From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   January 22nd - Saint Vincent Of Saragossa   
      
   When Jesus deliberately began his "journey" to death, Luke says that he "set   
   his   
   face" to go to Jerusalem. It is this quality of rocklike courage that   
   distinguishes the martyrs.   
   Most of what we know about this saint comes from the poet Prudentius. His   
   Acts   
   have been rather freely colored by the imagination of their compiler. But   
   St.   
   Augustine, in one of his sermons on St. Vincent, speaks of having the Acts   
   of   
   his martyrdom before him. We are at least sure of his name, his being a   
   deacon,   
   the place of his death and burial.   
      
   According to the story we have (and as with some of the other early martyrs   
   the   
   unusual devotion he inspired must have had a basis in a very heroic life),   
   Vincent was ordained deacon by his friend St. Valerius of Saragossa in   
   Spain.   
      
   The Roman emperors had published their edicts against the clergy in 303, and   
   the   
   following year against the laity. Vincent and his bishop were imprisoned in   
   Valencia. Hunger and torture failed to break them. Like the youths in the   
   fiery   
   furnace (Book of Daniel, chapter three), they seemed to thrive on suffering.   
      
   Valerius was sent into exile, and Dacian now turned the full force of his   
   fury   
   on Vincent. Tortures that sound like those of World War II were tried. But   
   their   
   main effect was the progressive disintegration of Dacian himself. He had the   
   torturers beaten because they failed.   
      
   Finally he suggested a compromise: Would Vincent at least give up the sacred   
   books to be burned according to the emperor's edict? He would not. Torture   
   on   
   the gridiron continued, the prisoner remaining courageous, the torturer   
   losing   
   control of himself. Vincent was thrown into a filthy prison cell-and   
   converted   
   the jailer. Dacian wept with rage, but strangely enough, ordered the   
   prisoner to   
   be given some rest.   
      
   Friends among the faithful came to visit him, but he was to have no earthly   
   rest. When they finally settled him on a comfortable bed, he went to his   
   eternal   
   rest.   
      
   Comment: The martyrs are heroic examples of what God's power can do. It is   
   humanly impossible, we realize, for someone to go through tortures such as   
   Vincent had and remain faithful. But it is equally true that by human power   
   alone no one can remain faithful even without torture or suffering. God does   
   not   
   come to our rescue at isolated, "special" moments. God is supporting the   
   supercruisers as well as children's toy boats.   
      
   Quote:  "Wherever it was that Christians were put to death, their executions   
   did   
   not bear the semblance of a triumph. Exteriorly they did not differ in the   
   least   
   from the executions of common criminals. But the moral grandeur of a martyr   
   is   
   essentially the same, whether he preserved his constancy in the arena before   
   thousands of raving spectators or whether he perfected his martyrdom   
   forsaken by   
   all upon a pitiless flayer's field" (The Roman Catacombs,   
   Hertling-Kirschbaum).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Fasts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and   
   everything worldly are not in themselves perfection, as we have said;   
   they are its tools. For perfection is not to be found in them; it is   
   acquired through them. It is useless, therefore, to boast of our   
   fasting, vigils, poverty, and reading of Scripture when we have not   
   achieved the love of God and our fellow men. Whoever has achieved love   
   has God within himself and his intellect is always with God.   
   -St. John Cassian   
      
   Bible Quote   
   And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall   
   hate   
   one another.   
   And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because   
   iniquity   
   hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall   
   persevere   
   to the end, he shall be saved.  (Matt 24:10-13)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Reading   
   "To you has been granted in Christ's behalf not only that you should believe   
   in   
   him but also that you should suffer for him."   
      
   Vincent had received both these gifts and held them as his own. For how   
   could he   
   have them if he had not received them? And he displayed his faith in what he   
   said, his endurance in what he suffered.   
      
   No one ought to be confident in his own strength when he undergoes   
   temptation.   
   For whenever we endure evils courageously, our long-suffering comes from him   
   Christ.   
      
   He once said to his disciples: "In this world you will suffer persecution,"   
   and   
   then, to allay their fears, he added, "but rest assured, I have conquered   
   the   
   world."   
      
   There is no need to wonder then, my dearly beloved brothers, that Vincent   
   conquered in him who conquered the world. It offers temptation to lead us   
   astray; it strikes terror into us to break out spirit.   
      
   Hence if our personal pleasures do not hold us captive, and if we are not   
   frightened by brutality, then the world is overcome. At both of these   
   approaches   
   Christ rushes to our aid, and the Christian is not conquered.   
      
   --from a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)