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The saints

St. Vincent of Saragossa

The deacon who spoke for his stammering bishop, and was tortured for it.

Feast: 22 January · died about 304 · The early Church · Saragossa and Valencia, Spain

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Altarpiece painting of St. Vincent in a deacon’s vestment, holding a palm and a book, with angels.

Tomás Giner, 1462. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Vincent of Saragossa

Valencia, Spain, about 304

Vincent was a deacon of the bishop of Saragossa, Valerius, who had a speech impediment.1

So Vincent did the preaching.1

In the persecution of Diocletian, both were arrested and brought before the governor.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church remembers him as Spain’s first martyr.

01St. Vincent of Saragossa

Speaking for his bishop

The bishop was exiled, but Vincent was tortured terribly.1

Ancient writers, including Augustine, praised his courage, and he died in prison.1

Live it this week

Speak up for someone who can’t

Vincent spoke for a bishop who couldn’t. This week, use your voice for one person who is not being heard: a coworker passed over, a child at school, a neighbor dealing with a landlord.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Vincent of Zaragossa”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.