Vincent of León

Saint Vincent of León, venerable martyr, was a Benedictine monk and abbot of the monastery of San Claudio in León, in Spain. He died a martyr on 11 March 554 (according to one source, 554 or 555). He is venerated as a saint by several Christian confessions and remembered on 11 March.

He preached against the Arian heresy. The Arian Suevi, led by King Recianus (Ricilianus), attacked the monastery and seized the abbot. Known as a preacher of the faith, he was brought to trial and spoke in defense of the Catholic faith. The executioners stripped him and scourged him until his bones showed. They then shut him in a dark cell, where, the legend says, an angel appeared to him and comforted him. The next day he was brought out again and questioned, and he went on confessing the Holy Trinity even as he was being beaten. They took him outside the monastery and killed him with a blow of the sword to the head.

According to tradition his spirit appeared to the other brothers, with angels, while they were at prayer. Two days later the prior Ramirus and the twelve remaining monks were killed, while the rest fled. Their relics were buried in the monastery but were lost with time, except those of Vincent and Ramirus. Vincent's relics were taken, at the time of the Muslim invasion, to the cathedral of Oviedo and placed in a silver ark, today in the Cámara Santa.