Saint Vincent of Collioure

Under the reign of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, an edict was published ordering that all Christians be forced to sacrifice to idols. Dacian was charged with executing it in the southern regions of Gaul and in Spain. Having come to the maritime city of Collioure, this man had Vincent arrested, a ci tizen o Vincent Third-century martyr honored in Collioure and Perpignan. f standing and a man of faith equal to his courage. He was brought before Dacian, who summoned him to sacrifice to the gods. But Vincent said: "I sacrifice only to God alone, never to idols; it is better to obey God than the emperors." Dacian said: "Sacrifice to the gods, I pray you, otherwise I shall have to act severely against you." Vincent said: "Act as severely as you wish, I shall not sacrifice."

Then the president orders that Vincent be bruised with blows, stripped of his clothes, and torn with iron claws. After which Dacian addresses him again and says to him: "How long will you remain in your folly? Sacrifice, Sacrifice!" Vincent says: "No, never! I am ready to go to prison or to death for Jesus Christ: I will sacrifice only to Him alone; the cruelest torments mean nothing to me; eternal joys await me and soon I will be flooded with them." Then the irritated president has Vincent suspended with pulleys, and orders the executioners to raise him high and let him fall back with the full weight of his body onto sharp stones, several times. After this torture he is thrown into prison. But he gives thanks to God who does not forsake those who hope in Him. A celestial light envelops his body, which regained its strength and its former health.

The following day, Dacian ordered that Vincent be brought back before his tribunal, if indeed he were still alive. When he saw him in full health again, he was transported with fury and said: "It is by the aid of magic that you have healed yourself." Vincent said: "I know no more of magic than I know of your gods. God, who is one, has healed me: He who has glorified me is the same who has redeemed me with His blood. Glory to Him for all ages." Then Dacian had a great pyre lit in the middle of the city, and Vincent was placed upon it, his feet and hands bound. He happily accomplished his glorious martyrdom, confessing and praising the Lord, on the 19th of April, towards the end of the 3rd century. The fire spared the ligaments of his hands and feet. His face, of a rose color, and his transparent skin, seemed more like that of a sleeping man than a dead one: struck by these miracles, a great number confessed Christ. His body was suitably buried during the night.

The body of Saint Vincent was religiously preserved in Collioure until the 17th century. It was during the siege of 1642, when the church had been destroyed and various precious objects transported to the castle, where the garrison had been forced to retreat, that the relics of Saint Vincent were also deposited there, so that they might thus be sheltered from any profanation. Now, after the evacuation of the castle of Collioure by the Spanish garrison, the consuls of the town, having gone to the said castle to bring back the precious relics, no longer found them there. Local traditions seem to insinuate that they must have been taken by a Spanish soldier from Cancavella (or Concabuena), a small town in Catalonia, where a Capuchin religious, finding himself in Roussillon around 1095 or 1100, claimed to have celebrated the holy mass at the altar that possessed the relics of Saint Vincent of Collioure; it seems indeed that this town is still in possession of this treasure. As for the town of Collioure, it currently has two partial relics of its patron saint: 1st, a small bone, sent from Rome in 1700; 2nd, a tibia sent shortly thereafter. The reception of these relics was for the town of Collioure the occasion for touching solemnities, presided over b y Mgr Basan Flamenvil Mgr Basan Flamenville Bishop of Elne who presided over the reception of the new relics in 1700. le, Bishop of Elne. The parish of Collioure received at the same time relics of Saint Liberata and Saint Maximus.

It is since that time (1702) that the beautiful and picturesque ceremony of August 16th has taken place every year. On that day, at seven o'clock in the evening, the parish clergy, followed by a large number of sailors, board a boat that takes them to a small island about one hundred meters from the shore. In the island's chapel, the statues of Saint Vincent, Saint Maxima, and Saint Liberata are taken, which had been brought there in the morning by torchlight; they are placed on the stern, and the nocturnal procession begins, with the boat being towed to the beach by six other boats manned by rowers. It first circles the island. After skirting the suburb, which is brilliantly illuminated, it is taken and hauled, by means of cables, to the center of the town. Then finally, four sailors carry the statues into the church, with music leading the way. It is difficult to imagine a more picturesque spectacle than that of the numerous boats coming and going throughout the day to venerate the holy relics and attend services at the chapel of the island of Saint Vincent.

Proper of Perpignan, local notes, etc.