Vincent of Saragossa

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Vincent of Saragossa
birth_date=
death_date=~304 AD
feast_day= January 22
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


imagesize= 250px
caption= 16th century painting of Vincent by an anonymous painter.
birth_place= Huesca, Spain
death_place= Valencia, Spain
titles=
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canonized_date=
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attributes=Usually pontifical, episcopal, etc. insignia, tools of martyrdom and so forth
patronage=São Vicente, Lisbon; Vicenza, Italy, vinegar-makers, wine-makers.
major_shrine=
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Saint Vincent of Saragossa, also known as Vincent of Huesca, is the patron saint of Lisbon. His feast day is January 22 Catholic; November 11 Orthodox. He was born at Huesca and martyred under Diocletian in 304.

Biography

He was born at Huesca but lived in Zaragoza (Saragossa in English; also in the Aragon region of Spain) and is also known as Saint Vincent the Deacon. The title "deacon" ("diakonos") means minister or servant.

Vincent served as the deacon of Saint Valerius, bishop of Saragossa. Imprisoned in Valencia for his faith, and tortured on a gridiron — a story perhaps adapted from the martyrdom of another son of Huesca, Saint Lawrence— Vincent, like many early martyrs in the early hagiographic literature, succeeded in converting his jailer. Though he was finally offered release if he would consign Scripture to the fire, Vincent refused.

The earliest account of Vincent's martyrdom is in a "carmen" (lyric poem) written by the poet Prudentius, (348 – after 405), who wrote a series of lyric poems, "Peristephanon" ("Crowns of Martyrdom"), on Hispanic and Roman martyrs, including Lawrence. Prudentius describes how Vincent was brought to trial along with his bishop Valerius, and that since Valerius had a speech impediment, Vincent spoke for both, but that his outspoken fearless manner so angered the governor that Vincent was tortured and martyred, though his aged bishop was only exiled.

Legacy and veneration

Three elaborated hagiographies, all based ultimately on a lost 5th century "Passion", circulated in the Middle Ages.

Though Vincent's tomb in Valencia became the earliest center of his cult (it has been the subject of recent archeological research), he was also honored at his birthplace and his reputation spread from Saragossa. The city of Oviedo in Asturias grew about the church dedicated to Saint Vincent. Beyond the Pyrenees, he was venerated first at Régimond near Béziers, and at Narbonne. Castres became an important stop on the international pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela when the relics of Vincent were transferred to its new abbey-church dedicated to Saint Benedict from Saragosse in 863, under the patronage of Salomon, count of Cerdanya.

When the Catholic bishops of Visigothic Iberia succeeded in converting King Reccared (586–601) and his nobles to Trinitarian Christianity they built the cathedral of Córdoba in honor of St Vincent the Deacon. When the Moors came, in 711, the church was razed and its materials incorporated in the "Mezquita", the "Great Mosque" of Cordoba.

The Cape Verde island of São Vicente, a former Portuguese colony, was named to honor him.

The 15th century Portuguese artist Nuno Gonçalves depicted him in his Saint Vincent Panels.

St Vincent the Deacon is also the patron of vintners and vinegar-makers.

ources and references

* [http://www.orderstvincent.org/ "The International Order of St. Vincent"] a world-wide fellowship of lay ministers associated with liturgy and sanctuary service in the western branches of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1994/94.07.03.html "Bryn Mawr Classical review":] review of Michael J. Roberts, "Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs. The "Liber Peristephanon" of Prudentius"
* [http://www.ict-toulouse.asso.fr/ble/site/406.html Review of Victor Saxer, "Saint Vincent, diacre et martyr, Culte et légendes avant l’An Mil"] (in French)