APPENDIX.
XXXVII.
JAN. 22. THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. VINCENT.
In the Hispanian land of the Spanish people,
was the holy martyr, who was named Vincentius,
born among men, and by his kinsmen nourished
in much Christianity; and he in Christ's lore
was greatly advancing, until he became ordained
as a holy deacon, serving the Saviour
with the illustrious bishop Valerius,
who was the illustrions teacher in the Hispanian land,
as the narrative tells us in the Latin tongue.
Then arose the persecution of impious tormentors
wide throughout the world, very madly,
against belief in Christ, and against Christian men;
because that the devil would quench that belief
with great persecutions and unmeasured torments;
but the more one slew of the martyrs then,
so the more believed, through the great wonders
which the saints wrought through the Saviour's might;
because that the true belief in the very God
shall never be quenched through devilish persecution,
but shall be rather increased, as books tell us.
