Commontide
Liturgical Color: Red
The 3rd Sunday of Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Epiphany
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who took on our mortal flesh to reveal his glory; that he might bring us out of darkness and into his own glorious light.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Deacon and Martyr
Ecumenical Commemoration
Vincent was a deacon of Saragossa, killed at Valencia in the persecution under Diocletian, by tradition in the year 304. His bishop, Valerius, had a speech impediment and made Vincent the preacher of the church there; when the two were arrested together, the bishop was exiled and the deacon was kept for interrogation and death. He was buried near Saguntum, and Saragossa kept a portion of his blood. His feast is January 22.
Vincent served as deacon under Valerius, the Bishop of Saragossa, during the Diocletian persecution. The principal sources do not provide a detailed trial narrative but confirm that he was arrested, subjected to severe torture, and eventually executed. The early sources are unanimous that Vincent endured extraordinary suffering with unwavering faith.
Saint Augustine of Hippo provides one of the earliest and most authoritative accounts. In his sermon on Vincent (Sermo 276), Augustine references Vincent's trial and torture, praising his steadfastness. Augustine's account is careful and lacks the elaborate embellishment typical of later hagiography. The Christian poet Prudentius, writing in the late 4th century, devoted a full poem to Vincent in his Peristephanon (V), offering a more dramatic and literary treatment while preserving authentic traditions about his suffering and martyrdom.
The Passio Sancti Vincentii, the formal martyrdom narrative, is a Tier 2 text with some legendary elaboration (especially regarding the specifics of his torture), but it preserves core historical facts. Vincent's cult became particularly strong in Spain and southern Gaul. By the 5th century, he had become one of the most venerated saints in the Western Mediterranean, a status unusual for a deacon (most major early martyrs were bishops or had some other prominent ecclesiastical office).
Traditionally, Vincent is said to have been subjected to horrific torture — stretched on the rack, his body torn with iron claws, burned with hot plates — before finally being executed. Various traditions report his death by sword, exposure on a gibbet, or burning. Some accounts mention him being thrown to wild beasts. The legendary aspects of the Passio describe dialogue with the torturer and miraculous signs during his ordeal. After his death, he was placed in a stone coffin weighted with lead and thrown into the sea, but a raven supposedly guarded his body until it was recovered by Christians.