The patron St. Vincent

The monks of Beinwil have "taken with them" St. Vincent as a patron saint when they relocated their monastery to Mariastein in 1648. The original patronage of the monastery Beinwil were All Saints (1147); around 1150 there was a change of patronage. This is likely to have happened with the acquisition of a large arm relic of St. Vincent, which is still in the possession of the monastery today and also accompanied the convent through all the crises of the monastic history to the different places of exile.

Saint Vincent was an archdeacon of the speech-disabled Bishop Valerius of Sargossa in Spain. In the Diocletian persecution he was banished to Valencia with his bishop. There he suffered a cruel martyrdom with his bishop. He was roasted on a glowing iron grate. That happened on the22. January around 304. His attribute therefore is the iron grid along with a raven, which played a role in his legend. The Patron Saint’s feast in Mariastein is celebrated on January 22nd.