Vincent was born at Huesca in northern Spain. When quite a child he applied himself to study. He was taught the sacred sciences by Valerius, the Bishop of Saragossa. This prelate entrusted him with the duty of preaching the Gospel, on account of himself not being able to discharge that office by reason of an impediment in his speech. This having reached the ears of Dacian who had been made governor of that province by Diocletian and Maximian, Vincent was apprehended at Saragossa and led in chains to Valencia before the judgement-seat of Dacian. There he was tortured by lashes and the rack in the presence of many people, but neither the violence of the torments, nor the harsh or bland speeches addressed to him, could induce him to swerve from his resolution. He was therefore laid on a gridiron which was set on burning coals. His flesh was torn off with iron hooks and red-hot plates were laid over him. After this he was led back to prison, the floor of which had been strewn with broken potsherds so that when he lay down to sleep his body might be tortured by their sharp edges. But while he was shut up in this dark prison a most bright light penetrated the place. They who were present were astonished beyond measure, and the gaoler informed Dacian of what had occurred. Vincent was then ordered to be taken out of prison and put on a soft bed, for the governor thought to gain over by such comforts as this him whom he had failed to seduce by tortures. But Vincent’s invincible spirit, strengthened by its faith and hope in Christ Jesus, overcame all their efforts and after triumphing over fire and sword, and all his tortures, took his flight to Heaven, there to receive the crown of martyrdom, on the eleventh of the Calends of February (January 22). His body was thrown on a marsh and denied burial but a crow miraculously defended it by its claws, beak and wings against birds of prey and a wolf. Dacian hearing this, ordered it to be thrown into a deep part of the sea but by a fresh prodigy it was washed to the shore, and the Christians gave it burial.
Dom Prosper Gueranger:
Vincent the Victorious, vested in the sacred dalmatic and holding his palm in his hand, comes today to His Jesus’s crib, and right welcome is he to Stephen, the Crowned, his leader and his brother. Spain is his country. He is a Deacon of the glorious Church of Saragossa and, by the strength and warmth of his faith, he is a type of that land which is, by excellence, the Catholic Kingdom. But he does not belong to Spain only: like Stephen and like Laurence, Vincent is the favourite and hero of the whole Church. Stephen, the Deacon, preached the divinity of Jesus amid the shower of stones which were hurled on him as a blasphemer. Vincent, the Deacon, confessed his faith in Jesus on his red-hot gridiron, as did that other Deacon, Laurence. This triumvirate of Martyr-Deacons cluster together in the sacred Litany, and when we hear their three grand names, the Crown, the Laurel and the Conqueror, we hail them as the three bravest knights of our most dear Lord.
Vincent triumphed over the torture of fire because the flame of divine love which burned within his soul was keener than that which scorched his body. He was comforted in the most miraculous manner during his great sufferings, but God worked these prodigies, not to deprive Vincent of his crown, but to show his own power. The holy Deacon had but one thought in the midst of all his pains — he was ambitious to make a return by the gift of his own life for that sacrifice by which his divine Master had died for him and for all men. And now, that so generous a lover of God should be at the crib of this same Jesus — is it not right and just? Oh how he urges us every Christmas to love this Divine Infant! He that hesitated not, when called on to give himself to his Lord, even though it was to cost him such cruel pains — what cowards would he not call us who can come so many Christmases to Bethlehem and have nothing to give but cold and divided hearts! His sacrifice was to be burnt alive, and torn, and cut and he smiled as he gave it: what are we to say of ourselves who take years to think before we will give up those childish things which prevent us from ever seriously beginning a new life with our new-born Jesus? Would that the sight of all these Martyrs in whose company the Church has made us live during these few last days would touch our hearts, and make them resolute and simple!
There is an ancient Christian tradition which makes Saint Vincent the patron of vineyards and labourers in vineyards. This was no doubt suggested by the saint having held the office of Deacon, for the Deacon has to pour wine into the chalice during the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and that wine is to be changed into the Blood of Christ. A few days ago we assisted at the mystery of the Feast at Cana: Jesus then offered us the sacred cup, the wine of His love: today, again, He offers it to us by the hand of His martyr Vincent. To make himself worthy of his high office the holy Deacon mingled his own blood as a generous wine in the cup that holds the price of the world—s salvation. It is thus that we are to understand that expression of Saint Paul which says that “the Saints fill up, in the flesh, by the merit of their sufferings, those things that are wanting, not in their efficacy, but in their fullness, of the sufferings of Christ” (Colossians i. 24), whose members the Saints are.
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Hail, Victorious Deacon! How beautiful are you with the chalice of salvation in your brave hands! It was your office to offer it at the altar in order that the wine it contained might be changed by the sacred words, into the Blood of Christ and, when the Mystery was accomplished, you had to take this same chalice and present it to the Faithful, to the end that they who thirsted after their God might drink at the source of eternal life. But on this day you offer it yourself to Jesus, and it is full to the brim with your own blood! Oh how faithful a Deacon, giving even your very life in testimony to the Mysteries of which you were the dispenser.
Three centuries had elapsed since Stephen’s sacrifice. Sixty years had gone by since the sweet incense of Laurence’s martyrdom had ascended to the throne of God, and now it is the last persecution — peace is dawning on the Church — and a third Deacon comes to prove that time had not impaired the Order — it was the Deacon of Saragossa — yourself, dear Saint! Bright is your name in the list of Martyrs, O Vincent, and the Church is proud of your triumph. It was for the Church, after Jesus, that you combated: have pity on us, therefore, and signalise this day of your Feast by showing us the effects of your protection. You are face to face with the King of Ages, whose battle you fought on Earth, and you gaze with a loving yet dazzled eye on His eternal beauty. We, also, we, who are in this valley of tears, possess Him, and see Him, for He calls Himself our Emmanuel, God with us. But it is under the form of a weak babe that He shows Himself to us, for He fears to overpower us with the splendour of His majesty. Pray for us, O holy Martyr Vincent, for at times we tremble at the thought that this sweet Jesus is, one day, to be our Judge. When we reflect on what you did and suffered for Him, we have scarcely courage to think upon ourselves, for what good works can we show? Or who can say of us that we were ever warm in defending the cause of our Divine Master? Oh that your Feast might shame us into the earnest uncalculating simplicity which this sweet Babe of Bethlehem has come to teach us — the simplicity which springs from humility and confidence in God, and which made you go through all your martyrdom with a brave but with such a calm spirit! Pray for us that we may, at length, obey the God who teaches us by His own example and, with hearts ambitious for nothing but pleasing Him, accomplish His will, whatever that may ask of us. Aand all this with the calm cheerfulness of devoted service.
Pray, Vincent, for all Christians, for all are called to fight against the world and their own passions. We are all invited to a palm, a crown, a victory. Jesus will admit none but conquerors to the banquet of eternal glory where He has promised to drink with us the new wine in the Kingdom of His Father (Matthew xxvi. 29). The wedding-garment which all must have on who enter there must be washed in the Blood of the Lamb — we must all be Martyrs, at least in heart, for we have all to triumph over self, and that is the harshest of tyrants. Fly to the assistance of the martyrs who in distant countries are dying for the true Faith. Obtain for them such courage that they may be the Vincents of our age. Protect Spain, your country. Beseech our Emmanuel to send her heroes of your stamp so that the Catholic Kingdom which has ever been so jealous of purity of Faith may speedily triumph over the trials which are at present heavy on her. Will the illustrious Church of Saragossa — founded by Saint James the Apostle, visited by the Blessed Mother of God and sanctified by the ministry of your deaconship — will such a country as this ever grow indifferent about Faith or suffer the bond of unity to be broken! And since the devotion of the Christian people looks on you as the protector of the Vine, bless this portion of creation which God has destined for man’s use, and which He has deigned to make both the instrument of the deepest of His Mysteries and the symbol of His love of mankind.
Anastasius, a Persian by birth, embraced the monastic life during the reign of Heraclius. After visiting the Holy Places in Jerusalem, he courageously endured, at Caesarea in Palestine, both imprisonment and scourgings for the faith of Christ. Not long after, the Persians put him to several kinds of torture for the same reason. King Chosroes, at last, ordered him to be beheaded, together with seventy other Christians. His relics were at first carried to Jerusalem to the monastery where he had professed the monastic life. Afterwards they were translated to Rome and were deposited in the monastery near the Salvian Waters.
Dom Prosper Gueranger:
At Embrun in France, the holy martyrs Vincent, Orontius and Victor, who were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian.
At Novara, St. Gaudentius, bishop and confessor.
At Sora, the abbot St. Dominic, renowned for miracles.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Dom Prosper Gueranger:
On this same 22nd of January the Church honours the memory of the holy Persian monk Anastasius who suffered martyrdom in the year 628. Chosroes, having made himself master of Jerusalem, had carried with him into Persia the wood of the True Cross, which was afterwards recovered by Heraclius. The sight of this Holy Wood excited in the heart of Anastasius, who was then a pagan, the desire of knowing the religion of which it is the trophy. He renounced the Persian superstitions in order to become a Christian and a monk. This, together with the neophyte’s zeal, excited the pagans against him and after enduring frightful tortures, the Soldier of Christ was beheaded. His body was taken to Constantinople, and thence to Rome, where it is still honoured. Two celebrated Churches of Rome, one in the city itself, and the other outside the walls, are dedicated in common to Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius, because these two great martyrs suffered on the same day of the year, though in different centuries. This is the motive of the Church uniting their two Feasts into one. Let us pray to this new champion of the Faith that he intercede for us to the Saviour whose Cross was so dear to him.Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Embrun in France, the holy martyrs Vincent, Orontius and Victor, who were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian.
At Novara, St. Gaudentius, bishop and confessor.
At Sora, the abbot St. Dominic, renowned for miracles.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
