V

After the Vandals (a Germanic people who conquered Roman North Africa), Suevi and Alani overran Spain, the Suevi settled in Gallicia (Galicia) and part of Portugal.

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March 11 · Abbot, Martyr

St. Vincent

St. Vincent

After the Vandals (a Germanic people who conquered Roman North Africa), Suevi and Alani overran Spain, the Suevi settled in Gallicia (Galicia) and part of Portugal.

Traditional feast

March 11
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Abbot
Martyr

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Baring-Gould (1897) · original text below · little is known

After the Vandals (a Germanic people who conquered Roman North Africa), Suevi and Alani overran Spain, the Suevi settled in Gallicia (Galicia) and part of Portugal. Their rulers, King Hermanrik and his son Richild, were Arians (who denied that Christ is fully God) and harassed Catholics, seizing or destroying their churches.

Vincent, abbot of S. Claudius at Leon, was accused before the prince of defying their laws against Catholics. He openly declared that Jesus Christ is God, and was beaten and imprisoned. The next day he was condemned and killed with a sword. The prior Ramirus and twelve monks were martyred after him. His body is in Oviedo cathedral.

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 170 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

When the Vandals overran Spain, in company with the Suevi and the Alani, the Suevi settled down in Gallicia and part of Portugal, whilst the Vandals crossed into North Africa. They were Arians, and their king, Hermanrik, and his son, Richild, harassed the Catholics in every way possible, destroying or seizing on their churches. The Arians drew Vincent, abbot of S. Claudius, before the prince, charging him with contempt of the laws made against the Catholics.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Build up the community you belong to. This life was lived with and for a community.

Keep their day. Remember them on March 11 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 170 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Benedictine Martyrology, and that of Leon, and other Spanish churches. Tamayus Salazar complains, "The Acts of S. Vincent are shut up in the Spanish Benedictine Libraries, and are never shown by the most reverend fathers, possibly lest they should become too common, content rather that they should lie in bags and boxes, buried in dust and cobwebs, rather than exposed for the public benefit." We have, accordingly, in Bollandus, only a compendium of the Acts by the historian, Antonio Yepes, gathered from MSS., at Leon, and the lections of the monastic breviary of Coimbra.

When the Vandals overran Spain, in company with the Suevi and the Alani, the Suevi settled down in Gallicia and part of Portugal, whilst the Vandals crossed into North Africa. They were Arians [followers of Arius, who taught that the Son is a created being, not fully God], and their king, Hermanrik, and his son, Richild, harassed the Catholics in every way possible, destroying or seizing on their churches. The Arians drew Vincent, abbot of S. Claudius, before the prince, charging him with contempt of the laws made against the Catholics. He boldly proclaimed the divinity of Jesus Christ before the king, and was ordered to be beaten and thrown into prison. Next day he was again brought before the king, and was condemned to death. The executioner struck at him with his sword, and clave his skull. His martyrdom was followed by that of the prior, Ramirus, and twelve of the monks of his house.

Relics: the body of S. Vincent in the cathedral of Oviedo. The body of S. Ramirus was translated, April, 26th, 1596, to the monastery of S. Claudius, at Leon.

Feast days

Feast: March 11

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Vincent's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on March 11
G

St. Gorgo

March 11 · Martyr
St. Alberta

St. Alberta

March 11 · Virgin, Martyr
C

St. Constantine

March 11 · King, Martyr
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.