St. Vincent is a famous martyr whose relics rest in the main altar in the Basilica on campus.

Vincent was a deacon in the third century. He lived in what is now Spain, and was arrested with his bishop when Christians were being persecuted under the Roman emperor Diocletian.

The bishop was banished, but Vincent, as his deacon and assistant, was tortured and killed. His captors tore his flesh with hooks, burned him on a hot gridiron, and cast him into a prison cell filled with shards of pottery. He was given the opportunity to be released if he turned over the book of Scriptures to be burned, but he refused.
He survived all of this and remained constant in his faith, which inspired his jailer and led to his conversion. At the end, his friends were allowed to take him from prison so he could die among them on a comfortable bed.

St. Vincent’s relics rest in the main altar of the Basilica, along with those from Sts. Sebastian and Stephen, who are also martyrs of the early Church. His image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Vincent Saragossa, who protected the Scriptures even when tortured, pray for us!