Vincent of Saragossa

The earliest account of Vincent's martyrdom is in a carmen (lyric poem) written by the poet Prudentius, Vincent spent most of his life in the city of Zaragoza, where he was educated and ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Valerius of Saragossa, who commissioned Vincent to preach throughout the diocese. His outspoken manner so angered the governor that he had every sort of torture inflicted on Vincent. He was stretched on the rack and his flesh torn with iron hooks. Then his wounds were rubbed with salt and he was burned alive upon a red-hot gridiron. Finally, he was cast into prison and laid on a floor scattered with broken pottery, where he died. During his martyrdom he preserved such peace and tranquillity that it astonished his jailer, who repented from his sins and was converted. Vincent's dead body was thrown into the sea in a sack, but was later recovered by the Christians and his veneration immediately spread throughout the church. == Legacy and veneration ==

, Kutná Hora, Czechia Three elaborated hagiographies, all based ultimately on a lost 5th-century Passion, circulated in the Middle Ages. His "Acts" have been "rather freely colored by the imagination of their compiler". Though Vincent's tomb in Valencia became the earliest center of his cult, he was also honoured at his birthplace and his reputation spread from Zaragoza. The city of Oviedo in Asturias grew about the church dedicated to Vincent. Beyond the Pyrenees, he was venerated first in the vicinity of 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 Zaragoza in 863, under the patronage of Salomon, count of Cerdanya. depicting the translation of St. Vincent's arm A church was built in honour of Vincent, by the Catholic bishops of Visigothic Iberia, when they succeeded in converting King Reccared and his nobles to Trinitarian Christianity. When the Moors came in 711, the church was razed, and its materials incorporated in the , the "Great Mosque" of Cordova. The Cape Verde island of São Vicente, a former Portuguese colony, was named in his honour because it was discovered on 22 January, Saint Vincent's feast day, in 1462. The island of Saint Vincent in the Caribbean, now a part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was named by Christopher Columbus after Vincent of Saragossa, as the island was discovered by Europeans on 22 January, Saint Vincent's feast day. The 15th century Portuguese artist Nuno Gonçalves depicted him in his Saint Vincent Panels. A small fresco cycle of stories of Vincent is in the apse of the Basilica di San Vincenzo near Cantù, in northern Italy. , and Raymond of Penyafort. Oil on canvas. Anonymous author, school of Francisco Ribalta Vincent's left arm is on display as a relic in Valencia Cathedral, located near the extensive Carrer de Sant Vicent Mártir (Saint Vincent the Martyr Street). There is also the small town of São Vicente on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and the city of São Vicente, São Paulo in Brazil named after this saint. Vincent is remembered in the Anglican Communion with a commemoration on 22 January. The Anglican St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford, Texas, is dedicated in his honor. The young men of Manganeses de la Polvorosa, province of Zamora, Spain, celebrated Vincent's day by dropping a live goat from the belfry of the St. Vincent church. Patronage Saint Vincent is the patron of the Order of the Deacons of the Catholic Diocese of Bergamo. He is honoured as patron in Valencia, Zaragoza, and Portugal, and is invoked by vignerons (wine-makers), vintners (wine-merchants), vinegar-makers, brickmakers, and sailors. == See also ==