Have you ever Wondered why St Vincent of Saragossa has his own major feast day? In all honesty, we don't know what inspired such devotion to this early martyr. What we do know is that he was a deacon who assisted Bishop Valerius. After defying the roman governed he was brutally tortured and martyred for his faith. Prudentius wrote this poem in honor of Vincentus, and this may be the reason he is remembered even today as a great saint and martyr of the church.
Enjoy the poem in both the Latin and English. It's a good one!
English
Latin
St. Vincent, the protomartyr of Spain, was a deacon of the 3rd century. Together with his Bishop, Valerius of Saragossa, he was apprehended during a persecution of Dacian the governor of Spain. Valerius was banished but Vincent was subjected to fierce tortures before ultimately dying from his wounds. According to details of his death (which seem to have been considerably developed later on), his flesh was pierced with iron hooks, he was bound upon a red-hot gridiron and roasted, and he was cast into a prison and laid on a floor strewn with broken pottery. But through it all his constancy remained unmoved (leading to his jailer's conversion) and he survived until his friends were allowed to see him and prepare a bed for on which he died. The saint's fame spread rapidly throughout Gaul and Africa - we have several sermons of St. Augustine given on his feast day. His feast day is January 22.
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