St. Vincent of Saragossa reveals that the traditional account of his martyrdom by gridiron is true and gives details of his death – Baptism the Strength of Christians – The Difference between the Body and Soul - God increases the beauty of the soul by passing it through times of 'dryness'
Ecstasy date September 28, 1878
“May
the peace of the Lord be with you, dear brothers and sisters. May the
love of Our Lord vivify you together in Holy Charity! My name is St.
Vincent, Martyr. I was persecuted in the days of cruel persecutions
of the Church. I suffered martyrdom for God, for His Holy Cross, in
defence of the Holy Religion. I could have lived if I wanted to
apostatize. I preferred to die for God, rather than deny His Holy
Name and His Religion.
I
was put to torture by the famous emperors who have made so many
martyrs. I was put on a grill, the flames blown over my body. I had
the grace to see a ray from Heaven that strengthened me and filled me
with joy to give my life to save my soul. I received frightening
insults and outrages. My
tears flowed so abundantly that three times, I put out the coals
burning my flesh. This prodigy, this powerful miracle was of no avail
to the barbarians who insulted my thrice-holy God. Following this
prodigy that came from my God, I was treated with more violence. My
body was covered with coals. I was turned on a grill like another
St. Lawrence. I felt a sweet freshness in my
whole body, it was like the dew that put out the flames that made me
suffer. I suffered a terrible
torture. My body was all broken, I was trampled underfoot by my
tormentors. I
felt the hour of triumph when I felt the pains in my heart. I expired
on those terrible flames, tortured,
made to drink the most infernal ignominies. How sweet it is to die
for God! How sweet it is to keep the blessed seed of Faith when you
love Him who has suffered to redeem our immortal souls! It gives us
courage and, in the midst of courage, it give us a fire of charity.
A
word, now, on behalf of Our Lord.
Dear
brethren, Our Lord has given us all the grace to be admitted to Holy
Baptism. It is this grace that is the strength of the Christians. It
makes us the Heirs to the gifts of our Heavenly Father. What
strength! What generosity! What happiness! O what grace that
fortifies you! The Lord has given us all an immortal soul. Oh! if we
knew the treasure that lives among the dust of our bodies! This
thought would be able to transport us (while) alive, to the ardours
and heights, to the Throne of God, this thought has wings and these
wings are flames (of love?) that are our transports.
Our
Lord nourishes our souls. He ensures their needs. He provides the
Food for the immortal soul and the soul lives only for God. What is
the difference between soul and body! This body of dust lives on
gross nourishments. The soul lives on the Divinity of God. There it
finds its substance, it finds a Food of delights. Our adorable Lord,
to increase the beauty of our souls seems at times to weaken His
Nourishment and stay some distance away. (I.e. why God leaves us in a
'dry' state of spirit and He feels distant to us.) But in these
moments, our Lord holds our souls in His Adorable Hands and He fills
them with happiness. He enriches them with His unspeakable gifts. So
do not say, "My soul, you are far from God" because, right
now, He is at the door, He who dwells in Himself, in His All Adorable
person.”
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Notes: the Life of St. Vincent from Wikipedia.
Saint
Vincent of Saragossa,
also known as Vincent
Martyr, Vincent
of Huesca or Vincent
the Deacon, the
Protomartyr of Spain,
was a deacon of the Church
of Saragossa. He is the patron
saint of Lisbon
and Valencia.
His feast day is 22 January. (...) He was born at Huesca
near Saragossa,
Spain sometime during the latter part of the 3rd century; it is
believed his father was Eutricius (Euthicius), and his mother was
Enola, a native of Osca. he was and martyred under the Emperor Diocletian
around the year 304. The earliest account of Vincent's
martyrdom is in a carmen
(lyric poem) written
by the poet Prudentius,
who wrote a series of lyric poems, Peristephanon
("Crowns of Martyrdom"), on Hispanic
and Roman
martyrs.
Vincent
spent most of his life in the city of Saragossa, where he was
educated and ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Valerius
of Saragossa, who commissioned Vincent to preach throughout the
diocese. Because Valerius suffered from a speech impediment, Vincent acted as
his spokesman. When
the Roman Emperor Diocletian began persecuting Christians in Spain,
both were brought before the Roman governor, Dacian
in Valencia. Vincent and his bishop Valerius were confined to the
prison of Valencia. Though he was finally offered release if he would
consign Scripture to
the fire, Vincent refused. Speaking on behalf of his bishop, he
informed the judge that they were ready to suffer everything for
their faith, and that they could pay no heed either to threats or
promises.
His
outspoken manner so angered the governor that Vincent was inflicted
every sort of torture on him. He was stretched on the rack and his
flesh torn with iron hooks. Then his wounds were rubbed with salt and
he was burned alive upon a red-hot gridiron. Finally he was cast into
prison and laid on a floor scattered with broken pottery, where he
died. (St. Vincent corrected this detail, reveal to Marie-Julie Jahenny that he died on the flames.) During his martyrdom he preserved such peace and tranquillity
that it astonished his jailer, who repented from his sins and was
converted. Vincent's dead body was thrown into the sea in a sack, but
was later recovered by the Christians and his veneration immediately
spread throughout the Church.The aged bishop Valerius was exiled.
The
story that Vincent was tortured on a gridiron is perhaps adapted from
the martyrdom
of another son of Huesca, Saint
Lawrence -- (St. Vincent
himself said to Marie-Julie this was true, he was like another St. Lawrence, it's not a borrowed history.) Vincent, like many early martyrs in the early
hagiographic
literature, succeeded in converting his jailer.
According to
legend, after being martyred, ravens
protected St. Vincent's body from being devoured by vultures, until
his followers could recover the body. His body was taken to what is
now known as Cape
St. Vincent; a shrine was erected over his grave, which continued
to be guarded by flocks of ravens. In the time of Muslim
rule in the Iberian Peninsula, the Arab geographer
Al-Idrisi noted
this constant guard by ravens, for which the place was named by him
كنيسة الغراب
"Kanīsah al-Ghurāb" (Church of
the Raven). King Afonso
I of Portugal (1139–1185) had the body of the saint exhumed in
1173 and brought it by ship to the Monastery
of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon. This transfer of the relics is
depicted on the coat
of arms of Lisbon”
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Observation: Of interest, the
descendants of the two ravens that accompanied his relics to Lisbon
remained in the city and could be seen on the roof corners of the Sé
until only recently, they have disappeared since the middle of the 20th century as one local travel site phrased it.
The locals do not know what this means, but it cannot be a good
sign. The coat of arms of Lisbon featuring the two ravens bears
the following motto and may in fact give us a hint: "MUI NOBRE E SEMPRE
LEAL CIDADE DE LISBOA" (most noble and
always loyal city of Lisbon). It appears with the ravens gone the city has lost
the meaning of loyalty, that is, loyalty to God and his precepts as
Our Lady privately predicted to Jacinta, one of the little seers of Fatima.
Shortly
before her death, Jacinta repeatedly requested to see her confessor,
Canon Formigao, explaining that Our Lady had appeared to her and
given a message to be related to him. Unfortunately, he was unable to
come at once, and arrived a few days her her death. Meanwhile,
Jacinta, knowing she was to die, gave the message to Mother Godinho,
asking her to relate it to the Canon. The first part of Jacinta's
message concerned a chastisement predicted for Portugal, especially
the city of Lisbon, in punishment for the sins and crimes committed
in that country. As Mother Godinho later declared, Jacinta
explained that the prophecy of the Blessed Mother was conditional: “Mother, tell the Holy Father that the world is troubled and Our Lady
can no longer hold back the arm of Her beloved Son, Who is very offended by the
sins committed in the world. If, however, the world decides to do penance, She
would come to its aid again, but if not, chastisement would infallibly fall
upon it, for its lack of obedience to the Holy Father.”
Jacinta also predicted the year 1972 would be a time when things would truly fall apart, the sins of impurity, vanity, and excessive luxury would eventually break forth and bring great
chastisements to the world, which would cause great suffering to the Holy
Father.
If
the disappearance of St. Vincent's ravens are anything to go by which happened just leading up to the year of woe, 1972, it
appears Lisbon, and indeed Portugal, is about to suffer the foretold
punishments. Lisbon was destroyed once before by a great earthquake
in 1755, and authorities warn the city is due another great
quake,which strike every 200 to 250 years.
On October 13th 2017, the day of the 100th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Portugal also held voluntary earthquake drills while still suffereing the worst ever fire season in living memory. Preparatory warnings for earthquakes are still seen on television from time to time. Signs of the times.
On October 13th 2017, the day of the 100th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Portugal also held voluntary earthquake drills while still suffereing the worst ever fire season in living memory. Preparatory warnings for earthquakes are still seen on television from time to time. Signs of the times.
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