Still short of ideas so here’s another saint for the collection!
St Vincent of Saragossa was born around Huesca in Spain, ordained by the Bishop of Saragossa and ordered to minister to the people in that part of Spain. At that time the governor Dacian was trying to stamp out Christianity and killed 18 believers in AD303 and ordered Vincent to be stretched on a rack, and laid on a grid iron of heated bars. Realising he couldn’t break the will of Vincent he had him thrown in prison where Christians cared for him. But he had suffered too much and died, still praising Jesus, in AD 304.
Dacian’s hatred of Vincent continued after his death when he ordered Vincent’s body to be thrown in a bog. A raven protected the body of the saint and drove away any animal that came to attack the holy relics.
Now his day is only remembered in weather rhymes.
Remember on St Vincent’s Day,
If the sun his beams display,
Be sure to mark his transient beam,
Which through the casement sheds a gleam;
For ’tis a token bright and clear
of prosperous weather all the year
He became the patron saint of wine growers and drunkards – perhaps due to this old saying.
If Saint Vincent Day the sky is clear,
More wine than water will crown the year
(Information from A Calendar Of Saints by James Bentley, the internet and Chambers Book of Days)
Back Tomorrow
Sue
