincent is depicted in the tenth-century Menologion of Basil II, which confirms his Byzantine Orthodox veneration. He is honored as patron of Lisbon, the Algarve, Valencia, and Vicenza, and is invoked by winemakers, vintners, vinegar-makers, brickmakers, and sailors.
The earliest literary source for his passion is the lyric poem on him in the Peristephanon ("Crowns of Martyrdom") of the poet Prudentius; three elaborate medieval hagiographies derive from a now-lost fifth-century Passion.
Traditional Accounts: Legend relates that ravens protected the saint's body from being devoured by vultures after his death, a detail associated with the shrine at Cape St. Vincent.
Pre-schism Western saint.