Dear young people,
Today is the Feast of St. Vincent. St. Vincent was a Deacon, one of the Church’s 3 most famous deacons.[i] Now as you know, in the sacrament of Holy Orders, there are 3 ranks: Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. So Vincent was a Deacon, and he assisted his bishop, in Saragosa, Spain. In fact, his bishop had some kind of speech impediment, he had a hard time speaking, and so he commissioned his Deacon Vincent to do the preaching for him in the diocese.
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In those days, many of the authorities were against Catholics; but nevertheless, Vincent spoke out clearly and strongly, teaching the truth about Jesus Christ, salvation, and the Church he founded, the Catholic Church. Now this angered the anti-Catholic authorities. So by order of the Governor, Dacian, Vincent and his bishop were arrested, and dragged in chains to Valencia and kept in prison for a long time.
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Vincent was told that he would be released, if only he would take the Holy Bible and throw it into the fire; but he adamantly refused, because the Holy Scriptures is the Sacred Word of God. Vincent was then put on the rack, and his arms and legs were pulled and pulled apart. Dacian asked him, ‘Tell me Vincent, how does your body look to you now?’ But the saint smiling, replied: ‘This is what I have always longed for, you are doing me great favors!
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Beside himself with rage, Dacian yelled at the torturers: ‘Miserable wretches, you’re getting nowhere with him.’ So they drove iron hooks into his sides until blood spurted forth and his intestines hung out, but he still said, ‘I have no fear of your tortures.’
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He was taken from the rack and carried to a hot gridiron with a fire under it. He was seared and roasted, but nothing could undermine the courage of his faith. Frustrated, the Governor ordered him returned to prison. During the night, a heavenly brightness flooded into the prison bringing a great peace; seeing this, the guards immediately converted to the Catholic Faith.
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The governor then tried a different approach. Instead of tortures, Vincent was placed on a soft bed in the hope that lenient treatment would convince him to give up the faith. Yet no matter what methods were tried, because he believed in Jesus and the truth of heaven, he remained invincible in spirit.
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After he died, they threw his body out for the vultures to eat, but a flock of ravens suddenly flew down, and guarded his body. His body was taken to what is known as Cape St. Vincent, and even today, his grave is guarded by flocks of ravens.
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St. Vincent is often pictured as a deacon being torn by hooks and being defended by ravens. He is an example to us, that no matter what anyone tries to do to get us to do something wrong or give up our Faith, we never, never, will.
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