Saint Vincent of Saragossa
Deacon and Martyr
- Feast Day
- January 23
- Life
- d. 304
- Born
- Huesca, Hispania
Vincent was a deacon of the Spanish church of Saragossa (Caesaraugusta) under his bishop Valerius. During the persecution of Diocletian, both were arrested by the imperial governor Dacian and brought to Valencia. Because Bishop Valerius had a speech impediment, Vincent answered for them both, refusing to surrender the Scriptures or to sacrifice to the gods.
The earliest witnesses to his martyrdom are again Latin Christian writers of the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Prudentius devoted hymn 5 of his Peristephanon to Vincent, recounting at length his confession before Dacian, the protracted tortures inflicted on him, and his death about 304. Augustine preached on Vincent at least four times (Sermons 274-277), drawing on a passio that already circulated by the early fifth century. Pope Saint Leo the Great's sermon on Vincent's feast (Sermon 85) likewise treats the martyr's witness as exemplary for the Roman Church.
Vincent's veneration spread rapidly through the Latin West. His cult is attested in Africa by the time of Augustine, in Gaul by the sixth century (Gregory of Tours treats his relics), and in Italy from the fifth century. He was buried at Valencia, but during the Muslim period of the Iberian peninsula his relics were translated, according to medieval Portuguese tradition, to Lisbon, where they remain among the patrimony of the cathedral.
The General Roman Calendar inscribes his Optional Memorial on January 22; in the United States, this date is observed as the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, and the memorial of Saint Vincent is therefore moved to January 23.
Vincent is honored as the protomartyr of Spain. The early hymns of Prudentius and the sermons of Augustine and Leo the Great show that his witness was already invoked, within a generation of his death, as a model for the whole Church: the deacon who answered for the bishop, who held fast to the Scriptures, and who did not break under torture. His memorial places diaconate and confession of faith in close liturgical relation.
Patronages
Lisbon · Valencia · vinegar makers · wine makers
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Vincent of Saragossa
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Vincent of Saragossa's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Vincent de Paul Church — Plymouth, PA
- St. Vincent de Paul — Wisconsin Rapids, WI
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church — Charlotte, NC
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church — Seward, NE
- St. Vincentius — Strotzbüsch
- St. Vincent de Paul — Chicago, IL
- St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Parish — Tallassee, AL
- St. Joseph, St. Vincent Pallotti Parish — Wyandotte, MI
- St. Vincent de Paul Parish - St. Patrick — Shepherd, MI
- Ascension Chapel (St. Vincent Hospital) — Indianapolis, IN
- St. Vincent De Paul — Cobleskill, NY
- St. Vincent de Paul — Bayonne, NJ
- St. Vincent de Paul — Omaha, NE
- St. Vincent de Paul — Nashville, TN
- St. Vincent de Paul (St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish) — East Haven, CT
- St. Vincent de Paul — Albany, NY
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish — San Diego, CA
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church — Mandan, ND
- St. Vincentius und Nikolaus — Kelberg
- Ascension St. Vincent — Evansville, IN
Sources