[Rank]
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide C3

[Oratio]
Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open unto our prayers, and whereas we do feel ourselves burdened by the guilt of our sins, do Thou graciously relieve us at the petition of thy blessed Martyrs, Vincent and Anastasius.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
Vincent was born at Huesca in Aragon in Spain. He was early turned to study, and learned sacred letters from Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa. He was accustomed to deliver discourses for this Prelate, who, owing to an impediment in his speech, was not able to preach himself. This coming to the ears of Dacian, Prefect of the province under Diocletian and Maximian, he caused Vincent to be arrested at Saragossa, and brought before him at Valencia in bonds. The saint was scourged, and afterwards tormented on the rack, in presence of numerous spectators, but neither torture, threats, nor fair words could bend his resolution. He was then laid on a grating over hot coals, his flesh mangled with iron hooks, and white-hot plates of metal applied to the wounds. The still breathing remains were taken back to a prison, and laid on broken potsherds, that the agony of his naked body might prevent his sleeping from exhaustion.

[Lectio5]
As he lay in his dark cell, a glorious light suddenly filled the prison, to the astonishment of all who saw it. The gaoler informed Dacian, who caused the martyr to be brought out and cared for in a soft bed, hoping that though he had failed to move him by cruelty, he might seduce him by pretended kindness. But the indomitable soul of Vincent, armed with faith and hope in Christ Jesus, remained unconquered even to the end, and triumphing over the fire, the steel, and the cruelty of the tormentors, passed away to receive the victorious crown of martyrdom in heaven, on the 22nd day of January, (in the year of our Lord 304.) His body was thrown out unburied. A raven perched upon it and kept off with his beak, claws, and wings both the other birds and a wolf, which came to prey on it. Dacian then had it thrown into the sea, but by the will of God it was washed up again, and the Christians took and buried it.

[Lectio6]
Anastasius was a Persian monk who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Places at Jerusalem in the reign of the Emperor Heraclius, during which journey he endured bonds and stripes on account of his confession of Christ at Banias, then called Cassarea, in Palestine. Soon after his return, he was arrested by the Persians for the same cause, and, after enduring diverse torments, he and seventy other Christians were beheaded by order of King Chosroes. He testified upon the 22nd day of January in the year of our Lord 628. His reliques were first carried to Jerusalem, to the monastery in which he had made his monastic profession, and afterwards to Rome, where they were laid in the monastery of Saints Vincent and Anastasius.

[Lectio94]
Vincent, born at Huesca in Spain. was an earnest student even as a child. He learned the sacred sciences from Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa. and then took over the work of preaching the Gospel since the bishop could not fulfill his preaching office because of an impediment of speech. For this reason Vincent was reported to the wicked prefect, Dacian, and brought to him in Valencia. He suffered imprisonment, hunger, racking and many other tortures; and gained the crown of martyrdom on the 22nd of January. Anastasius, a Persian monk, made a pilgrimage to the holy places in Jerusalem at the time of the emperor Heraclius. At Caesarea in Palestine he steadfastly endured imprisonment and scourging for professing his faith in Christ. Soon after, in Persia, he was afflicted by King Chosroes with many tortures for the same cause and was beheaded, together with seventy other Christians. His relics were first brought to Jerusalem, then taken to Rome, and finally placed in the monastery at Aquae Salviae.
&teDeum