Vincent was a native of Huesca, in northeastern Spain, and was ordained as a deacon by Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, who commissioned him to preach throughout his diocese. In the early years of the fourth century, the fervent Christian community in Spain fell victim to a persecution ordered by the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Dacian, governor of Spain, arrested both Valerius and his deacon Vincent, and had them imprisoned at Valencia.…