SS. VINCENT AND FOUR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS - 22 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 22nd of January

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SS. VINCENT AND FOUR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS 

The holy martyrs Vincent and Oxontius (Orontius), two converted pagans, supposedly from Nice, who went from there to Spain to strengthen the Christians in persecution, are commemorated today, together with Vincent, a Levite, and Aquilina. All of them suffered at Gerone (Gerona), Spain, under the governor Rufinus. These events took place during the Diocletian persecution.

AUTHENTIC RECORDS ABOUT THEM NO LONGER EXIST 

Authentic records about them no longer exist; these martyrs can be found in the Roman Martyrology as "martyrs at Embrun" (Ehredunum). They are particularly revered in the diocese of Gap. 

According to legend, Aquilina was Vincent's mother; she and her unnamed husband, whom she prevented by her persuasion from fleeing the tyrant, suffered the death of beheading for our Lord Jesus Christ.

THEIR RELICS

A critical distinction between the historical and the legendary is not possible here. The relics of these holy martyrs at Embrun Cathedral have not been found any more since 1585, when the Huguenots devastated the city. The transfer of St Vincent's  head was celebrated at Digne on June 5. Some icons show this St Vincent during torture.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)