Poem to St. Vincent
This poem was written in the monastery of S. Vincenzo al Furio. It is dedicated not to Vincent, bishop of Bevagna and martyr, but to Saint Vincent, deacon of Saragossa who, in ancient times, must have been the patron of the monastery. This St. Vincent did not enjoy particular veneration except in the territory of Urbino.
Vincent was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Valerius of Saragossa. He preached and acted as a spokesperson since the Bishop had a speech impediment. During Diocletian’s persecution of Christians (284 to 305) they were both imprisoned in Valencia by the Governor Dacian. A celestial light illuminated the dark prison, causing great amazement in all who saw it. Since they could not bend him with torture, his executioners placed him on a soft bed, hoping to bend him with flattery, but Vincent did not let himself be bent. Tortures consisted of the rack, metal hooks tearing flesh, wounds rubbed with salt, burning on a hot gridiron, and being thrown onto a prison floor strewn with broken pottery where he died. He bore all this with such quiet that his jailer was converted. His body was placed in a sack and thrown into the sea.
Caelum, terra, pontus, aethra,
Pariter
Elementa cuncta promant
Triumphalem
Summi regis gloriam.
Let all the elements, earth and sea and sky
Let all equally
Express
The triumphant
Glory of the supreme king.
Qui leonis rugientis
Rabiem
Per robustum bellatorem
Mox victorem
Conculcavit Vincentium.
He who, trampled down
The rage of the roaring lion
Through the strong warrior Vincent
Was soon the victor.
Ille nempe Datiani
Sprevit iram iudicis,
Truces minas et furorem
Ceu susurros culicis,
Vincla, flagra, carcerales
Tenebras.
He certainly
Spurned the anger of the judge Dacian,
The fierce threats and madness
Just as he disdained whispering insects,
He spurned chains, whips, prison
Darkness.
Ipsae plagae vulnerantur,
Mortes mortibus adduntur,
Sed domus
Supra, firmam fixa petram
Nequit sterni
Vi ventorum vel fluminum.
The blows themselves are wounded
Deaths are added to deaths,
But the house above
Having been founded on a firm rock,
Cannot be brought down
By the force either of wind or water.
Fame corpus maceratum
Cernitur
Velut epulis nutritum
Sumptuosis
Ac cibis regalibus.
His body, emaciated by hunger,
Appears
As if nourished by
The most sumptuous banquet
And with royal food.
Angelorum quippe cibus
Reficit
Ventrem mentis se quaerentis,
Quae nil sitis
Praeter Deum vel esurit.
The food of angels naturally.
He restores
The fabric of my mind seeking self-knowledge,
Which neither thirsts
Nor hungers for anything except for God.
Saevit, fremit, efferatur
Mox cruenta bestia,
Fervet, frendet, movet cuncta
Tormentorum genera:
Ferrum, ignes, eculeum,
Testulas;
Torquet, torret et compages
Dividit articulorum,
Imprimit
Ignitarum laminarum
Sectis membris
Caecus furor cauterium.
Soon the bloody beast is brought forth
It rages, bellows, seethes,
It gnashes its teeth, he sets in motion all
Kinds of tortures:
Iron, fire, rack,
Shards of clay as floor and couch;
It twists, it roasts and it separates
The fastenings of his joints,
The blind madness presses his cut off limbs
With the red hot sheets of metal cautery.
Christi miles premit vires
Viribus;
Cordis igne carnis ignes
Extinguebat
Sancto plenus Spiritu.
The soldier of Christ counters
Force with force;
He was putting out the flames of the flesh
With the fire of the heart
Filled with the holy spirit.
Caesus flagris, fossus plagis
Iubilat;
Desides horret tortores,
Solam timet
Lenitatem carnificum.
Having been striped with whips, having been struck with blows
He rejoices;
He stands erect, he abhors sluggish torturers,
He fears only the leniency of the torturer.
Bella fremunt, hostes cedunt,
Haec est lex victoriae.
Pugna surgit, palma crescit
Et corona gloriae.
Clarus Christi triumphator
Curiam
Summi caeli purpuratus Introivit comitatus
Niveo
Splendidorum angelorum
Dulce carmen
Modulante collegio.
Wars bellow, enemies yield,
This is the law of victory.
A fight rises up, the palm of victory grows
As does the crown of glory.
The famous conqueror for Christ
Entered the court
Of the highest heaven purple with blood
Accompanied by a gathering of splendid angels
White as snow
Singing a sweet song.
Mox in latos corpus agros
Iacitur
Insepultum; pavent canes,
Tremunt aves
Proprius accedere.
Soon in wide fields a body
Is flung
Unburied; dogs are afraid,
To approach closer
Birds tremble with fear.
Dives arvum fert thesaurum
Nobilem;
Non praedones, non latrones,
Ut occultent,
Valent illud effodere.
The fertile field bears a rich noble
Treasure;
So that neither plunderers nor robbers
Can dig it up in order to hide it.
Nam vesanus Datianus
Suit hunc erunculo,
Velut in parricidali
Reum claudat culleo,
Et marinis iubet mergi
Fluctibus;
Nequit pontus sacrum pondus
Cohibere, sed ad litus
Caelitus
Gubernatum deportatur
Et festinos
Praevenit velox remiges.
For insane Dacian
Sewed him up in a sack,
Just as is done to a parricide
He traps him in a leather bag,
And orders it to be submerged in the
Sea;
The sea cannot contain
The holy weight,
But having steered to the shore
By a heavenly governor
He comes quickly
Before swift rowers.
Nunc serenum victor caelum
Possides,
O beate, corona
Post triumphum,
Martyr invictissime.
Now the victor you possess
Serene heaven,
O blessed one,
Crowned after triumph,
Unconquerable martyr.
In aeterni luce regni
Radians
Lapis vivus, clarum sidus
Cum ignitis
Angelorum agminibus.
Shining in the eternal light
Of rule
Living stone, star bright
With a fiery troop
Of angels.
Post sudorem et laborem,
Post peractum stadium,
Tribuente iusto rege,
Fers promissum bravium
Trabeatus stola candidissima.
Solis ardor, lunae candor
Tuae cedunt claritati.
Omnia
Superantur, quae mirandum
Sui praebent
In hoc orbe spectaculum.
After having sweated and labored,
After having finished the race,
By the king’s just assigning,
You bring the promised reward
Clad in a most brilliant royal robe.
The fire of the sun, the dazzling whiteness of the moon
Proceed from your brilliance.
All things
Are conquered, to whom they show
The most wondrous sight
In this world.
Rector caeli, nate Dei,
Petimus:
Leva mersos, solve nexos
Magnis sancti
Meritis Vincentii.
Tu quos multae premunt culpae,
Suscita,
Fige nostra sursum corda,
Quo nil ament
Praeter sola caelestia.
Ruler of heaven, son of God,
We beseech (thee):
By the great merits of Saint Vincent.
Lift us up from our fall, release those bound.
Raise up those whom many faults
Oppress,
Raise our hearts on high,
Where they love nothing
Besides the thrones of the heavens.
Da terrenis in extremis
Caeli celsa scandere,
Quos misertus redemisti
Pretioso sanguine,
Qui per aevum iura rerum
Ordinas,
Rex immensum et aeternus,
Cuius nutum cuncta tremunt
Condita,
Qui cum patre Spirituque
Sancto regnas
Infinita per saecula.
Amen.
Give to earthly beings at their limits
To mount to high heaven,
And redeem those wretched ones
With your precious blood,
You who through the ages ordains
The law of things,
O great and eternal king,
Of whose decree all things established
Tremble,
You who reign with the father and the holy spirit
Endless through all time.
Amen.
